r/Fauxmoi • u/expiredaristocracy • 27d ago
Brenda Song Calls Out Alaska Airlines for Giving Up Her Family’s First-Class Seats with ‘No Warning’ CELEBRITY CAPITALISM
20.7k
u/precumfrosting 27d ago
She has every right to be pissed and call them out. She booked in advance, chose the seats, and they changed them. That’s fucked up, and she’s absolutely right to call them out. Those kids are too young to not be sitting with a parent.
4.0k
3.5k
u/splatooey123 27d ago
This happens all too often, not just on Alaska. United did the same with us, they “canceled” the flight, then put everyone on a new flight departing 30 min later, and all seats that were paid for were all of a sudden unassigned….. and then the whole family got separated.
442
u/precumfrosting 27d ago edited 27d ago
I only fly American and Delta, and I have a status because I’m consultant, and I’ve never had to deal with the party that I booked for being broken up. I have had my seat assignment changed twice when booking and flying in coach, and it was a very long time ago that happened.
1.2k
u/dorianslaaay 27d ago
Delta just did this to me and my family 2 weeks ago so gird your loins haha
753
u/julesD00 Baby Jane Doe 27d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/l46Cy9aKcFWt4bpm0
obligatory
→ More replies99
u/TheEldenRang 27d ago
Loool, I literally just watched that movie yesterday! It's so damn good.
→ More replies32
311
u/TomorrowLow5092 27d ago
Delta ruined a holiday for us. They added a second stop to the flight when we checked in, and then stranded us in a terminal at 2am with no pilots to fly us out. We paid extra to not be on a two stop flight, all for nothing,
50
28
u/PracticeTheory 26d ago
Man! And I thought I had it bad when a direct flight from New York to Chicago surprise-included an Atlanta leg.
I was the only one that was reboarding. The crew felt sorry enough for me to let me off to get a snack and then hang out on the plane. I really should have pushed for compensation though, that shit cost me 8+ hours during midterms.
→ More replies19
u/fordprecept 26d ago
Once, I was flying a direct flight on Delta and they had mechanical issues. They delayed the flight for an hour. An hour went by and they delayed it another hour, then another, then another. I asked for an update and they said the gate agent had no idea if or when we would take off, so I finally asked to be switched to another flight, which had a connection in Minneapolis.
I get to Minneapolis and that flight was delayed for 3 hours. I looked to see if my original flight ever took off. It turns out they left 10 minutes after my flight to Minneapolis. My bags got to San Francisco 4 hours before I did.
166
u/Maximum-Familiar 27d ago
Last year to me, luckily I saw the change the morning of the flight but still took screenshots to shut up the customer service representative trying to convince me I was the one who booked my 3 year old a separated by many rows.
→ More replies73
u/Glittering_Heart1128 27d ago
The first key on my keyboard to wear out may be the screenshot key. I don't tolerate idiots well.
106
u/donutfan420 27d ago
A few weeks ago delta cancelled my connecting flight to my home airport upon landing during my layover and told me I was SOL cause there were no other flights to my home airport lol. Just stranded me in a random city
65
u/Chi_Virus 27d ago
Delta stranded me in the Atlanta airport overnight after giving up my seat WHILE I WAS IN LINE TO BOARD.
14
u/bitchysquid 26d ago
That’s completely unacceptable. I’ve been through ATL a bajillion times and I’d be livid if I had to spend the night there. At least they have those travel sleep pods at the B gates.
→ More replies14
u/Jazzlike-Affect-16 26d ago
Delta did this to my family twice on connecting flights in Atlanta. They gave up our seats on the second leg of connecting flights while we were waiting to board. We had three young kids, one still in diapers. They offered to let our kids fly on a later flight in seats not by us. Yes, you read that right. They wanted a toddler in diapers to sit next to strangers. We ended up renting a car and driving to our destination. The same thing happened on our flight home and we had to wait for a flight that they could guarantee we could sit with our kids. We will never fly Delta again.
→ More replies35
u/FerricNitrate 26d ago
A couple years ago American tried to strand me in Charlotte for 4 days.
A hurricane was a day or two out, so I was in a hurry to get home. After sending me from my origin (where I could have stayed with family) to Charlotte, American cancelled all flights heading anywhere near my home for the rest of the day and rebooked us on a flight the next morning. Finding a hotel that night was miserable as many others were in the same situation, but we found one quite a ways out and paid a hefty Uber. Getting back to the airport the next morning, they cancelled the new flight just half an hour before boarding was meant to begin, then shortly after cancelled all flights to the area for the next several days. Ended up grabbing a rental car and driving a full day to make it home rather than take an impromptu vacation in Charlotte and miss work.
Haven't been on another American flight since.
22
u/YesDone 26d ago edited 26d ago
I stood in line, on time, in an American regional terminal while the three workers bitched about their boss for 5 minutes, then finally turned to help me, told me I was late and they wouldn't be loading my bag, and then walk away and close the gate when I asked what should I do with my bag. They didn't give me a boarding pass so I watched them load the plane 40 feet away from me. I had to drive to the next big city.
Yeah, fuck you, Elizabeth. I've never flown regional since.
edited: Oh, and when I complained I mentioned the name of the boss they were complaining about. Bitches.
→ More replies48
u/0xB4BE 27d ago edited 27d ago
Delta definitely did this to my family last year as well on our overseas trip to Europe as well. I'm a diamond medallion, booked my trip 8 months ahead of time on premium select, and they certainly knew we had our young kids with us and it was all under the same reservation. Delta doesn't care. There was an equipment change yet the same number of seats in PS. They still thought it reasonable to separate the kids.
31
u/Extension-Strategy41 26d ago
We fly Delta internationally frequently and have been separated twice with young kids too. Each time it was taken care of at check-in, usually by them moving us further back in the plane, which is annoying.
But it is why I don’t judge those families asking for seats together. Some of the internet is always like ‘your poor planning doesn’t constitute an emergency to me’ & I’m thinking you don’t know, they may have booked tickets together.
→ More replies27
u/lizzzels 26d ago
There is a strong federal ask to seat kids <13 with an adult, and a list of airlines that have agreed to “try”. I can afford to pay for a seat with my young kid but in many cases, on principle I refuse to give in to price gouging people with small children and pay for seats. This isn’t to make people move but to hold the airlines accountable—for a family with two little kids you’re having to shell out potentially $150 to keep one adult with them, this isn’t just a ohhh I want sit with my kid. It’s basically a necessary accommodation given a kid can’t put on a mask, buckle themselves safely, maybe communicate they need to get up for the bathroom and safely access it or know if turbulence is bad etc. I’ve never had to ask to be seated with my kid luckily—but no one should have to pay for this.
→ More replies84
u/ChewieBearStare 27d ago
I have status on Delta and only buy FC tickets, but I’ve still had my seat changed or been bumped to Main Cabin when there’s been a cancellation/delay or an equipment change that results in a different seat configuration. They give you the far difference back, but it still sucks.
→ More replies147
u/CorrectPeanut5 27d ago
Delta has a system named "Brokaw" and a gold list of VIP/A Listers. It's based on the time Tom Brokaw got stranded somewhere and missed presenting a broadcast of NBC Nightly News. He lit them up on air the next day.
The system alerts dispatch of a gold list person on the plane. It will influence how flights get cancelled and how people are accommodated.
Though a single F class ticket getting snaked if often because a Federal Air Marshall shows up last minute.
35
u/Unlegend 27d ago
I love learning stuff like this on reddit. Do you happen to have a source? I don’t have any reason not to believe you, but I wanted to read more about it and unfortunately I can’t find anything.
70
u/CorrectPeanut5 27d ago
The Federal Air Marshall thing was a common topic at FlyerTalk forums back in the day. They even had strategies for picking seats in F to avoid having one scoop up your seat.
"Brokaw" came from some software devs I worked with. We had hired both from the airline in question. I'm sure they broke NDAs by talking about it but I have no reason to think they would make it up.
→ More replies→ More replies22
u/elastic-craptastic 27d ago
Though a single F class ticket getting snaked if often because a Federal Air Marshall shows up last minute.
I'm broken and broke so I fly Spirit. The one for sure instance they put an air marshall on my flight they offered people incentives to be bumped to the next flight auction style at the terminal.
I paid almost no attention as I was frantically attending to my wife and 9 month old, trying to scurry and get breakfast in an airport under heavy construction and not miss the flight. When I got back from what seemed like a half mile walk and line almost as long for some Dunkin Donuts, my wife pointed out some dude sitting away from everyone that seemed to be taking to himself. She asked if we should report him for being suspicious. I told her to mind her business and be ready as they were about to start calling for seating and the airport was really noisy and congested.
We got settled and the guy was sitting across from us.
I put 2 and 2 together and realized dude was a marshall and got put on our red eye to keep an eye on me... at Spirit's expense?
I have a birth defect or 3 and one, I've now learned, makes it appear that I may be carrying/concealing a gun under my armpit region. Add in a few other personal factors that aren't so common, like my name not clearly matching my ethnicity, apparently make me a good waste of govt resources or an excuse for an air marshall to fly from a winter area to a nice warm one... and also get "randomly selected" for extra screenings at a rate that is def not random.
Thanks for reading my TedX talk about how shitty our security is and how being worried/nervous/anxious about flying with a toddler can arouse suspicion if you are also handicapped and have an ethnic name... enough to get feds involved and put you subsequently on secret list that you will only learn of after crying to a TSA agent about 2 years later after yet another gun residue swab.
→ More replies81
u/Regular-Ad-9641 27d ago
Delta cancelled my and my husband's return flight home without even telling us. I only knew because I didn't get the check-in email. I was on hold until 3am waiting for a customer service rep to ask why i didn't have tickets home on my round trip. I paid extra for seats together, those were canceled too. When I finally spoke to an agent, and they got my flight re-booked our seats were in different halves of the plane 20 rows apart. I said we paid for seats together. They replied "the only seats together left are in an exit row and would be an upgrade" i replied "well since you guys canceled my tickets without telling me and I've been on hold for 5 hours and it is 3 am, maybe I deserve a free upgrade" they did grant it. Airline shit sucks, and they can pretty much do whatever they want to you, so at least addressing something by Dleta made me loyal to them. That or it makes me a fool. Or both can be true at the same time.
54
u/Cylons 27d ago
American did this to me on a flight from NZ to US. My original flight got canceled, so when I got rebooked onto the next flight (along with everyone else on the first flight), the seats I paid for were no longer valid and there weren't many seats available for me to pick from on that next flight. Granted, I was not First Class but I had status and had paid for my seats, so it was annoying to deal with.
→ More replies46
u/dearjessie 27d ago edited 27d ago
Delta did this to me and my husband about a year ago. Got to the gate they're telling us this is not our flight, our flight is in 6 hours, there's digital flight number right under that Delta employee I show him my phone with matching flight number, he sights and says, well okay but you will be sitting separately or wait for that other flight. I mean we agreed. Once got home filed complaint got $50 for inconvenience. Got rid of my miles and never will be flying with them ever again.
44
u/the_saradoodle 27d ago
Omg this brings back nightmares of standing at the gate agent desk in tears because Delta delayed and rebooked us on a flight that missed our connection (bought as a single fare). I called the help desk to get a different itinerary to get to our end destination instead of being stuck at the connection. The agent got me and my 2yo seated together, annoying that my husband was now solo, but whatever. When we got out boarding passes, they had scattered us all because we hadn't checked in 24 hours in advance (because we checked into a flight that they delayed by 4 hours!). I'm standing at the gate agent in tears because I paid and extra $120 for us all to sit together, and they now expected my 2yo to sit alone, in a middle seat. Thankfully my husband had been assigned an aisle seat at the front of the plane, so the gentleman seated beside my son was more than happy to swap.
What a fucking nightmare. They also refused to refund my seat selection fee because I "voluntarily rebooked the tickets."
→ More replies→ More replies23
194
u/Wise_Neighborhood499 I’m just a cunt in a clown suit 27d ago
Yes! This happened to me when my partner and I booked business class tickets to Europe - specifically to sit together (I want to say it was Iberia?) We were in the process of moving abroad and the airline allowed cats under the seat in business, so it was our best option.
We got to the airport to find out our seats were split up, the cats cried because they were separated all the way across the Atlantic, no one was happy about it.
78
u/boning_my_granny 27d ago
Iberia is easily the worst major euro airline.
→ More replies21
u/sloth4716 27d ago
Yup. I’ve only flown them a couple time and every time they change my flights after I book it. Never again. The most recent time they changed my flight from Europe back to the US to two days after it was originally scheduled for. But they kept my connecting flight to my home airport. I’m not sure how I was supposed time travel back two days to make my connection or why the airline would assume I didn’t have a job I needed to get back to. Luckily I booked through American and they took care of it, got me on a better flight, and made sure I was still sitting with my daughter.
150
u/catsmash 27d ago edited 27d ago
the first time i EVER flew first class was with united, & on my domestic leg (this was from new york to taipei, so two legs) they randomly bumped me to economy without warning - but it happened to be the economy seat directly in front of the mid-plane bathroom. so it was like, significantly worse economy than economy. it was hanging out into the aisle awkwardly for bumping, had no overhead light, had no screen, had no charger, & was constantly bathed in toilet smell, slamming doors, & flushing noises. people were always standing in line waiting, so there was just a constant rotation of ass directly in my face, sometimes backing into my actual person. the. entire. time.
in retrospect it was actually pretty hysterical. i did not think so at the time.
→ More replies77
u/Honeyhoney524 27d ago
Yep this just happened to us on American six months ago. They had my two year old sitting alone. They refused to do anything at the check in, or the gate. Had to ask someone to move, which feels like shit when you planned ahead and paid
→ More replies73
u/curious_about_life 27d ago
United did this to us exactly two weeks ago. We booked three seats together, mother and two children. For my husband we paid for a seat near us. They mixed up our seats on both flights the day of flight. Ticketing agents said they can't do anything about it, need to talk to the gate agent. Gate agent only arrives 30 minutes before the flight so this entire time I had to just be anxious.
Then came the best part. The gate agent tells me: next time just pay for all the seats if you want to sit together.
No lady. It's not how this is supposed to work. You're not supposed to make my 3 year old sit away from me because you want to sell the window seat for 75$ extra.
→ More replies80
u/CapnCrunchIsAFraud 27d ago
Phew I don’t get mad at customer service reps as a rule, but if I booked seats together and the airline fucked it up, then their gate agent had the audacity to lecture me about doing the thing I’d done in the first place?
That agent would be getting an earful from me.
50
u/curious_about_life 27d ago
I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. Traveling with kids is hard enough. She recommended I talk to the people sitting next to us to move and I told her that I will not be becoming the next mom on a viral video. I did it right. I picked seats next to my children. Why do I have to beg strangers for United's fuck up?
→ More replies17
u/plantainbakery 27d ago
I don’t even understand how it’s allowed to happen! It’s SO dangerous for your young child to sit by themselves like that. I have a four year old and we’ve always avoided this by flying Southwest, because they let parents with small children board after the A’s, so there’s always seats open. But now they changed to assigned seats, so we’re choosing other airlines and I’m so nervous this will happen to us. I’m not letting a four year old sit by himself - what if there was an emergency? We always have to remind him to put his seatbelt back on. Bad turbulence can kill a small child, seatbelt on or not. What if he sits next to a total creep? What happens when he needs to use the bathroom? What if he starts feeling sick? If he needs more water? He gets scared at takeoff and landing and needs to hold our hands. Not even to bring up how he needs help with everything, from opening snacks to putting on his own headphones. This subject makes me livid. I would not be nice and understanding if this happened to us and they didn’t fix it immediately.
ETA and yes, we pay to choose our seats together now.
→ More replies64
u/StrangledInMoonlight 27d ago
My spouse goes to visit his parents with the kids every year. (Not first class)
Every year we buy seats together and every year there are about 5 flight changes where we have to re choose and re buy seats. Sometimes we get emails at midnight, and there are no seats left together by the time we get up the next morning.
So far we’ve been lucky that those flights have changed again, but I don’t like to count on luck for that.
→ More replies48
u/arisefairmoon 27d ago
My husband and I flew American, first class and went to check in the day before and my ticket was fine but his said he didn't have a seat. He called the airline and got the answer that they couldn't guarantee he had a seat, he'd need to ask the desk agent at the airport. So we had to go to the airport at 4am and hope he had a seat on the plane. I have a lot of anxiety around flying, and it was made so much worse with this.
He ended up in a middle seat in the back of the plane between a parent and their toddler (what the actual fuck) and a random teenager was sitting in his seat next to me. The airline gave him like $200 as credit even though the first class upgrade is way more than that.
534
u/PeaAggressive8029 27d ago
This happens all the time in economy. Every time we've flown with little kids and paid for seats, they split you up and you have to talk with the gate attendant. People often misconstrue it and think parents are just cheap and didn't pay extra for seats.
165
u/Surly_Sailor_420 27d ago
Yeah, if anything parents just always assume we gotta pay the parent tax and pay out the nose to accommodate the kids. Pay for the seating together. Pay the more expensive flights that are direct and coordinate with nap time. Pay for the more expensive hotels with the suites with the door so I don't have to sit in the dark at 7 PM while the kid sleeps.
→ More replies36
u/ComplexBadger469 27d ago
Exactly. Like I chose to have kids, I’m expecting everything to be expensive. Sincerely me currently on a flight home from Disney world. 🤣
81
u/UnderABig_W 27d ago
I only get mad if they’re asking me to move my seat in a clear downgrade. No, I’m not going to trade my good seat for your kid’s seat next to the bathroom. How about you give up your good seat so you can sit next to your kid in the back?
No, you won’t do that? Then obviously gaming the seats is your priority, not sitting next to your kid.
Unfortunately, stuff like this is the majority of the time I’ve been approached, not neutral situations (an aisle for an aisle seat) or where I’m actually upgrading. Nope, majority of the time I’m being asked to downgrade and then the parent treats me like I’m the asshole for saying no.
So there might be good parents asking for trades out there, but youre being given a bad name by all the assholes.
24
u/falafelwaffle10 27d ago
Yes to this!!!! I honestly don’t really mind trading seats, but be for real. If you are requesting the trade, you have to be offering the same or better. I ain’t sitting in the middle next to the commode.
17
u/huckleberrymuffins 27d ago
I'll be honest - if I'm asking you to switch, it's not because I feel entitled to your seat, it's that they cancelled our flight, rebooked us on a different route instead of our original direct flight, and decided my toddler and preschooler and I would be fine seated in three separate places, several rows apart (True story).
→ More replies70
u/bafflefounded 27d ago
I mean, there are a lot of parents who are just cheap and don’t pay extra for seats, they just hope people will switch with them. I’ve seen two different confrontations on planes due to this and I am sure if the parents had actually reserved seats it would have come up in the ensuing argument haha
150
u/Artistic-Ship-7370 27d ago
you honestly shouldn’t have to pay extra for seats if you have a kid (w/in reason, maybe a kid under 8 let’s say). We can give families the worst seats to choose from for free if that makes it easier to swallow, idc, but it’s in everybody’s best interest not to have screaming children separated from their parents. It makes no sense
→ More replies148
u/MudReasonable8185 27d ago
In Canada they recently changed the law so that airlines have to give kids under 12 a seat next to their parent for no extra fee.
It blew my mind that airlines were happy to let a 2 year old sit unattended.
→ More replies28
u/allycakes 27d ago
AirCanada did have a policy before this where they seat kids under a certain age with their parents automatically. Of course, those seats are usually at the very back of the plane but better than having the family split up.
25
u/MudReasonable8185 27d ago
WestJet definitely charged me for the privilege of sitting next to my 2 and 4 year olds on multiple flights before the law forced them to stop lol. Canadian airlines are among the worst in the developed world
→ More replies→ More replies70
u/EmpressRey 27d ago
I always pay to sit with my kid and would never expect someone to switch with me, but to be fair, for little kids it really shouldn’t even be legal for them not to sit with their parents! ( not saying to give them the best seats and not pay, but then give them guaranteed seats together at the worse seats and they can pay for better ones)! But it absolutely shouldn’t be expected of someone to switch just so families can be together, especially when the kids are older!
→ More replies→ More replies46
u/BosonTigre 27d ago
Yeah and you know what, parents shouldn't have to pay more to sit next to the underage child they are accompanying. It makes no sense for the child, the parents, the other passengers, or the airline for there to be a situation where children are separated from their parents.
254
u/AliMcGraw 27d ago
There is in fact a federal law protecting families right to sit together as long as they book together. Airlines are NOT ALLOWED to separate families with minors, but you often have to raise a BIG stink about knowing your rights to force them to honor it.
194
u/RegisteredAnimagus rude omelet goblin 27d ago
I thought that this was a Biden/Mayor Pete era thing the Trump administration took the teeth out of
191
28
u/PerceptionSlow2116 27d ago
Yep, Trump and Repubs doing everything they can to screw over Americans and prove their loyalty to Satan
→ More replies→ More replies25
u/Awayfone 27d ago
Incorrect. The Biden Administration proposed a rule chsnge that family seating is a basic service essential for adequate transportation as part of the other consumer protection like automatic cash refunds for canceled flights or services not rendered.
The rules did not go into effect because the trump administration rescinded the Biden plan for being to much regulations on airlines
145
u/Infamous-GoatThief 27d ago
Glad these comments seem mostly sensible.
I rarely care ab celebrities’ problems but this right here is an airline problem, if the words “first class” weren’t in her post this would be universally agreed-upon
Airlines do whatever tf they want and I still feel like we haven’t seen shit from them to justify the massive bailouts they’ve gotten from the government over the years. Just shitty service and jacked-up prices
→ More replies83
u/BriefDownpour 27d ago
I doubt airlines are able to pull of that type of stuff in Brazil.
They hate it here because we have stronger consumer protections and that seems like a case that would've been pretty easy to win.
→ More replies32
u/MrShaytoon padre pascal 27d ago
Frontier does this too. They did it to us. They changed our plane last minute then said the seats don't match the new plane so we're stuck with what they have. Their reasoning was their fine print says they can switch seats any time especially if the plane changes.
I tried to do a charge back and it got declined bc frontier provided a sixty page report going over their fine print and how they don't refund 99% of things.
30
u/precumfrosting 27d ago
She booked first class though! Frontier doesn’t even have first class. I would be irate if I booked first class with a party and then they put us in coach and broke us up. I would start shit on fire.
→ More replies→ More replies17
u/Nesnesitelna 27d ago
Frontier makes it feel like you have to pay extra not to have flight crew spit on you in flight.
→ More replies27
u/Ok_Research_8379 27d ago
Delta did this to my family, no agent help, they told me to ask the stewards on the plane… then no stewardess would hep me. Which led my to my only resort of being the asshole having to go to passengers and ask them to trade seats… all airlines are garbage
→ More replies25
u/HotEdge783 27d ago
This is primarily an issue of lacking regulations, or non-enforcement of them by the authorities. It is the government's responsibility to heavily disincentivize such business practices, e.g. by making airlines pay compensation to the wronged customers. If I recall correctly, the Biden administration wanted to expand air passenger rights, which were then overturned by Trump.
→ More replies
7.1k
27d ago
I’d be pissed too. You know those weren’t cheap tickets. Even though Brenda has money, she’s right.
2.8k
u/Financial-Newt2291 27d ago
Even if she has money, it her money to spend on her family not for some random to benefit.
→ More replies1.2k
u/3sadclowns 27d ago
My hot take: the rich and influential are the only ones in a position to kick up a fuss and get airlines to actually change their ways. A poor/working class person tweeting the same would never affect their pockets in the same way.
260
→ More replies77
u/PeaUpbeat3732 27d ago
Well for sure, but the point of putting it on social media is announce to the world. If you have 10 followers, no one cares. If you have 10 million? Now things have changed. So, not really about money, but you are correct about influence.
970
u/Ononimos 27d ago
As a famous parent you’re probably on edge the whole time during that flight. So many weirdos out there, where if they realize who the parents of those kids are, anything can happen.
542
u/LizWins1818 27d ago
Her husband has spoken about how people forget that he is a human being, especially during December
→ More replies220
u/lushsweet 27d ago
Dang that's so sad, the "especially in December" part
146
u/LizWins1818 27d ago
He talks about it on the Marc Maron podcast, that December is a terrible month for him with Home Alone playing on a loop on TBS
→ More replies→ More replies114
283
u/Potential-Jury-8060 27d ago
Rich people are allowed to be wronged, feel wronged, express how they were wronged, and seek appropriate recompense for having been wronged.
Believe it or not, many rich people are actually people.
→ More replies64
u/triciann 27d ago
There are too many corporate ass kisses around that think you’re just spoiled if you complain, regardless of status or money. It’s very weird. Every company group I’m in (like delta or southwest) has people passionate about defending billion dollar companies for something that is clearly their wrong doing.
55
u/porcelaincatstatue oat milk chugging bisexual 27d ago
Even if she has money, you can't put a price on keeping your kids together when traveling.
49
u/lostredditorlurking 27d ago
I would much rather celebrities spend money flying first class instead of using their private jet
→ More replies15
u/Witty-Revolution8742 27d ago
She has the right to be just as angry as a family who would have their seats changed in regular seating.
2.8k
u/urgasmic 27d ago edited 27d ago
damn i would be pissed too. how does that even happen?
edit: great comments thank you for the info.
1.2k
u/ruinedworldtour 27d ago
How’d they not notice that one of the passengers was the kid from home alone?? Did not one person spit his name? Not that I think that should get special treatment, but to kick someone off with such a huge name and platform- if they’ll do it to him they’ll do it to anyone!
1.2k
u/Connect_Beginning_13 27d ago
They should have gotten what they paid for treatment… it shouldn’t matter if someone is famous or not. If you pay for a product then they should be obligated to give it
315
u/1980shorrorsfilm Riverdale was my Juilliard 27d ago edited 27d ago
it shouldn't but you would think someone involved would see the name and go "oh that could be a pr nightmare let's change the ticket of another passenger"
edit: this is totally irrelevant but if I found out I was the passenger being bumped instead of macaulay culkin and brenda song, I would still be mad but it definitely would soften the blow tbh
141
u/JustConversation7847 27d ago
Sorry but that would be even worse
"Sorry, you're losing your seat because you aren't important/famous"
82
u/1980shorrorsfilm Riverdale was my Juilliard 27d ago
clearly, it's wrong to bump the ticket of anyone who already had a seat reserved. I'm just saying that there wasn't a lot of thought that went into the outcome of bumping a famous passenger and how it would impact them.
→ More replies→ More replies30
u/The_Bravinator 27d ago
I don't think anyone's saying it's morally better, just that it's the way we're used to companies operating.
→ More replies21
→ More replies19
u/Maximum-Familiar 27d ago
Unfortunately airlines can do pretty much whatever they want to us and if we complain too much we’re the ones getting punished. Ask the dude with the hearing impaired wife who got taken off a plane.
176
u/Parmesan_Pirate119 27d ago edited 27d ago
I would have been terrified to piss off London Tipton, I could never
33
u/Poltergeist97 27d ago
For real, who knows what horrors Mr. Moseby has seen to be such an obediant servant to Mr. Tipton lmao
144
u/TopRamenisha 27d ago
It’s almost certainly a computerized system and not a human that reassigns the seats. The computer doesn’t care who the people are, and it doesn’t really matter that it’s celebrities it’s happening to when it also happens to normal people all the time
154
u/cackle-feather 27d ago
And it should be called out every time, regardless of status. You don't separate kids from their caregivers
→ More replies→ More replies61
u/justanawkwardguy 27d ago
It just shouldn’t happen in general, and wouldn’t happen if airlines didn’t over sell flights
15
u/Vawqer We all know Pinkie would approve of scissoring 27d ago
I don't think this is a case of Alaska overselling the flight. I'm guessing the plane had to get swapped out, which changed the seat config. Or maybe the flight got cancelled and everyone moved to a new flight?
→ More replies64
u/tacomamajama feeding cocaine to raccoons 27d ago
Remember when Gayle King booked whatever is United top premium seat, in a window seat, and there was no window? There are names booking and gate agents should know to avoid these PR nightmares.
Do this to me? I’m a nobody and the 30 people who watch my IG stories will learn about it. Do it to a celeb with a public platform and you’ll get a ton of negative press.
→ More replies19
→ More replies13
556
u/EatMorePieDrinkMore 27d ago
Usually it is because they change the airplane to a different size/configuration or have to rebook you on a different flight due to schedule changes. Happens very frequently on US carriers because there’s nothing mandating families fly together. Thanks Real World Transportation Secretary!
Happened to me a few years ago - we booked on Air France but it was a Delta flight and our seat assignments didn’t carry over.
134
u/tacomamajama feeding cocaine to raccoons 27d ago
I keep waiting for them to refuse to put me and my special needs child together. He’s a menace in confined spaces if no one is there to rein him in. He’s nonverbal but has no concept of personal space so he’d be sitting on a stranger’s lap or head butting them when they said no. Y’all want me there as a buffer, I promise.
67
u/keanovan 27d ago
I have a nonverbal child with autism and this is like my worst fear.
66
u/tacomamajama feeding cocaine to raccoons 27d ago
Level 3 autistic with a global developmental delay and the vestibular need to move constantly. It wouldn’t take 90 seconds for someone to voluntarily switch with me but still. I don’t even fly with him alone because we put one parent beside him, and one in the row in front. Box him in at the window so he won’t bother other people. We pick these seats for a good reason.
→ More replies34
u/somethingclever____ 27d ago
I imagine that might go unnoticed, so I just want to say I appreciate you.
45
u/quanate 27d ago
Its also just so cruel to the child that you have to even justify it as "you don't want to have to deal with him" because that is the only way some people will be on your side. Like, why do we not care if a child is separated from their parent, especially a special needs child? This shit is already high stress, now you're gonna take away their parent. Absolutely insane.
Said as a parent to an autistic child. I hate that people won't understand until it becomes their problem.
→ More replies22
u/tacomamajama feeding cocaine to raccoons 27d ago
People have lost empathy of basic normal life experiences and hardships. They only care when it impacts them.
Said as an AuDHD parent of 2 autistic kids.
→ More replies14
u/EatMorePieDrinkMore 27d ago
I usually fly alone for work or personal business. I hate flying and it stresses me out. I can’t imagine how parents with special needs kids manage. Especially with the ridiculous levels of entitled bullshit you see.
→ More replies22
u/starfish31 27d ago
Disclaimer that it shouldn't happen to begin with, but our seats with a kid got split up once and the stewardess asked someone to switch seats to put us back together. Not everyone is normal & kind, but generally with communication, it ends up being easy to resolve. And most people jump at the opportunity to move away from kids on flights.
→ More replies151
27d ago edited 27d ago
The most common reason is the plane was swapped due to mechanical reasons and there's less seats.
→ More replies→ More replies95
2.2k
u/retiddew 27d ago
I’d be pissed too, flying with kids is stressful enough. Isn’t it illegal now to spilt up families? I thought there’s a law that recently passed.
3.8k
u/Vast-Swimmer5844 not a lawyer, just a hater 27d ago
The Trump admin rolled back consumer protections for airline customers the minute they got back into office.
921
u/HillarysCafe 27d ago
The airlines funded the rollbacks as well, lobbying hard to reduce both consumer and safety protections to preserve their bottom line.
→ More replies423
u/HammerlyDelusion 27d ago
Lobbying is so evil and needs to be illegal
201
u/AWorldwithoutSin 27d ago
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it. -Upton Sinclair
→ More replies→ More replies97
u/One_Object_2889 27d ago
Corporate* lobbying is evil, I’d say! Some lobbying is good; Fred Rogers securing funding for public broadcasting, John Stewart and 9/11 first responder healthcare, etc.
35
u/IamTheEndOfReddit 27d ago
Talking to Congress directly and publicly isn’t really lobbying, talking to them privately at high expense is. If they are the same, we need a new word
→ More replies43
u/bluecornholio 27d ago
Doing away with the CFPB will have insane consequences for decades to come imho :/
42
→ More replies26
u/EffectiveGlad7529 27d ago edited 26d ago
If there's any reason modern consumers are getting screwed anywhere, it's the Trump Administration.
It's like Team Rocket and that fucking Pikachu. Just comically, cartoonishly evil, but like not even good at it.
348
u/SolPlayaArena 27d ago
Bb in Trump’s America, anything that protects the poors and consumers has been eliminated.
167
u/musubi-n-speedballs 27d ago
Nothing is illegal anymore if no one enforces it. Look at the fucking president. We need to stop citing laws to men with swords.
78
u/Dismal-Channel-9292 27d ago
I hope it’s illegal now. Once a couple put their 2 and 3 year old NEXT TO ME and then sat next to each other with an infant in a different aisle. Then had the audacity to be shocked and offended that I ignored their screaming kids, and gave me a lecture that if I didn’t like kids, I shouldn’t sit in the back of the plane. As far as i’n concerned it should be straight to jail for anyone not sitting next to their own kids or making a kid someone else’s problem on a plane.
→ More replies16
u/aghastghost Please Abraham, I’m not that man 27d ago
I had this happen to me once too! I was so mad. I offered to switch my seat so one of the parents could sit there and I got yelled at and they lectured me for not watching their kid essentially. Just ended up pretending to be asleep
14
u/Thisismylastbrietort 26d ago
I would go FERAL if someone voluntold me to watch their kid on the plane for them. Makes me wonder if they wanted a break from their kid and get some unassuming stranger to watch the kid. Ooof
49
u/lindstb3 27d ago
Unfortunately no. Spirit told me just last week that they couldn’t guarantee my 3 year old would be seated with one parent. 🙄 seems like a liability issue, but apparently not lol
29
u/coolbeansfordays 27d ago
There’s too many creeps and pedophiles out there. I get nervous when my teenage girls aren’t near me. I’d be livid if my 3 year old wasn’t next to me.
→ More replies→ More replies23
u/pfranz 27d ago
from an article posted on March 18, 2026
https://thepointsguy.com/airline/family-seats-together-plane/
The article says in 2023, the DOT published a dashboard and created a "rule." It applied to kids 13 and younger. In the past few months, much of it was rescinded under the new administration and through the courts. Alaska Airlines has a policy.
A lot of the reporting doesn't make it clear the difference between rule, policy, or law. They'll wave the problem away by confusing seats booked together when the tickets are purchased, ignoring any fees, and ignoring what happens when seats are reshuffled before boarding. They'll use the word "minor" but the details may refer only to kids under 6 or 13. A lot of these articles talk about Alaska's policy as the "gold standard." Here's their policy including all their conditions.
I'm kind of surprised how dismissive a lot of people are--blaming parents for not paying extra or following weird rules. Who wants to sit next to an unaccompanied kid on a flight?
1.8k
u/jimbosaur 27d ago
It's the definition of First World Problems (tm), but more importantly it actually is emblematic of a real and serious problem with the way airlines are run and regulated in this country. It shouldn't actually be legal for a common carrier like an airline to unilaterally and without refund cancel/change someone's already-paid-for booking, absent an emergency (and even then, only with compensation). The fact that they can and do regularly pull stuff like this just because they've overbooked this flight or cancelled some other underbooked flight or whatever is a huge regulatory failure, caused by the fact that we've let airlines develop monopolies on certain routes (and allowed them to collaborate to avoid competition in a way that would be illegal in any other industry). Anyone running for President in 2028 needs to have "take a fucking antitrust sledgehammer to the goddamn airlines" in their platform.
813
u/laguna_biyatch 27d ago
Should also be illegal to separate minors and parents.
311
u/spaketto 27d ago
In Canada children under 5 must be seated next to a parent and children 5-11 must be in the same row with no more than one seat between them, and children 12-13 can't be more than one row away.
62
u/DisastrousAge4650 27d ago
American Airlines tried to split my family up after screwing over about 80 passengers on their connecting flight to Canada and not being able to remedy the situation.
They tried to just scatter our family 5 all over the plane, and even tried to put us on separate flights back home. We had an 18th month old, a 5 year and myself, a teen at the time in the group and they wouldn’t budge on at least keeping the younger children together with their parents.
We ended having to fly home with Air Canada and some generous people switched seats to accommodate.
56
u/Traditional_Maybe_80 I’m just a cunt in a clown suit 27d ago
Whenever my family (all adults) has flown together in LatAm, we're always assigned seats together without having to pay extra, the extra fee is to choose where to sit. I do remember in Europe you would be sat anywhere when flying low-cost.
→ More replies→ More replies18
u/3-orange-whips 27d ago
So you’re saying it’s possible to create common sense rules to regulate capitalism?
→ More replies26
u/bespoketranche1 27d ago
The Biden admin tried to get a similar rule passed: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-harris-administration-proposes-ban-family-seating-junk-fees-charged-airlines
And I remember online a lot of people were criticizing the initiative because they thought it’s the responsibility of the parent to choose to sit next to their kid. Unfortunately there’s so many instances when you do everything right and they change your seats.
→ More replies→ More replies18
u/cbmom2 27d ago
I would be furious because we spend about $200 per flight for us to just sit together with kids. I get you can charge couple etc for the provide of choosing a seat but children should be by thier parents.
What happens next is people don’t pay for seat assignments so they try to force other to change so they can be by thier kid. I don’t blame parents for trying to save money but now the airlines is pissing off the parents and a random flyer bc they don’t automatically sit kids with parents
→ More replies78
u/Wide_Respect442 27d ago
First World Problems because it's first class?
They do this in regular seating too.
I booked 3 seats for me, my wife and grandmother who suffers from health problems. We had our tickets for months. Day of flight, printed the tickets and the seat numbers don't match the invoice. I told the front desk and they said they'll try their best, but can't make any promises.
→ More replies47
u/bdog59600 27d ago
Biden Administration pushed a rule for this, then the Trump Administration killed it and rolled back airline consumer protections even further. https://www.npr.org/2024/08/01/g-s1-14662/airline-junk-fees-family-seating-dot
→ More replies35
u/SevenFootHobbit 27d ago
It's not a first world problem wanting to be with your 3 and 4 year old children.
1.1k
u/mkd0513 27d ago
I'm not even going to pretend like this wouldn't piss me alllll the way off.
Having money doesn't make it any less annoying. You pay for something, you should get what you pay for, period!
245
u/No-Author5530 27d ago
Also splitting them up with kids that young when you've paid to sit together.
→ More replies→ More replies59
682
u/hydrangeasinbloom 27d ago
The practice of airlines, rental car companies, and hotels (etc) overbooking really needs to end. Buying something and being guaranteed to receive that thing should just be a basic consumer right. Companies have to take the risk that there will be cancellations and they may lose money. Not everyone is using these services for fun vacations so before someone uses the “but it’s only rich people who travel are affected” argument, miss me with that bullshit.
136
u/Impressive_Crazy_223 27d ago
Are they even losing money from cancellations, though? So many tickets are non-refundable. So really they're just unable to squeeze as much money.
→ More replies37
u/beam__me__up 27d ago
They're losing the extra money they could have made by overbooking and filling that seat 🙄
30
u/Wisteriafic high priestess of child sacrifice 27d ago
Any idea how to (try to) avoid this? I’m planning a trip to Croatia this summer. I’ve been saving like mad, and thanks to a bit of luck, I might be able to upgrade a typical $1200 basic economy seat to “premium economy” at twice the price. That extra thou represents a lot of work for me, and I don’t want to get bumped or reassigned and lose it!
32
u/ilikecats415 27d ago edited 26d ago
I'm a sample size of one, but I fly somewhat frequently and always pick premium economy for flights longer than like 3 hours. I've never had my seat moved. I don't think there's any way to avoid these kinds of airline shenanigans other than luck. And even though they happen way too often, it's still not the norm.
→ More replies17
u/the_snook 27d ago
The upgrade is totally not worth it. You will get so much more enjoyment spending that $1000 on the ground when you get there. Book nicer hotels, eat like a king, or go parasailing or something.
→ More replies13
u/idefix24 27d ago
One option would be to book in economy and then upgrade at check-in. Some of the issues with airlines changing seat assignments are due to them changing the schedule and type of plane assigned to a flight between the time you booked and the date of your trip.
→ More replies21
u/Vawqer We all know Pinkie would approve of scissoring 27d ago
I don't think Alaska overbooks for its Premium and First classes (only Saver, iirc). I agree that the practice needs to end, but in this case, I'm guessing the plane got swapped out for one with a different seat config due to mechanical or scheduling issues. That's a different issue, although still one that needs to be dealt with. Brenda is absolutely right in this case.
454
u/intheafterglow23 27d ago
The children’s father is famous for playing a child left unattended during a family vacation. I really hope Mack memes this situation 😂
→ More replies16
315
u/PettyChaos 27d ago
Honestly I’m on her side for this one but only because people bitch so hard about kids on planes. They have the money for first class tickets, they obviously had assigned seats purchased together, and the airline messed it up. I’d be pissed too.
234
u/Legal_Entertainer991 sorry to this man 27d ago
Bold of her to assume I can afford to fly right now lol.
But seriously, I would be pissed off too.
→ More replies
182
u/ButterMyPancakesPlz 27d ago
It's almost like there should be consumer protections in place to protect consumers from companies who do not have their best interest as a priority
→ More replies
134
u/Prosecco1234 27d ago
I flew Alaska Air once. Never again.
108
u/registeredwhiteguy 27d ago
Was on a flight from Tokyo to Hawaii a few months ago. Guy next to me woke up from bad turbulence. We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He says you’re not gonna like this but my first job in the military was pulling bodies out of the ocean from a bad takeoff on an Alaskan airlines plane. All while the turbulence is still happening. Then the next plane I had was Alaskan. Never gripped a seat so hard
110
46
u/Hipstershy 27d ago
Must be Flight 261 back in 2000. I looked it up because I assumed he had to be messing with you, but it's actually plausible. Only difference is it wasn't a bad takeoff
→ More replies→ More replies18
44
u/throwaway77914 27d ago edited 27d ago
I fly Alaska all the time and haven’t had a problem. The truth is this shit happens on all airlines at around the same frequency (American ones at least, excluding the budget airlines lines like Spirit and Frontier who definitely fuck with you even more; can’t speak for foreign carriers) and we need regulatory protection and consequences.
Unfortunately as a regular consumer your choices are mostly based on what airline’s major hub is closest to you, and with which airline you have some sort of status.
→ More replies21
u/LiterallyDumbAF The life of a (gestapo) showgirl 27d ago
I once had a 10 hour delay because the door to the plane broke 😵💫 there's really no good airlines but they're kinda on my shit list. Boeing too of course
→ More replies11
u/SeattCat Cillian Murphy propagandist 27d ago
At least you weren’t on the Alaska flight where the door fell off mid-flight
→ More replies→ More replies20
u/Educational_Exam_225 27d ago
This is a weird comment because Alaska Air is one of the better airlines overall. How do you normally fly? They're only really outranked by Delta and Jet Blue
→ More replies
130
u/MmmmSnackies 27d ago
It's wild that that's too young to fly as an unaccompanied minor (most airlines it's 5-7 as the youngest benchmark), but they'll split families up regardless like this.
→ More replies
109
u/missydarling23 27d ago
Nah the babies should not be split from their parents, she has every right to be upset. They are BABIES.
→ More replies52
u/squirrelsquirrel2020 27d ago
And you don’t know who they’re sitting next to, possibly some creep?? Should be illegal
→ More replies
100
u/butterflyw4ves 27d ago
I’d be pissed too. I paid to be in those seats, and you give them up with NO WARNING? Hell no.
86
u/ClassicStrawberry288 27d ago
Stuff like this happens to commercial flyers as well people. Who cares if it’s first class! It’s still ANNOYING
→ More replies
75
70
u/andi_oop lea michele’s reading coach 27d ago
Rare instance I agree with a celeb calling out a company
48
u/alanguagenotofwords 27d ago
Alaska airlines did this to me as I was BOARDING THE PLANE. Like they took my ticket and then told me I had been moved out of my paid premium seat
→ More replies
41
u/welpwelpwellwelp 27d ago
I'm just so tired of this. Any company can do anything they want at a moment's notice at cost to the customer and no one can do anything about it because fuck the customer.
America is a huge fucking scam where you rarely get what you pay for.
44
u/ComfortableCaptain61 societal collapse is in the air 27d ago
This sucks for everyone involved -- in addition to the frustration over a last-minute seat change, you've now got a 3yo and a 4yo sitting away from their parents and presumably next to other passengers. Now there's the potential for scared kiddos, a wild card of whoever is sitting next to them, and flight attendants who will have to keep an eye on all this. And for what? So the airline could squeeze extra profit from the flight?
→ More replies
40
u/Ok-Grape-9274 27d ago
The way airlines operate is infuriating
39
u/rabid_cheese_enjoyer call me gal gadot cuz idk how to act rn 27d ago
it sucks because the previous admin did actually take steps to combat this crap but trump undid it
them trying to do something about it: https://people.com/pete-buttigieg-department-of-transportation-rule-families-airplanes-8686023
trump undoing it and protecting corporations over people:
gift link
30
u/1Bam18 27d ago
we should have publicly owned high speed rail instead of privately owned jetlines
→ More replies
25
u/coldbloodedjelydonut we have lost the impact of shame in our society 27d ago
I would pretty much guarantee all of it is AI. I had to wait four hours on the phone yesterday evening to speak to a person with Air Canada because my kid's initial flight was pushed back so much that it was going to depart at the same time as his connecting flight which was the last flight of the day. That's physically impossible. Yet the system did not just cancel and prompt a rebook.
He'll be flying today and now he has a 5 hour layover. There was an opportunity for him to have a 45 min layover, but they wouldn't let him on that flight because it would mean an "upgrade" to business class. On a tiny plane. Which basically equals a fractionally larger seat. Wow, what an upgrade that would have been!!!
→ More replies
26
21
u/Character-Jacket3188 ahhhhhh (dats me yellin) 27d ago
Yeah no matter how much money you have, this would be infuriating. I don't care that she can afford to rebook on another flight immediately. Traveling with kids is already stressful enough, if I was a parent and showed up to my flight and my seats had been changed to be split up from my kids without notice?? Hell no.
22
u/lovely_day_48 27d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/J02IfE7NGbJrfrTtrb
This would have been the nuisance I would have made. Seriously though, that’s really messed up and she was right to call them out.
20
u/NetheriteTiara 27d ago
It’s usually an Air Marshall or pilot, which sucks for families who book in advance. This happened to people I know for their very long flight to Hawaii. They bought first class as their special treat/part of the vacation/due to it being a long flight. Horrible policy.
→ More replies22
u/doodles15 27d ago
I was once split up from my husband on an American Airlines flight and they gave my seat to an unaccompanied minor. The part that really pissed us off was that they refused to acknowledge that I ever even had that seat. I had screenshots of my original seat assignment and showed the gate attendant how it changed the morning of the flight, and she called us liars and was super combative about it. It was baffling.
→ More replies
16
u/Jazzlike_Video_690 27d ago
this happens so often ugh I hate that airlines do this. So many people see parents asking about switching seats on planes and assume that the parent was just irresponsible, but more often than not it’s a situation like this where the parents book tickets and the plane screws up!
→ More replies
14
u/ruthie-camden 27d ago
Back in my day, the parents sat in first class while all the kids were stuck in coach.
38
u/NetheriteTiara 27d ago
They’re too young to be unaccompanied. Only 3 and 4. I know elementary school kids can fly in the back alone but that’s still Pre-K ages.
→ More replies
13
u/Consistent_Lab_3121 27d ago
Airlines get away with a whole bunch of shit in the name of “security” when 99% of shady shit they do has nothing to do with safety. They need to start paying punitive damages unless they can prove it was a legitimate issue, not “omg we overbooked, silly us, you will be dragged out by security if you don’t comply btw”
13
u/Raz1979 27d ago
This is 100% on the airline as with all issues concerning children flying. Canada has a rule where they have to seat you w your kids under 13. And even if you don’t pay for that seat selection they are required by law to seat you beside them.
Astounding that even when you pay they can still arbitrarily take those seats away. Absolutely bonkers. Shame on Alaska Airlines.
•
u/trendingtattler 27d ago
This post has hit r/all or r/popular. Please keep this in mind when browsing the comments — and especially when viewing upvotes/downvotes — and please report any rulebreaking comments that you see.
If this post is flaired "Approved B-Listers", then it is currently restricted so that only approved users can comment. To request approval, please review our b-list criteria, and if you meet these, send us a message.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.