There have been plenty of controversial stories about a husband flying first class while his wife and kids sit in coach. Maybe he got the upgrade, and only one seat was available. Or he was on a business trip and had to be rested, so the company paid for his seat.
But this story about a family splitting up on the plane was genuinely new to me: the kids fly first class while the dad sits in coach.
I guess it doesn’t surprise me that he then proceeded to ask whether anyone in first class would switch with him, taking his coach seat while he watches the kids in first?
- He’s too cheap to pay for the seat in the first place, or there were only two seats available for sale
- He figures that he may get a sucker who wants him watching his kids enough to give up their own seat
- If he wants everyone to be together, he should offer the first class seats his kids have to the two passengers in his coach row!
Some guy put both his kid daughters in first class but booked himself in economy. Then proceeded to ask everyone in first class if they would switch seats with him. This is a 5 hour flight. You should have booked yourself in first class too if you wanted to be next to your kids.
— ️ (@the_P_God) October 11, 2024
Parents have flown first class while leaving their kids alone in coach, justifying it as teaching them a life lesson which I guess is to subject your children to other passengers while you day drink? The intention is that they don’t enjoy the fruits of your labor, I think, until they’ve learned to earn it for themselves.
I do think it’s something that many parents worry about – creating so much comfort that their kids lose the hunger. Years ago Bear Stearns chairman Ace Greenberg used to like to hire “P.S.D.s” – Poor, Smart, with a deep Desire to become rich. You don’t want them to lose the desire to become whatever lets them use their talents, whatever they are, to the fullest.
At the same time, you want to give them the support which is freedom to fail, not to have to be so focused on a pay check to get by, so that they can take risks and use their talents, whatever they are, to the fullest.
Being apart from your family for a few hours isn’t itself tragic, but at the same time when I look back on traveling with children when I’m 70 or even 80, will I have wanted to spend time more focused on a whatever I’m doing at my seat or on my child?
I suppose I understand the argument for not flying kids in premium cabins, and it’s probably ok to leave them in back when they’re teens. At younger ages, if you want them in back you should travel with them there.
What I do not understand is putting kids in first class and the parents in back. Maybe the parents think the smaller cabin means flight attendants are more likely to notice them and baby sit?
Gary: “What I do not understand is putting kids in first class and the parents in back. Maybe the parents think the smaller cabin means flight attendants are more likely to notice them and baby sit?”
I think it’s obvious as illustrated by his actions: He was betting that he could score a free first class upgrade because some passenger would swap with him. He rolled the dice and hopefully lost.
I would never, EVER, swap seats in this situation.
THIS is what the judgmental people are worried about? Get a life. When you pay their bills, then you get an opinion!
A bit of an over-analysis.
People can be idiots sometimes and will engage in stupid stuff. Get used to it.
Kids in the premium cabins… that’s another issue.
I regularly fly business. I have two long-haul flights coming up and I’m in business class on both. The absolute last thing I want to see is a kid or, even worse, a pair of them, up front, with or without supervision. If they’re noisy, keep your sprogs in the back. Better yet, leave them at home until they learn to be civil.
Haven’t been in the dad’s position, but was close. Flying a domestic F leg of an international award ticket in J for our family of four, I was downgraded at the gate for a deadheading pilot.
My wife and 2 kids (under age 10) boarded in F, only to discover that her seat was inoperative. FA summoned the GA, who told her she didn’t want to delay boarding, so she’d get a coach seat “when everyone was boarded.”
Obviously that wasn’t going to work, so the FA solicited volunteers for the involuntary downgrade. In the end, it was the pilot who gave up his seat for my wife.
*self-made alert* @Lori and @Billy Bob lifted themselves up by their bootstraps and earned them seats up front! *wee woo wee woo*
Lori says: “THIS is what the judgmental people are worried about? Get a life.” and I think she is spot on whether you pay their bills later in life or you don’t. Well done Lori! Good post. And as to Gary, slow, real slow day cuz this wasn’t worth the amount of time it took you to post it . Sorry. There is always tomorrow
“Parents have flown first class while leaving their kids alone in coach, justifying it as teaching them a life lesson which I guess is to subject your children to other passengers while you day drink? The intention is that they don’t enjoy the fruits of your labor, I think, until they’ve learned to earn it for themselves. ”
Exactly. If somebody hands you the keys to a Maserati out of the blue you’re going to have a lot less respect for what it actually takes to earn the money to buy that Maserati. Handing kids things most people have to work hard for all the time is doing your kids a disservice.
I almost always give a family member my upgrade before using it myself. Wife comes first, then kids, then me. They are well behaved and understand they are getting something nice. I would never ask someone else to downgrade themselves though. I just sit in coach and maybe check on them once during the flight (at most).
Thats when I’m on my own time. If my company paid for the seat so I can be rested when I get there, that’s something different.
I’m lucky enough to get an upgrade or purchase the business seat myself for a five hour flight and a guy wants to swap his coach seat for mine? Absolutely Not!!
Add @Coffee Please to the list! He earned that seat, and ain’t givin’ it up for nobody! Sittin’ in back is for chumps!
I agree with what @Thing 1 said; it’s a free upgrade ploy. While aiming for First Class is an extreme, the phenomenon happens in more mundane situations; for example, a parent books a middle seat in one row and books a middle seat for the child in another row. The parent then asks someone in the more expensive aisle or window seats to give up their seat for the child’s less expensive middle seat.
If this moron had asked me to switch he’d would have gotten a response fitting for a moron. My parents would have sat in first, sent us back to coach with a stern warning to sit there and not say a word unless spoken to.
We had a long and messy return from St Kitts and, after 3 hours sleep at a cheap airport hotel, I asked an ORD gate agent if she’d give me an upgrade so I could surprise my wife who was recovering from Chemo and could use the rest. I smiled and handed the ticket to my wife while boarding. She refused the F ticket because it was a window seat and she preferred an aisle for better bathroom access, so she insisted on sitting in coach with our two young kids. Totally backfired on me and I actively avoided eye contact with the gate agent when she briefly stepped into the cabin. The situation isn’t always how it appears.
‘When you pay their bills, then you get an opinion!” That’s not how things work. I can have a opinion (negative) about con artists who pray on the elderly even though I don’t pay their bills. How this family spends their money is their business. But if dad orders a salad for himself and lobster for his kids and expects me at the next table to trade the lobster I’m paying for … well I won’t be able to hide my disgust and contempt.
@AlmostHappened – Did you wife then fly the plane? Pilot gave up his seat for her.
Did she sit in the Flight Deck?
LOL