Partial refund for airline seats not together?
June 8, 2015 3:13 PM Subscribe
Purchased 2 first class tickets from Dallas to London for 4 year old and mom. Airline could not sit them together (asked, other passengers declined to move), resulting in 10 hours with toddler-on-lap situation. Is it reasonable for the airline to compensate? If so, how to proceed?
Additional details - mom didn't make too much fuss because kid was tired and didn't want to cause trouble. Tickets cost about $9k (both, roundtrip). Simple online form asking for compensation was rejected. Not sure if I'm being unreasonable or not aggressive enough. British Airways (operated by American Airlines) if that matters. Thanks!
Additional details - mom didn't make too much fuss because kid was tired and didn't want to cause trouble. Tickets cost about $9k (both, roundtrip). Simple online form asking for compensation was rejected. Not sure if I'm being unreasonable or not aggressive enough. British Airways (operated by American Airlines) if that matters. Thanks!
Response by poster: Due to the weird BritishAirways/American codeshare there was no way to select seats before arrival at the airport (or at least that I could see).
posted by H. Roark at 3:21 PM on June 8, 2015
posted by H. Roark at 3:21 PM on June 8, 2015
To clarify, the flight was bought through BA but was actually operated by AA on their plane? And the offered seats were not adjacent? Wow.
I think a full refund for the unused seat is absolutely the moral thing in this case, but I doubt they're going to get anything more than a voucher that expires within a year. Since you already tried the online form, the site elliott.org is absolutely the place to start. I think it's also reasonable to contact the credit card company to reverse the charge, as the purchased product was not usable in any way.
posted by wnissen at 3:22 PM on June 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think a full refund for the unused seat is absolutely the moral thing in this case, but I doubt they're going to get anything more than a voucher that expires within a year. Since you already tried the online form, the site elliott.org is absolutely the place to start. I think it's also reasonable to contact the credit card company to reverse the charge, as the purchased product was not usable in any way.
posted by wnissen at 3:22 PM on June 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, if you didn't book seats together why should the airline refund you?
A passenger should have volunteered, I suppose, but that's on them and their consciences. I don't see why this is on the airline.
posted by girl flaneur at 3:28 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
A passenger should have volunteered, I suppose, but that's on them and their consciences. I don't see why this is on the airline.
posted by girl flaneur at 3:28 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I would do a charge back. I would include a description and screen pics proving there was no way to group the seating together.
For 9k First Class, you should be able to sit together, especially a parent and young child. I am a FIRM believer in charge backs. I've only ever used this function twice in my life, but wow, they work great when you need them and you are in the right. Here's hoping you used AMEX, although in this case you should't have a problem, no matter the credit card company.
posted by jbenben at 3:31 PM on June 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
For 9k First Class, you should be able to sit together, especially a parent and young child. I am a FIRM believer in charge backs. I've only ever used this function twice in my life, but wow, they work great when you need them and you are in the right. Here's hoping you used AMEX, although in this case you should't have a problem, no matter the credit card company.
posted by jbenben at 3:31 PM on June 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
Someone chose to sit next to you with a child on your lap instead of taking his vacant seat?! What?! You flew with some serious jerks.
Yes, airline should refund. That is ridiculous. Good airlines I have used will a check the list ahead of the flight to see that children are seated with parents if you could not choose seats, and have helped me ensure we get bulkhead seats in a similar situation. I am surprised at BA. That is not first class service. Nthing Elliott.org.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 3:47 PM on June 8, 2015 [15 favorites]
Yes, airline should refund. That is ridiculous. Good airlines I have used will a check the list ahead of the flight to see that children are seated with parents if you could not choose seats, and have helped me ensure we get bulkhead seats in a similar situation. I am surprised at BA. That is not first class service. Nthing Elliott.org.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 3:47 PM on June 8, 2015 [15 favorites]
Good grief, what kind of jerky passengers wouldn't shift seats so that a 4-year old could sit with with their parent? For TEN HOURS??
Definitely a chargeback. That's egregious service.
posted by Elly Vortex at 3:48 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Definitely a chargeback. That's egregious service.
posted by Elly Vortex at 3:48 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
There's a jump seat available (with a seatbelt) in each BA First Class seat, and the cabin crew should have shown mom how to use so that the toddler wouldn't have had to sit in her lap the entire time.
In the end, however, they both traveled in the class they paid for on the flight they were booked on. It's worth pressing the issue again with BA/AA if you must, but in this instance the choice of whether or not to use the second seat was completely voluntary on the part of the passengers.
posted by evoque at 3:49 PM on June 8, 2015
In the end, however, they both traveled in the class they paid for on the flight they were booked on. It's worth pressing the issue again with BA/AA if you must, but in this instance the choice of whether or not to use the second seat was completely voluntary on the part of the passengers.
posted by evoque at 3:49 PM on June 8, 2015
Assuming this wasn't some last minute emergency flight, you could have selected your seats by calling the airline. You didn't do this. I'm surprised no one on the flight offered to swap, but some of this is on you, I think. You can try to petition, but you do know that if you are successful that the costs of these sorts of things are, eventually, passed on to other passengers, right? Sorry, but I'd rather not pay for what was at least partially your mistake.
It seems like an inconvenient lesson learned to me.
posted by girl flaneur at 3:58 PM on June 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
It seems like an inconvenient lesson learned to me.
posted by girl flaneur at 3:58 PM on June 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
Lalex, they are vanishingly few. By their own rules, they specify that the child must be accompanied. I would imagine that this would mean seating the child and adult together as a 4 year old cannot take care of themselves in the case of an emergency. I would absolutely pursue a charge back. You can also try Twitter to see if that shakes out a response faster.
ETA: They also specify that you must purchase a seat for a child over 2 and they cannot be seated as a lap child. They didn't follow their own rules.
posted by goggie at 4:31 PM on June 8, 2015 [23 favorites]
ETA: They also specify that you must purchase a seat for a child over 2 and they cannot be seated as a lap child. They didn't follow their own rules.
posted by goggie at 4:31 PM on June 8, 2015 [23 favorites]
It sounds like what happened is you booked the ticket through one airline, but flew on another airline's plane. In this scenario, you sometimes have to choose your seats with the airline that you're actually flying on. In my experience with American, they have terrible backend systems that don't always make available the other airline's confirmation code that you need to choose seats.
However, since you arrived at the airport without seats, I think this is unfortunate but not necessarily the fault of the airline. I don't think a chargeback is appropriate here, as you bought 2 plane tickets and received two flights. I think they technically filled their end of the bargain.
That said, most people don't spend $4.5K on a plane ticket, so I'd think the bar should be a little higher for you than for those of us who book at bottom dollar during the Black Friday sale.
What if you pursue a partial refund instead? Or a voucher for future travel? It might be easier for them to give up mileage plan miles or flight vouchers than it would be cash.
posted by reeddavid at 4:49 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
However, since you arrived at the airport without seats, I think this is unfortunate but not necessarily the fault of the airline. I don't think a chargeback is appropriate here, as you bought 2 plane tickets and received two flights. I think they technically filled their end of the bargain.
That said, most people don't spend $4.5K on a plane ticket, so I'd think the bar should be a little higher for you than for those of us who book at bottom dollar during the Black Friday sale.
What if you pursue a partial refund instead? Or a voucher for future travel? It might be easier for them to give up mileage plan miles or flight vouchers than it would be cash.
posted by reeddavid at 4:49 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm typically loath to chargeback too, but in this case it's worth considering, as the airline basically forced you to forfeit a paid-for seat after making it impossible to pre-select seats together. As googie just pointed out, they broke their own child-accompanied policy AND child-lap policy in the process.
Perhaps try again with the airline more aggressively using this logic, and then if they won't give you at least a voucher, initiate a chargeback.
posted by desuetude at 5:00 PM on June 8, 2015 [12 favorites]
Perhaps try again with the airline more aggressively using this logic, and then if they won't give you at least a voucher, initiate a chargeback.
posted by desuetude at 5:00 PM on June 8, 2015 [12 favorites]
You purchased two seats without specifying that they needed to be together. You got two seats that weren't together. You can be pissed at anyone you want, but you can't claim you didn't get what you purchased (even if you decided not to use one of them for the majority of the trip). Using a chargeback isn't called for.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:02 PM on June 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:02 PM on June 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
Due to the weird BritishAirways/American codeshare there was no way to select seats before arrival at the airport (or at least that I could see).
What did they say when you called? Usually first class passengers would get really good service.
posted by ftm at 5:12 PM on June 8, 2015
What did they say when you called? Usually first class passengers would get really good service.
posted by ftm at 5:12 PM on June 8, 2015
I would start by calling the airline and going absolutely apeshit (in the most polite way - plenty of anger, but no yelling or swearing) to every manager, manager's manager and/or supervisor I could get a hold of, not relenting until I got some form of acceptable compensation. When you buy plane tickets, they know the passenger's names and birth dates, and which tickets were bought together. Of course mom and baby should be seated next to each other. It's called common sense and basic courtesy, which is not unreasonable to expect when you're paying 4.5k for a ticket.
posted by gnutron at 5:29 PM on June 8, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by gnutron at 5:29 PM on June 8, 2015 [9 favorites]
I'm astonished at the answers suggesting the airline held up its end of the bargain in this scenario. Obviously a toddler cannot sit alone. Obviously when families fly it is expected that toddlers sit next to their parents. Obviously they sold a ticket to a toddler which, without a reasonable seat assignment or substitution, was impossible for her to use.
But I also don't understand how it came to pass that you didn't have the seat assignment when you bought the ticket. Was it one of those things where they tell you to just show up and see what's left? Did you call them when you booked it? And what happened at the gate?
Anyway, I would absolutely pursue every angle to get a refund on that second seat.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:22 PM on June 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
But I also don't understand how it came to pass that you didn't have the seat assignment when you bought the ticket. Was it one of those things where they tell you to just show up and see what's left? Did you call them when you booked it? And what happened at the gate?
Anyway, I would absolutely pursue every angle to get a refund on that second seat.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:22 PM on June 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
In my experience dealing with British Airways over a problem, a chargeback is your best approach. BA are the pits in their response to customer service issues and you will most likely get absolutely nowhere with them. I will never fly BA again.
posted by anadem at 6:37 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by anadem at 6:37 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm torn, and for me it comes down to when the airline was apprised of the situation. It sounds like the airline didn't know -- or didn't notice -- that one of the tickets was for a young child. Sounds like as soon as they realized (at the gate?) they were loathe to displace another first class passenger to accommodate, which I'd say is definitely their mistake. (Even more so if it was at check-in.) If it was while boarding that the flight crew found out, and the mother just assumed someone would switch with them on board, that puts the flight crew in a bind, and to me, shifts responsibility. I'm surprised that they didn't still do something, but it sounds like they took the lap situation to be workable for all involved and let it rest.
Get someone on the phone. Explain the timeline, whatever it was. Say that the flight crew's actions led to one ticket being unusable, and to them breaking their own lap-child regulations. I personally wouldn't feel morally entitled to a refund unless the flight crew knew about the situation before boarding, maybe even at check in, but for $4500 that doesn't mean I wouldn't try.
posted by supercres at 6:41 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Get someone on the phone. Explain the timeline, whatever it was. Say that the flight crew's actions led to one ticket being unusable, and to them breaking their own lap-child regulations. I personally wouldn't feel morally entitled to a refund unless the flight crew knew about the situation before boarding, maybe even at check in, but for $4500 that doesn't mean I wouldn't try.
posted by supercres at 6:41 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
For future reference, I have a magical phrase that I used on some recent Southwest flights with my kid to make sure we sat together: "Hi, this is my daughter--she throws up a lot."
posted by helpthebear at 7:10 PM on June 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by helpthebear at 7:10 PM on June 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
I booked a ticket for my partner through American, but with US Airways codeshares. That meant there was NO WAY to choose seats or even print boarding passes until he got to the airport, and they wouldn't assign him a seat (or let him choose his own) until he got to the gate.
It's absolutely on them, and they should refund the price of the second seat. I'm shocked that anyone would suggest it's the fault of the mom/child. Perhaps some of you haven't flown recently? Airlines do all kinds of sh*t like this, and there are so many levels of bureaucracy that it's impenetrable.
posted by guster4lovers at 7:13 PM on June 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
It's absolutely on them, and they should refund the price of the second seat. I'm shocked that anyone would suggest it's the fault of the mom/child. Perhaps some of you haven't flown recently? Airlines do all kinds of sh*t like this, and there are so many levels of bureaucracy that it's impenetrable.
posted by guster4lovers at 7:13 PM on June 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
I don't get this. Did you ask anyone to move? No one was willing to move to another first class seat in first class? No one at all?
Most seats in first class are 2x2 seating, so I am having a hard time wrapping my head around WHY someone wouldn't move. There's no downside for them.
posted by Thistledown at 7:35 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Most seats in first class are 2x2 seating, so I am having a hard time wrapping my head around WHY someone wouldn't move. There's no downside for them.
posted by Thistledown at 7:35 PM on June 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
They also specify that you must purchase a seat for a child over 2 and they cannot be seated as a lap child. They didn't follow their own rules.
This is what I would emphasize when calling and requesting a refund. Ridiculous.
posted by Specklet at 7:55 PM on June 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is what I would emphasize when calling and requesting a refund. Ridiculous.
posted by Specklet at 7:55 PM on June 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
If it had been a coach seat, I would have made a gigantic scene. For a first class seat? I would go nuclear.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:00 PM on June 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 8:00 PM on June 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
I would try chargeback first. Ive never had trouble with a chargeback and if theres any dispute, the airline can argue with Visa or whoever. This is not your fault. there were so many things the airline could have done to fix this but they didn't. if they don't make it possible for you to select seats during purchase, the onus is on them to have systems in place to make sure minors over the age of 2 are seated with their guardian.
if chargeback doesn't work for whatever reason, i would social media shame them. Internet "news" and parenting sites would love this.
Whoever sat next to mom is a prize dickhead.
posted by stellathon at 8:46 PM on June 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
if chargeback doesn't work for whatever reason, i would social media shame them. Internet "news" and parenting sites would love this.
Whoever sat next to mom is a prize dickhead.
posted by stellathon at 8:46 PM on June 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
Whoever sat next to mom is a prize dickhead.
They may have spent $9k for their ticket. That might not be a lot of money for you but if I was a nervous flyer and needed to sit by the window and chose 4D and spent $9k for it, I'd kind of want to keep my 4D.
posted by ftm at 11:42 PM on June 8, 2015 [13 favorites]
They may have spent $9k for their ticket. That might not be a lot of money for you but if I was a nervous flyer and needed to sit by the window and chose 4D and spent $9k for it, I'd kind of want to keep my 4D.
posted by ftm at 11:42 PM on June 8, 2015 [13 favorites]
Whoever sat next to mom had just as much right to the experience they paid for as she and her child did. You don't know anything at all about the person sitting next to her. Maybe they themselves were sitting near someone they didn't want to be separated from. Maybe they really needed a window or aisle seat and the seat they would have been moved to would not have sufficed. Maybe they needed to be as close to the bathroom as possible.
I think the OP should have called rather than leaving it at "oh well, there's no way to choose a seat using this web interface". I also think the airline should notice when a minor and adult ticket are purchased together and make it a priority to seat them together. A full refund doesn't seem warranted, but a discount on future flight does (and preferably a change in procedures).
posted by mysterious_stranger at 12:23 AM on June 9, 2015 [6 favorites]
I think the OP should have called rather than leaving it at "oh well, there's no way to choose a seat using this web interface". I also think the airline should notice when a minor and adult ticket are purchased together and make it a priority to seat them together. A full refund doesn't seem warranted, but a discount on future flight does (and preferably a change in procedures).
posted by mysterious_stranger at 12:23 AM on June 9, 2015 [6 favorites]
I have had this sort of situation in coach, where the booked flight turned out to be a code share flight and we either weren't able to book the seats together or didn't notice, and I absolutely have been told by the gate agents that there was nothing they could do and to just hope someone will be willing to switch.
posted by leahwrenn at 12:28 AM on June 9, 2015
posted by leahwrenn at 12:28 AM on June 9, 2015
A 4-year old is far, far too large to be seated with an adult as a lap child. They need to be seated in their own seat and secured with their own seat belt.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:23 AM on June 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:23 AM on June 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
Here is the thing, airlines have dates of birth when tickets are booked, and also have access to the information that a group of tickets are purchased together, and therefore would like to be seated together. They do not do this, though. They insist that you must pay additional fees to be seated together. It's ridiculous. A recent flight, they wanted my then 14-month-old to sit on her own, and also for her 5-year-old brother to sit on his own. We did call, we did request to be seated together, we did try to move to seats together with online check-in. All routes failed. We tried again at check-in at the airport, and again at the gate. On some flights, the gate agents helped fix it. At others, we had to beg other travelers to let us get at least 2 seats together. Our option was to pay extra for exit row seats, except OOPS! Children in car seats are not allowed to sit in those rows for the safety of all the other passengers on the plane.
It's a huge hassle, it makes people mad and it is terrible customer service. In this situation, it's even more egregious because paying for a first class seat should, theoretically, give you better customer service than the rest of us dirty unwashed in coach are provided. That's what you pay extra for. This was an enormous expense, it created unsafe and incredibly uncomfortable flying conditions for this family, and it's time for airlines to stop this. That is why it's important to make a stink about this. For those of you saying the airline did it's job, I somewhow really doubt that you would enjoy flying next to my unaccompanied preschooler. We are trying our best and we need the service we need to get our kids to see grandparents, to attend funerals, and to just get out and experience the world so they can be better humans as adults to step up and do the right thing.
posted by goggie at 7:24 AM on June 9, 2015 [10 favorites]
It's a huge hassle, it makes people mad and it is terrible customer service. In this situation, it's even more egregious because paying for a first class seat should, theoretically, give you better customer service than the rest of us dirty unwashed in coach are provided. That's what you pay extra for. This was an enormous expense, it created unsafe and incredibly uncomfortable flying conditions for this family, and it's time for airlines to stop this. That is why it's important to make a stink about this. For those of you saying the airline did it's job, I somewhow really doubt that you would enjoy flying next to my unaccompanied preschooler. We are trying our best and we need the service we need to get our kids to see grandparents, to attend funerals, and to just get out and experience the world so they can be better humans as adults to step up and do the right thing.
posted by goggie at 7:24 AM on June 9, 2015 [10 favorites]
But I also don't understand how it came to pass that you didn't have the seat assignment when you bought the ticket. Was it one of those things where they tell you to just show up and see what's left? Did you call them when you booked it? And what happened at the gate?
Clearly you have never flown a codeshare international flight ever before. You simply cannot pick seats at booking (for codeshare segments) or call the codeshare airline and request a seat. It just doesn't work. Some will allow you to pay for the privilege 23 hours before your flight but that doesn't work for star alliance. I fly back home on Friday via Lufthansa/Swiss (United codeshare) and despite being a premier United customer, I cannot get a seat till I check in at the airport. No other way. The software will not even open up such a possibility for me.
OP I sympathize with you. Try to get a first class voucher for a future flight and either stay within your airline or arrive really early at the airport (still a challenge, because most business class/first flyers have status and can pick seats ahead of time).
posted by special-k at 7:24 AM on June 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Clearly you have never flown a codeshare international flight ever before. You simply cannot pick seats at booking (for codeshare segments) or call the codeshare airline and request a seat. It just doesn't work. Some will allow you to pay for the privilege 23 hours before your flight but that doesn't work for star alliance. I fly back home on Friday via Lufthansa/Swiss (United codeshare) and despite being a premier United customer, I cannot get a seat till I check in at the airport. No other way. The software will not even open up such a possibility for me.
OP I sympathize with you. Try to get a first class voucher for a future flight and either stay within your airline or arrive really early at the airport (still a challenge, because most business class/first flyers have status and can pick seats ahead of time).
posted by special-k at 7:24 AM on June 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
You simply cannot pick seats at booking (for codeshare segments) or call the codeshare airline and request a seat. It just doesn't work.
Sometimes seat/service selection is available through a codeshare airline's website if the confirmation code is accepted; sometimes it looks like it works but doesn't get passed on, and you only know for sure when you check in.
I agree that seating a four-year-old as a lap child is both denying the OP a (costly) paid seat and extremely dubious in terms of safety. Escalate, and raise the possibility of going to the media about this.
posted by holgate at 7:51 AM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sometimes seat/service selection is available through a codeshare airline's website if the confirmation code is accepted; sometimes it looks like it works but doesn't get passed on, and you only know for sure when you check in.
I agree that seating a four-year-old as a lap child is both denying the OP a (costly) paid seat and extremely dubious in terms of safety. Escalate, and raise the possibility of going to the media about this.
posted by holgate at 7:51 AM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
There is a (sometimes usable) work-around for the problem of not being able to select seats on a code-share flight which you booked through another airline. Call the airline you originally booked with and ask for the Confirmation # (typically that six-digit alphanumeric code you get from every airline) for the record in the airline you're actually flying. Yes, your booking airline can typically access that information.
Once you have the Confirmation # that is recognized by the airline you are flying, you can go to their website and select seats on their flight.
This worked for me when booking through United on a flight with Air Canada.
posted by John Borrowman at 8:21 AM on June 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
Once you have the Confirmation # that is recognized by the airline you are flying, you can go to their website and select seats on their flight.
This worked for me when booking through United on a flight with Air Canada.
posted by John Borrowman at 8:21 AM on June 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
My remark at the gate has always been, "Sweet! Free baby-sitting!" And the gate agents usually glance at my four kids, blanch, and Fix Things.
Go get 'em, you!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:00 AM on June 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Go get 'em, you!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:00 AM on June 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Definitely see if you have any luck reaching out to @British_Airways twitter, they seem to be actively responding to any mentions.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:19 AM on June 9, 2015
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:19 AM on June 9, 2015
Airlines are usually clear that tickets pay for transportation from point A to point B and don't guarantee any particular seat (or even travel at any particular time!). Did they allow the toddler to sit on mom's lap during takeoff and landing? If they did, they could probably be fined. But if not, that meant they couldn't sell that $9000 seat to someone else. Which means they aren't going to be inclined to give the money back to you.
Your remedies at the time would have been:
Minors sit on the same flight as their parents everyday without sitting next to them or being considered "unaccompanied". Looking at their policy prohibiting unaccompanied minors as some sort of gotcha is wishful thinking.
A chargeback for $9000 is probably worth the time of someone at the airline to fight, even if they wouldn't bother over, say, $500. And they might decide you aren't worth having as a customer after that point either. People have been banned from airlines and had their frequent flier program membership canceled for less.
Given a direct approach to the airline has failed, you might make a complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That might get you at least some compensation and I think retaliation is less likely, unlike the chargeback suggestion. I don't think you are going to get $9,000 in cash back though.
posted by grouse at 6:36 PM on June 9, 2015
Your remedies at the time would have been:
- Getting a full refund and skipping the trip.
- Getting your reservations moved to some other time where seats next to each other could be guaranteed.
- Moving to a lesser cabin with a refund of fare difference.
Minors sit on the same flight as their parents everyday without sitting next to them or being considered "unaccompanied". Looking at their policy prohibiting unaccompanied minors as some sort of gotcha is wishful thinking.
A chargeback for $9000 is probably worth the time of someone at the airline to fight, even if they wouldn't bother over, say, $500. And they might decide you aren't worth having as a customer after that point either. People have been banned from airlines and had their frequent flier program membership canceled for less.
Given a direct approach to the airline has failed, you might make a complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That might get you at least some compensation and I think retaliation is less likely, unlike the chargeback suggestion. I don't think you are going to get $9,000 in cash back though.
posted by grouse at 6:36 PM on June 9, 2015
For safety reasons, it's not an option to let a four year old sit by themselves on a flight. They can't take care of themselves in an emergency, or even reliably comply with safety regulations without help. They can also get in the way of other passengers when there is an emergency.
For safety reasons, it also should not have been an option to let the child sit in the mother's lap. They are way too big.
The ideal situation would have been to plan for the mother and child to sit together, but the airlines have that information and can't seem to do it right. Even when seats are requested together, often the airplane changes, and the seat configuration changes with it. People get scattered across the plane as a result.
Once this screw up is made, the only remaining options are to make an adult sit elsewhere, or to ban the mother and child from the flight.
Banning children and/or families from flights seems like a civil rights issue. So the only sensible choice is that one of the adults should have been made to move. No one has a "right" to a particular seat on an airplane, but everyone has the right to a safe ride.
Go to social media. They probably have a Facebook page. Tell your story there. I did that once with expedia, and my problem was instantly fixed, and I also got a "special" number to call if there were any other problems for the rest of my trip.
posted by pizzazz at 2:17 PM on June 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
For safety reasons, it also should not have been an option to let the child sit in the mother's lap. They are way too big.
The ideal situation would have been to plan for the mother and child to sit together, but the airlines have that information and can't seem to do it right. Even when seats are requested together, often the airplane changes, and the seat configuration changes with it. People get scattered across the plane as a result.
Once this screw up is made, the only remaining options are to make an adult sit elsewhere, or to ban the mother and child from the flight.
Banning children and/or families from flights seems like a civil rights issue. So the only sensible choice is that one of the adults should have been made to move. No one has a "right" to a particular seat on an airplane, but everyone has the right to a safe ride.
Go to social media. They probably have a Facebook page. Tell your story there. I did that once with expedia, and my problem was instantly fixed, and I also got a "special" number to call if there were any other problems for the rest of my trip.
posted by pizzazz at 2:17 PM on June 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Oh, and it goes without saying that even though the treatment by the airline was atrocious, any representatives you speak to were not, personally, responsible for the bad treatment. Unfailing politeness and unfailing firmness will get you compensation much more effectively than taking out your (understandable) frustrations on the customer service agents.
posted by wnissen at 8:21 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by wnissen at 8:21 AM on June 13, 2015
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posted by supercres at 3:16 PM on June 8, 2015