chavala

Howste

Here's what the United Contract of Carriage says is an Unaccompanied Minor:

Proudelitist

Ugh. I am nobody's babysitter. The kids can sit beside me, but I bear no burden of caring for them, feeding them, or otherwise managing them. And I won't.

MSPeconomist

Me too. Don't the parents ever consider the fact that some of us want to work on flights?

Proudelitist

First and foremost, it's written on the BP. If you ask to see it when they swap request or argue after they poached your seat, you should see it somewhere on the BP, usually near the top with United. It says "NRSA".

Other obvious signs are being in uniform..although they would have to be pretty stupid to engage in shenanigans when so clearly identifiable as employees. But it happens. I even had one with her badge laid out on the tray table after her boyfriend on a buddy pass tried to poach my aisle seat.

And you should be suspicious of people who are overly friendly or familiar with the crew on board or at the gate. Hugging, talking like old friends.that kind of thing. Most of the time there are issues with NRSA's and swap requests/poaching/surprise reassignments it's not just the NRSA who is in the wrong, it's the working crew helping them out and turning a blind eye..or taking their side when clearly the NRSA is in the wrong.

sfo2bos

Agreed to a point, but in this case the children were well behaved, and as a human I just felt bad for them. Mother abandoned them and they needed help asking for things from the FA, putting tray tables up, etc. My gripe is with the mother, but I am not so cold a person to turn my back on some poor five year old in that situation.

rickg523

I couldn't "Like" comment, so I'll just say it here. ^
To me some comments here just sound like social media posturing.
And fortunately, people in general are much more human than some wish to appear here.
^

ContinentalFan

jp12687

I would babysit as well-- but i would also hand the mother a hand written invoice for babysitting when I got off the plane (no expectation of her paying-- but try to embarrass her).

PTravel

Sure, but there are limits. I once had an 8-year old UM as a seatmate. He was a terrific little flyer and I was happy to help him such esoterica as managing the pop-top on his soda can. I would NEVER however change a diaper, take someone else's kid to the restroom, try to calm a shrieking toddler, etc. There is a world of difference between normal human interaction and acting in loco parentis. I'd note, too, that, even though I absolutely blame the parent in a situation like that, it is also, unequivocally, the fault AND problem of the airline and, should I find myself seated next to a very young child incapable of caring for itself, I'd work my way through the FA, the purser and the pilot, to ensure that it is 100% the responsibility of the airline to look after the child, and there is no legal, moral or ethical basis for assigning any of that responsibility to me.

sfo2bos

Nor would I, under any circumstances. At one point the younger girl sitting in the middle fell asleep on the tray table, and then we started our descent. I suggested to the older sister that she might wake her younger sister up to prepare for landing. I'll help the UM find an FA to order water, help guide them through procedure like closing tray table for landing, adjust the air (they can't reach), or change a channel, but if it's anything serious an FA is called.

Anyways, probably off topic at this point.

cjermain

OK, I gotta point out the contradiction here. In an earlier post, I pointed out that when you fly frequently with kids, you often end up asking people to move---when an upgrade puts parent and child in separate seats in FC, for example. You can do this really politely, introducing yourself to the kid's seat mate: "I'm his father, and if you'd like to switch, I'm back in 4C". Then the seat mate does not even need to say "no" if they don't want to move. A follow up post said this was rude, likening it to panhandling.

OK, fine.

At the same time, it's clear that many people (perhaps the same people!) would not appreciate sitting next to a child. Though in fairness, the case sfo2bos described was extreme... in fact, United doesn't even allow an accompanied child to be in a different cabin from his/her companion, so had sfo2bos notified the FAs, the situation would have been remedied.

You can't have it both ways.

Look, this stuff is just part of commercial flying. If you are to the point that you don't want anyone to talk to you nor do you want to sit next to a kid, well...

PTravel

Why are you making this about the people stuck next to your kid? YOU are the one who created the situation, not your child and certainly not the stranger who now must choose between what they regard as the lesser of two evils.

Proudelitist

We are all the same species. Unless by "human" you mean self-serving, oblivious, looking out for their own wants over those of others as most requestors are.

jp12687

I will switch into a better or same seat. I will not switch into an inferior seat.

I will help with you kid if i need to-- but i will not be happy about it. Especially if you actively planned to put your kid in a different class of service as you.