Last week Mely Villa Skoglund took to social media to complain about a long haul Delta flight where she was stuck without “extra room” for 12 hours because the flight home to the U.S. was “sold out.”
She can be seat crouched on the floor in front of two economy seats while her two small children sleep across the seats.
- She bought a seat for herself and one child
- The second child traveled as a lap infant
In other words, she got the seats she paid for. Her beef was the flight was full, so there weren’t extra seats to spread into. For long haul international, flying with a lap infant usually costs 10% of the adult fare. That’s a lot cheaper than buying them a seat.
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Sometimes you get lucky and there’s an extra seat next to you. That’s a lot less common than it used to be, though I had an empty exit row middle next to me on American earlier this week. I remember flying American coach 35 years ago to Sydney – lucking into a full row of middle seats to lay down to sleep in on the overnight flight (back then the flight was via Honolulu). On the way back though every seat was packed.
The internet was not sypathetic to this parent’s gripe. My favorite online comments:
“Did you pick up the baby on a whim at duty free?”
“Just put them in the overhead compartment…”
“YOU ARE LITERALLY SITTING IN DELTA COMFORT…” (so stop complaining)
“Why won’t other people accommodate me for my poor planning?”
She bought two seats and got two seats, though three bodies were permitted to fly. She hoped to get a third seat free, rolled the dice and lost. That’s not Delta’s fault. It’s still fair to express that long haul economy can be tough, though! She still probably shouldn’t be unbelted on the floor.
When I write about how airlines don’t deliver on the upgrades they promise to elite members much anymore – Delta says about 12% of first class seats go to upgrades, compared to nearly 90% two decades ago – some commenters chime in, “want first, buy first.” Sure, but there at least the airline promises upgrades as a benefit of the program and Delta is known for failing to clear upgrades at the gate even when seats are available. This was literally just getting exactly what was promised and hoping for an empty flight, right?
(HT: Enirlia)
I learned pretty quickly that despite getting a nearly free seat for an infant, it’s not worth it for ultra-long-haul (10+ hours). From the time that my daughter was 3 months, we always bought her a seat.
@Raphael – totally agree. We’ve always bought our kids their own seat (with very few exceptions), particularly on long-haul flights. IMO if people can’t afford to buy their baby a seat, maybe they shouldn’t be flying. You’re not allowed to hold your baby in your lap on the car ride to the airport are you?
She got what she paid for. She wasn’t entitled to anything more. She should have planned out her travel more thoroughly so the kids could sleep and everybody could be buckled up in case of turbulence.
What I find amazing is the clueless narcissism that would lead someone to publicly complain about something like this.
Gary, you gave this person what they are looking for: more attention than they deserve. As if anyone who reads your blog is going to sympathize with her? Multiple times a year I overhear people complaining at rental car lots that there are no ‘free upgrades’ when they reserved whatever was cheapest and have multiple people in their party with large bags, this is no different.
Makes me think of the quote, “The world owes you nothing”.