Seating Chaos Splits Family, Dad Battles Airline To Prevent 4YO Sitting Alone

If they tried to seat my 3 yo alone, that would be fun for the whole plane. He would absolutely not sit apart from me next to strangers and he would be very loud about it.

This is a story of plain incompetence and uncaring. Obviously there was a lack of communication between staff. That one man who refused to move was just being an arsehole. Wouldn't have hurt him to move. Also the refusal of being seated in 1st class because " it's too expensive " was BS. They weren't earning anything from empty seats anyway. Yes, I wouldn't have anything to do with United after that experience.

Google ' united breaks guitars' , laugh and see how United has been negligent in Customer service for years

I don´t understand this. So the family paid, so they would sit together, aircraft changed so their seating changed as well...but did everyone else paid as well? I don´t live in U.S. but here in Europe, if you don´t want to pay for a specific seat, you get your seat at check in...like, couldn´t they work with people who don´t have their seats allocated yet?

This is what gets me . People complain of unruly children on flights or kids that cry because their ears hurt from the changing pressure. Then you get people like this guy trying to be a responsible parent and gets treated like that . If it were me I would have offered up my seat so he could sit with this child . We were on a flight where this couple was traveling with twins each parent had one child . He was waiting for his wife and the gate agent made him leave the area because they needed two people to carry two strollers . The gate agent would not let him go back and help his wife . Mu husband snuck back on the jet way told the wife the situation . the mean time he shut the doors so no one else could de board the plane . after he complained about holding up people getting off . My husband snuck back there so fast I didnt see it and he helped her get the strollers. The gate agent could have handled it better rather that getting up in the guys face

I was taking a flight to the US once (American airline). And at one point we changed gates. At boarding, the boarding pass of the lady in front of me would not go through. Just *loud buzzer* and red lights. Watching this Im thinking, "doee she have the right flight? The gate changed." The flight attendant gets frustrated and - without even looking at the pass! - waves the woman onto the plane. As we are about to taxi, the pilot announces our route and suddenly I hear a commotion, "Im on the wrong flight!" I get up from my seat to check and sure enough its the lady from earlier.

United did something similar to my family back in 1994-this was before you could pick your own seats. They seated my brother and I significantly away from my mom. I was 14, so I was fine, but my brother was pretty young. No one would help….until my brother loudly announced he was going to throw up. Then miraculously accommodation was made for him to sit next to my mom. Remember, next time a parent asks to switch with you on a flight, they may have bought seats together originally, but gotten screwed by the airline.

Stop. Using. Airtravel. Just stop. There is no reason WHATSOEVER for a human to cross an ocean in anything other than a boat. Your convenience does not trump the climate crisis.

Something doesn't add up here. Gate agents are supposed to ensure the name on boarding pass and passport match before boarding the passenger. Yet they let someone on who wasn't in possession of a valid boarding pass? Then the FA deboarded to sort the situation with the gate agent? Nope, not buying the story as told. Airlines take mis-scans very seriously. No gate agent is going to just wave someone onto the flight without logging that they've been boarded. This story has been embellished from the 4 year old sitting alone (EASA rules would ensure it flagged on the system and was sorted), to the flight attendant leaving the aircraft while boarding is in progress. Also, it's not on gate agents to fix flight control issues such as seating. That is sorted at check in/bag drop. No one would tell you to speak to the gate agents for that. Unless, of course, UA can flout all aviation rules and regulations.