A woman traveling in business class on a long-haul flight was approached by a flight attendant before departure, who requested that she switch seats with a six-year-old child seated in economy. The child's mother, also seated in business class, cited a booking glitch as the reason for the seating discrepancy and insisted on sitting next to her child.
The woman declined the request, leading to a debate about which passenger would benefit more from the business class experience—the 21-year-old woman or the six-year-old child. The situation highlighted that such booking errors should ideally be addressed at the gate rather than onboard by flight attendants.
The child's mother had the option to downgrade herself to sit with her child but chose not to relinquish her premium cabin seat. Instead, she expected another passenger to make the sacrifice without any compensation offered by the airline.