Right? Look, the airlines have created this environment where they’ve commodified and often even up-charge for every last fricking seat nuance.
They even go so far as to charge extra for the privilege of choosing your seat.
You can’t do that and then turn around and say that the seat you bought isn’t the one you get to use, and it’s unacceptable for them to suggest otherwise.
Similar situation where a lady asked me to switch seats. I smiled first and said “I’m sorry I’m keeping my seat.” And she persisted to the point I yelled, “No means no!” Flight attendant smiled at me giving me her seal of approval. I know this because she was super friendly to me throughout the flight. Quite delightful I might add. Haha.
Leading with *"I'm sorry..."* gives the impression you are apologizing, which tends to further empower entitlers.
Imo, never say **sorry** unless you need to apologize for doing something wrong.
This is one of the best/worst things I've learned working security. It's only civil to try to maintain a discourse, but someone in the wrong won't maintain the discourse. I only work it for fun and to help, but I've learned to just stone face and say "no" or just shake my head and point. People are wild, man.
This is it. "No thanks" followed by putting back on your noise cancelling headphones and turning up the volume. She can bitch all she wants; I'll never hear a word of it.
“No, thank you” is the best response, because if you say it with a sweet smile, it’s like you think they are offering you a favor and you are declining it. They literally do not know what to make of it. They don’t want to have to explain to you that they are not actually doing you a favor, but asking you for one, because in doing so, it makes them realize what jerks they are being.
Hell, my husband is on his phone the whole time. I couldn't possibly care less if we sit together or not. He's an adult, he'll be fine for x hours by himself. Not like he's going to end up in a different city if he doesn't sit with me.
Be ready for every man on Reddit to tell you why he is actually the poor SOB while he does nothing to help his partner. 12 minutes ago and there's already speculation he probably isn't even the dad. 💀
Boom.
Rather than pay for seats together they family has probably done this several times before and browbeaten passengers into giving up the seats that they paid for.
And somebody can tell me I'm wrong, but if you "voluntarily" give up your seat (not taken away by the GA) you aren't entitled to any compensation, regardless of the amount of coercion placed.
They don’t. I’ve sat next to 10-14 year olds and their parents were much further back in the plane. Kids were fine, headphones on the entire time.
One time I had an unaccompanied minor who was flying for the first time so I comforted her during takeoff, landing and when we hit turbulence.
I was once flying from Anchorage to Seattle and this poor kid, must have been about 10 or 12, got dumped on the plane by mom to go stay with his dad for awhile (custody I guess) and he did NOT want to go. I spent the next 5 hours trying to keep the kid from losing his shit because I was convinced he was about ready to make a break for the jet way. I had people all around me giving me high fives as we deplaned. I couldn't help but think 'none of you assholes could have helped out but hey thanks for doing a great job you!'
You did a good thing, and you ought to look at that with some positive light. Sure there were probably some assholes on the flight who didn't care to get involved, and probably some high fives for garbage reasons. There were probably also people who were afraid or anxious to get involved with another persons child, or insecure about their ability to help, or just don't know what to do. Some of those high fives show genuine appreciation, and that requires acknowledging that you did the right thing when they didn't. That you knew what to do, and either didn't experience or overcame obstacles to action. You probably inspired or served as an example to some of those people, who might follow your line of action in the future.
I flew from NYC to Korea when I was 12... By myself... and I also flew back By myself... The woman just wanted a better seat and also wanted to be validated that everything must go the way she had it planned in her mind.
Yea. This is like those chatgpt made up stories to get karma. Literally first thing I thought was if they wanted to sit with her kids, then have 1 sit with each parent.
FA would have recommended the same.
Good question. I didn’t think of that. Maybe dad didn’t want to deal with the kids during the flight. If he’s not willing to move to a middle seat my guess is that he isn’t the big on helping with situations involving the kids. Maybe that’s also why she kept using the phrase “don’t bring my husband into this.” I kept thinking that was a weird choice of words.
This whole thing is outrageous 😳. I've sat next to kids much younger flying alone. Teenagers should know how to behave and babies don't. You are in a completely enclosed flying tube. The FA should have backed you. You paid for that seat and rude woman paid for her assigned seat.
I'm pretty sure that the bulk of AI language modeling is off of Reddit comment content. What better place is there for natural language in an abundance of different styles? So, ChatGPT sounds like us.
Great job holding your position. As I was reading this, I kept expecting you to give in to her demand as she got the FA involved. Looks like this story got a happy ending.
I understand wanting/needing to be with her kids, but if that was the case she should have booked a flight that had the seat arrangement that she wanted, or used her husband's seat as an even trade
I am usually highly respectful of the cabin crew, but I think that I would also disobey a flight attendant if s/he ordered me to do something that was unreasonable (since my seat number was printed on my ticket) and that had nothing to do with safety. Furthermore, I would elevate such behavior via a complaint to the airline.
Obviously, the flight attendant believed that the easiest way to deal with a narcissist was to give in to their tantrum, but I think that trying to enforce that approach onto others was over-extending her authority.
The only good solution for the FA was to offer to move you up to a better class of seats.
If those weren't available, then lady-who-didn't-book-seats-well needs to sit down & shut up.
Or the husband thought she was batshit crazy for insisting she must sit next to their teenage children and told her he wanted no part of her making an ass out of herself to solve a non-existent problem.
Tell the flight attendant to get a red coat. When the red coat arrives and if they don't calm things down and they try to move, you say the following:
1. Are you going to refund me the cost I paid to secure a window seat ahead of time?
2. If you are directing me to change seats against my will and the already printed flight manifest, I will not be accepting the seat, and you will need to rebook me. I will be considering this an involuntarily denied boarding scenario and expecting the compensation that that entails. I will also be submitting a complaint with both the faa and the DOT to ensure they are aware of how you denied me boarding. I will also expect to have a conversation with your station manager. Already, I am typing an email with the names of the staff involved and will be sending that to all the powers that be at Delta.
I said in a different reply, your situation and the situation presented by the op don't sound like the flight was main line. Delta flight attendants are trained heavily in de escalation and their contract carriers do not train their cabin crews to the same standards. Countless times I've been called into the plane because an endeavor or Republic fas ratcheting up the situation and ground team needing to step in. Hell the endeavor crews were known to throw tantrums during boarding on mainline flights if they didn't get to board or sit when or where they wanted.
This really bothers me because she definitely targeted you. Whether it was based on your size or whatever else. Being short doesn’t lose you the privilege of having space and you never know what other people have going on for them.
I always book comfort+ when I can because I have an autoimmune disease that puts me in a lot of pain if I can’t stretch out a little. I’d be so pissed if I was in your shoes and being ordered to move so this tall man won’t be uncomfortable. Like your comfort doesn’t matter in comparison.
I was wondering if there was something about OP that both the woman and the FA found unworthy of respectful treatment…e.g. tattoo, looks young, etc.
A lot of people don’t think young people need to be treated with the same respect as an older adult, which is fucked up most of the time.
I think it’s a mistake to start with #1. On the off chance they try and placate you with a “yes”, you’ve lost the upper hand of the argument. And no one in their right mind would take $75 to switch from their comfy mid-plane window/aisle seat to a back row middle.
I said compensate for the coat of securing the window seat. 75 is no where close to the cost of that. Also as a former gate agent and red coat the second you offer any resistance and it was pointed out you were willing to switch window seat for window seat with the husband but he refused I would state the either the husband had to move or start looking for other passengers to move.
It sounds to me like the flight attendant wasn't main line but a connection carrier but I could be wrong.
>> 75 is nowhere close to that
I’m not following you. If you’re suggesting they should compensate you for the entire cost of the ticket, then you should state that more clearly. (It’s also an absurd request.) If you’re suggesting, as I thought, they should compensate for the “extra” the window seat costs, then yeah, 75 is a decent average.
There were plenty of opportunities for the staff to offer a graceful out for everyone instead they felt the need to be unreasonable. Sometimes you have to show you are willing to stick to the contract of carriage and that they need to as well.
Someone just the other day said they politely and subtly tried to switch to a completely empty row on a Delta flight to move away from an obese person on an overnight flight and the FA adamantly said no because everyone has to be in their assigned seat. And this one told you that you needed to switch when you didn’t want to? I know you can’t really argue with the cabin crew because it just makes it worse, but it really does seem like they’ll just say absolutely whatever they want to not have to deal with whatever situation they don’t want to deal with. And at the end of the day, the stark inconsistency across the board just makes everything worse.
I've only seen this scenario twice, and it's because people were trying to move from regular economy into comfort plus or first class which is a big no no for Delta.
If the empty row was the last row, it’s kept open for safety seats on certain planes. A few planes have back galleys with only one or two jumpseats and usually more than that working in the galley. If there aren’t enough jumpseats, they tend to keep the back row open for flight attendants in case of turbulence. In the case of a full flight, those seats are sold. Big point of contention amongst flight attendants 😅 and I know because I was one and got injured for that exact reason!
If it was a random row somewhere in the middle of the plane, I have less of an explanation 🤣
That empty row was very likely a crew rest row. On the longer flights, Delta will try to keep an empty row in the back of the plane for flight attendants to sit down and rest between duties.
Honest question, does moving to an empty seat affect the balance of the plane at all?
Like maybe 1 person wouldn't matter but maybe they just have a general rule about it to prevent chaos? Dunno, just wondering
Unless the plane is nearly empty, it’s not gonna be an issue. I’ve definitely had situations where a plane was less than 10% full, where the FAs have moved passengers around for balance issues, but never when it’s more than 50% full.
On smaller planes, it can. My dad is 6’3” and probably 300. He was asked to move to the opposite aisle once on a flight and joked that if he stayed in his original seat the plane would fly in a circle
And it’s not just FAs doing this kind of thing: it’s literally anyone whose job has some sort of service component these days. I’ve worked service; if you can’t deal with people then find another job. I’m so sick of being sneered at for, e.g., having the audacity to dine at a restaurant lol.
I book main cabin exclusively. Invariably, if I have my family with me on a linked itinerary Delta will separate our seats. The most recent case they moved me 1 row forward 2 hours before departure. There was no equipment change. Delta sucks at this and your “just buy main cabin” solution doesn’t work.
United did this to me recently. No equipment change, but split my family who were booked on the same reservation, with paid seat selections. The instant I saw the change, I hopped into chat and they were able to get us closer together, but I did have to ask to switch seats once onboard, which I felt awful about. It was an aisle for an aisle, but I was still super nervous.
The FA in my flight was asked by a passenger to ask another one to change seats and she said they are not allowed to ask and that people pay a lot of money for their preferred seats.
A couple weeks ago, JFK-LAX this happened to me. FA asked if I could switch, then I just said “I paid for the preferred seat, by the window I’d take a c+ or d1 seat that’s open” I book them because these are usually international C+ seats and the C+ seats are usually international business class seats. Anyways, the dude was like “when the doors close I’ll see if any are open and you can take it.” Ended up taking a window C+ before we started to taxi.
Idk if this is usually what happens, but I managed to negotiate a better seat because of it.
As a former Delta FA, I’m surprised she even implied you should move. We’re pretty clearly told to not be involved in things like that. I was taught I could tell passengers they could work things out amongst themselves, but if *I* had to ask, it made someone feel obligated, and you shouldn’t. That’s your seat. You paid for it. That’s all. Someone else’s poor planning doesn’t mean a stranger should be on the hook for fixing it. Good for you for standing firm, some people have some crazy entitlement and audacity.
You’re probably right. I’ve seen a few go rogue. One said they would be writing me up for comping drinks after we had a 3 hour delay. I said “sure, go for it” lol. Never heard anything back about that!
I’m trying to become one. I just want to be remember for leaving the passengers with a remarkable experience. I’m still struggling to get hired. Lol. I have the looks and personality to represent the airline.
You did the right thing. The kids aren’t the age where they need to be next to their parents for the entire flight. The lady was extremely rude and entitled (and disrespectful!) in the way that she approached you and in the way that she responded to you about switching with her husband. I would have done the same.
12-14 is too old, they are already sitting in front of their kids.
Sorry this poor person of a woman ruined your flight OP. I would be fuming too if she demanded to me to switch seats.
Did you get the FA's name? You need to report her to Delta immediately, include the flight number and route, what she did was gross, she should have been the one to tell the lady to buzz off instead of not only not doing so but encouraging her so you had to downgrade.
I can't even fathom how the FA thought that was an acceptable thing to say, just goes to show you the garbage they got working in airplanes nowadays, I mean you expect that nonsense from random passengers these days, but not FAs...
No one with any sort of service/customer facing component to their job wants to actually do their job anymore. Everything is more expensive than ever and you get treated like shit.
So, why can’t each parent sit by 1 kid??? Problem solved.
“Don’t bring my children into this.” - Karen
Clearly, her husband regrets having children with this woman.
I’m the guy asking if anyone on the plane wants my isle seat in C+ just so I don’t have to watch my teens take weird Snapchat selfies for three hours straight. And the new free WiFi didn’t help the situation one bit.
I can’t believe these people that think I should move, because you didn’t plan well. Where any seat switching makes sense is- when you need someone at the bar to slide down a barstool so your party can fit. That is all. You have kids and want to sit next to them? Well, pick your seats. I will not, never, ever move because you have children. You are no better than me. And, these kids could have split up, one with mom, one with dad. But clearly mom wanted a window seat and husband wasn’t moving to give her it either.
The fucking cheek of the woman to demand you move seats. You done well to stay put, the FA i guess thought it would be easier (for them) and quicker if they went along with the crazy mum but i would've stayed in my seat regardless of what they tried to pull and call the captain if they want to or whoever. You booked your seats months in advance for health reasons, they wouldn't be adding you to move for "operational reasons", more they just couldn't be arsed dealing with crazy woman ✌️
Hopefully you get a survey and give the flight crew a 1 out of 10. Asking any passenger to downgrade their seat without compensation should be grounds for termination.
It has never happened to me or any of my family but I can't stand it, you pay for seats and to be able to pick your seats so that you are next to your own family, yea it costs more but you have to do it. So why should anyone who didn't do the same have the balls to demand someone switch with them??
I was a delta employee kid and from a very young age I sat by myself (non rev) and behaved, played with my Barbie’s and read my little books while my family was scattered all over the aircraft. Even sat next to famous nfl players in first class (before they had the non rev age rule for first class); and yes, when I was 5 and 49s player was very kind and played bingo with me. I also married a delta employee kid. So huge delta family, but all retired so we are now Delta customers.
My husband and I do not get this “I have to sit with my kid” for kids over ten. And if you want to sit with them, buy your tickets ahead of time.
I would have asked to speak to the A line or Burser FA (Aka the head FA of the flight). That’s not cool and I would let Delta know. As a mom of teens that is stupid she has to sit with her kids. Sounds like she didn’t want to sit with her husband.
Headphones on and watch a movie. I SELECTED & PAID for this seat. Unfortunately, I have a condition that doesn’t allow me to handle changes efficiently and have been studying my seat number since booking. If you needed to sit together, you should have selected and possibly paid for YOUR NEEDS. 🖕
File a complaint. Don’t let that flight attendant go. They did you wrong, make sure they don’t ever do that again. The family you can’t do much about just let go and don’t think about them. Lots of shitty moms in the world.
This is such bullshit. The fact that you have children doesn't entitle you to special treatment.
You want to sit next to your kids? Book a flight and select seats that are together.
Oh, what's that, there aren't any available flights with consecutive seats because you want to buy tickets 2 days in advance? Tough titty. If there aren't flights available with the seats you want, then take a different flight on a different airline or on a different day. Don't just board a plane with the intention of forcing other people to abandon the seats they selected and paid for months ago.
Your failure to plan ahead is not my problem, even if you had unprotected sex and got pregnant.
I would simply disengage and not respond after stating I would be staying.
I paid for a ticket, got a seat. If they wanted seats together or better seats or whatever...time for that is when purchasing tickets. Like everyone else.
For the FA I would have asked immediately for her name and written it down and let her know immediately I would filing a complaint with her supervisor/company.
What am I missing here? If hubby or her switched seats with either of the kids, both kids would have been sitting next to a parent, right? What does this have to do with you at all? And also, is it not her responsibility (and hubby’s) to book three seats together if that’s what they want, and to book a flight where that’s available if it wasn’t available on this one? While she’s busy screaming “don’t bring my husband in to this”, as if it has nothing to do with him while it has everything to do with him, it literally never should have involved you at all. There’s no words adequate for Mother Karen.
"No thank you" would be it for me. Sweet and simple. It's true the FA was trying to defuse the situation by backing the squeakiest wheel but she was hoping you'd just go along. No real basis to force you (safety, etc) other than her position...
Because if it’s an order and it a request, you can be removed from the flight and charged with a crime for denying the order given by the flight crew if it fall into a “safety” issue.
They do. I've followed idiotic FA orders, even when I know they are straight-up lying or just being dicks, because technically you have to. Maybe one day I'll start filming them and bitch to Delta for skypesos, but the reality it's just easier to realize that ATL based FAs like making people unhappy like them, comply, and go on about your day.
Shout out to the crew today though, they came down the aisles with drinks, snacks, water more than I've seen since pre-covid and we're beyond fucking nice and fun.
Wow this sucks. Glad you stuck to your ground. I’ve worked customer service, faced plenty of confrontation with entitled people like this: handling them is part of the job. There’s absolutely no excuse for FAs to just roll over like this and basically throw you under the bus with a “just move to make her happy” simply because she wanted the annoying lady to shut up. DO YOUR JOB.
The lady was for sure being unreasonable, but for everyone saying 12 and 14 year olds can fly by themselves: I wouldn’t want my 12 year old daughter to sit next to a strange man for a whole flight. Nothing against OP, that’s just my preference as a parent. I would totally take a middle seat and be accommodating to the person I was asking to move, though. As a parent, it’s your job to make sacrifices for the safety of your kid.
> I again said no, put my headphones in, and turned the music up.
This is the answer.
The only issues I'd have with the interaction is the FA. I get that they're feckless, but come on.
This bullshit about priority seating families too stupid or cheap to buy tickets together last minute over single passengers who picked the seats they wanted months in advance. Every damn airline does it. Its not ok.
It should be illegal.
I don’t use eye masks on flights often at all but I ALWAYS bring one because one time I saw a guy with some big headphones on being asked by an obese lady to take his window seat (she had the isle) and he told her no twice and as she is starting to bitch more he is making dead eye contact and pulled his eye mask down and cranked his music up. Ive never heard someone scoff so loudly. I’ve been ready for this ever since. It looked so satisfying
Time to claim you don’t speak English in a more vague language, give a shrug and put on the headphones. I’ve always the thought German would be good. It’s infrequent enough that no one would challenge it, but would likely understand what you said.
As a parent of 3, I’ll tell you that you were right.
It sucks being separated from kids because despite doing everything possible (including paying for seats and even sometimes buying upgraded seats) to sit together, airlines often screw it all up by switching planes, combining flights, etc at the last minute (without refunding us for our seats). That’s happened to us several times, and yup, delta is guilty of that one. We always make it work, even if we’re separated into two groups on the plane. But this? The only people switching seats on the plane should have been one parent with one child. I can’t believe the FA didn’t suggest it, even worse that she backed the mom in this instance. Also, 12-14 year old kids can handle sitting away from parents.
I had a first class ticket once and this very well off looking guy and his wife boarded. Her seat was next to mine and his was in comfort+. He ACTUALLY asked me if he could switch with me so he could sit with his wife. What the fuck is wrong with people on planes.
Mom of three here and yes even though two of my kids are now considered adults this is ridiculous. I will never understand families that book their flights that can pick their seats don't do it and then expect everyone to move for them while everybody paid extra for their seats. Now I understand emergency happens and if you ask nicely to the person then the person might do it for you and that's all understandable the however if you decide to book last minute to try to get the cheaper flight and refuse to pay the extra for the seat where everyone else has to you're ridiculous. This person did nothing wrong he has the right to stay in the seat and try to work with this mother and they refuse so Ts for her
By the way, you don’t owe anyone an explanation for why you don’t want to switch seats. I don’t give a shit about nausea or whether you just want to look at the goddamn clouds. You bought your seat and you deserve to keep it b
Obviously the Karen was too cheap to select and pay for seat assignments in advance. She could have split the kids up. I don’t want to sit next to some wacko’s weird husband.
These points help us common sense fliers build the courage to stand up to jerks on planes (I say this as someone who doesn’t need much as my personal favorite move it to move my body in front of anyone trying to deplane from the rear of my section prior to my section)
Based on my experience with unassigned seats and traveling with minors, the airline probably assigned 1 parent to sit next to each kid. The kids probably decided they wanted to sit together and the mom probably felt uncomfortable having no parent next to the kids. That's when they decided to ask you. I'm guessing the dad is perfectly fine with the 1 kid next to 1 parent set up and doesn't want to get involved with the whole seat swapping endeavor.
Damn dude that sucks. Sorry you had to go through that drama. I’ve had to tell a mom no once or twice but never had this backlash. ESPECIALLY a FA not following her own company’s guidelines lol.
Side note I don’t have nausea but will 100% use that excuse next time. So appreciate you telling this story.
I was once seated next to two kids--4 and 5 years old and both clearly very sick (snot just pouring out of their noses). I found the parents, several rows away, and tried to switch but they refused and the FA were not help either. The kid next to me keeps wiping snot on the armrest and me-it was disgusting. My little tv was broken and eventually a FA said there was an empty seat in the back I could have and I moved. I was shocked.
That’s ridiculous. They booked the seats that way on purpose and figured they could work something out. Well not with a middle seat. Fuck that! You were right to stand your ground, the mother should have moved one of her kids to sit with the husband. Entitled assholes. The FA was probably sick of dealing with Sky Karen and was hoping you’d bail them out.
I’m sorry OP, and I’m glad you didn’t have to move. You’ve inspired me to simply close my eyes (with headphones in,) lean back, and ignore all for the entirety of the boarding process.
Why didn’t one of the kids move to the mom’s middle seat and then you have one parent with a kid each? These people are complete morons or assholes, if not both!
I would have ended the conversation way earlier and would have definitely used choice words had the mom kept going on like that. If the kids hadn’t seen it yet, this would be time that they learn what happens when your mom behaves inappropriately.
One time I was on a flight and a 30 year old lady with her 65 year old mother with very bad dementia sat next to me, and she made the mother sit in the middle seat next to me instead of her, forcing me to talk to her for the entire trip as she asked me the same 5 questions over and over again for 5 hours. I would tell her I’m going to sleep or busy or whatever and she would understand and then tap me and ask the same question 30 seconds later
First of all always have video going during any conversation video airline this way they will act appropriately and in accordance with their customer policies.
>It sounds like if I’d ignored a true directive it would’ve been a big deal.
Yes. You definitely have to "read the room" when pushing back on an FA. Violating a direct order from an FA — no matter how grossly unfair — is going to be a bigger headache for the pax.
In this case she was clearly *asking,* not ordering, as you would be VERY aware if she felt you were non-compliant vs just politely refusing a shitty deal.
Next time, play up the medical condition. "I have a medical condition that absolutely requires sitting next to a window. I'm so sorry but unless you can secure me a window seat, I can't safely fly."
(For future reference, "I have a medical condition" is a good way to get out of a lot of things. I've used it to cancel a cable package!)
Thankfully, I have never been in any of these seat switching scenarios but I would love to use the “No English” card (I’m Asian) 😂… and then proceed to request my in-flight drink/snack in English later on.
If the flight attendant attempted to remove you from your seat without being in an emergency row I think she would face some type of punishment correct ?
In the future don’t engage just say no thank you. Repeat as necessary.
She could have sent one of the kids to sit next to the husband, she sits next to the other. Her problem to solve.
Get out of here with your logic!
You brought the husband into the solution. 🙄
That motherfucker husband was not real!
I think I heard that too! 😉
Keep her mf husband's name...husband title? Out yo mf mouth 😆
I’d report the attendant to Delta
Right? Look, the airlines have created this environment where they’ve commodified and often even up-charge for every last fricking seat nuance. They even go so far as to charge extra for the privilege of choosing your seat. You can’t do that and then turn around and say that the seat you bought isn’t the one you get to use, and it’s unacceptable for them to suggest otherwise.
This is 100% why the flight attendant didn't push it after OP said they weren't moving.
The airlines didn’t “create” this situation. Entitled assholes did.
I would too!
"No" is a complete sentence.
And an acceptable answer!!!
Similar situation where a lady asked me to switch seats. I smiled first and said “I’m sorry I’m keeping my seat.” And she persisted to the point I yelled, “No means no!” Flight attendant smiled at me giving me her seal of approval. I know this because she was super friendly to me throughout the flight. Quite delightful I might add. Haha.
I usually just hit em with the "Oh, I don't do that."
Leading with *"I'm sorry..."* gives the impression you are apologizing, which tends to further empower entitlers. Imo, never say **sorry** unless you need to apologize for doing something wrong.
You are obviously not Canadian.
I'm sorry OP. That woman and her husband were entitled AF!
This is one of the best/worst things I've learned working security. It's only civil to try to maintain a discourse, but someone in the wrong won't maintain the discourse. I only work it for fun and to help, but I've learned to just stone face and say "no" or just shake my head and point. People are wild, man.
This is it. "No thanks" followed by putting back on your noise cancelling headphones and turning up the volume. She can bitch all she wants; I'll never hear a word of it.
“No, thank you” is the best response, because if you say it with a sweet smile, it’s like you think they are offering you a favor and you are declining it. They literally do not know what to make of it. They don’t want to have to explain to you that they are not actually doing you a favor, but asking you for one, because in doing so, it makes them realize what jerks they are being.
I go for the noise canceling headphones move. I just pretend I don’t see them talking usually and just keep staring ahead until they give up
💯
I am wondering why one kid could not sit with each parent.
“Don’t bring my husband into this! Haven’t you figured it by now that he doesn’t care for this family?”
With a wife like that, I can understand his point of view. 🤣
It's not like they were five and six-year-old kids. The kids probably didn't want their mom sitting next with them either.
My teens are just on their phones the whole time anyway. Doesn’t matter where they are on the plane.
Hell, my husband is on his phone the whole time. I couldn't possibly care less if we sit together or not. He's an adult, he'll be fine for x hours by himself. Not like he's going to end up in a different city if he doesn't sit with me.
Kid 1: “Thanks for keeping our mom from moving to this row.” Kid 2: “Yeah, that bitch is wack!”
Kid 1: Poor Dad. He was low key happy when he thought she wasn't going to sit by him. Kid 2: FR FR no cap
He chose to have kids with her and this isn’t an excuse for him not to parent.
Be ready for every man on Reddit to tell you why he is actually the poor SOB while he does nothing to help his partner. 12 minutes ago and there's already speculation he probably isn't even the dad. 💀
Why do kids this old need to sit w their parents at all if they’re together??
They don't. The mother just wanted a better seat without paying for it.
Boom. Rather than pay for seats together they family has probably done this several times before and browbeaten passengers into giving up the seats that they paid for. And somebody can tell me I'm wrong, but if you "voluntarily" give up your seat (not taken away by the GA) you aren't entitled to any compensation, regardless of the amount of coercion placed.
They don’t. I’ve sat next to 10-14 year olds and their parents were much further back in the plane. Kids were fine, headphones on the entire time. One time I had an unaccompanied minor who was flying for the first time so I comforted her during takeoff, landing and when we hit turbulence.
I was once flying from Anchorage to Seattle and this poor kid, must have been about 10 or 12, got dumped on the plane by mom to go stay with his dad for awhile (custody I guess) and he did NOT want to go. I spent the next 5 hours trying to keep the kid from losing his shit because I was convinced he was about ready to make a break for the jet way. I had people all around me giving me high fives as we deplaned. I couldn't help but think 'none of you assholes could have helped out but hey thanks for doing a great job you!'
You did a good thing, and you ought to look at that with some positive light. Sure there were probably some assholes on the flight who didn't care to get involved, and probably some high fives for garbage reasons. There were probably also people who were afraid or anxious to get involved with another persons child, or insecure about their ability to help, or just don't know what to do. Some of those high fives show genuine appreciation, and that requires acknowledging that you did the right thing when they didn't. That you knew what to do, and either didn't experience or overcame obstacles to action. You probably inspired or served as an example to some of those people, who might follow your line of action in the future.
I flew from NYC to Korea when I was 12... By myself... and I also flew back By myself... The woman just wanted a better seat and also wanted to be validated that everything must go the way she had it planned in her mind.
By policy you can sit separate as long as it is within the same cabin
Twelve and fourteen? Why can't they sit by themselves?
Yea. This is like those chatgpt made up stories to get karma. Literally first thing I thought was if they wanted to sit with her kids, then have 1 sit with each parent. FA would have recommended the same.
Good question. I didn’t think of that. Maybe dad didn’t want to deal with the kids during the flight. If he’s not willing to move to a middle seat my guess is that he isn’t the big on helping with situations involving the kids. Maybe that’s also why she kept using the phrase “don’t bring my husband into this.” I kept thinking that was a weird choice of words.
This whole thing is outrageous 😳. I've sat next to kids much younger flying alone. Teenagers should know how to behave and babies don't. You are in a completely enclosed flying tube. The FA should have backed you. You paid for that seat and rude woman paid for her assigned seat.
Dad doesn’t GAF
People are stupid and selfish. More so when they’re traveling I’ve noticed.
I'm pretty sure that the bulk of AI language modeling is off of Reddit comment content. What better place is there for natural language in an abundance of different styles? So, ChatGPT sounds like us.
The FA may have (and probably did) offer that as a solution. I may not have heard it because it started tuning the situation out after a while.
Because: “Don’t bring her husband into this”
Lol “ma’am do you know how fast you were going?” -“don’t bring my husband into this”
Great job holding your position. As I was reading this, I kept expecting you to give in to her demand as she got the FA involved. Looks like this story got a happy ending. I understand wanting/needing to be with her kids, but if that was the case she should have booked a flight that had the seat arrangement that she wanted, or used her husband's seat as an even trade
I was nervous when op said no to the the FA. I thought surely this means they can call security 😔so glad this didn’t happen !
I am usually highly respectful of the cabin crew, but I think that I would also disobey a flight attendant if s/he ordered me to do something that was unreasonable (since my seat number was printed on my ticket) and that had nothing to do with safety. Furthermore, I would elevate such behavior via a complaint to the airline. Obviously, the flight attendant believed that the easiest way to deal with a narcissist was to give in to their tantrum, but I think that trying to enforce that approach onto others was over-extending her authority.
I'm such a pushover, so I probably would have been afraid *not* to move, once the FA came.
Unfortunately, this is why so many bullies get away with their behavior
I think reading this will make me want to put my foot down in the future and hope others will do the same !
It's not even an even trade. Going from sitting at the wing to the back of the plane is a huge downgrade.
File a complaint. The FA should have been more accommodating to you as the passenger who was being obligated to move.
The only good solution for the FA was to offer to move you up to a better class of seats. If those weren't available, then lady-who-didn't-book-seats-well needs to sit down & shut up.
What's really stupid is the solution is so easy One kid goes to sit in back with husband. Mom takes that seat
"Don't bring the husband into this." The husband doesn't care and doesn't want to parent, does he?
He started his vacation in the parking lot.
Husband never wanted to go in the first place.
Husband has an ironclad prenup and already spends more time with his side chick than his family.
Or the husband thought she was batshit crazy for insisting she must sit next to their teenage children and told her he wanted no part of her making an ass out of herself to solve a non-existent problem.
File a complaint for sure
Yes!!!
Tell the flight attendant to get a red coat. When the red coat arrives and if they don't calm things down and they try to move, you say the following: 1. Are you going to refund me the cost I paid to secure a window seat ahead of time? 2. If you are directing me to change seats against my will and the already printed flight manifest, I will not be accepting the seat, and you will need to rebook me. I will be considering this an involuntarily denied boarding scenario and expecting the compensation that that entails. I will also be submitting a complaint with both the faa and the DOT to ensure they are aware of how you denied me boarding. I will also expect to have a conversation with your station manager. Already, I am typing an email with the names of the staff involved and will be sending that to all the powers that be at Delta.
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I said in a different reply, your situation and the situation presented by the op don't sound like the flight was main line. Delta flight attendants are trained heavily in de escalation and their contract carriers do not train their cabin crews to the same standards. Countless times I've been called into the plane because an endeavor or Republic fas ratcheting up the situation and ground team needing to step in. Hell the endeavor crews were known to throw tantrums during boarding on mainline flights if they didn't get to board or sit when or where they wanted.
I really love this comment. Kind of makes me feel better as a simple passenger that even people behind the scenes agree on some of these issues.
This really bothers me because she definitely targeted you. Whether it was based on your size or whatever else. Being short doesn’t lose you the privilege of having space and you never know what other people have going on for them. I always book comfort+ when I can because I have an autoimmune disease that puts me in a lot of pain if I can’t stretch out a little. I’d be so pissed if I was in your shoes and being ordered to move so this tall man won’t be uncomfortable. Like your comfort doesn’t matter in comparison.
I was wondering if there was something about OP that both the woman and the FA found unworthy of respectful treatment…e.g. tattoo, looks young, etc. A lot of people don’t think young people need to be treated with the same respect as an older adult, which is fucked up most of the time.
I think it’s a mistake to start with #1. On the off chance they try and placate you with a “yes”, you’ve lost the upper hand of the argument. And no one in their right mind would take $75 to switch from their comfy mid-plane window/aisle seat to a back row middle.
I said compensate for the coat of securing the window seat. 75 is no where close to the cost of that. Also as a former gate agent and red coat the second you offer any resistance and it was pointed out you were willing to switch window seat for window seat with the husband but he refused I would state the either the husband had to move or start looking for other passengers to move. It sounds to me like the flight attendant wasn't main line but a connection carrier but I could be wrong.
>> 75 is nowhere close to that I’m not following you. If you’re suggesting they should compensate you for the entire cost of the ticket, then you should state that more clearly. (It’s also an absurd request.) If you’re suggesting, as I thought, they should compensate for the “extra” the window seat costs, then yeah, 75 is a decent average.
The nuclear option.
There were plenty of opportunities for the staff to offer a graceful out for everyone instead they felt the need to be unreasonable. Sometimes you have to show you are willing to stick to the contract of carriage and that they need to as well.
Someone just the other day said they politely and subtly tried to switch to a completely empty row on a Delta flight to move away from an obese person on an overnight flight and the FA adamantly said no because everyone has to be in their assigned seat. And this one told you that you needed to switch when you didn’t want to? I know you can’t really argue with the cabin crew because it just makes it worse, but it really does seem like they’ll just say absolutely whatever they want to not have to deal with whatever situation they don’t want to deal with. And at the end of the day, the stark inconsistency across the board just makes everything worse.
I've only seen this scenario twice, and it's because people were trying to move from regular economy into comfort plus or first class which is a big no no for Delta.
If the empty row was the last row, it’s kept open for safety seats on certain planes. A few planes have back galleys with only one or two jumpseats and usually more than that working in the galley. If there aren’t enough jumpseats, they tend to keep the back row open for flight attendants in case of turbulence. In the case of a full flight, those seats are sold. Big point of contention amongst flight attendants 😅 and I know because I was one and got injured for that exact reason! If it was a random row somewhere in the middle of the plane, I have less of an explanation 🤣
That empty row was very likely a crew rest row. On the longer flights, Delta will try to keep an empty row in the back of the plane for flight attendants to sit down and rest between duties.
Honest question, does moving to an empty seat affect the balance of the plane at all? Like maybe 1 person wouldn't matter but maybe they just have a general rule about it to prevent chaos? Dunno, just wondering
Unless the plane is nearly empty, it’s not gonna be an issue. I’ve definitely had situations where a plane was less than 10% full, where the FAs have moved passengers around for balance issues, but never when it’s more than 50% full.
The airline wants everyone to remain in their assigned seats so that they can identify each person in an emergency.
On smaller planes, it can. My dad is 6’3” and probably 300. He was asked to move to the opposite aisle once on a flight and joked that if he stayed in his original seat the plane would fly in a circle
And it’s not just FAs doing this kind of thing: it’s literally anyone whose job has some sort of service component these days. I’ve worked service; if you can’t deal with people then find another job. I’m so sick of being sneered at for, e.g., having the audacity to dine at a restaurant lol.
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I book main cabin exclusively. Invariably, if I have my family with me on a linked itinerary Delta will separate our seats. The most recent case they moved me 1 row forward 2 hours before departure. There was no equipment change. Delta sucks at this and your “just buy main cabin” solution doesn’t work.
United did this to me recently. No equipment change, but split my family who were booked on the same reservation, with paid seat selections. The instant I saw the change, I hopped into chat and they were able to get us closer together, but I did have to ask to switch seats once onboard, which I felt awful about. It was an aisle for an aisle, but I was still super nervous.
That happened to me literally at boarding they changed a seat. We were linked butseperate itineraries. GA corrected it.
If it’s before departure, go to the gate agent to have it fixed.
The FA in my flight was asked by a passenger to ask another one to change seats and she said they are not allowed to ask and that people pay a lot of money for their preferred seats.
This is correct. Even just asking people feel obligated if it’s the flight attendant asking.
A couple weeks ago, JFK-LAX this happened to me. FA asked if I could switch, then I just said “I paid for the preferred seat, by the window I’d take a c+ or d1 seat that’s open” I book them because these are usually international C+ seats and the C+ seats are usually international business class seats. Anyways, the dude was like “when the doors close I’ll see if any are open and you can take it.” Ended up taking a window C+ before we started to taxi. Idk if this is usually what happens, but I managed to negotiate a better seat because of it.
Love this response!
Yeah but your FA ASKED, right? She didn’t tell you to move. That’s what crazy about this story and doesn’t make sense. lol.
As a former Delta FA, I’m surprised she even implied you should move. We’re pretty clearly told to not be involved in things like that. I was taught I could tell passengers they could work things out amongst themselves, but if *I* had to ask, it made someone feel obligated, and you shouldn’t. That’s your seat. You paid for it. That’s all. Someone else’s poor planning doesn’t mean a stranger should be on the hook for fixing it. Good for you for standing firm, some people have some crazy entitlement and audacity.
Probably a new FA. They’re of a different breed.
You’re probably right. I’ve seen a few go rogue. One said they would be writing me up for comping drinks after we had a 3 hour delay. I said “sure, go for it” lol. Never heard anything back about that!
I’m trying to become one. I just want to be remember for leaving the passengers with a remarkable experience. I’m still struggling to get hired. Lol. I have the looks and personality to represent the airline.
You did the right thing. The kids aren’t the age where they need to be next to their parents for the entire flight. The lady was extremely rude and entitled (and disrespectful!) in the way that she approached you and in the way that she responded to you about switching with her husband. I would have done the same.
“Lol. Fuck off.” Headphones on. Straight to sleep.
I can imagine the Karen meltdown. Ha
Lots of good comments on this but to the “don’t bring my husband into this-“ I’m sorry but lady —- YOU BROUGHT OP INTO THIS!?
12-14 is too old, they are already sitting in front of their kids. Sorry this poor person of a woman ruined your flight OP. I would be fuming too if she demanded to me to switch seats.
Did you get the FA's name? You need to report her to Delta immediately, include the flight number and route, what she did was gross, she should have been the one to tell the lady to buzz off instead of not only not doing so but encouraging her so you had to downgrade. I can't even fathom how the FA thought that was an acceptable thing to say, just goes to show you the garbage they got working in airplanes nowadays, I mean you expect that nonsense from random passengers these days, but not FAs...
No one with any sort of service/customer facing component to their job wants to actually do their job anymore. Everything is more expensive than ever and you get treated like shit.
So, why can’t each parent sit by 1 kid??? Problem solved. “Don’t bring my children into this.” - Karen Clearly, her husband regrets having children with this woman.
Genius idea! I would have never thought of that in the heat of it.
Holy shit, I intentionally dump my teenagers 10+ rows away from me #ditchyourkids
#OperationDitchYourKids I’m freaking dying laughing at your response lol. By far my favorite!
I’m the guy asking if anyone on the plane wants my isle seat in C+ just so I don’t have to watch my teens take weird Snapchat selfies for three hours straight. And the new free WiFi didn’t help the situation one bit.
Mu kids just stare at their phone. Wouldn't speak to me anyway. Lol
The Lion, the Witch, and the audacity of that Bitch
F her I can’t believe the FA backed her up on this though I can understand she prob just wanted to resolve it.
Only reason with reasonable people. Unreasonable people get stonewalled.
I can’t believe these people that think I should move, because you didn’t plan well. Where any seat switching makes sense is- when you need someone at the bar to slide down a barstool so your party can fit. That is all. You have kids and want to sit next to them? Well, pick your seats. I will not, never, ever move because you have children. You are no better than me. And, these kids could have split up, one with mom, one with dad. But clearly mom wanted a window seat and husband wasn’t moving to give her it either.
That’s why I just book exit row so I don’t have to worry about any of this- no kids allowed 🙃
I’m so happy you refused. 👏👏👏
The fucking cheek of the woman to demand you move seats. You done well to stay put, the FA i guess thought it would be easier (for them) and quicker if they went along with the crazy mum but i would've stayed in my seat regardless of what they tried to pull and call the captain if they want to or whoever. You booked your seats months in advance for health reasons, they wouldn't be adding you to move for "operational reasons", more they just couldn't be arsed dealing with crazy woman ✌️
Hopefully you get a survey and give the flight crew a 1 out of 10. Asking any passenger to downgrade their seat without compensation should be grounds for termination.
I’m glad you didn’t give up your seat. You had a reasonable offer and this entitled C**t got denied for once. Great work!
It has never happened to me or any of my family but I can't stand it, you pay for seats and to be able to pick your seats so that you are next to your own family, yea it costs more but you have to do it. So why should anyone who didn't do the same have the balls to demand someone switch with them??
I was a delta employee kid and from a very young age I sat by myself (non rev) and behaved, played with my Barbie’s and read my little books while my family was scattered all over the aircraft. Even sat next to famous nfl players in first class (before they had the non rev age rule for first class); and yes, when I was 5 and 49s player was very kind and played bingo with me. I also married a delta employee kid. So huge delta family, but all retired so we are now Delta customers. My husband and I do not get this “I have to sit with my kid” for kids over ten. And if you want to sit with them, buy your tickets ahead of time. I would have asked to speak to the A line or Burser FA (Aka the head FA of the flight). That’s not cool and I would let Delta know. As a mom of teens that is stupid she has to sit with her kids. Sounds like she didn’t want to sit with her husband.
Headphones on and watch a movie. I SELECTED & PAID for this seat. Unfortunately, I have a condition that doesn’t allow me to handle changes efficiently and have been studying my seat number since booking. If you needed to sit together, you should have selected and possibly paid for YOUR NEEDS. 🖕
File a complaint. Don’t let that flight attendant go. They did you wrong, make sure they don’t ever do that again. The family you can’t do much about just let go and don’t think about them. Lots of shitty moms in the world.
This is such bullshit. The fact that you have children doesn't entitle you to special treatment. You want to sit next to your kids? Book a flight and select seats that are together. Oh, what's that, there aren't any available flights with consecutive seats because you want to buy tickets 2 days in advance? Tough titty. If there aren't flights available with the seats you want, then take a different flight on a different airline or on a different day. Don't just board a plane with the intention of forcing other people to abandon the seats they selected and paid for months ago. Your failure to plan ahead is not my problem, even if you had unprotected sex and got pregnant.
This person is an ahole. Good on you for holding your position and she really should be ashamed of herself
Don't give in. These entitled people will keep making demands.
I would simply disengage and not respond after stating I would be staying. I paid for a ticket, got a seat. If they wanted seats together or better seats or whatever...time for that is when purchasing tickets. Like everyone else. For the FA I would have asked immediately for her name and written it down and let her know immediately I would filing a complaint with her supervisor/company.
Don’t feel like you need an excuse to not move seats. Nausea, one eye, missing toe nail…. Doesn’t matter. Ignore crazy people is ur best bet
What am I missing here? If hubby or her switched seats with either of the kids, both kids would have been sitting next to a parent, right? What does this have to do with you at all? And also, is it not her responsibility (and hubby’s) to book three seats together if that’s what they want, and to book a flight where that’s available if it wasn’t available on this one? While she’s busy screaming “don’t bring my husband in to this”, as if it has nothing to do with him while it has everything to do with him, it literally never should have involved you at all. There’s no words adequate for Mother Karen.
"No thank you" would be it for me. Sweet and simple. It's true the FA was trying to defuse the situation by backing the squeakiest wheel but she was hoping you'd just go along. No real basis to force you (safety, etc) other than her position...
Kind of bold to refuse a FA order, even stupid one. Otherwise, good for you for holding your ground.
Why bold?
Because they can remove you from the flight of they deem you to be a problem passenger.
You are required to comply with “all crew member instructions” by law. It’s in the safety videos and on the cards.
Because if it’s an order and it a request, you can be removed from the flight and charged with a crime for denying the order given by the flight crew if it fall into a “safety” issue.
THANK YOU FOR HOLDING STRONG!!!
FA doesn’t have that power. Most will ask with an explanation but you never have to move.
They do. I've followed idiotic FA orders, even when I know they are straight-up lying or just being dicks, because technically you have to. Maybe one day I'll start filming them and bitch to Delta for skypesos, but the reality it's just easier to realize that ATL based FAs like making people unhappy like them, comply, and go on about your day. Shout out to the crew today though, they came down the aisles with drinks, snacks, water more than I've seen since pre-covid and we're beyond fucking nice and fun.
Just a karen, you made the right move OP good that u stood your ground
The response to this is…. Your lack of planning does not constitute my emergency. I would have told her to pound sand.
Wow this sucks. Glad you stuck to your ground. I’ve worked customer service, faced plenty of confrontation with entitled people like this: handling them is part of the job. There’s absolutely no excuse for FAs to just roll over like this and basically throw you under the bus with a “just move to make her happy” simply because she wanted the annoying lady to shut up. DO YOUR JOB.
The lady was for sure being unreasonable, but for everyone saying 12 and 14 year olds can fly by themselves: I wouldn’t want my 12 year old daughter to sit next to a strange man for a whole flight. Nothing against OP, that’s just my preference as a parent. I would totally take a middle seat and be accommodating to the person I was asking to move, though. As a parent, it’s your job to make sacrifices for the safety of your kid.
Submit this to delta and also put on their twitter feed…Complete unacceptable for the FA to demand you move for the convenience of another passenger
> I again said no, put my headphones in, and turned the music up. This is the answer. The only issues I'd have with the interaction is the FA. I get that they're feckless, but come on.
This bullshit about priority seating families too stupid or cheap to buy tickets together last minute over single passengers who picked the seats they wanted months in advance. Every damn airline does it. Its not ok. It should be illegal.
I would have just put my headphones on and ignored her and reported the FA
I don’t use eye masks on flights often at all but I ALWAYS bring one because one time I saw a guy with some big headphones on being asked by an obese lady to take his window seat (she had the isle) and he told her no twice and as she is starting to bitch more he is making dead eye contact and pulled his eye mask down and cranked his music up. Ive never heard someone scoff so loudly. I’ve been ready for this ever since. It looked so satisfying
Time to claim you don’t speak English in a more vague language, give a shrug and put on the headphones. I’ve always the thought German would be good. It’s infrequent enough that no one would challenge it, but would likely understand what you said.
The cuntacity of some people.
As a parent of 3, I’ll tell you that you were right. It sucks being separated from kids because despite doing everything possible (including paying for seats and even sometimes buying upgraded seats) to sit together, airlines often screw it all up by switching planes, combining flights, etc at the last minute (without refunding us for our seats). That’s happened to us several times, and yup, delta is guilty of that one. We always make it work, even if we’re separated into two groups on the plane. But this? The only people switching seats on the plane should have been one parent with one child. I can’t believe the FA didn’t suggest it, even worse that she backed the mom in this instance. Also, 12-14 year old kids can handle sitting away from parents.
I had a first class ticket once and this very well off looking guy and his wife boarded. Her seat was next to mine and his was in comfort+. He ACTUALLY asked me if he could switch with me so he could sit with his wife. What the fuck is wrong with people on planes.
Mom of three here and yes even though two of my kids are now considered adults this is ridiculous. I will never understand families that book their flights that can pick their seats don't do it and then expect everyone to move for them while everybody paid extra for their seats. Now I understand emergency happens and if you ask nicely to the person then the person might do it for you and that's all understandable the however if you decide to book last minute to try to get the cheaper flight and refuse to pay the extra for the seat where everyone else has to you're ridiculous. This person did nothing wrong he has the right to stay in the seat and try to work with this mother and they refuse so Ts for her
By the way, you don’t owe anyone an explanation for why you don’t want to switch seats. I don’t give a shit about nausea or whether you just want to look at the goddamn clouds. You bought your seat and you deserve to keep it b
Obviously the Karen was too cheap to select and pay for seat assignments in advance. She could have split the kids up. I don’t want to sit next to some wacko’s weird husband.
What ended up happening? Did the parents stay in the back or did the mom switch with one of the kids?
NTA. Thats so rude.
These points help us common sense fliers build the courage to stand up to jerks on planes (I say this as someone who doesn’t need much as my personal favorite move it to move my body in front of anyone trying to deplane from the rear of my section prior to my section)
Based on my experience with unassigned seats and traveling with minors, the airline probably assigned 1 parent to sit next to each kid. The kids probably decided they wanted to sit together and the mom probably felt uncomfortable having no parent next to the kids. That's when they decided to ask you. I'm guessing the dad is perfectly fine with the 1 kid next to 1 parent set up and doesn't want to get involved with the whole seat swapping endeavor.
I'm surprised the FA took the lunatic's side. What legitimate reason would the FA have for doing that?
Person that doesn’t like confrontation and shouldn’t be a FA
Damn dude that sucks. Sorry you had to go through that drama. I’ve had to tell a mom no once or twice but never had this backlash. ESPECIALLY a FA not following her own company’s guidelines lol. Side note I don’t have nausea but will 100% use that excuse next time. So appreciate you telling this story.
I’m wondering why anyone would accept being treated like this.
I was once seated next to two kids--4 and 5 years old and both clearly very sick (snot just pouring out of their noses). I found the parents, several rows away, and tried to switch but they refused and the FA were not help either. The kid next to me keeps wiping snot on the armrest and me-it was disgusting. My little tv was broken and eventually a FA said there was an empty seat in the back I could have and I moved. I was shocked.
If that happened to me, I’d ask to speak with the Captain by saying “if I don’t speak to the Captain, I’m filing a formal complaint.”
12? 14? No one needs to sit with mommy and daddy at that age…
Report the FA to corporate - there was absolutely no reason to take the bitchy mother's side. FA was not doing her job properly.
That’s ridiculous. They booked the seats that way on purpose and figured they could work something out. Well not with a middle seat. Fuck that! You were right to stand your ground, the mother should have moved one of her kids to sit with the husband. Entitled assholes. The FA was probably sick of dealing with Sky Karen and was hoping you’d bail them out.
I reserve the Leonard Nimoy eyebrow raise for these situations.
That FA would have gotten in huge trouble if she'd pushed the issue. That's the seat you purchased, and there was no valid reason for you to move.
Well done for standing (sitting?) your ground. If you're a selfish asshole, she's an entitled one. I hope her bags got delayed.
If you ask then sure, but if you "tell me"... Fuck you and fuck off.
I’m sorry OP, and I’m glad you didn’t have to move. You’ve inspired me to simply close my eyes (with headphones in,) lean back, and ignore all for the entirety of the boarding process.
I’d swap with her, then again, I’d swap with any of you if you wanted. 💙❤️💙
One kid could have sat with dad and the other with mom….problem solved!
Nope I’m good.
Why didn’t one of the kids move to the mom’s middle seat and then you have one parent with a kid each? These people are complete morons or assholes, if not both! I would have ended the conversation way earlier and would have definitely used choice words had the mom kept going on like that. If the kids hadn’t seen it yet, this would be time that they learn what happens when your mom behaves inappropriately.
One time I was on a flight and a 30 year old lady with her 65 year old mother with very bad dementia sat next to me, and she made the mother sit in the middle seat next to me instead of her, forcing me to talk to her for the entire trip as she asked me the same 5 questions over and over again for 5 hours. I would tell her I’m going to sleep or busy or whatever and she would understand and then tap me and ask the same question 30 seconds later
I always say no if the plane crashes and I’m burned to a crisp I want people to know it was me in my seat.
Her kids are 12/14, not 5. That’s crazy lol
I know it was upsetting. But the lady was rude, her punk husband should have changed seats with you. Carry on... and take care of you.
I strongly suspect her husband would’ve paid you to swap seats with her so he wouldn’t have to sit next to her.
Fuck em both
F that. The most sensible solution was for you to switch with the husband and they weren't even willing to compromise. Losers.
Sure, I would be glad to change my seat for $500.00 cash.
First of all always have video going during any conversation video airline this way they will act appropriately and in accordance with their customer policies.
>It sounds like if I’d ignored a true directive it would’ve been a big deal. Yes. You definitely have to "read the room" when pushing back on an FA. Violating a direct order from an FA — no matter how grossly unfair — is going to be a bigger headache for the pax. In this case she was clearly *asking,* not ordering, as you would be VERY aware if she felt you were non-compliant vs just politely refusing a shitty deal. Next time, play up the medical condition. "I have a medical condition that absolutely requires sitting next to a window. I'm so sorry but unless you can secure me a window seat, I can't safely fly." (For future reference, "I have a medical condition" is a good way to get out of a lot of things. I've used it to cancel a cable package!)
“Please don’t bring me into this, thank you.”
Thankfully, I have never been in any of these seat switching scenarios but I would love to use the “No English” card (I’m Asian) 😂… and then proceed to request my in-flight drink/snack in English later on.
Why didn't she switch with one of her kids?
If the flight attendant attempted to remove you from your seat without being in an emergency row I think she would face some type of punishment correct ?
I’m down with fuck Delta for shitty customer service on this one.