A woman has hit back at social media trolls who say she should have to buy a second plane seat while travelling due to her size and weight.
Kirsty Leanne, 29, has made a name for herself on TikTok with her travel tips for plus-sized people, and now has 64,000 followers.
Unfortunately, along with her fans, Kirsty has attracted some trolls along the way, many of whom urge her to buy a second seat while travelling on planes. But, in a recent post, the TikToker finally snapped back and explained why that isn't always an option for plus size travellers.
She captioned the post: “I know that flying next to a plus size person is not comfortable and while buying a second seat can be a great for some, it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ all solution!”
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In her video, she pointed out the sheer number of factors there are to consider, from extra costs, to overbooked airlines giving away the second seat, to certain aircrafts not having raised armrests.
“I’ve had some people online say that I’m a bad person for not buying a second seat and that I’m a selfish traveller for putting my needs above others,” Kirsty told NeedToKnow.online.
“I was tired of having the same conversations over and over again and so I made a video to show why buying a second seat may not be the best option for a plus size person."
Kirsty's viral post got a pretty mixed response from viewers, and some remained seriously unimpressed.
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One person commented: “But it’s not fair for the ppl who sit next to u. you’ll end up being in their personal space, they paid for that seat.”
Someone else added: “It's also very expensive for the person you are crushing up. Also painful. Been there unfortunately.”
But other viewers were more sympathetic to Kirsty’s message and supported her in the comments.
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“Thank you for all this info!" wrote one viewer. "I'm a flight attendant at one of the airlines you show in your videos and this helped me a lot in taking more into account."
Someone else pointed out: “It’s not like you can just decide to lose weight one day and suddenly be skinny. The process takes time and you shouldn’t have to be shut at home forever!”
And a third added: “These comments aren’t it, regardless of what they say plus sized people will travel and if they choose to do so it should be safe and comfortable!”
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Commenting on the reaction to her viral post, Kirsty said: “I had a lot of support from people sharing stories about how they’ve had trouble with booking a second seat, as well as people sharing airlines that have been extremely helpful when they’ve been through the process of booking one.
“I also had lots of people agreeing with what I said, which goes to show this is a universal experience with plus size people.
“Of course, some people were not happy. They either didn’t believe what I was saying or they said ‘well the only option then is to not fly, or to lose weight’. Again, it’s not as simple as that.
“Plus size people deserve to be able to fly too. Whether it’s for enjoyment, work or any other reason. Airlines shortcomings should not mean that we’re denied a service others have easy access to, just because of the size of our bodies."
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She concluded: “I think the trolls show me that what I am doing is important. There’s so much negative stigma around travelling while plus size and I want to change that and show that plus size people can travel too.”
Ali Condon