Modern airlines do often attempt to get away with too much, since what, are you going to drive across the ocean? They overbook, charge for average-sized bags, and attempt the weirdest seating arrangements.
A worried woman asked the internet if not giving up her first-class upgrade was the right move. On a long flight that she had booked well in advance, the airline offered her a free upgrade to first class due to the travel points she had accrued. But just moments into the flight, a flight attendant came by to ask her if she wouldn’t mind downgrading her seat.
Even first class-flying can come with it’s own set of difficulties
Background info, I (23F) have been planning a trip to San Francisco for around a year at this point and had booked my tickets a year in advance.
Around about a month or two before the trip, the airline called me saying they’d like to upgrade me to first class due to my points and being a member.
I had never flown first class before so to say I was so excited was an understatement.
I made sure to do everything possible in the lounge before my flight and I was welcomed with such a comfortable setting for the 13-hour flight.
About an hour into the flight, a flight attendant comes up to me and asks me if I’d be willing to swap seats with a 10-year-old boy who was in economy so he could sit with his family in first class.
From what I was told the two parents were both members and had also received upgrades also not realizing that their son wasn’t able to be upgraded with them. So they got their first-class tickets but he was stuck back at economy.
The flight attendant began giving me some options as if I had no choice but to move and she was saying things like I’d get another free upgrade in another flight or I could get a full refund for the flight. I asked her if there was any chance I could stay in my seat because I genuinely thought I was being kicked out and she said that the two parents and I were the only upgraded passengers on the flight and there were no other first-class seats available so if there was to be any chance for the boy to sit with his family it would only make sense for him to sit in my seat.
If this was a different situation such as they’d overbooked the first class and the boy had purchased a ticket it would be a different story but I got this upgrade because of how much I fly on the airline. Also, I may have considered it if the parents had bought their tickets but they hadn’t either. No hate for the flight attendant she was very polite and respectful during the entire ordeal. She accepted my decision and was very nice and said that everything was ok and they were going to figure it out.
Never saw the parents they were sitting far away from me. I did get shamed by an old woman in the seat next to me who told me that I made a child sit on their own for 13 hours. I get a 13-hour flight alone for a child is the scary part but I saw him walk up and down the isles like every hour to meet his parents so it wasn’t like he was alone.
So AITA, because supposedly this is what an a-hole would do?
