Action against unprincipled passenger?
#61
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: PHL
Programs: AA ExP, Marriott Amb, National EAE, Hilton Diamond, SPG Plat (RIP), US CP (RIP)
Posts: 2,372
AA should address the FA who facilitated the move. Don’t care if it was a CK regular ... FA was so wrong to downgrade a paid pax to pacify another pax. Sounds like that will happen due to the miles and reimbursement already noted.
Yes, the CK was a DYKWIA (or worse). But in his defense he may of thought they were UMs placed there by the crew, and if someone was going to get an operational upgrade why not his family? FA could have / should have straightened out that mis-perception.
Kids are evidently too too immature to travel alone and this was a good lesson for them and their parents. While they might have been taught to respect elders and people in authority, neither one thought to notify their parents they had been moved. Letting them be in a separate cabin was a good learning experience but I wouldn’t be letting them travel alone anytime soon. And parents transiting cabins with food says they aren’t necessarily equipped to be role models on travel etiquette and norms.
Yes, the CK was a DYKWIA (or worse). But in his defense he may of thought they were UMs placed there by the crew, and if someone was going to get an operational upgrade why not his family? FA could have / should have straightened out that mis-perception.
Kids are evidently too too immature to travel alone and this was a good lesson for them and their parents. While they might have been taught to respect elders and people in authority, neither one thought to notify their parents they had been moved. Letting them be in a separate cabin was a good learning experience but I wouldn’t be letting them travel alone anytime soon. And parents transiting cabins with food says they aren’t necessarily equipped to be role models on travel etiquette and norms.
#62
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,042
In other threads many advocate it is always OK to ask people to change seats for your own benefit and think it is just fine take advantage of nice but inexperienced flyers when they do.
#63
Join Date: Jan 2003
Programs: American Airlines Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 3,790
The Concierge Key guy is a despicable person, and I’d tell him so, but nothing more to be done here.
I also question parents who travel in a higher class of service than their children. I don’t like that, either.
#64
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
I appreciate your concern but the thread is about an adult "punking" children... Complaining about every "punking" incident by AA is not going to get you anything. Complaining to an airline about being "punked" by another customer, even less. Unfortunately, OP's friend is about to realize if this if they pursue this...
#65
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
If you’re a teen and a pompous adult tells you to do something...often you do it.
The Concierge Key guy is a despicable person, and I’d tell him so, but nothing more to be done here.
I also question parents who travel in a higher class of service than their children. I don’t like that, either.
#67
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
these jackasses (this person and people who act like this - not all CK obviously) have to be called out and put in their place.....usually once they are they sit down and shut up.
Last edited by AANYC1981; Jul 28, 2018 at 9:12 pm
#68
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: DL DM, AA EXP, various hotel
Posts: 2,227
Kids are evidently too too immature to travel alone and this was a good lesson for them and their parents. While they might have been taught to respect elders and people in authority, neither one thought to notify their parents they had been moved. Letting them be in a separate cabin was a good learning experience but I wouldn’t be letting them travel alone anytime soon. And parents transiting cabins with food says they aren’t necessarily equipped to be role models on travel etiquette and norms.
#69
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bangkok, Thailand. No longer Palm Coast, FL though still exiled, again, from the Bay Area.
Programs: Only the good ones
Posts: 5,153
Interesting thing about this story is that at age 16, the kid is not just viewed as an adult by airlines but adult enough to supervise a 14 yr old.
Agree the seat poacher was a <redacted> and it's bad if the FA, who helped the kids move, didn't point out to the kids that they were getting inferior seats.
Agree the seat poacher was a <redacted> and it's bad if the FA, who helped the kids move, didn't point out to the kids that they were getting inferior seats.
Age rangeRestrictions
0-5Children under 5 years of age may not travel alone under any circumstances.
5-7Can only travel on nonstop or direct flights.
8-14Can travel on any nonstop or direct flight, or any connecting flight through Charlotte, NC (CLT), Washington Reagan, D.C. (DCA), Dallas Forth Worth, TX (DFW), New York, NY (JFK and LGA), Los Angeles, CA (LAX), Miami, FL (MIA), Chicago, IL (ORD), Philadelphia, PA (PHL) and Phoenix, AZ (PHX).
15-17Children in this age range don’t have to use the unaccompanied minor service, but it’s still available to them. When traveling alone,
children 16 years of age and older can book online, to book children 15 years of age, you’ll need to call Reservations.Note:
Children 2-14 years old can travel as an 'accompanied minor' with someone 16 years or older.
Last edited by JDiver; Jul 28, 2018 at 10:56 pm Reason: Redacted previously deleted post content
#70
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: MSP/DFW
Programs: Priority Club PLT, Marriott Titanium, AA EXP
Posts: 480
If you’re a teen and a pompous adult tells you to do something...often you do it.
The Concierge Key guy is a despicable person, and I’d tell him so, but nothing more to be done here.
I also question parents who travel in a higher class of service than their children. I don’t like that, either.
#71
Join Date: May 1998
Location: australia
Posts: 5,755
Last edited by 3544quebec; Jul 29, 2018 at 4:09 am
#72
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Radisson Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 3,621
But passengers often agree to this. I once had a guy come from business class back to our economy row and say "Will someone take my business class seat so I can sit back here with my colleague/girlfriend?" Also, we have whole threads devoted to seat swaps where, believe it or not, people do ask other (adult) passengers seated in one class to downgrade "could you move back to economy so I can sit up here with my wife"
The problem here is that the OP's friends thought that the kids were old enough and responsible enough to sit alone but then freaked out when they made an adult-type (bad) decision to give up their seats for someone else.
The problem here is that the OP's friends thought that the kids were old enough and responsible enough to sit alone but then freaked out when they made an adult-type (bad) decision to give up their seats for someone else.
#73
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Radisson Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 3,621
Also, it sounds to me like the CK was in PE and the two kids were next to him and he asked them to swap with his wife and kid in the back? It's very possible (likely?) that he would have asked anyone, adult or kid, seated next to him to swap, and he just got lucky being seated next to a couple of gullible kids who were more likely than adults to agree to the swap. I don't think it's fair to suggest that he specifically targeted the kids for chicanery.
#74
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
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Posts: 21,422
I missed how the FA is at fault. The FA didn't know whether or not they knew each other. The FA didn't downgrade the kids, they were asked by the passenger if they would swap
#75
Join Date: Jan 2003
Programs: American Airlines Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 3,790
No need for sarcasm. My family wouldn’t put children in a lower class of service, and I wouldn’t put a family member (older or younger) in a lower class of service. Based on responses to this point, clearly some people find children in a lower class of service offensive, and some people do not. There’s no unanimous view on this point, which is fine.