Tuesday, September 3, 2024

In a Pickle

Friday, August 30

Nice leg room for R!
Our flight from LAX to ORD was not without some drama this morning. When we boarded the plane, we found out that the seats we originally booked were changed to accommodate a family with children. So instead of the four of us sitting together in Row 36, R was assigned to an exit row in the front of the plane, and the boys and I were given seats in Row 35, also an exit row. However, the gate agent did not notify us or the people originally assigned to Row 35 about the changes.  

Ordinarily, exit rows would be viewed as better seats. But we are used to having our backpacks and water bottles easily accessible to us, so this wasn't really an upgrade in our eyes. 

Things got worse when one of the original passengers boarded with a screenshot of their old boarding pass rather than using the United app, so she didn't understand why her seat was taken. It probably didn't help that she and rest of the party traveling with her only spoke Italian. Her son (I presume) was using Google Translate to communicate that he purchased the upgrade for his mother, and both of them were getting increasingly agitated.