I think the difference here is that the seat choice is monetized for parents in a way that is different from how it is monetized for a single traveler (or adults traveling together who just don’t care).
I also thought the response was unnecessarily aggressive, even as I 100% recognize and live the fact that having kids comes with extra cost. The fact that you have to pay to have your 3yo sit next to you is a matter of safety - it’s not really optional - and it is a level of unfairness to ask a certain group to pay for something that others get for free (that safety piece I mean) by virtue of their age
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I can appreciate that.
Yes I chose to have children and I would never choose to book a flight where I didn’t have seat selection. But that doesn’t make it right for an airline to make it cheaper to sit in the same type of seat because you don’t get to choose it ahead. I also agree singles shouldn’t pay double for anything.
I also agree that a parent accepts certain responsibility when booking said cheap seat and shouldn’t bully people. But asking and bullying are two different things.
It’s easy to make a blanket “you made your choice and live with the consequences” statement for something. But life isn’t black and white and it’s the grays that make us human.
I don’t discount people who don’t have kids by choice, but you really also have no idea what it’s like having them, so it’s really easy for people to say things like that.
We’ve all walked a mile in parentless shoes but only parents have walked a mile in ours.
By “you” I mean collective people who don’t choose to have kids- not “you”
Ehhhh I wouldn’t exactly agree with that. Many people who choose not to have children do so BECAUSE they have an exact idea of what it’s like.
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Just food for thought - but isn’t this the case for all sorts of travelers? DH is 6’4”. I pay extra for the ‘even more space seats’ because it seriously is a risk of injury for him to squish his giant size frame into the regular seats. He has ruined his back and his knees (especially when someone reclines their seats into it). So I have to pay more - I hate it, but I do it.
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That would be a determination for the FAA to make. I don’t know if they have such a designation, but if they do then yes that would be unfair.
If they feel it is safe for people of all sizes to sit in the space they require for airplanes to be designed, then no. It’s a preference at that point.
Or people of size that have to buy two seats?
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Isn’t it the same for kids? I still wouldn’t want DS13 sitting by himself on a plane. But at what age is safety not an issue? Can’t they say ‘by X age, we determine that safety is no longer a concern?’. At some point it also becomes a preference?
As someone who didn’t think she would have kids, and absolutely believed she still could accurately predict what it was like, then had one at age 46…
Nope. I had zero idea. Of the actual lows or the actual highs. I used to roll my eyes when parents would say I couldn’t possibly understand.
I take it back… I take it alllllllll back. I knew nothing, Jon Sno-kids.
ETA: I was caregiver for my younger sister a lot of the time and had worked in day cares and with kids in various capacities at my church, and still had no idea.
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Would you leave a 3yo home alone?
But who determines what age?
I don’t think they regulate the airlines
And I get it - I don’t want my kid sitting with someone else, just offering a perspective
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I don’t if i would trust that - in NJ there’s no legal age for when you can leave a child home alone! Same for the state of NY i believe.
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OMG
I was answering the question of who determines safety of leaving a 3yo alone
I’m out.
This “conversation” is ridiculous by now
Edited: just like they almost all seem to become lately.
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Nope. Being around kids and having one of your own (or being responsible) for one is completely different.
File under “you don’t know till you know”
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I think (anecdotally) it’s around 5 or 6 that they will separate kids on planes. Mine was 7 when they Tried to. Not old enough for sure.
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I’m normal sized and those seats have ruined my back and I almost lost a knee cap to the person in front of me reclining 