I too have a very hard time believing this. The whole booking error sounds unrealistic to begin with. And then the reaction of the flight attendant? For a long haul flight a 1st class ticket maybe ten times as expensive as economy, sometimes even more. No way they would treat a 1st class passenger like that

I'm having a hard time believing this one too. Why wasn't this fixed BEFORE they got on the plane? Why didn't mom and son take a later flight? Also, why would they ask a woman who is OBIVIOUSLY traveling WITH someone and not ask a person flying solo?

First red flag indication that this story is BS is that the OP said the woman said that it was unfair because the OP didn't pay for the first class ticket on her own. How TF did the woman know that?

I don't believe either, specially being and international flight, extra specially involving first class. The attendant might have asked to swap seat but they wouldn't have the other passengers with them exactly to avoid this situation, and OP would be offer compensation straight away. If this is a true story, the mum and the kid were probably friends with the attendant, and she (attendant) needs to be reported for harassing passengers.

... and my boyfriend stood up and said he was important and rich and would stop using this airline.... (And every person on the plane stood up and clapped and clapped). Gotta love 8th grade fiction.

I also don't believe any parent can say "my six year old will appreciate this more than you" and keep a straight face. Young children don't appreciate traveling, and likely will forget that this even happened within one week

I believe the reaction of a flight attendant. I had a similar experience with sky express and the flight attendant is the one that was causing issues.

Anything is possible with the entitled.

You'd be surprised. About a month ago I bought a first class ticket for my girlfriend to fly from Atlanta to DC. She resides in Atlanta and I in Maryland. I don't pick the first or last row of first class for a reason. Can't have your carry on in front of you in row 1 and can't lean back in the last row (usually.) I bought her 2A, the window seat. The lady that purchased 2B asked if my gf would swap to 1B where her husband was sitting (directly in front of her.) I was communicating via Whatsapp while this was going on and she asked what to do. I said I booked your seat for a reason. Keep it. The lady got angry with her and couldn't understand why she couldn't swap for a two hour flight so she could be with her husband. Despite my gf saying no, the lady persisted by asking the flight attendant to make her swap. I didn't believe it at first. My gf suffers from social anxiety as is, and English isn't her first language, so I called her...

Agree 100%. Fake.

Similar story here. My sister bought me and my parents 1st class (Polaris) on United Airlines. On the return trip, trains in Japan broke down resulting in us missing our flight. We showed up to the counter, UA did little and said to call customer svc. They didn't give us the 800# either. On the call and despite being Mileage Plus members since '92 and having the Chase Explorer Visa, they said flights were too full and we had to be on standby on economy the next day. Next day, after an extra $500 of unexpected expenses, we got on board with economy via standby. Flight was not full. The gate agent even tapped random people for free upgrades into Polaris and economy premium. My parents and I didn't sit together and were in economy. I don't want talk about my UA Austin, TX trip this year in economy... Was worse. Maybe it's just UA and how they treat middle-aged adults and seniors. Maybe it's because we're not influencers and not pretty looking. I don't know. Won't be flying UA again.

Good point - perhaps it is made up

It happens all the time

Happens when the person flying is friendly with the employee. I showed up for my flight to find that the extra leg room seat I’d paid to book due to a medical condition had been switched for a middle seat for an international flight. I complained to the (older female) gate agent and she smugly said the website would never have allowed me to purchase that seat because it had “been sold for ages”—keep in mind, she hadn’t a clue when I booked—and the best she could do was put me in a regular aisle. My seat happened to be in the row right behind where I’d paid to book and a party of four older people together sat in that extra legroom row. One of the ladies said, “How lucky to get these seats buying day of!” and another said, “Not lucky at all, I know Lisa who is working at the kiosk out there and she booked us these seats!” I’m fairly certain I nearly set my keyboard ablaze with the email I wrote American when I got home.

Exactly. They'd have asked the person the MOTHER was sitting next to , and shamed them instead.

Half way through the story, I knew it was made up. Total nonsense.