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Sister could not sit next to her 4 year old

Sister could not sit next to her 4 year old

Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:30 am
  #1  
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Sister could not sit next to her 4 year old

Firstly if you do not like children….move on you will not have any sympathy for this thread.

I could not believe my ears when my sister told me of her flight.

Yesterday my sister flew with her two children, one a 1 year old the other a 4 year old. My father booked the F tickets (these were paid for, but before you moan at me yes I know this does not really matter).

At booking no seats were available to seat them together and the agent said the airport will be able to deal with it.

This is a very long story, but basically, check-in, GA and even the FA on board would not help out with this matter. My sister asked the guy sat next to her and even the guy sat next to my nephew if they could switch but both declined as they liked where they were sitting.
I find this hard to comprehend. My sister was becoming more and more upset at the thought of not having him next to her, but had baby to deal with and unhelpful FA asking her to keep sitting down.

My father is taking this up with CS. Is it too much to ask an airline to sit next to their child? I could understand if he was a teenager, but he is ONLY 4 and needs assistance with feeding etc. I know for frequent flyers it is annoying having someone trying to switch seats, but I cannot believe that there was a whole 757 F cabin that would not move.

Shame on you AA!
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:35 am
  #2  
brp
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Ok...discussion of kids in F aside...what you are saying is that the GA or FA should have forced someone to move in this case? I can surely understand why she wanted to sit with her 4 year old, but the tickets were booked at a time when the available seats did not allow that. Is it really AA's responsibility to inconvenience others in this case, people who had booked their tickets early enough to get their desired seats? While I would move in certain situations, I know I would be pissed if an airline employee forced me to move so someone who had booked seats later could be accommodated.

Cheers.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:43 am
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Just to make sure I understand correctly, the issue of not being able to get three contiguous seats was known at the time of booking, but your father and sister decided it was more important to be up front than to have everyone together further back? Whatever they were told about what might happen at the airport, they had to know there was no guarantee things would be fixed.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:43 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by brp
Ok...discussion of kids in F aside...what you are saying is that the GA or FA should have forced someone to move in this case? I can surely understand why she wanted to sit with her 4 year old, but the tickets were booked at a time when the available seats did not allow that. Is it really AA's responsibility to inconvenience others in this case, people who had booked their tickets early enough to get their desired seats? While I would move in certain situations, I know I would be pissed if an airline employee forced me to move so someone who had booked seats later could be accommodated.

Cheers.
Ok I do understand what you are saying, but you would think to assist a woman travelling on her own with a baby and a 4 year old. Trying to deal with feeding both and deal with whatever a kids throw at you on a flight of over 4 hours! My sister travels extensively around Europe and the world on BA and she said that on a couple of occassions crew or ground staff have approached passengers and explained and got them moved.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:48 am
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With regards to sitting together, if you booked 3 seats it isn't possible anyway on a 2-2 First class set-up there would always have to be someone on the seat across the aisle at least. I am with brp though, it is not the fault of the airline or a problem that can be placed upon the other passengers, it is their right to sit where they have chosen before the flight was booked for you. With all due respect, why should they be inconvenienced by someone wanting to change seats.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:50 am
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Originally Posted by jimmyw9
Firstly if you do not like children….move on you will not have any sympathy for this thread.

I could not believe my ears when my sister told me of her flight.

Yesterday my sister flew with her two children, one a 1 year old the other a 4 year old. My father booked the F tickets (these were paid for, but before you moan at me yes I know this does not really matter).

At booking no seats were available to seat them together and the agent said the airport will be able to deal with it.

This is a very long story, but basically, check-in, GA and even the FA on board would not help out with this matter. My sister asked the guy sat next to her and even the guy sat next to my nephew if they could switch but both declined as they liked where they were sitting.
I find this hard to comprehend. My sister was becoming more and more upset at the thought of not having him next to her, but had baby to deal with and unhelpful FA asking her to keep sitting down.

My father is taking this up with CS. Is it too much to ask an airline to sit next to their child? I could understand if he was a teenager, but he is ONLY 4 and needs assistance with feeding etc. I know for frequent flyers it is annoying having someone trying to switch seats, but I cannot believe that there was a whole 757 F cabin that would not move.

Shame on you AA!
It's possible that the male passengers unwilling to move were actually federal air marshalls (FAMs). They aren't allowed to move to a window seat, for example, but they can't identify themselves. FAMs are also always seated in first (perk of the job).

Given that most seats in F cabin are basically equal (unlike, for example, middle seats in Y cabin v. aisle/window seats), I've always found that most passengers are very willing to switch seats in F cabin (and that's just to allow an adult couple to sit together, etc).

Honestly, it's a bit of a surprising story... especially as many business travelers would be eager to switch seats to get further away from a child or a baby, as opposed to hell-bent on keeping a seat next to a child.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:52 am
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Originally Posted by a_fman
With regards to sitting together, if you booked 3 seats it isn't possible anyway on a 2-2 First class set-up there would always have to be someone on the seat across the aisle at least. I am with brp though, it is not the fault of the airline or a problem that can be placed upon the other passengers, it is their right to sit where they have chosen before the flight was booked for you. With all due respect, why should they be inconvenienced by someone wanting to change seats.
I guess baby did not have a seat as he would have been on her lap. Therefore only 2 seats required.

And also guy sat next to her only had his upgrade clear just before boarding
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:55 am
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Shame on you AA?

I am sorry about your sister's experience, but i really don't see how this is AA's fault in any way. I am surprised that no one offered to switch seats and probably would have thought it would work out too when those tickets were purchased and no seats could be pre-assigned. However, I guess it is a lesson to us all that there are no guarantees with seating preferences even when small children are involved.

But again, please don't try and shame AA for this. They are not responsible for their passengers working with you on seating arrangements, and if it could not be worked out at the gate with the GA help, then it was pretty much up to you and the luck of getting a nice person on board who would make the switch.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:58 am
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Originally Posted by brp
Ok...discussion of kids in F aside...what you are saying is that the GA or FA should have forced someone to move in this case? I can surely understand why she wanted to sit with her 4 year old, but the tickets were booked at a time when the available seats did not allow that. Is it really AA's responsibility to inconvenience others in this case, people who had booked their tickets early enough to get their desired seats? While I would move in certain situations, I know I would be pissed if an airline employee forced me to move so someone who had booked seats later could be accommodated.

Cheers.
if tickets were purchased for them, they should be in F. if you want control over who shares the cabin w/ you, go private.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 11:58 am
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I think it shameful that one of the passengers wouldn't change seats to help out a mother traveling alone with two kids. However, that is their prerogative and I would hardly blame AA for this...
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 12:00 pm
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I understand all of your views and yes you are right its not AA fault.

I guess I just got a bit emotional as it was one of my own so to speak.

I guess I am just shocked that in a F cabin of 20 people no one would move.

Guess thats the kind of world we live in now-a-days.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 12:02 pm
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Were there other routings available that could have secured seats together at time of booking?
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 12:03 pm
  #13  
brp
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Originally Posted by staren937
if tickets were purchased for them, they should be in F. if you want control over who shares the cabin w/ you, go private.
Excuse me Where did I say anything whatsoever about not wanting to share the cabin with children? Did you actually read what I wrote?

Cheers.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 12:07 pm
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It doesn't seem like there was much the GA could do, other than reassign the seat of another passenger to keep your sister's party together. It sounds like the two passengers who refused to change seats onboard would have been very unhappy about a forced reassignment. They would feel aggrieved because they had those seats first.

I'm surprised one of the two passengers she asked onboard would not agree to switch seats. I would think most people would give up their aisle seat in a moment to keep a mother and her child together. Even if someone was so cold-hearted that he didn't care about a small child and mother being separated, I don't see that kind of person wanting someone else's 4 year-old as his seatmate, or an angry mother with a lap child. Is there more to the story?

Nonetheless, if your sister was having no luck on her own, the FA should have stepped in to help. The two people your sister spoke with may have been complete jerks, but I'm sure there were other people in the F section who were not and would have switched seats. Even if they were in a rush to close the door, people could have moved around after take-off.
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Old Jul 1, 2007, 12:12 pm
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Originally Posted by jimmyw9
I guess baby did not have a seat as he would have been on her lap. Therefore only 2 seats required.

And also guy sat next to her only had his upgrade clear just before boarding
Well, I must be missing something here then. So, until just before boarding the seat next to your sister was free - and the GA wouldn't put her 4 year old in it? Something doesn't sound right.
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