So after a good night sleep and a chance to look at this with fresh eyes here’s what I’ve come up with.



When we were at the airport in Chicago it wasn’t made clear the reason behind why we couldn’t sit apart. We’ve done this in the past numerous times, so it certainly caught me off guard, especially when they asked if we were married. (So if we had a child together and we were unwed, it would be okay?) I think the customer service agents still stunk at doing their jobs. And the confusion on the plane with the other passengers about seat reassignments could have been entirely avoided if handled with a bit more tact by the gate agents.



It didn’t dawn on me the existence of said language until it was pointed out here on Flyertalk. I wrote the thread while taxiing, so that’s why I titled the thread the way I did. I assure you it wasn’t to mislead the situation. I am grateful to twitch76 who spent the time and looked up the info on Alaska Airlines, which does indeed say” Not have a responsibility, such as a child under 15 years old, unless a second parent or guardian is seated elsewhere with child”



Based on that alone, I don’t think I did anything wrong by booking the seats the way I did. Again, not to beat a horse to death, but we were all traveling under separate reservation and only my son’s reservation was linked with mine. For all intents and purposes, my wife was flying solo.



And additionally, in an emergency I think everyone would help everyone. I don’t think there is any evidence to support the notion that parents lose their minds in emergency’s any more than other passengers traveling with a companion. Otherwise, why would it be okay for one parent and child to sit in row 1 while the other parent may sit in the very last row? Just row 16 and 17 matter? And parents just stop caring about kids when they turn 15? And all 15-year-olds can handle themselves like adults? Sure, okay.



If it was as simple and straight forward as some here would like to make it out to be then the safety card would say,



“If one or more parents (whether married, divorced, separated, unwed or other) or escorts or court ordered legal guardians of a minor under 15 years of age are traveling on the same flight (regardless of whether they are on the same ticketed reservation), then neither parent, escort or legal guardian shall be permitted to sit in any exit row.”



Now why doesn’t the safety card say that? Probably because it reads as idiotic as it would be in practice. If one parent on board, sure, no emergency exit. With multiple parents, then I think the language allowing for discretion. In the past the discretion has been in our favor. Apparently Monday it wasn’t.



Anyhow – I’m going to file off the Alaska Listens this morning and (right or wrong) I will provide a follow up when I get an answer. Thanks FlyerTalk!