Travelers will refuse an upgrade to sit near a loved one

[conuly]

This is news that ought to shock nobody.

And yet, there are people like the asshole in this letter.

Comments

[lilysea]

I can see times that it might make sense to split up for an upgrade -

if one of you has chronic pain that will be less-bad in a larger, more comfortable seat, for example

or if one of you is getting a migraine from a crying baby nearby

but there needs to be a *reason*

[alexseanchai]

has nobody in this letter considered putting the kids in first class too?

like if the difference in price between four first-class tickets and four regular tickets is prohibitive, okay, but the dad shouldn't be considering leaving preteens unsupervised in the regular section when traveling as a family is an option—the sixteen-year-old wasn't always, and will undoubtedly resent being little sib's supervision under these circumstances almost as much as little sib will resent needing big sib's supervision under these circumstances—and the dad should definitely not be the only one ever getting first-class perks

[conuly]

My sister and I were traveling without adults from the time we were 6 and 9 years old. Yes, as "unsupervised minors", but the supervision that the airline provided was minimal, and we were mostly left to our own devices. I don't really see that your average preteen is going to get into that much trouble on a plane when the parents are also on the plane - or, really, even if they're not.

[conuly]

(I mean, yeah, Dad should not be traveling first class and stranding the rest of his family in coach, but really, most kids 12 and 16 can sit by themselves for a few hours.)

[isis]

That was my first thought. If I were a kid I would be pissed off at my parents being in First and me in the back!

[spiffikins]

I think it would depend on who I am travelling with, and how long the flight is. I'm not particularly social when on a plane - so if I was travelling with another adult, and we were BOTH offered better seats - I would probably want us to take them, even if they were not beside each other. All I want to do on a flight is try to be unconscious for as much of it as I can, anyway.

But if it was just one person being offered the upgrade - I would feel bad taking it if I was travelling with another person who was not offered the upgrade, so I probably wouldn't. Depends though...a long flight, it would be really tempting. Flying is basically torture.

[low_delta]

I don’t think our kids would mind if they were in economy plus and my husband and I sat together in first class. Is that unfair of me to want?
She's been exposed to this asshat for so long, she's starting to think like him.

[calimac]

I review concerts and get two press tickets. My wife usually doesn't want to go (physical disability), so I ask friends. But most of my friends come in couples and I can only have one of them. Difficult.

[crystalpyramid]

Yep, oddly enough I will pay extra for the "privilege" of getting a seat next to my four year old. I'm sure nobody on the airplane would benefit if she was away from me and yet they make me pay extra.

[conuly]

LOL, I don't know if you knew me when the kids were little, so perhaps you haven't heard the story, but one time I was on the train with the kids when they were 3 and 5. And I think I had another child or two with me, so the older children sat together and I went to sit with the younger one. There were enough seats available for each of us to have a seat, but, crucially, not enough for me to sit next to the toddler. (Or I may have had one child on my lap? I don't quite remember this detail, but I remember the important part.)

Which normally is no problem. Normally, people moved before I even had to ask, which is great, because as you know nobody ever wants to ask for a seat. But this time, the kid sat down, and I sat down, and there was a man in between us. And he didn't offer to switch seats. So I asked. And he said no, which is astonishing, so we spent several minutes like that, with me passing snacks over him and getting orange rinds back, etc. And the whole time I was thinking "We could have avoided all this, sir, if you weren't a total dick for no reason."

[crystalpyramid]

Wow. I hope he learned something from that experience.

It frustrates me how the people who understand the parenting experience are so often the elderly people whose seats you feel bad about taking. Like when I'm riding the bus with a kid who's going to be either on my hip or falling over every time the bus stops if she's not in a seat, couldn't somebody under the age of 60 be the one to offer me a seat?

[shaddyr]

If I had a husband and he tried to fly first class and stick the rest of the family in economy, he'd be divorced before the vacation was over. What a douche nozzle.