Airplane seating situation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meh. For a short flight like that I’d switch, but on a flight from Newark to Honolulu I was seated next to a sweet 9 year old girl whose family had been put in different places. She and her mother had two middles, the mother behind the daughter. The mom was kicking up a huge fuss, meanwhile the girl was calmly reading her book. Mom offered me $200 to switch places with her, but I wasn’t going to sit in the middle for a 12 hour flight. Finally for $500 she finally got a man next to her to take the middle, but I have to say it was a tempest in a teapot. The kid was fine, the mom could see her from right behind, it was all a ridiculous tantrum over nothing. And to anyone who tries to lay a guilt trip on me, saying I should have switched, I just shake my head.

At 9, most kids will be fine or say they are fine but most parents/kids don't want to be separated and having a stranger next to their kid. People are crazy and bad things happen to kids. I was on a flight once where the guy in front of us had two preteens who were acting up. My kid was sitting quietly and every hour or so when his kids started up, they'd blame my kid for kicking the seat and the guy kept turning around to screaming at my child. The first two times I was very polite about it and said I'm sorry but he's not kicking as he's sitting here with his feet up on his chair with his iPad. Finally the third time he was getting more abusive and I finally told him enough, it was his kids who were the problem and acting up and as he can see my child is sitting behaving not touching the seat in front of him and reading. The woman next to me also said something to the man and he finally left us alone. But, how many people except the nice woman next to me would speak up for a child and help. 9 Year olds still need help with basics. My child would not ask you if he needed something, including the bathroom and just hold it (you really want a kid next to you who had an accident). I get not switching for a 12 hour flight but use some common sense and realize that not everyone is a good person and given the climate today, I wouldn't want a stranger next to my child on a 12 hour flight.

Very few people want to molest your dumb kid.

True, but then they get stuck next to nasty people like you, which is equally as bad.

Really? I think your calibrations are off. Try telling the police that I had a bad attitude toward your kid, and see what they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i think some people like sitting next to (quiet, well-behaved) kids because they don't take up much space

This does not apply to a 3 year old

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i think some people like sitting next to (quiet, well-behaved) kids because they don't take up much space

This does not apply to a 3 year old

Sure it does. Just not your 3 year old, apparently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i think some people like sitting next to (quiet, well-behaved) kids because they don't take up much space

This does not apply to a 3 year old

Sure it does. Just not your 3 year old, apparently.

Are you intentionally being obtuse? This is a safety issue, plain and simple.

And I don't even have a 3 year old...but I do have common sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just...cannot imagine being the asshole in the seat next to your child, as you lean over them to secure her in her seat belt and give her an iPad. I can’t imagine not immediately getting up and giving you my seat. What is wrong with people?

Same. This is astonishing to me.

[Anonymous]

Ridiculous. On a flight from Florida to elsewhere on the East Coast I would move from whatever seat to the last row middle between two football players so that a 3 year old could sit with a parent.

[Anonymous]

Six people were assholes - the two people on either side of the three middle seats. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that when asked not one of the six was willing to move. Anyone who had ever been a parent would have understood your dilemma. Something just doesn't ring true here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like your 3 year old did fine in her own seat. She watched her videos and sat on your laps. Not all 3 year olds are unable to be separated from their parents by a row.

You have to know your kids and how much independence they have had experience with.

In this case it worked out fine.

There’s something really wrong with you. My kids have tons of independence. So much so that I’ve been accused on this forum of being so far in the free range camp that I’m not a fit parent. And I would never let my 3 year old be away from me on a flight. That’s totally insane.

There could be an emergency on the flight and everyone need to apply their oxygen masks. Do you really think the obnoxious people who wouldn’t switch with a lone 3 year old would look after her in an emergency when the plane is out of control and nobody can breathe? What about when they need to exit the plane quickly in an emergency and that animal who wouldn’t switch literally stampedes over the child to escape? Small kids need protection and a lot of help in those situations.

And child molesters are unfortunately all around us. Since you’re spouting on about independence in children you should know that sometimes this makes them more susceptible to it. And crimes happen all the time on flights. There are a lot of people but views are obstructed and people are uncomfortable and exhausted and preoccupied thinking about themselves. It’s also hard to hear conversations over the airplane noise. Planes are really fairly private places.

It may have worked out okay in this case for OP’s kid (and I say may since how can we possibly know what actually happened when we weren’t there to see it all) but if so then it was blind luck. The next child might not be so lucky.

P.s. at least several of the parents sharing stories in this thread were separated from their child by more than one row. Although even one row isn’t acceptable for normal parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Six people were assholes - the two people on either side of the three middle seats. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that when asked not one of the six was willing to move. Anyone who had ever been a parent would have understood your dilemma. Something just doesn't ring true here.

Really? You’ve read this thread with the people saying they’d never switch, and saying that a 3 year old should be able to handle it just fine, and you still don’t believe it? It hasn’t happened to me personally but unfortunately I do believe it.

[Anonymous]

I would not trust a stranger who doesn't want to change the seat to pit the mask on my kid in case the cabin loses pressure. Just with an exit row seat, I would ask the flight attendant to find the way the change seats for just this reason.

[Anonymous]

All the flight safety arguments are one in 50 million situation. I wouldn't be worried too much about lack of someone who would help a kid put on a oxygen mask. But this was far from ideal and you should get some kind of compensation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the flight safety arguments are one in 50 million situation. I wouldn't be worried too much about lack of someone who would help a kid put on a oxygen mask. But this was far from ideal and you should get some kind of compensation.

Same with many other safety precautions. Do not fasten your belt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is on you, OP. I've gone on countless flights with my kids, and the situation you want to avoid is asking people yourself on the plane. So here's what you should have done -

1. You should have insisted to get seat assignments upon check-in.
2. If unsuccessful, you should have insisted at the gate, and gone back to ask repeatedly. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
3. If unsuccessful, tell the flight attendant that your child cannot sit by herself (don't ask, tell), and say that you will be asking other passengers to switch. And proceed to do so. Only one of you needs to be seated with your child.

No passenger has ever refused to switch with me in the past, when it's been a question of being seated next to my young child. Stick with the least desirable seat that you've been assigned and ask the person next to it to move to the more desirable one.

This. I usually don't like when people post, "you should have..." posts, but I agree with the above because it's useful for you in the future. When at an airport, you always have to be on the situation and assertive.

I'll add one thing: did you look online the day before to confirm the flight? Generally they email out changes in flights as soon as it's changed.

They tried to do this with us, from Florida to Denver, so a pretty long flight. Once it's in their system, they don't let you change until it's the day of the flight. I called the airline three times in advance of our trip when I saw what they had done, and each time they told me they couldn't do anything until I got to the airport. So when I got to Denver, I said you need to fix this. They said it has to be the day of the flight. So the day of the flight, I said at check in they need to fix it. They said they had to do it at the gate. When I got to the gate, no one was there yet so I waited, first in line and said flat out I will not board this plane until it's fixed. She took my boarding passes and said she'd call us when they found something. I stood there, refusing to move. She said I could sit. I said no thanks I'll just wait right here. You really have to push them on these things. No way was I going to board with my kid a few rows up, and she's 8. Best advice I had ever received was DO NOT BOARD the plane and hope it gets fixed.

[Anonymous]

It's the parent's job to make sure the child is buckled and following the rules. I don't care how slim the odds, the airline should have forced someone to switch. I can't believe they couldn't see the liability. And any adult who could have but didn't switch, you're jerks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Six people were assholes - the two people on either side of the three middle seats. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that when asked not one of the six was willing to move. Anyone who had ever been a parent would have understood your dilemma. Something just doesn't ring true here.

CONPLETELY agree