Airplane seating situation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s crazy that no one would switch with you. No one wants middle but to make a three year old sit alone is awful. But it’s really the airline’s fault for not handling it. I think you handled it the best you could. Not a huge deal in the end. I wouldn’t have skipped the flight.

I wouldn't want to give up my seat just because the airline screwed up. They need better incentives to induce people to give up their seats. Be real people.

You are a jerk and part of the problem.

No they are not. The airlines should have provided proper compensation or rebooked OP’s family. Stop giving a pass to airlines for their shitty behavior. They control the situation.

[Anonymous]

This same type of thing happened to our family a few years ago OP.

No one would switch so either my husband or I could sit next to my then 5 year old who was terrified of sitting between 2 strangers and crying out for us. The airline attendant tried 3-4 times on the overhead speaker, even saying “ someone please have a heart here” yet no on budged.

It was painful to witness such a lack of humanity.

[Anonymous]

Op: get on Twitter and face book and start posting that the
Airline refused to let you sit with your 3 year old.

MKe sure you post that they created a very unsafe
Environment for a child to be near strangers.

Copy to all the news networks.


By morning the airline will be kissing your ass to try and
Do damage control for the bad Pr they are going to get.

The internet is your friend. Shame the fuch out of the airline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op: get on Twitter and face book and start posting that the
Airline refused to let you sit with your 3 year old.

MKe sure you post that they created a very unsafe
Environment for a child to be near strangers.

Copy to all the news networks.


By morning the airline will be kissing your ass to try and
Do damage control for the bad Pr they are going to get.

The internet is your friend. Shame the fuch out of the airline.

Completely agree. OP this is exactly what I would do...this was unacceptable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This same type of thing happened to our family a few years ago OP.

No one would switch so either my husband or I could sit next to my then 5 year old who was terrified of sitting between 2 strangers and crying out for us. The airline attendant tried 3-4 times on the overhead speaker, even saying “ someone please have a heart here” yet no on budged.

It was painful to witness such a lack of humanity.

What did you do, pp?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have explained to the flight attendants, within hearing of the people who refused to switch seats, that sexual harassment and child molestation are not uncommon on flights and that I would be holding them personally responsible if anyone laid a finger on my child during the flight. And I would have made sure to write down their names. I have never been on a flight where people paid extra for aisle and window seats unless they were in the premium economy section - the people who didn't want to switch for the short flight sound like misanthropic a-holes.

You must never fly United. When booking seats you can clearly see aisle and window seats cost more.

I have flown United at least once within the past year (in January), though I try to avoid them because the experience is never less than wretched and my status is with AA. I had an aisle seat and did not pay extra.

I also fly United all the time and don't pay extra for window or aisle seats. I do pay extra for the front half of the plane.

American charges extra for pretty much any seat that is not a middle seat or in the very back of the plane.

[Anonymous]

OP, there are 10 pages of posts and I doubt I'll provide something new. But perhaps to summarize.

You are not at fault for what happened. You reserved and paid, it sounds like, for appropriate seating for your family and due to airline mistakes, they did not provide that. I am sorry this happened, and even sorrier that no one was compassionate or reasonable about helping you.

That said, your passivity in the face of all of this (and clearly your husband's passivity too) were a problem here. You need to realize that there are times when you need to stick up for your family and make waves, even if it makes you uncomfortable. You should use this as a learning experience. You should not in the future take no for an answer when it doesn't seem right to you. You owe it to your child not to place them at risk by sitting alone. The risk of an emergency and no one to help them is probably miniscule, the risk of a pedophile small, but the discomfort of being away from you in a stressful situation was probably real. I encourage you to read this thread carefully. Obviously some of the strategies here will not be for you, but some must be. Could you have told the airlines you would not board the plane without an appropriate seat? Could you have offered nearby passengers money to switch? Could you have let your husband and child stay back to fly on an appropriate flight with good seats (and demanded compensation from the airline for your inconvenience) while you flew home so you could get to work.

You and your husband both need ot work on your advocacy, so that the next time things go wrong you are agents for making it right. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, there are 10 pages of posts and I doubt I'll provide something new. But perhaps to summarize.

You are not at fault for what happened. You reserved and paid, it sounds like, for appropriate seating for your family and due to airline mistakes, they did not provide that. I am sorry this happened, and even sorrier that no one was compassionate or reasonable about helping you.

That said, your passivity in the face of all of this (and clearly your husband's passivity too) were a problem here. You need to realize that there are times when you need to stick up for your family and make waves, even if it makes you uncomfortable. You should use this as a learning experience. You should not in the future take no for an answer when it doesn't seem right to you. You owe it to your child not to place them at risk by sitting alone. The risk of an emergency and no one to help them is probably miniscule, the risk of a pedophile small, but the discomfort of being away from you in a stressful situation was probably real. I encourage you to read this thread carefully. Obviously some of the strategies here will not be for you, but some must be. Could you have told the airlines you would not board the plane without an appropriate seat? Could you have offered nearby passengers money to switch? Could you have let your husband and child stay back to fly on an appropriate flight with good seats (and demanded compensation from the airline for your inconvenience) while you flew home so you could get to work.

You and your husband both need ot work on your advocacy, so that the next time things go wrong you are agents for making it right. Good luck.

There's an interesting contradiction here. All of those other people also reserved and paid for appropriate seating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do airlines even allow a 3 year old to be alone.... that’s what’s disturbing. This is a safety issue. It wasn’t a super long flight- people need to learn how to be charitable. And doesn’t someone on that flight have the authority to at least up the incentive to a flight voucher. I am flying with my two year old twins by myself in a couple weeks, and if for some reason we were separated - I would have no choice but to not take the flight.

This. We had a similar thing happen twice--they switched planes, and the new plane had a different seating configuration--and they reassigned us to be in separate rows. The first time, I very politely but equally firmly explained that my three-year-old could not sit by herself, and the flight attendant immediately agreed that this was impossible, and set about fixing it. The second time, the airline was oddly nonchalant, and I raised holy hell. One of the flight attendants went on the plane and found someone who would switch.

I can't imagine being on a flight and not giving up my window seat on a 2-3 hour flight so that a parent could sit next to their small child. I've done that before for slightly older kids, and it just seems like basic human decency.

[Anonymous]

How did you show up at the gate and not have any seat assignments but, at least from your post, it sounds like the other passengers had seat assignments?

Did you show up very late to board, find out then that the plane had been changed and there were no more assigned seats, and then get left to choose from the leftover single seats? If that's the case, then that's on you, OP.

I've been in the scenario where I showed up to board and the plane had been changed to one with a different seating configuration. They called us in groups, first, business, etc. and it was first come, first serve. They tried to accommodate what preference you'd picked before (window, aisle) but it wasn't possible for everyone. And yes, latecomers pretty much just had to squeeze in wherever there was an open spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op: get on Twitter and face book and start posting that the
Airline refused to let you sit with your 3 year old.

MKe sure you post that they created a very unsafe
Environment for a child to be near strangers.

Copy to all the news networks.


By morning the airline will be kissing your ass to try and
Do damage control for the bad Pr they are going to get.

The internet is your friend. Shame the fuch out of the airline.

Honestly, I don’t think you’ll get a huge reaction. It happened to us too, although child was a little older. But I don’t think it’s unheard of.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately no one cares OP. People pretend like they don't see you when you ask them to move. Which airline? All are bad, and some are horrible

[Anonymous]

I can’t read all of the responses here so I am sorry if this has already been said.

But I am not afraid of being loud. I really can’t believe no one would get up and that 2 people wanted to sit next to an unaccompanied 3 year old rather than get up. I would have said loudly: Will anyone on the plane switch seats so my 3 year old doesn’t sit alone? I promise I will pay it forward! (Or something like that).

I also probably would have been freaking out to the gate agent until I got a good answer prior to boarding if I saw we no longer had seats together.

[Anonymous]

I would have asked to speak to the pilot. He is the captain of the ship and can demand that people move seats or exit the plane. The flight attendants don't have that authority but pilots do. I would not make a stink as that will get you tossed off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, there are 10 pages of posts and I doubt I'll provide something new. But perhaps to summarize.

You are not at fault for what happened. You reserved and paid, it sounds like, for appropriate seating for your family and due to airline mistakes, they did not provide that. I am sorry this happened, and even sorrier that no one was compassionate or reasonable about helping you.

That said, your passivity in the face of all of this (and clearly your husband's passivity too) were a problem here. You need to realize that there are times when you need to stick up for your family and make waves, even if it makes you uncomfortable. You should use this as a learning experience. You should not in the future take no for an answer when it doesn't seem right to you. You owe it to your child not to place them at risk by sitting alone. The risk of an emergency and no one to help them is probably miniscule, the risk of a pedophile small, but the discomfort of being away from you in a stressful situation was probably real. I encourage you to read this thread carefully. Obviously some of the strategies here will not be for you, but some must be. Could you have told the airlines you would not board the plane without an appropriate seat? Could you have offered nearby passengers money to switch? Could you have let your husband and child stay back to fly on an appropriate flight with good seats (and demanded compensation from the airline for your inconvenience) while you flew home so you could get to work.

You and your husband both need ot work on your advocacy, so that the next time things go wrong you are agents for making it right. Good luck.

OP here: thanks for summarizing. After about 4 pages I was in tears and couldnt read it. Obviously I should have done something different, but lack of confrontation skills combined by issues from my past (abuse which became worse when I confronted my abuser) has made me meeker than I would like. I didn’t delve into my whole past here but it obviously was at play.