A distraught mother appealed to Reddit users to inform her if she was wrong to have purchased first-class airline tickets while traveling with her toddler — the inquiry coming after another passenger flying first class took offense.
“Are we really a******* for flying 1st class with our toddler?” One-Criticism5777 asked, according to Fox News.
While one might think airline policy would come into play, there are no child-free commercial airlines. Yet, when paying extra for first-class seats, is being isolated from children among the luxuries expected?
“We boarded early since my husband is disabled and when another 1st class passenger saw us he started glaring,” One-Criticism5777 said, in explaining their experience.
“Shortly after he sat down, a flight attendant came up and asked to see our boarding passes to make sure we were seated correctly. We showed her our boarding passes and she was like, ‘Cool, y’all are good.’”
She said a second flight attendant would confirm their seating before takeoff, but that soon after the plane was on its way the mother said the man who glared at them tapped her on the shoulder and told her children were not allowed to be seated in first class and that they should move to their “real seats.”
Here’s a humorous, albeit entirely different take on babies in first class:
No more babies in first class. Put ‘em back in coach. #flying #firstclass #travelhorrorstory #baby #babies pic.twitter.com/zpotHzsevc
— Orny Adams (@Ornyadams) November 21, 2022
At the time, One-Criticism5777 said, her husband was asleep and her daughter was “in the middle of coloring.”
“I realized he was probably the person that complained before takeoff that we were in the wrong seats and decided before I got upset I wanted the flight attendants to deal with this,” One-Criticism5777 wrote.
“I told him that I did not feel comfortable talking with him and that I was calling a flight attendant to come handle this,” she continued. “He got flustered but ultimately stood awkwardly next to me in the aisle until a flight attendant came to clear things up.”
A flight attendant reportedly got involved, telling the man the family was in the correct seats and there were no more issues until it came time to deplane, with One-Criticism5777 saying the man whispered a derogatory term in her ear and then said that “he pays too much money for first class to be surrounded by children.”
The mom was confused by the man’s actions, stressing that her daughter had not cried or caused a disruption.
“She stayed seated and quietly [played] throughout the flight, only getting up when she had to go potty,” One-Criticism5777 wrote.
Reddit users seemed to be supportive of the mother, with the post’s top commenter saying, “Even if your child did cry, it wouldn’t have mattered because you paid and are entitled to the seats you paid for. If they don’t want to be around children/other people that bad — they should fly private.”
“Can we also throw in the misogyny?” another commenter said. “He approached [the original poster (OP)] when husband was conveniently sleeping and then made a point to use a sexist slur again only to OP.”
Daniel Levine, director at Avant Guide Institute (AGI), a New York-based business and consumer trend consulting firm, told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t know of any airline that “explicitly forbids children in premium classes.”
Interestingly, Japan Airlines has a booking tool that allows passengers to know where infants will be seated if travel arrangements have been booked.
“Their seat map uses a special baby emoji to show where the little offenders are located, so you can choose to be as far away as possible,” Levine said, adding that babies do cry. “That’s what they do.”
And while nobody wants to sit next to a crying baby, Levine said, “In all classes, experienced flyers plug their ears or travel with a good pair of noise-canceling headphones.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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