Commercial flying seems to be plagued with inconveniences, and it would probably be very difficult to find a person who’s flown at least a few times in their life and has never encountered any issues with this process.

A perfect example of this is a story that one Redditor recently shared online. They had booked a window seat months prior, only to board the flight and find a mom with two preteen children having taken over the whole row. Yet when they reached out to the flight attendant, they were told there were no issues with the situation. Scroll down to read the full story!

More info: Reddit

Family pre-boarding is something that can make flying easier for families with small children, but there are always people trying to abuse this system

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

A person booked a seat by the window, but when they boarded the plane, their seat, along with the whole row, was taken up by a mother and her two preteen kids

Image credits: Sad-Gain-74

The flight attendant pretended that everything was fine since the woman had a family pre-boarding pass, ignoring the fact that her children were way too old for it

The OP was catching a United Airlines flight out of San Francisco International Airport. They boarded their plane with no issues, but when they approached their seat, they found a mother with a couple of preteen children taking up the whole row.

They told the woman that this was their seat and asked if her ticket said the same as there might’ve been a mistake, but the woman replied that she didn’t know. Following this, the person decided to get a flight attendant involved.

However, the flight attendant’s reaction was very casual and not helpful either. All she said was that the woman boarded during the family pre-boarding and took the person’s seat so she and her kids could sit together. 

The person was left mildly infuriated and lost, especially after finding out that the father was sitting somewhere in the middle of the plane and that this whole situation was caused by the family’s entitlement, lack of preparation, or simple laziness.

United later also informed the person that their seat assignment is not guaranteed and that something like this can happen without any notice, regardless of their class of service, adding that they’re only eligible for reimbursement if their class of service was changed during the reseating.

The commenters found the situation just as infuriating as the OP. Some were asking additional questions and saying that preteen children are perfectly capable of sitting alone, and if their parents don’t want to leave them that way, they should take care and book seats in advance. Others took it a step further, gathering proof that family boarding only applies to families who have children no older than 2 years old, which clearly wasn’t the case.

Image credits: Natã Romualdo (not the actual photo)

When speaking about preparing for such flights, it doesn’t take a detective to figure out that this can be easily done without causing inconveniences for others and yourself. For example, as one commenter pointed out, United Airlines’ website clearly states family pre-boarding is only allowed if you have children younger than 2 years old.

However, if your children are older than 2 but not 12, you’re entitled to book Economy and Basic Economy seats next to each other for free. In other words, this solution would’ve taken very little time for the family to implement, and they could’ve easily prevented this whole incident.

The excuse that they got confused about the policy wouldn’t really work either, as, according to Suzanne Rowan Kelleher of TripSavvy, almost all Airlines in the USA have very similar rules, with families being allowed to board early if children are no older than 2 or 3 years old.

The only exceptions are Southwest Airlines, which allows family boarding for 1 adult and 1 child under the age of 6 at the same time; Delta Air Lines, which only gives priority if the family has a stroller they need to gate check and/or a car seat they need time to install; and American Airlines, which may allow families to board first upon request, with the child’s maximum age being judged by the gate agent.

Of course, while in this situation, the family was acting quite unreasonably. But it’s quite obvious that the responsibility should really fall to United Airlines. After all, it was the gate agent who let the family board first despite the children clearly being over the age limit, as well as the attendants who brushed it off as someone else’s problem.

And, of course, let’s not forget about the airline representatives who tried to shift the whole situation in terms of their reseating policy, making them appear as if they were right all along. In a way, this whole thing kind of brings back memories of the broken guitar incident, doesn’t it?

But, ultimately, this world is not very just, and there are a lot of people who will try to spin the situation to their advantage however they can. Changing that completely might be more of a utopian wish, but if you’re aware of your rights and the policies, at least you have a good chance at fighting back. So, hopefully, the OP will take the best lesson that they can from this and will have all the tools necessary to stand their ground next time.

What did you think about this story? How would you have acted in the OP’s place? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The commenters were just as upset as the poster, agreeing that the company had no right to act the way it did and giving advice on how to deal with it in the future

Image credits: Kai Pilger (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Markus Winkler (not the actual photo)

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