A mum has slammed British Airways for "separating" her from her two year old child on her Premium Economy flight.
She took to online parenting forum Mumsnet to explain that she refused to pay to choose her seats but was left unhappy with her options.
Being left with a small selection of seats to choose from, she fumed that there was not a suitable space for her toddler to sit next to her or her husband.
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Whether or not it is worth paying for seats on a flight has often been a heated conversation online between Mumsnet users, something everyone has an opinion on.
Remaining anonymous, she said: "Just venting really, but I've been separated from my two year old in the PE cabin for upcoming seven hour overnight BA flight.
"I booked four months ago and choosing seats was always listed as significantly extra (£50 each from memory) so I relied on their family seating policy. I'd already paid to upgrade, it didn't make sense to pay more.
"I checked regularly and seats were always chargeable until a week ago I saw they'd been allocated. OK, I'll move them! Nope. Cabin is fully booked."
She went on to complain that the only seating available was next to the loos: "The specific seats they have given us are next to toilets centre section aisle, centre section middle, and last row next to toilets centre section middle."
Giving a diagram, she explained: "So looks like (we are A, toilets are T):
"XX AAX XX
"TT XAX TT
"If we put two year old in aisle he will run away. If we put two year old in centre he will annoy the stranger next to him.
"He's going to cry anyway when he sees he's separated from either me or dad. And the two strangers on either side are not going to want to have him clambering over, nor will they want to swap from an aisle (that they probably paid £50 for) to a centre.
"And all this will happen next to toilets which will (if he ever sleeps) wake him up."
The mum of one fumed: "I've never regretted an upgrade more. If I could go back and choose economy again I'd do it in a flash. There's no amount of extra legroom that can compensate for how much I am dreading this experience.
"They said to ask to move at the airport but the chances of that helping are slim to zero. I feel sorry for everyone around us."
While some sympathised with her, others called her out for being unreasonable.
One quickly hit back: "So you still have two seats together? I assuming the family policy whatever that is only guarantees children are sat next to one adult not two so they have still followed that.
"At the end of the day if you wanted to choose your seats so specifically (not near toilets, a window seat for DS [dear son] ) then you needed to pay...BA really aren't at fault here."
"Child is sat next to an adult. I’m struggling to see the issue here to be honest, no you’re not all together but that’s always the risk you take when you don’t pre book your seats", a second added.
Another echoed: "Sorry but BA aren't at fault here. One adult is sat with child - if you wanted assurances you'd all be sat together and in specific places you should have paid for seats."
A third simply said: "Lesson learned. Pay next time."
Another suggested the parents swap seats half way.
"Airline policy is usually to ensure that a small child is next to an adult. They’ve done that so not sure what your complaint is? If you wanted to guarantee that all three of you were sitting together you needed to pay", another said, sticking up for the airline.
But one understood her frustration: "I've learned the hard way you have to cough up to pay for seat selection. Bloody annoying I agree."
British Airway's seating policy for children is as stated on their website: "We want to make travelling as a family as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. To ensure your family has the best seats when you fly, we recommend choosing yours in advance when you book, for which there may be an additional fee.
"If you don’t choose your seats in advance, we always do our best to seat your family together. This may mean that you’ll be seated in adjacent rows or across the aisle. All children under 12 will be seated with an accompanying adult. Anyone over 12 may be seated separately."
