Kids in economy, Adults in Business ! Is this allowed !

[RubyViolet]

Friend is taking her Grandchildren to the USA to holiday with their Dad. Dad lives full time on West Coast, it’s a long flight.
Granny and daughter/ Auntie have bought Business Class returns for themselves but Dad has paid for the 12 and 14 year old to sit in Economy.
Is this even allowed ? I know BA have ruled that no under 14’s can fly unaccompanied now. I don’t know who they are flying with but l can’t help feeling that this is unfair on the other passengers who will have 2 very lively unaccompanied kids amongst them for 14 hours.

Well I would never do it and don't condone it but seeing as airline companies (dunno about BA) will happily sit adults at the other end/side of the plane from their kids unless you pay to sit together then they can't complain when adults do this.

Or going to the theatre.

Only if it's "going to the theatre to see a show you don't want to see so you sit here and watch movies instead"

Soup it’s like the adults sitting in the car and the kids strapped to the roof rack surely

Call it hyperbole but some of us don’t treat our kids differently just because they are kids.

No I wouldn't, I've had unaccompanied children sat in all 3 seats in the row in front of me on an overnight flight. They were horribly behaved. Even getting up and running up the aisle during takeoff. PILs had the same experience with unaccompanied kids, except when the children were asked politely not to repeatedly and sharply recline their seats during meal service they became verbally abusive. Children should be supervised.

We were once offered the opportunity to upgrade on an overnight flight relatively cheaply, but they only had 2 seats meaning our son would be alone in economy. He wss old enough and sensible enough to travel in a separate cabin, but the thought of us sipping champagne and lying flat while he sat alone in economy was awful, plus if there was any kind of emergency or bad turbulence being separated from him would have been unthinkable. We travel as a family, if there wasn't enough money for all of us to upgrade we simply didn't.

He's now a young adult and even though I know it goes against the MN ethos, he's holidaying with us this year and not only have I paid for him, I've paid for his upgrade to short haul business. Ive always enjoyed his company and still do, it would feel odd to treat myself to something nice but not him if I can afford it. We've also flown with plenty of budget airlines in our time so there's no danger of him thinking business class is the accepted norm!

It’s allowed.
My 14 year old daughter was 5’6” at 12 and my son was almost 6’ at 14 so they are not smaller but can be bigger than average adults at that age!
I would never fly in a different class. I’d put us all in premium economy rather than two in business two in economy. I just bought our tickets to America and in theory could have put myself in business and kids in economy but instead all economy on the way out premium on the return. 12 and 14 sure do appreciate the difference!
I never understand why people order nice food for themselves but crap for their kids at restaurants either. And I really get annoyed that our school serves the parents freshly baked cakes, tea and coffee at sports events but the kids get Tesco packaged biscuits and disgusting squash!

Surely the adults are just teaching the teenagers resilience? I mean if they can survive the horror of economy & the realisation that their parents don’t care for them they will be tough cookies!

It's wrong, they should all sit together.

It is hyperbole and there are many ways in which kids aren’t treated equally to adults. Does your mum take your iPad off you after a couple of hours for instance.

You wouldn’t chose to do this, I very likely wouldn’t either, but it’s not anywhere near as cruel and unusual as some posters are claiming.

It’s the kids first trip to the US. Dad has been there a few years and has always visited them in the U.K. and taken them on holiday in U.K. or short haul to Europe.
It’s a big holiday for all of them staying with him for the first time. They are flying back together.
Granny and Auntie are petite and have no health issues, they just like to fly Business Class.

Call it hyperbole but some of us don’t treat our kids differently just because they are kids.

Neither do I. All the hand wringing and "disgust" is still hyperbole.

I would never do it. But most flights love to split up families anyway so I am sure they won't be any problem with the airline about the children sitting without an adult. I like to be seated with my kids, it is all part of the holiday experience.

They aren't unaccompanied anyway if they are on the same flight. It's not much different to families being separated for not lying to book seats. I wouldn't do it personally but it's not against any rules. At that age they'll be fine I'm sure anyway

Call it hyperbole but some of us don’t treat our kids differently just because they are kids.

So they're allowed to drive, smoke, drink, have sex?

I never understand why people order nice food for themselves but crap for their kids at restaurants either. Try as they might my parents could never entice me with snails or lobster in fancy French restaurants (we spent a lot of time in France) & I just wanted steak hache & frites, #deprived!

I think at 12 and 14 they're old enough to sit watch the films and not be a pain. At that age the extra space in business class would be wasted on them. I don't see a problem 🤷🏽‍♀️

Me neither. They're teenagers, not babies. Give them each a screen and they probably won't notice where they're sitting 😄

At their age its fine,there are two of them and it's not like they can get off.

I think they will be fine TBH. They are flying to the states for a great holiday!. What would be the alternative ?Older ladies need their comfort !(cant be expected they will all travel BC!.). As long as they are well behaved they dont need a babysitter !

These kids are not actually flying with either parent.
The grandmother and aunt are flying bc and the 14 and 12 year old economy paid for by the father.
The grandmother and aunt don’t need to be there at all as the children are old enough to fly as unaccompanied minors and are going for a holiday with their father not the gm and aunt.
I don’t even know why they booked the same flight as they are not holidaying together at all.

My two primadonnas would be absolutely fuming at this and while it would be tempting, I wouldn’t do it; even at 12 and 14 my two liked to have us with them on long flights.

OK, before anyone has a pop - yes, I'm catastrophising (sp?) but I couldn't imagine sitting away from my children - if the plane went down I would want to be with my family.

some of us don’t treat our kids differently just because they are kids.

So, you make them pay for their own holiday? That seems a bit harsh.

Again No parent is actually flying

We only have one DC and when he was younger we generally all flew Club or business class (basically because that is the only way I can actually psych myself up to get on a plane) .
Yes, we are lucky to be able to afford it.
But DC, now an adult , is quite used to flying economy when he goes on holiday with his friends/partner. He might be a bit wistful about the days when we paid and he turned left on boarding the plane, but he's a realist and not in the least entitled.
And re turbulence - if it's bad not only does the seat belt sign go on, there is usually an announcement (overriding the film etc) telling people to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts. The cabin crew go round and check too, so unless the children fail to comply for some reason, they will be fine.

Continental airlines seemed to think it was perfectly acceptable to leave a 2 and a half year old on their own 5 rows away from any parent on an overnight flight from new york so I don't think the airline will give a shit.

I wouldn't do it as I think it's a bit of a wanky move, but the DC will be fine on their own and economy is where I would normally travel anyway.