View from the Wing Archives.
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.
A couch passenger plugged their power cord into the seat back on a redeye flight this week and it began flashing red, green and blue rave-style, with the cord draped across the seatback area so – and indeed the cabin – is blasted by rapidly changing colors like a strobe light.
A window seat passenger was scolded for looking out the window, and reading by the outside light. When that’s what a window is for! They share the story wondering if they were in the wrong, but from their telling they clearly weren’t. It was an afternoon flight, around 2 p.m., and they opened their window shade to read and look outside. A woman nearby demanded to their partner that they close the shade because it was bright and “everyone else” had theirs closed. (Apparently several other rows did have their shades open.) When their partner responded that the window seat passenger was reading, the woman called him an ‘a-hole’ and theatrically shielded her face. Then she summoned a flight attendant. The flight attendant reportedly asked the passenger for a compromise as a courtesy – to…
A United Flight Attendant stopped boarding twice after coach passengers put their bags in first class overhead bins despite empty space above their own seats. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the etiquette of scarce bin space and premium cabin signs actually enforced.
Toys on the floor, shoes off, blankets spread out, suitcases open — one family turned a Delta Sky Club seating area into something closer to a kids play zone than a shared premium lounge. Children belong in lounges, but when a family’s mess spills beyond its own footprint, the cost gets pushed onto everyone else trying to use the space as a refuge from the terminal.
The debate over kids in business class misses the point. The real issue is not age, it is behavior: a quiet, well-parented child is far less disruptive than the loud, drunk, seat-kicking, aisle-blocking adult passengers airlines tolerate every day in premium cabins.
A passenger who tried to recline her seat says the traveler behind her kept shoving it forward again and again, turning a routine flight into one of the most familiar battles in air travel. Whatever you think about recline etiquette, physically forcing someone else’s seat upright is not how this gets settled.
A parent’s viral “painter’s tape hack” to keep a toddler busy by letting them stick and re‑stick tape all over their seat and tray on an American Airlines flight has ignited internet debate—some call it ingenious, while others say it’s inconsiderate and messy.
A college student bought herself a $7,000 business-class ticket to Dubai as a graduation gift—but moments after settling into her seat, another passenger demanded she downgrade to coach so her daughter could have it, loudly calling her “ungrateful” when she refused until a flight attendant finally intervened.
An influencer’s mid-flight attempt at romance hilariously misfired when the oblivious guy across the aisle completely missed her subtle (and then not-so-subtle) hints. Her awkward efforts—and his total confusion—quickly went viral, turning an everyday Sydney-Melbourne flight into comedy gold.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
