To put DC, aged 8 and 9, in Economy while I fly in Club with a 2yo and the nanny

[firemansamisnormansdad]

OK, so it wasn't actually me. But I boarded a flight from the USA yesterday and was shocked that this Mom did this to her own children. I have heard that people do this. Is there ever any real justification? My DH was sitting next to them and the little girl was getting quite scared at the turbulence. The Mom said that she would send the nanny down and swap places with DD during the flight, but she never did. I could never do this - I want my precious ones near me during a flight, especially an 8 hour one!

Well you don't work for BA, ivesufferedenough

www.britishairways.com/travel/family-travel-plan/public/en_gb?cookiesAccepted=newvispop

"There are times when you might need to travel in a different cabin to your child, and you can do this on British Airways. If your child is already 12 years old, you can make your child's booking on ba.com.
If your child is between five and 12 years of age:
Your child can be booked into any cabin once you are booked to travel on the same flight.
You should stay with your child until they are taken into the care of British Airways? staff at the boarding gate.
If you are a Gold or Silver Executive Club Member, you will be able to take your child as a guest into the lounge. However Club World, Club Europe and First class customers may only use the lounge for themselves.
Please contact British Airways to make this booking if your child is under 12 years."

Perhaps Virgin.

BegoniaBampot

Begonia

Sorry if this has been mentioned before. Madonna does/did this.

Herself and entourage in first and kids with nanny in economy.

Friend who was first class crew for BA told me.

Maybe she'd paid for one adult one child in economy and one adult one child in club (cheaper than 2 adult club seats) then let the nanny have the club seat instead.

Christ, I was on that flight too and some shitfaced woman kept singing "Lets Be gon iYa" and shouting "I want more booze. I paid for it and I'm entitled to it, jings!" before putting her seat right back in my face before snoring her head off and dribbling into her cushion.

Dappyhays - and Paul McCartney. Do you remember Heather Mills just after her divorce settlement saying that Paul would pay travel expenses, 1st for Heather and economy for Beatrice? Heather said that she would subsidise the extra to make sure that Bea travelled 1st. Of course, what Heather says is mostly colourful .....

Sitting with a parent being compulsory I can understand, especally from a safety point of view.

But that that parent must be a MOTHER (according to some MNers) because of the (no doubt complicit) incomeptence of fathers in dealing with sickness is astounding.

And beware: Emirates seated DS and DP separately because there were no pairs of seats left on the second leg of a trip after Dubai and it wasn't possible to check in / reserve seats online for that leg of the trip, for some reason. So why did Emirates allow that situation to happen??

I'm not sure if Begonia was joking or not

I was sitting with ds (also feeling ropey) in another pair of seats. Dh is always on puke duty as I suffer from "chain chunder" as Clive James calls it.

reallybored I totally believe any tight-fisted git store about Paul McCartney.

O/T but TBH I take the I believe you stance with Heather Mills too. She was a victim of abuse, IMO, who was laughed at because she happened to marry a Beatle.

It was Continental that I travelled with who seemed perfectly happy to have a 3 year old 3 rows away from any parent. It was my OH and I and 2 kids 4 and 3, there were a pair of seats near the front of the plane so my Oh sat in those with the 4 year old and I went up to our seats at the back thinking that the stewardess would help us. This was actually our 2nd flight of the day - we had checked in at our previous destination some 8 hours earlier and that was the only seats free. There had been fog and some flights had been cancelled - we were delayed and got rushed (on one of those little electric cars - really good fun :o) to our 2nd flight, getting on last by the skin of our teeth. Anyway there was a group of guys coming over to the uk on a glofing trip and they reshuffled themselves to give us 2 seats together. They were great but the stewardess couldn't have cared less. He wasn't likely to be sick, but he was exhausted and 3 years old and it was an overnight flight - how they could think that was okay I have no idea.

I can understand how families get split up in economy because all the advance online check-ins means that all the best seats get bagged up quickly. I can understand how some children do have to fly by themselves. But surely this thread is about someone deliberately choosing to give themselves a better sear, bunging her kids into economy by themselves and then assuming other folks will look after them.

The children didn't bother anybody and didn't need looking after though.

I don't think begonia was joking. She was being bitchy about anyone who dares go off on holiday and dare ask husband to .... Actually look after kids.

Quite, reallybored. The woman was addressing everyone around her kids and saying that "all these good people" will look after them. It was not being unfortunately separated, she was deliberately choosing to sit in Club herself. And she laughed when someone offered to swap with her.

Hairy Why does does it depend on choice? Surely the debate is whether it is acceptable for the age group to sit independently. If it is yes, then it doesn't matter where the parent is.

No, I understood the debate to be asking if it were unacceptable for a mother to deliberately sit separately on a plane. The kids aren't unaccompanied minors on this flight.

Hideous.

If the flight was one of the rare ones where there was an emergency or a really scary bumpy bit (like luggage flying scary, not just a little thump) and your kids are seated twenty rows back, you wouldn't be able to get to them, reassure them or help them, you would be buckled in well away from them.

It is possible this is all she could get if it was last minute rather then deliberate, slim I know but we don't know everything about this mother or the situation. And often you can't get seats with your children, you might have to sit apart as has happened to us so don't know if there is much difference as the outcome is the same and these kids weren't babies. I would always choose to sit with my children and have passed up on an upgrade to first class where my husband offered to stay with the kids but circumstances don't always allow. Hadn't thought of when they are older that we could go business and they could go economy or premium economy - will ponder on that one.

I think the main drive in this thread is envy and jealousy.

I think you are wrong as a number of people have said that they wouldn't have a problem with the mother sending the nanny to sit with the kids.

Just going to pick up the kids from school now. Me, the baby and the nanny will be in the Merc and my 2 eldest can follow on their bikes as it's good for their independence. Xx

As I can corroborate the OP's story I declare [gavel] that the woman was wrong because not only had she chosen to sit apart from her dcs (she actually said "Mommy needs her sleep" ) but she didn't give two hoots that they were unhappy ("Are you bummed about sitting here?") and never once came to visit them during the flight. And, above all, she expected that the other passengers would be rallying round to look after her dcs. Now that is unreasonable.

the way i look at this is

parent eats "extra special" range at ASDA

kids get SMART PRICE

thats my take

horrible parents

I once flew back along the row from two mothers, with about 5 small children between them (night flight). The littlest kids did not have a seat (ie, sat on their mothers' laps).

Their husbands were sitting up front and did not come back once - the stewardess told me, she was absolutely fuming..