starrsville

As I understand it, Economy Plus are not available to you at an additional cost. Those seats are available to frequent flyers. Unless any of the 5 are elite flyers, none of you are eligible for the Economy Plus seats.

I guess what we are saying is that United didn't mess up as you first thought in your OP. Yes, we have "heard of such a thing". I guess we are surprised your agent hadn't.

So, this wasn't "a strange policy United brought to light which made absolutely no sense". It is just typical airline prioritizing with taking care of frequent fliers first. Not unfair at all. They are FREQUENT fliers after all.

mrwunrfl

What? You're agent doesn't understand that "those seats are not available at that fare" means that they are available at a higher fare?

AND WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR A FOUR YEAR OLD GIRL IN AN EMERGENCY WHETHER SHE IS IN THE SEAT NEXT TO YOU ON AN AIRPLANE OR RUNNING INTO TRAFFIC OR LEANING TOO FAR OUT OF A BUS WINDOW? Good grief.

rkkwan

As I explained earlier, one can buy a $299 per year, per person "Economy Plus Access". Maybe the agent should have offered, maybe not. I don't know UA's policy for pushing services like this.

KT

"WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR A FOUR YEAR OLD GIRL IN AN EMERGENCY ...?"

First of all, there's no need to shout.

Second of all, since I was the person you're responding to...yes, of course if I saw a four-year old running into traffic I'd rescue him or her. However, that doesn't mean that I would "take responsibility" for watching and caring for the child as a parent would. For example, a parent walking beside a child holds the child's hand for safety. Would I do the same thing with every child I see on the street? Would you? If a child were on a bus with a parent and wanted a tissue, would I be responsible for supplying one?

In the incident in question, the flight attendant basically told a stranger, who had not volunteered to watch a child, that the stranger, not the parent, was responsible for watching the child for the duration of the flight. That could mean everything from helping in an emergency, to taking the child to the bathroom, to keeping the child from crying, to choosing the child's meal. Sorry, but that is not the responsibility of a random person. And I doubt that many parents would want it to be.

KT

And I forgot to add, the FA's explanation was that the passenger had another child to care for. Now, I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that many adults have been known to care for more than one child at a time.

i_am_kane

Since I am the one who started this squabble, I'm jumping in here. No need to get everyone's feather's ruffled.

I was somewhat miffed that I was put on the spot, and other passengers near me, didn't quite understand why I was given this directive.

The mother, never said an apologetic word to me, nor thank you for the position I was put in. Thank goodness, it was a short 2-hr flight. I also felt obliged to help this little girl when she needed something to drink. Not a big deal, but I might protest if I were asked to do this again on another flight.

rkkwan

i_am_kane - You definitely shouldn't be put in that position. The gate agent should have asked for volunteers that will switch seats with the family. There must be someone willing to do that on the whole plane. The whole mess is caused by the laziness of the gate agent.

i_am_kane

rkkwan,

Gate attendant...I'll have my wits about me, if it ever happens again.

On the positive side, I know the little girl was comfortable with me. I am not a threatening personality, and I am a grandmother of four children, and I have no problem relating to kids.

Other passengers voiced opinions as we were leaving the aircraft that the mother was lucky I was the one "selected" to be her child's guardian on that flight.

All's well that ends well.

mrwunrfl

Before my outburst, the discussion most definitely was about taking care of the girl in an emergency. As far as taking the girl to the bathroom or wiping her nose, that is above and beyond the call. You are very kind to have taken care of her and it is good to know that you know that her mother was grateful.

It was up to the FAs, not the gate agent, to fix the mess since it was already on board.

The simplest thing to do would have been to switch seats with the mother.

i_am_kane

mrwunrfl,

Perhaps you didn't read my previous posts:

1) The little girl's mother never thanked me.

2) It wouldn't have made any difference for the mother to switch seats. She had an infant on her lap, and in the FA's opinion, couldn't care for two children in case of an emergency.

highledge

I fly with four kids 6-7times a year. And I never get us all in a row. it's much better for us if we have a 2-3 or 3-3 combo (if husband is wth us). Small kids sit behind older family members (eliminate kicking of seat issue).But the best option is two small kids me in the asile seat and older two across the aisle.
Block seating is also easier to get than a full row!

mrwunrfl

1) i did read that the "mother was grateful" for you escorting the girl to/from the toilet

2) If you switched seats it would have removed you from the issue, and mother would have been better able to attend to the girl's non-emergency needs. Apparently, I wasted a rant. I will put this more calmly: even if the mother was sitting on the other side of the child I would still have some responsibility for the child in an emergency. It would be my duty.

karens

I've actually found United to be quite responsive to customer service type stuff, but I usually fly USAir so my standards are low.

We are the type that books family flights 10 months in advance b/c we often fly with FF seats. I always request 4 in a row. It's maddening when they do a plane change and then assign us all over the plane. Unfortunately, I have found most passengers totally unwilling and not understanding of families wanting to sit together. But I get more frustrated that the flight attendants would not help at all in trying to arrange us seats together. A request from flight attendent would gather more respect, I believe, than one from me. I've now started warning people that my younger son is hyperactive (understatement) and that usually helps encourage people to switch.

I don't think the original incident that started this was United's fault. i_am, maybe next time you should offer to switch so as not to be responsible. If I am ever in the unfortunate position of having a kicking or obnoxious child sitting behind me, I would ask the parent to switch with me so that they bear the unpleasantness their child is causing.

Judy24

To karens: Assuming the following statement you made was serious, and not tongue in cheek, I have a question.

"If I am ever in the unfortunate position of having a kicking or obnoxious child sitting behind me, I would ask the parent to switch with me so that they bear the unpleasantness their child is causing."

How would that help you? Assuming the child was originally sitting next to the parent, YOU would now be sitting next to the child! And I guess now you'd be "responsible" for the child. Doesn't sound like a good trade-off to me!

karens

No - what I meant was if I was sitting in seat 13A and the kicker was in 14A (sitting next to his mom who was obviously not doing anything since her kid was repeatedly kicking me).

I'd like to then ask the mom to switch with me so he could kick HER insted of me.

mrwunrfl

oh, i think I get the point: if you switched seats then the child might not have had any help in an emergency because mom was too busy.

karens, but then you would have an obnoxious kid next to you and mom would be shooting you dirty looks for not controlling the kid

KathyK

I'm not sure how carefully I read this thread, but did I read that if you are a passenger on an airplane and there is an unattended child next to you, the airline can tell you that you are responsible for this child? Really?

starrsville

The FA can tell you anything. Doesn't mean it's true/ accurate.

mrwunrfl

yeah, i think we finally agreed that if there was an emergency you could just sit there sucking on your oxygen mask while the little girl suffocates.

starrsville

Okay, I think we finally agreed that this is getting ludicrous. Yes, anyone would (or should) help the person next to them in case of an emergency. No, a person is not automatically responsible for taking a child to the potty or watching them throughout a flight just because they are sitting next to them on a plane. Sounds like the mom was very tired, or very overwhelmed or just a bad mom. Cannot believe someone would let a stranger take a child to the restroom nowadays. But, if the FA determines that the mom can't take care of the child, it is the FA's responsibility to take care of the child - not a stranger who happens to sit next to the child.