sjsharksfan

I was traveling back from PEK to SFO with my 2 kids yesterday on UA888. Since 3 of us arrived PEK on different dates so we are on 3 different PNRs. I requested seat assignments a few months ago and we were seated in E+, ABC behind the exit row (my daughter was gifted 2P so 3 of us could get E+).

When checking in, the kids got their seats (A and B) OK but I was told that my aisle seat was taken. I told the lady that I had the seat assigned for months. She consulted someone and assigned the seat back to me. Boarding was smooth and we all sat down in our seats, then a guy came on board, pointed to my seat and said to the FA (I think he's the purser of the main cabin), "Hey, that's my seat.". The FA ask him and me for our BPs and said, "I'll sort it our for you guys.", and left to talk to the GA.

After a while he came back, walked to me and said, "Mr. Sharksfan, we have a business class seat for you in the front. I saw you are traveling with your children here. Would you rather stay here or you would like to move upfront?" I told him I'd rather stay here with the kids, thanked him and told him I wished I was traveling alone.

I thought that it was a very nice touch that he asked me first since he could have just op-up the other guy to C. But when I told him I wished I was traveling alone I really meant it

On other notes:

-It was a pleasant flight. The service is good and the FA's are courteous and prefessional
-They took some pre-flight champagn from C and served a few of us in the front of the E+ ^
-After checking in they made an exception for me to let me take the 2 kids to the lounge. I've flown out of PEK many times before I had any type of status, so I've never been to the lounge there. My expectation was not high after reading all the posts here about the lounge so I got a pleasant surprise. I thought it wasn't that bad - the selections of snack and soft drinks are decent, and I didn't find it crowded and noisy, as least when I was there. On the downside, the furnature is old and the selections of booze are dismal. But, I've certainly been to worse ones, for example, the SEN lounge in FRA between terminal A and B.

transpac-canuck

What were the loads like on 888? I have never seen an op-up occur on 888 C-F yet, and I would not be aware of Y-C op-ups. But I'm curious how the gate staff in PEK handles them. Many of them are Air China employees and have no idea what an "upgrade" is.

sylaw72

what a good father you are.

sjsharksfan

Y was packed and the lower deck C had a handful of open seats. My wife came back in C a couple of weeks ago (upgraded with my SWU) and she told me that Y was pretty packed but C was half full. This may not be typical during the other time of the year since there are lots of parents taking kids back just in time before school starts, and most if not all the families would be in Y. The day I traveled also coincide with the conclusion of an international junior track and field meet in PEK so quite a few athletes were catch the flight home as well.

This is certainly the case. The girl who checked me in was in CA uniform. I had the suspicion that I was op-up'ed already when I checked in so my seat was released, but she just didn't see it or didn't understand. To give her credit, she did give every bit of effort to seat me together with the kids, though

CMK10

Agreed, my parents would routinely pay for J or F for themselves and stick me and my siblings in the back. Sometimes my Dad would come back to coach if we were on a Redeye and say "well I slept great...how about you guys?" What a comedian.

LAX

Hmmm.......I guess depending how old the kids are, I might have sent one of them up front. Not that I would do this, perhaps the OP could have taken the C seat and offered the guy in his seat the "opportunity" to move up for a mere $50!

LAX

bluester

Yeah, it's funny, I think moving one of the kids up there would be an interesting thought. It would have been funny if a FA had gone up to one of the kids and asked them if they wanted to op-up!

- agreed that the OP is a good dad. I'm sure the good karma will come back around.