Doppy

Especially on such a short flight. Under 8-10 hours and I could sit in the cargo hold.

In any event, cursing a flight attendant for enforcing an FAA regulation, even if it wasn't enforced in the past, isn't going to get you anywhere.

The OP should indeed write UA a letter outlining his behavior.

SkiAdcock

Don't expect much from UA. You were wrong. The FA pointed out the rules, and you argued/used profanity - what a great example to set for your children - not.

It's unfortunate that the 1K line said it was ok for you all to sit together in exit row/row behind when you said to the 1K line specifically (as I'm sure you did ), "I've got 3 young children & I think they're not allowed to sit behind me if I'm in the exit row. Could you let me know if that's the case, because if it is, we don't want to be separated & will pick other seats in E+ together."

Ultimately, FA & legit regs override 1K desk. You were in the wrong.

You have a teachable moment to your children - ie, "kids I'm sorry I was upset when they were going to split us apart on the plane. I love you & wanted to be close to you, but that doesn't excuse my losing my temper & using profanity to the FA. I want you do know that's not the way to handle a situation, and I'm sorry you had to see me behave in such a manner".

Cheers.

IFlyHarder

So you are a doctor that curses at other people in front of your young children and then use pejorative terms for the FA on FlyerTalk.
Let's hope those apples DO fall far from the tree!

tomj888

I want to thank all of you who took the time out to post a reply to my situation.

These are the facts as I know them.

1. I have flown with UA since 1983.
2. I am just shy of 2MM BIS, so I've been around a fairly decent amount of time.
3. As someone who lives by referrals from other DR's I am fully appreciative of the concept; 'YOU GET MORE WITH HONEY THAN YOU DO WITH LEMON"
4. I did not curse at the FA I said that what she was doing was [bs]. NO F bombs, NO B[removed] words or anything derogatory to her face. I have a great deal of respect for women.
5. This was the straw that broke the camels back. Why? It started with having to open all bags and have then searched by TSA. Then we had to scamper to get to the plane. We boarded and being cognizant of loading up and getting out of the aisle to allow fellow passengers a chance to board for me with kids is always potentially stressful.
6. FA approached me with the attitude of are those your kids? I said yes, and then she flat out said, "then you will not be sitting there" At that point, I asked why? She said its a rule (NOT FAA rules, but a rule) I told her that I sat there on the way from LAX, so I"m confused. She then said, that's not my problem on my plane you will not be sitting there (the God's honest truth). I then said, that's BS, how can I sit there on the way out and not now? At the time, I was standing right next to her. I am 6'3.5" and she was all of 5'2". Her response was that I was being "HOSTILE" and aggressive. I said the whole plane is oversold, where would you like me to sit? (in the past, typically a considerate FA, will ask passengers to swap once the plane loads. I've moved millions of times to have families sit next to each other, so I realize these things happen). I spoke to the First officer and Captain, and they basically washed their hands of it. They were sympathetic, but pointed me to the gate agent. I went out to gate agent, he was slammed dealing with an oversold flight. So I re-boarded. Attempted to apologize to FA, citing fairness, confusion and general frustration prior to boarding. She wanted nothing to do with me. I just left her alone once I said, I was sorry. ( I stayed out of her way the entire flight)
7. It was probably wrong to start this thread in the midst of being upset. Allowing time to pass, one can cool down. I was hoping for advice. MY BAD!

8.I based my comments on years of flying. My kids are 12, 10 &8. I was in outer space when I posted having kids under 10. Darn Iphone!

Conclusions:

my oldest has gold status. We have flown on almost every variation of UA metal. Many times we have done the LAX-ORD run in a 757-200 and I've sat in row 20C and she sat in the row in front of me. Never have I been even questioned about this. (by saying that FT's tell me I"ve been lucky or FA's were lax) If its a rule, then it should be enforced every single time. Once that's the case, then I know to sit elsewhere on the plane (bulkhead rows)
I like to use whatever status I have with UA to get exit rows or bulkhead rows for leg room. In both instances, I turned down upgrades to F b/c we could not get all of us in F. my wife wanted us all together. 4/5 in F was not good enough. I even volunteered to sit in 7C by myself and upgrade them, but she did not want that. (please no matyr comments) I prefer 7c to any F seat on a 757-300. I believed I'd be getting a hall pass not having to shuffle and broker two ipads for three kids.
Being frustrated at a FA never works. I was wrong. I just still cannot wrap my head around how I"ve been able to do something everytime I travel with kids until yesterday.
As Mr. Spock says, "its Illogical", Captain.

Also, one very simple thought. God forbid, anything of that magnitude ever occurs on an airplane. But rescue begins, once you assess that it is safe to open the exit door. At that point in time, you get EVERYBODY THAT YOU POSSIBLY CAN OFF OF THE PLANE.
Which one of you FTers can speak from experience of having been on a plane that went down? Great to speak from the pulpit.
I also am a private pilot who was in a plane crash and was very very lucky to survive. Trust me, once impact occurs, the first thing I thought about after I checked to see if all my body parts were intact, was getting out of the plane before it exploded.
I plan on writing a constructive letter to 1K voice to express my dissatisfaction over this issue. I"m sure it will get trashed. I've learned my lesson. Bulk head rows from now on.

Sad how many people railed me. As I stated earlier, my hopes were for advice in the midst of a bad situation. That was a mistake. I should of started this thread this morning. MY BAD.

cordelli

Your kids must be so proud of you throwing a hissy fit in front of them and the entire airplane, and then having to leave your seats because of the queen purser.

Must have been a hell of a vacation.

It really wasn't a power struggle, you were wrong, they were right.

valor155

No, it is sad that even in your emotional state, you had to write about your bad behavior in front of your children. And you continue to defend it. Now you've thought about it, and you are more rational. Okay.

You repeatedly mention your 1K status (we already can see it, BTW), throw in your a doctor for good measure, and then proceed to rant about how "unacceptable" this was to you.

It is prototypical DYKWIA. Anyone with more than 10 posts on FT should get that.

It's not "MY BAD". You said what you felt, and no one can tell you how to feel.

The situation was NOT ideal. I get it. Your write or imply that you have experience, maybe a lot of it, with calmly dealing with non-ideal situations.

But that is not what you wrote about in this experience (until your last post, clearly written as damage control).

tomj888

Actually, great vacation. In truth, my kids are very proud of me. I am human, prone to making mistakes. I make them all of the time. When I'm wrong I apologize. I did this to the FA and explained to my kids why their dad was frustrated and lost his temper. How would YOU have handled this situation?

Actually to Valor155. Its taking time away from the situation to re-analyze and look at my behavior. I throw out the status facts, because, I don't want it to appear that I've never been on an airplane before or am a casual traveler. Personally, I hate people that try to throw their very important status around. It doesn't work for patients that try and pull that with my staff/office. Do I believe I"m some sort of VIP? No, just someone who has flown a hell of a lot of miles on one airline and has some sort of idea as to how the game is played. To make condescending comments w/o knowing me, is strange.
How would you handle the situation my friend?

zenkerflyer

I was on this said flight!!!! As an observer with my own spouse and 3 small children this is what I saw how things really played out. I was sitting just a a few rows behind..

FACTS

"Queen Purser" approached u and your wife spoke to you about the exit row conditions, you quickly rose to your feet and yelled at the Purser and said something on the lines "Of let me tell you something". She then walked up to first class to get what appeared to be help and you followed her up and continued to throw a fit, you then came back and continued to state to your wife that you were NOT moving. The purser came back and said one of you could sit there but one of you would have to move out of exit row to fit the exit rules. You seemed to still refuse. You made a comment about disowning your kids so you could sit there. Your children who appeared the oldest perhaps 10 at most, the other two maybe 5 and 7.

You were moved to a bulkhead aisle seat with you wife one row back with your children adjacent to you at your left.

You attempted to throw an I am entitlement fit, and lost. What you may not have realized is the passengers around you were applauding this "Queen Purser" on how she handled you. I was sure to let her know.

LilAbner

Hey Doc, many people railed you because you were wrong, Bud!
Simple as that!

You flamed the f/a and the entire airline over an exit seat because the rules were enforced to the letter.

Yep, you shoulda, woulda, and coulda cooled off before attempting to get sympathy for such a minor thing as a stupid airline seat, especially after going ballistic. The Captain, First Officer & any other employee's weren't going to get involved & override the f/a so why should you expect FTer's jump to your defense, especially after only hearing one side of the story.

Best idea you have is to reserve the bulkhead from now on, but I'd refrain from continuing this crusade with UA, if it were me.

Too big of a thing being made out of this, imho!!!

craz

OP I hear ya, but what you got away with till this flight doesnt mean squat.

Last week I flew AA to MIA on their 737 with just my carry-on, when boarding @ MIA for my return they asked me to place it into the sizer. it didnt go w/o forcing it so I got the 'you must gate check the bag'. I said I flew here Sun and had no problems getting it into the bin, and flew the same routings 2 weeks ago and again no problems. She said be happy you werent stopped , now either you gate check it or you wont be flying. I chose not to fly and was rebooked for the next flight 5 hrs later. Said I will rearrange it all . In the end I did nothing and no one said boo when I went to board that 2nd flight.

My pt is just because we got away with something for x amount of time doesnt mean it was Correct and according to the Rules

valor155

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Thanks for this post. Good to have a neutral party tell the actual story.

Be aware that you'll probably get a response from the OP about how you mis-remembered, or some other nonsense.

I don't feel sorry for DYKWIAs not getting their way . . . especially when they are beligerent and disrespectful of safety concerns the crew has.

It is a little funny how someone can post a plea for sympathy/empathy, then proceed to announce . . . repeatedly . . . how completely out of control they are over their own life and circumstances. To use the OP's own words, it's "sad".

alanh

You did get advice, just not the advice you wanted to hear. The advice is that you're not allowed in the exit row if travelling with children.

And being an airline rule as opposed to an FAA rule makes no difference. UA's policies are filed with the FAA and the staff of UA are required to comply with them and have no authority to waive them. I know people complain about F/As making up rules, but that's clearly not the case here -- it's published on the safety cards and based on FAA guidance.

Once the F/A determined you were travelling with children, she had no choice but to reseat you. If she didn't, she would be be in violation of FAA regulations and subject to adverse action. Don't expect her to risk fines, suspension, or worse just so you can keep your exit row seat.

murphyUA

Of course it's subjective. Personally, I wouldn't classify the stated ages as "small".

will2288

Thanks for the other side of the story.

endrond

I once was in OP's shoes. I was sitting in an exit row seat. My wife and daughter (who I had upgraded) came back to visit me. The FA saw them talking to me and said I had to change seats. I was a bit perplexed, but I moved. Once I thought about the policy for a couple of minutes, it made sense. (Frankly, much more than many flying-related rules & regulations).

There's no need for OP's OMG DYKWIA 2MM W/ *G kid!!! drama, either here or on the airplane.