Woman blasted for flying with her toddler in first class
By Suzy Monzer|
A? mother who booked her toddler a seat in first class has sparked outrage, with one passenger taking it upon himself to confront the woman and her family during the flight.
Her ordeal comes amid furious online debates about parents flying with young children.
Sharing the incident on Reddit, the US mum said she was confident that her child was a good flier, having travelled many times prior to the incident, but a fellow passenger was furious at the thought of sitting near a child since he'd paid for a first-class ticket.
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"?My husband, toddler (almost three) and I were flying across the country for Thanksgiving. Since we could afford it due to a nice pay raise my husband recently got, we decided to splurge on first-class tickets for the trip," she wrote.
"My toddler has always been a good flyer and has flown a lot throughout her short life. She's never been disruptive or cried on an airplane, this flight included."
"She's good at staying in her seat and tells us when she needs to go potty, food, a toy, etc. She stayed seated and quietly playing throughout the flight, only getting up when she had to go potty."
Although the little girl did nothing to disrupt fellow flyers, the one outraged passenger complained to the cabin crew on board.?
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"We boarded early since my husband is disabled and when another first-class passenger saw us he started glaring," the mum explained.
"We take off and all is good. My kid fell asleep in the middle of colouring, husband is snoozing. I'm listening to music when I get a tap on my shoulder.
"It was the guy that glared at us as he boarded and before I could even get a word out he told me that children weren't allowed in first class and that we needed to move to our 'real' seats".
Attempting to avoid confrontation, the mum asked the flight attendant to deal with the man's complaint, as she felt 'uncomfortable'.
The mother thought the issue had been resolved but the man was still angry.
"The flight attendant came and explained to him that we were in the correct seats that we paid for and asked that he sit back down and not bother us again. He did go back to his seat but as we were getting off the plane he whispered to me that I was an expletive - and that he pays too much money for first class to be surrounded by children."
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Desperate for advice, the mum concluded, "My kid was the only kid in first class and she didn't misbehave or even cry so at first I felt like I was in the right, but after talking to family at Thanksgiving many of them told me that we should book economy next time because people pay extra to relax in 1st class.
"Are we really a--holes for flying first class with our toddler?"
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People flocked to the comments section on the Reddit post to defend the mum's decision.
"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".
"I can understand why he would initially be wary and upset, but he frankly should have calmed down once it became apparent that your toddler was just sleeping peacefully like anyone else," added another.
"He paid for his seat, not silence. That's why we can all bring headphones, noise cancelling headphones, ear plugs, etc..," declared a third.
Other posts questioning whether babies should be allowed on first-class flights have divided opinion.
"I think we can all agree that babies on planes suck in general. But babies have to go places, especially around the holidays. I get that. But I really don't think that babies should be allowed in first class," said one outraged woman.
"I wish there were sound proof-cabins on flightsกญ But all the hooh-hah starts in the business lounge at the airport. It never ceases to amaze me. What are parents with little kids even doing in the business lounge at the airport in the first place?! I'm SO sick of it."
"We NEED child-free flights," said another.
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