Airtran Question

[Inkmahm]

"In the event air mask use is necessary assist your child first then fit your own mask."

Remind the attendant if your child is isolated that their first responsibility it to the safety of passengers, even 5 year old ones. Nobody will expect you to place your child's life in a stranger's hands.

I still say stand your ground, but stay polite and never raise your voice.

Folks this is not about being cheap. I paid for my seats and my child STILL got separated from her parents, and I did not get a refund. If anyone had tried to strap my child in a seat between strangers she would have freaked out and the plane would not have taken off. I would have seriously enjoyed my interviews on CNN and ABC about how the airline could not see to the safety of a child over the $6 profit of someone who prepaid for their seat vs. $6 for my prepaid seat.

Better sense prevailed and someone switched with us. She was probably a mom who could imagine that happening to her.

It's "put our own mask on before assisting others." And the plane will still take off if a child freaks out, the FA will just remove the freaking kid and family for disrupting the plane. Then the plane will go on it's merry way without the disruption.

 

[delilah]

I would be inclined to trade with a person with small children so that parents can stay with their child. I have an 11yo. I have been in that situation. I can remember my son really being old enough to sit alone, but, totally not understanding when he was in a window seat across the aisle from me. Fortunately, for some weird reason known only to airline computers, another party, also with a young child about his age was split, and assigned to sit next to me. So, we did a three way swap, everybody sat next to their own child, and we all got safely to our destination.

He is getting old enough that he might enjoy the adventure of not sitting with mom and dad. But, I would still purchase the seats together, a window and middle seat, so, I can avoid being in the middle seat between strangers. That makes me claustophobic. I am a small woman, about 5'2", and I have been in the uncomfortable position of being squeezed between two people who reserved the aisle and window seats and generally treated the person in the middle seat as a self warming cushion. I couldn't move, they passed things back and forth across me, and of course, carried on conversations over me. Of course, they used both the arm rests. I wish to avoid that scenario, and an extra $24 to fly together is cheap insurance.

 

[TDC Nala]

If I were to pay it would be to avoid a middle seat, so if I were asked to switch to a middle seat for a parent and child I'd do it if they (or Airtran) gave me the $6 or something equivalent, like bought me a drink.

And it IS put on your own mask first, then assist your child.

 

[RoseRoni2]

DD wanted a window seat and I wanted to make sure her and I would be together. It took me a half an hour just to figure out our confirmation number with the airline. We are taking 2 different airplanes each way they only made me pay $6 for each way per passenger. It was a total of $24 round trip for DD and I.