mvoight

How was the FA to know the kids and the people they swapped with didn't know each other. Why did the kids agree to swap seats?
I don't know why the airline should give vouchers for a voluntary seat swap that the airline was not involved in

DutchessPDX

Mostly likely because they're two kids and an adult asked them to switch so they probably felt like they had to and didn't know any better.

platbrownguy

Do you get asked to move out of your domestic F seat into a seat down the back in Y? I certainly haven't been asked that. And PE seats are essentially the same (in terms of pitch, width, and comfort) as domestic F seats.

I don't see this "ask" as being at all similar to an ask to move within a cabin, or even to move from MCE to Y.

NeedstoFly

jmail1

Thanks for the replies everyone, as for the why, because they are a very kind family that teaches their kids to respect adults. I agree that at that age some kids have the ability to comprehend what's happening, but others just view things with a bit more naive eye. We're getting to the point where more and more kids that age are willing to confront adults, but thankfully we're not to a point where it is the norm. I know it's a fine line when you are getting taken advantage of but I could go on for days about the entitlement of kids today. I have to hire them and they come in thinking they should be allowed to run the company in their third week.

They didn't make a big to-do about how much the seat upgrades were so I doubt the kids understood the big difference between PE and Y, even though they'd flown it on the way out. It was there first trip out of the country, and at that age neither of them would have been worse for wear having to sit in Y for that long, especially on a flight with WiFi while they could text there friends.

This is 100% about that guy, not about getting anything further from AA directly. AA went above and beyond, and I (and he) agrees that anything further regarding compensation would be unnecessary. If the Y flight attendant hadn't participated in moving them back to their new Y seats I'd even think giving the additional miles would have been a bit excessive. For the person that commented on her thinking they knew each other and agreed on it that absolutely wasn't the case, she complemented the kids on being kind enough to let a family sit together.

jmail1

I don't know if i'd say supervise given the parents were 5 rows up. As a parent I think you have to treat each situation and each kid on it's own. I trust their daughter to babysit my kid so I'm probably a bit skewed, but she's perfectly capable of minding her brother with or without her parents.

I know there are whole threads on whether parents should sit in a different cabin class than their kids. I'm one who has paid for my kid to fly in F and J on all of our long-haul trips to Asia and at some point I'm going to move him back to Y, I just haven't figured out what age. He's gotten to the point where he expects a bed and extended meal plan on even 2 hour domestic flights. If we're fortunate enough to keep taking these family trips I don't feel like I'm setting him up for success in life if that's all he's experienced. As a young couple we made 10x trips overseas in coach and before we experienced even the old school AA business class, can't imagine if we had to do that after spending 18 years flying exclusively today's lie-flat business products.

SeeBuyFly

Here on FT we tend to hear the same stories over and over. This is a new one, thanks! It would never occur to me to scam kids, but that's just me.

LondonElite

I think it's time to move on. No airline will give you access to the passenger's details, so the whole thing is a pointless exercise. I think I understand what happened, but can't help but wonder whether there was something in it for the kids as well. My kids would not have moved without checking with me first.

jphripjah

If I took my kids to Europe, I'd warn them in advance to be aware of travel scams. Not this one, specifically, but I guess now I know. I don't have kids, of course. But I'm wondering if proper parenting is teaching them to be deferential to adults or teaching them to tell most strangers who ask them for something to F right off.

If a kid is using a pen to fill out an immigration card and adult asks to borrow it, you wouldn't want the kid to say no. But if a kid is using a cell phone on the street and an adult asks to borrow it, you probably wouldn't want the kid to say yes.

Maybe the OP's friend needs to work on teaching the kids street smarts.

JumboJet

Forget it and move on. There are 100 other people waiting to take this guy's place.

jphripjah

Also, I'm surprised no one has posted "I have no sympathy for the OP's friend because he's one of these people who asks to bring sundaes from first class to coach."

LondonElite

...but we were all thinking it!

erik123

When my kids travel alone they are instructed not to change seats. If asked they are to explain that dad has selected that seat for safety reasons and they are not allowed to move.

jmail1

This wouldn't require access to the passenger details, AA could reach out to the guy or just note his record. I know it's far fetched and very unlikely to happen but it makes me feel better thinking about it.

jmail1

Ha, that was the first thing I told him before he got into the meat of the story! It was his first time flying up front, he understood after I explained why it wasn't allowed. He did ask the FA so I guess that's better than just assuming.