steveo

Hipplewm

Unless he had a legal guardian with him, they shouldn't have separated them.

I wonder if his ticket was booked as an adult and they got thru the gate checks in a pack and no one noticed.

lhrsfo

It's not UA's fault that the father is a bad parent, so there's no point complaining to UA - better to complain to the father. I find it astonishing that people are so selfish that they would abandon their eight year old child to the mercies of strangers in order to have a larger seat and better meal. It beggars belief and these people are not fit to be parents.

princeville

Suzzin

Proudelitist

You didn't have to entertain it. Not your kid, not your problem.

jphripjah

It's an interesting question of what should/would an airline allow? What if the kid was 6? 4? What should an airline do if a parent books himself in business class and a kid, or multiple kids, in coach?

laxmillenial

Just a guess, but wouldn't the PNR have split if they were on the waitlist for Polaris. So wouldn't splitting the reservations (and hence separating a minor in the cabin) be a side-product of waitlisting for upgrades?

mattspod

That sucks. I heard people leave their wife or girlfriend in economy to the luxury for business or first, including a ex-friend trying to tell his new [moderator edit] first time flyer girlfriend that all seat here full, i have to sit up front, but don't come see me because different staff and angry about cross curtain like immigration, but an 8yr old kid make my selfish mate pale in comparison. I would of walked him to his father, you'll likely get past the curtain and enough time to embarrass the [moderator edit], or at least explain the situation to cabin crew en route to the other class. Then again, noise canceling headphones, and no arm rest issues I probably wouldn't of minded, presuming no serious issues with the child (crying then I'd press the call button - not out selfish reasons but because it's not my kid - im not a doctor or child care trained and so many things can be taken the wrong way nowadays due to peados) or if the kid simply got bored or was nagging me I'd tell to go find his Dad and point in the correct direction.

JamesKidd

Like others have said, it's too late now. The time to raise the issue about the kid was inflight with the cabin crew. Or with the dad himself, if he did show up sometime during the flight to check up on his kid. If he didn't even show up once during a 12 hour flight, this just doesn't bode well for the kid.

NeedstoFly

Don't understand how the FAs would have allowed this. Or how the kid sat for 12 hours without once wanting to go see daddy.

HWGeeks

I would have told the kid if he doesn't go to sleep the plane might crash. I use to tell my baby cousin the monster would eat her if she didn't go to sleep and she'd fall asleep super fast.

Often1

This is where there is a value to dealing with issues on the spot. While one might disapprove of the arrangement, there is nothing "illegal" in paying the UM fee for one's child and then sitting in another class of service. Because OP did not raise the issue to a FA, neither he nor anybody besides UA knows.

If the child was traveling as a UM, it would have been appropriate to raise the issue to a FA, noting that the child needed some attention.

If the child was not traveling as a UM, bringing the matter to the crew's attention would likely have resulted in the father being required to sit in Y. For this reason, it is worth reporting the incident to UA and to DOT. Whining about passenger convenience will not get anywhere with UA and is of no concern to DOT. However, it does warrant investigation to determine whether UA violated its own safety & security policy by not confirming who the responsible adult was and then assuring that the adult boarded into the same cabin as the child.

The broader issue here is that there is never a need to suffer in silence. This goes not only for onboard aircraft, but with hotels and other aspects of life.

timezone_trooper

You were under no obligation to entertain the child. And if the child was unruly, you were well within your rights to notify the crew, particularly when your IFE was non-functional and couldn't distract you.

steveo