Overweight passenger is forced to squeeze into a seat too small for her despite buying an extra ticket - leaving her 'crying and covered in bruises'
- Rebekah Siame travelled from Melbourne to Christchurch with Air New Zealand
- Paid $150 for a 'works deluxe' ticket which guarantees a spare seat next to her
- She was moved to a much smaller bulk head seat with a passenger next to her
- Her circulation was cut off and she was bruised because of immovable armrests
- Despite complaining to the airline, she hasn't received an apology for the change
An overweight woman was left bruised and in tears after she was forced to squeeze into a single airplane seat on a flight, despite paying more money for two seats.
Rebekah Siame was travelling on a flight home from Melbourne to Christchurch in May with Air New Zealand when she was moved to a smaller seat.
Ms Siame paid $150 for a 'works deluxe' ticket which guarantees a spare seat next to her to ensure she was comfortable throughout the flight.
She was instead squashed in a bulk head seat with immovable armrests and another passenger next to her - a seat she had actively tried to avoid.
'I was in tears the whole flight and no one asked me if I was okay,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
Rebekah Siame (pictured) was travelling on a flight home from Melbourne to Christchurch in May with Air New Zealand when she was moved to a smaller seat
Ms Siame paid $150 for a 'works deluxe' ticket which guarantees a spare seat next to her to ensure she was comfortable throughout the flight (pictured: Air New Zealand cabin)
Immovable armrests (pictured) on the bulk head seat cut into her thighs
The author, who wrote a comical novel based on an overweight woman, is prepared to pay extra to ensure both herself and other passengers avoid discomfort.
'The main concern I have is affecting anyone else with my body,' Ms Siame said.
'I know I'm a big a*** woman with a big a*** and big thighs.
'I'm totally prepared to pay more - I'm not here for a free ride.'
Ms Siame has never had an issue, but for the first time she was unexpectedly moved to a smaller seat.
After she had checked in and boarded the flight, Ms Siame was shocked to find the airline had changed the seat without notifying her.
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Ms Siame found that she was moved to a bulk head seat, with the entertainment and meal tray built into the sides - a seat she actively avoids as there is less room.
She said this was the first time she was ever moved from a seat she had purposely paid for, and found herself stuck in one where her circulation was cut off to her legs and foot.
'It was agony, a torture device around my thighs,' Ms Siame said.
'I was texting my sister and she told me to tell a flight attendant.
'I didn't do it because it's humiliating. Everyone on the flight would have known.
'I was trying to avoid all of this by booking the seat beforehand.'
She described the flight as 'horrifying' as she had lost sensation in her legs as the blood flow had stopped.
Ms Siame (pictured) said she is more than happy to fork out extra cash to make sure she is comfortable and those around her are too
Ms Siame is so comfortable with her body and weight that she wrote a comical book based on an overweight woman (pictured: a graphic from the book)
'The air hostesses were sitting right there and didn't even say something,' the author said.
Ms Siame was too nervous to say anything to the flight attendants, as she thought that moving because she couldn't fit in the seat would be embarrassing.
However, she said that if they had noticed her discomfort and asked her about it, she would have explained what was wrong.
By the time she'd landed in Christchurch after the three hour flight, she'd noticed that she had bruises down the sides of her thighs.
Ms Siame made the decision to put a complaint in with Air New Zealand at the airport but was just given an email address.
After emailing the airline, she was told she was moved for a passenger with medical requirements, despite the 'guarantee' on her $150 upgrade.
'It's almost like I've paid extra money for someone else to sit in my seat,' Ms Siame said.
She was disappointed the airline hadn't even apologised and has since been put off flying with the airline, which was once her favourite.
After she had checked in and boarded the flight, Ms Siame was shocked to find the airline had changed the seat without notifying her
A spokeswoman from Air New Zealand told Daily Mail Australia that the 'Works Deluxe' fares guarantee a neighbour free seat, not a particular seat.
'While we will always endeavour to honour seating requests, under our Conditions of Carriage we cannot guarantee provision of any particular seat, even if a reservation is confirmed and we reserve the right to reassign seats should we need to for operational reasons,' she said.
'This was the case on Ms Siame’s flight where our team unfortunately needed to reassign Ms Siame’s seat in order to accommodate another customer who required medical assistance as a result of a broken leg.'
The spokeswoman said Ms Siame checked in via a self-service kiosk which would have informed her of the change, which she needed to accept.
'We understand Ms Siame checked in via a self-service kiosk which would have shown her the seat change and requested her to either accept the new seat offered or give her the option to choose another available seat.'
According to our logs she did accept this change and this matter didn’t come to the attention of our airport team.'
Ms Siame said there was no obvious notification or option to change seat when she was checking in and did not realise the change since '2C' looked similar to '3C'.
'While we can appreciate Ms Siame’s reasons for not alerting the crew on board to her discomfort, had they been made aware they could have moved her to a more comfortable seat with an empty seat next to her.'
Ms Siame Air New Zealand's response has been 'crap'.
'It's not a fat story, it's a customer service story. Everyone should be entitled to what they paid for,' she said.
Ms Siame (pictured) is not happy with Air New Zealand's response. She questioned what the point of the 'guarantee' is if it's not guaranteed
