When it comes to airplane seats, you don't always have to pay more to get more. Here are 7 secrets for getting the most comfortable airline seats without breaking the bank. Photo: iStock/BraunS.

When it comes to airplane seats, you don't always have to pay more to get more. Here are 7 secrets for getting the most comfortable airline seats without breaking the bank. Photo: iStock/BraunS.

A LAWYER travelling with her female partner and their daughter in Qantas business class claim they were humiliated by a crew member as they wouldn’t move to accommodate a married couple.

Family lawyer Kristina Antoniades, 35, blasted the airline on Facebook last night, saying she had been left in tears by the high-flying incident.

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She said Qantas had twice asked her partner Merrin Hicks if she would change seats, first by ground crew and then in the air, and that staff had asked why they were separating a married couple.

She said she explained multiple times that they were also a family and accused the airline of “blatant homophobia” in her post and on the Qantas Facebook page.

But the airline responded on social media that it “celebrates diversity of staff and passengers” was disappointed to read of the experience.

Qantas customer service contacted Ms Antoniades this afternoon and offered her extra Frequent Flyer points in a gesture of goodwill.

It is understood Ms Hicks was questioned in-flight as cabin crew were using an older version of the passenger seating list, and believed she was in the incorrect seat.

Ms Antoniades had booked online to sit with Lily, 2, and partner, a vet, on the flight from Brisbane to Melbourne, separated by an aisle.

Ms Antoniades wrote on social media that as they waited in the business lounge, Ms Hicks was paged to customer service, who told her she was being moved to a different row.

But when they explained they wanted to stay put, they reissued Ms Hicks’ original boarding pass.

The family settled into their seats but were again approached by a crew member once they were in the air, she wrote.

“I thought that would be the end of it but once the plane took off the flight manager asked why Merrin was seated next to the man and his wife seated behind them,” she wrote.

“I again advised the flight manager that we were a family and wanted to be seated together. She asked me why I had taken it upon myself to move the wife away from her husband.

“I advised her that we were in our designated seats.”

The cabin manager asked to see their boarding passes, she wrote, and questioned why they hadn’t allowed the other couple, aged in their 70s, to sit next to each other.

She said she was left humiliated after having to explain that they were a family and were equally as entitled to sit together.

“I have never experienced such blatant discrimination,’’ she said.

A Qantas spokesman said staff had contacted the passengers to explain there were two requests to be seated next to each other.

“We completely understand that it can be frustrating to be asked to change seats when you have already chosen where to sit,” he said.

“In this case, Kristina, her partner and their daughter travelled in the seats originally assigned to them while the other couple were sat separately.”

elissa.doherty@news.com.au

Twitter: @ElissaDoherty