Flying With Baby – Never Again!

August 12, 2009

in Baby & Kid Stories

So we booked our flights MONTHS in advance with said airline. At the time I had a 6 month old, and we didn’t get an extra seat for her since they stated that there is no way the flight would be full – we could use the extra seat for more room after take off. We get to the gate and asked to be sure they seat us where we would have the most room for the baby. They put is in the VERY back – the last row on the entire plane.

BAD IDEA….

Well, the flight ended up being booked solid, the very back row seats don’t recline, my seat was in fact broken – there was a terrible bump in the seat itself, no empty seats on either side of me AND, to make matters worse, the ONLY changing area on the ENTIRE plane was in the VERY FRONT of the plane. Mind you, this was a 5 hour flight. And my baby decided to make a “stinky” RIGHT when the attendants were about to serve dinner. I had to carry a stinky baby in front of eating passengers while the carts were still in the aisles.

They ran out of the meals by the time I got back, so I had a cold gosh-knows-what which my baby also decided would be fun to kick mid bite, so the entire meal ended up all over myself as well as my coke. I couldn’t see the movie also – the only possible escape I had.

BOTTOM LINE.. if you ask for seats with more room, DON’T let them sucker you into the back rows.

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

Atari August 12, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Kinda seemed more your baby's fault than the airline's.

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Demotage August 12, 2009 at 8:17 pm

MY kids were perfect. They never made a stinky. Their poop smelled of roses and old spice.

I don't understand though, if you made the Rez six months in advance, why didn't you just reserve the seats you wanted?

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Anon August 12, 2009 at 10:47 pm

The first paragraph I was kind of siding with you, However, the rest of it just seemed like you were complaining about how your child acted.

I also hate to sound unsympathetic, but even if the airline says that the flight won't be full, it's always possible that it will be. Flights can be delayed or canceled, there might be a large number of stand-bye passengers, etc.

If you really wanted that extra seat badly enough, you now know to book it in advance and reserve the seats you want.

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Anonymous August 13, 2009 at 1:36 am

you cant just assume that things will happen, and your seats are not final when you book the ticket, you have to get them assigned and you should have made sure that you got the seats that you wanted, if they were bulkhead seats you would most likely have to pay the fee since most airlines now charge for those seats, alot of the time those seats are saved for babies and if they have not filled up than its first come first serve on the day of travel.

so either you didnt reserve the seats ahead of time, or were taking a chance

and who knows maybe there were other babies in those seats and it would be unfair for them

since those seats may have been filled up than they probably put you in the nxt available row together, its your fault for not getting the seat you wanted, and you cant use the baby as an excuse

and i agree with the others, its sounds like your complaining about yourself and baby and its not the airlines fault

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Hugh August 13, 2009 at 1:36 am

Your problems were entirely on you, and NOT the airline.

a)You booked early, you should have reserved specific seat(s)

b)If it's important to have a seat for the baby, book an extra seat.

c)Babies poop, it's nature. It's also NOT the airline's fault.

d)Babies kick, even when you eat. Again, NOT the airline's fault.

You seem to be a whiney complainer, who wants to assign blame to everyone else, and accept no culpability yourself. You're a parent now…GROW THE F%$K UP!!!

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GottaLoveIt August 13, 2009 at 7:39 am

"So we booked our flights MONTHS in advance with said airline. At the time I had a 6 month old, and we didn't get an extra seat for her since they stated that there is no way the flight would be full – we could use the extra seat for more room after take off. We get to the gate and asked to be sure they seat us where we would have the most room for the baby. They put is in the VERY back – the last row on the entire plane."

^^^ Most of the commenters seem to have forgotten the first paragraph while they were reading the rest of the story.

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Jodi August 13, 2009 at 12:02 pm

Yea, babies can make everything rough.. Which is why I don't have any. LOL

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Anonymous August 13, 2009 at 3:21 pm

gottaloveit….how exactly did they "leave" the first paragraph out? the family didnt reserve seats which they had all the time to do, and it is upto them not the airline to do so, take no chances and hope you get those seats, just reserve them and you have little worries

its their fault for being in the back for assuming the seats would be fine, it doesnt matter if the flight is full or not just get the seats you want reserved….thank you end of story and you cant blaim your baby for making the flight "hell"

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GottaLoveIt August 13, 2009 at 5:27 pm

First of all, they were given bad advice when booking their seats. Secondly, they specifically asked for the best seat to fly with a baby, and they were given one in the back. Those are the two instances where the airline failed her. Note that she doesn't complain that her baby pooped, she complained that she was seated in an area that made a poopy baby into a huge ordeal.

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Demotage August 13, 2009 at 7:50 pm

I flew with my kids lots of times, starting with when they were 6 mo. old. I always reserved a bulkhead seat. It gives more room and minimizes disturbing other passengers. You would be at one end of the cabin, and there were no seats in front of you to kick, etc.

I didn't think the writer was whining or anything, and I don't quite understand the animosity of some commenters. But I also don't understand why they left it until they arrived at the gate to ask for "good" seats. If you book months in advance, then reserve the seats you want. If you wait until the gate, then you pretty much have to take what they have left.

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SAW August 14, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Airline behaved just right. They put you in the last row because – the middle seat in the last row is always the last seat given out. If there was a snowballs chance in hell of having an empty seat – you had the very best shot at getting it.

You should have reserved the seat for the kid when you made the reservation, especially if you knew you were going to want one.

If you book months in advance, then do what I do… every couple of weeks (or more often) check back online, and go to seat assignments – you will see the pattern of assignments as the seats fill up, and you can make adjustments. You'll also notice if the flight starts to fill up.

Flight from hell? Maybe. Fault? Yours. Also – last I checked, they've put changing tables in just about every lav – what kind of plane were you flying?

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