The Reddit user said he spent the five hour journey uncomfortably “pressed up against” the other man and wanted to be “compensated”, reports The Sun.

His post, which has since gone viral, attracted a barrage of criticism, with some calling him an “a*****e” for the move.

But others leapt to his defence, saying the obese passenger should have booked two seats for the comfort of others on the flight.

In the post Redditor BigBawluh revealed that he flagged his lack of space to the other man.

He said: “He sits down and is easily seeping into about 1/3 of my seat. I sit down and am pressed up against him, making me uncomfortable.

“After a minute, I decided to be upfront and tell him: ‘Sir, I’m sorry but this situation is not working for me, you’re taking up quite a bit of my seat’.”

He revealed that the man tried to squeeze in to give him more space but it didn’t help.

He then flagged the problem to a flight attendant, who told the larger passenger that he may need to buy another seat.

When it emerged that the flight was full and nothing could done, BigBawluh asked him for the money.

He said: “I told the guy, ‘Look, I’ll put up with this if you give me $US150 — that’s half the cost of this flight and that would compensate me enough for the circumstances’.”

The man claimed that the other passenger “instantly agreed” and even told him he appreciated the request, before forking out $US150 in cash.

BigBawluh said he heard passengers in the row behind call him an “a*****e”, and he posted to Reddit to ask if the internet agreed.

He added: “From my perspective, I gave the guy a valid option to stay on the flight and I was compensated for literally having only 75 per cent of my seat max (let alone the feeling of a person’s body pressed against you involuntarily). A win-win.

“He wasn’t angry at all, if anything he seemed quite relieved we could work it out privately.”

The post proved to be divisive, with many Reddit users agreeing that he was in the wrong.

One said: “This is ridiculous. You made a scene and embarrassed the man and then made him pay you for a fraction of your seat. You are the epitome of an a*****e.”

Another commented: “You didn’t settle this privately—you humiliated the guy by involving the flight attendant and then demanding $150 to allow him to stay on this flight.”

But others thought he was being reasonable.

One posted: “He should have bought two seats, this is his fault, in fact he got off well with it. He agreed and you agreed. I am sure if the people behind you were in the same position they would have thought differently.”

Another agreed: “You had every right to ask the flight attendant for a solution, and between the man and you, a solution was agreed upon. Everyone else can relax, because it wasn’t their seat being overtaken on a flight.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission