Rant: To Mr. L - Seated in First Class

Dear Mr. L -

Congratulations on securing your upgrade from IAD - IAH yesterday on UA 1149 from economy to seat 1K! I'm sure that it expected to be a pleasurable experience for you.

You arrived on the plane late, and obviously very rushed. I can only imagine your SHOCK and utter dismay when you arrived at your seat and discovered my lovely wife seated in 1L with my 22 month old child.

While you were on the ground and at the gate, I can tell you my wife very much appreciated your audible complaints to the entire first class cabin about wanting a discount because you were forced to have to sit next to a child in first class. I can also tell you that your audible sighs and grumbles every time my little angel talked to my wife in her excitement about her trip were noted and only made my wife more uncomfortable.

I can also tell you that my wife very much appreciated you demanding to the flight attendants in front of her that she be moved, considering that she had arrived early and unpacked all of her travel items to keep the child busy and entertained in her seat. My wife and child are travel pros, and we have never had an incident onboard a plane with any screaming and yelling in over 40 flights, but you wouldn't know that unless you asked. So, of course, my wife had to gather up her stuff, her child, her two bags and move to another seat, just so you could be seated next to another business traveller. The message was very transparent - you don't like kids.

I can also tell you that the only noise that my child made the entire flight was when the plane bumped down at landing, she shouted "Daddy!" in her excited voice, because she knew she was home. It seems that the other travelers who were seated in the area of my wife's newly assigned non-window seat complimented her on my child's behavior and said how wonderfully behaved she was the entire flight, and she didn't even know she was there.

So - just in case you read this - maybe you will ease up a bit on people. Be a bit more tolerant and patient and you could be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck in your future travels - and if no-children is what you want on your upgraded first class flights - then go fly elsewhere. My child and wife deserve every upgrade they get for the travels they do, just as you do.

Kind regards.

I travel with my kids 5 and 2.5 Y all the time, most on C class. Had problem only once because the passenger refused to sit besides a child.

Ended up on GlobalFirst. Passenger asked why me and my 5 year old got upgraded, Purser said the kid had a higher status.

My wife and the 2 year old continued on C class.

So why did your wife change seats?

exactly!!!. If anything, your wife should have asked the FA to remove this oaf from his seat.

That's my question too. Why didn't she tell them to stuff it?

I ran into this once a while back while flying in C. The complaint was complete with a stage-whispered, "I'm nt sitting next to a screamer!" comment to a FA. The FA changed the complaining pax to a seat in the next row. My sn (who was 6 months old at the time) was as quiet as a mouse the whole flight. He got lots of compliments when we arrived.

Because my wife is beautiful, non-conforontational and cooperative. She does what she's asked to do. "Stuff it" isn't in her vocabulary.

She's a better person than I am - I would have had him removed from the plane.

Compliments to your wife for taking the higher road. I probably would have told Mr. LEI how I really felt about him, in addition to suggesting that next time, he try NetJets or some other form of "individual" travel.

Remember that the "class" in First Class doesn't refer to the pax, just a cabin designator.

Seriously, your wife, not you, should send a complaint to UA, expressly noting that she doesn't want compensation, but that the FA should be counseled. The proper resolution was to move the jerk, not your wife.

I'm not willing to give infants the benefit of the doubt when they're in the seat next to me. Too many bad experiences with the sprogs and their parents.

And puke. Oh the puke. Puke everywhere.

I'd ask the purser about being reseated.

There's a difference between a 22 month old and an infant. And I've had flights of complete parental failure as well - but no way would I demand that someone be reseated. I'd take the hit, and do it quietly.

I have a feeling that this thread is going towards 'kid hater', 'screamer' and other name calling quite soon...

i don't think i've ever had an issue with screaming kids. but if i walked on, sat down in F and had child playing with toys in the seat next to me, i'd probably join in.

in all seriousness...that guy clearly doesn't get it.

Ah, you've gotta call that "in private" so as to not biase the results.

I'm in the "wait and see" mode with respect to infants in F. In Y, I pick exit row or E+, so it's not an issue there. But they do yell and howl on 75% of flights I've been on.

Obvioulsy a different flight - but you get the idea...