JSteele

DEN-ATL-TLV w/ 777lr on the TLV leg. I am in BE but the wife and 2 yr old are in coach. These are award tix and we just didn't have the miles for 3 BE, especially as the Low award to TLV exists only in theory, not on any calendar. It's not like traveling with a 2 yr old would work well on the BE LR seats anyways. I got them as close to the front as I could, while I am in 14a, the last row of BE.

It would be nice of me to hang on to the kid while my wife uses the bathroom, or even to share some of my BE meal.

Will they get chewed out if they come up to say hello?

Is it possible they could sit on the little footrest on the 777lr BE seat?

I was hoping to bring it up with an FA when we board, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experiences with this on DL or other airlines.

Thanks

HWGeeks

Your wife is going to hate you and it also depends on the FA.

I was in First and gf and her sister were in coach. Sisters 6 years old. Anywho when they attempted to come into first the FA told them that they had to use the bathroom inbetween cabins and didn't let them in. She then ccame to me and told me someone in coach wanted to see me so I went back there.

Another flight the FA did the same thing but she did let me take my fruit bowl to them.

happymommy

I would be pissed if I were your wife!!!

Seriously, did you look into using the miles for upgrades instead? I would not fly coach with our 2 year old while my husband was in first. That is wrong in so many ways...

I don't think the flight attendants will like the child coming up to first, as it is probably against the rules.

HWGeeks

I just showed this post to a friend.

She said if her husband did this to her she'd file for the big D lol

thepointsguy

Why are you in BE? I think its a pretty boneheaded move to leave your wife and toddler in coach. As you brought up, what if she has to go to the bathroom? What if your child act ups, especially during taxi/landing when you can't move? For an ~11 hour flight, having to run between cabins is less than ideal- for you and the other passengers. The 777s are 3 3 3 configured, so I think it makes perfect sense for the three of you to sit together.

manneca

You get to sit in coach with the kid. Let your wife have a bit of vacation. End of problem.

YWG-RO

Very bad idea on your part. Are you actually talking about your own child?

Suggest you take immediate measures to either have the 3 of you sit in Y, or upgrade all to J (miles or cash). Alternatively, give your J seat to your wife and sit in Y with your child.

Wow.

JSteele

Ouch! I knew I'd get some flack.

My Defense:

Sure I'd rather be vacationing from snowy Denver on some warm sunny island somewhere, but I gave in to visit her family in Israel, which has very dreary winter weather. That made her happy. Sure, I am over a foot taller than she is and don't fit nearly as well in the coach seat. We had about 300,000 miles, split between two accts, all from various bonuses and xfers for the short lived Delta promo this time last year. I have no status, so we did 1 BE award seat (medium) and pay w/ miles partially for the other two w/ the leftovers. There simply was no way, short of spending about six thousand dollars extra to get three BE seats. So the choice was one BE seat or none. Besides, even if we somehow had 3 BE seats, how do we put out 2 yr old in a LR BE seat by herself? We are traveling on Xmas day and I booked them Aisle and Window with the hopes that there will be no one in the middle traveling on xmas and she can create her own lie flat seat w/ our little girl. They are staying longer and returning separately, and she will have others in our family with her on the same flight.

That said, the point of the post was my effort make amends by trying to share the child care duties.

DiverDave

I think the footrest is specifically labeled not to be used as a seat.

David

nogophers

Give your wife the BE seat (how often does she get the chance to travel this way versus you?) or all 3 of you should be sitting in coach.

JSteele

I have heard that, but I wonder if that is for takeoff and landing purposes as obviously it is not approved. Has anyone ever seen someone sit there during a meal?

Wow, now I know how Tiger Woods feels. What's worse, cheating on your wife, or sitting up front? FTers opinions may differ.

Another reason we did this was to enjoy the baggage allowance and priority check in w/ the BE ticket.

BTW, I have flown several times w/ my daughter and without my wife, and had no problems. FWIW our daughter loves to fly and is a model passenger, often receiving compliments on her behavior from other pax and FAs after the flight.

HWGeeks

It's going to be hard to have the 2 year old using 2 seats. Don't they make a 2 year old sit in a car seat on International flights?

JSteele

Last trip to TLV we were both on LH award seats in business on the bulkhead w/ the then 1 yr old in the bassinet. Fantastic flight. We have a couple 2010 vacations planned in first/bus on AA. For a little perspective, most of our travels together have been in a private aircraft, w/ me as the pilot. No potty, no FAs, but no TSA either. Flying commercial is luxury by comparison.

As for me downgrading myself to coach from the 777lr BE? You've got to be kidding me. Even if I did, it would be worse on my wife, who will likely be stretched out across three seats.

I have never heard that. We do have a CARES harness though.

flyover23

When I booked my wife and I on a recent trip, and set them up on separate itineraries so I could get on the upgrade list (she's not elite and we're on a T fare), the agent told me, "You know the upgrade rules, right? If you get the upgrade, you have to give it to your wife."

Spoken like a man who's been married a while. So true.....

Drew

pmaddock

Absolutely - I categorically give my wife the FC seat if I can't get us all up front.