Woman's partner demands that her son sits by himself on 9-hour flight

A mother was left stunned when her partner stopped her 13-year-old son from sitting with them in luxury economy class forcing him to sit by himself in business.

The post on Reddit's notorious AITA forum posed the question to users: 'WIBTA if I left my child in economy while we flew in business class?'

The woman, who said that her partner is 40-years-old, while she is just 33, said that they were organising their first holiday abroad together in five years and had settled on a location that was at least a nine-hour flight away.

She wrote: "My boyfriend (40M) and I (33F) have been together for five years and are trying to organize our next holiday. He's settled on a destination and is so excited at the idea of a family trip.

"We're looking at flights that will likely be at least nine hours long with business class flights, resort stays, and plenty of experiences. He makes significantly more than me but we will split the cost of the holiday 50/50 including my child's costs."

However, problems arose when they began to discuss where they would sit on the flight. Although her partner was happy to pay for expensive luxury seats for them both at the front of the plane, he felt that the child should learn to be "grateful" for being treated to the holiday and could just visit them during the flight whenever he could.

She added: "The problem is he does not want to let my child (13) on to the same class on the plane as us. He thinks that my child should be grateful to be getting an international trip and just enjoy the movies and whatever other amenities there are on the flight. That they can pop up and visit us whenever in business class and that it's not worth the extra cost, even if he were a millionaire."

She continued: "I feel like it's weird to sit apart from my child for a 9+ hour flight, even if they're comfortable enough on a plane and I'd probably prefer to downgrade my flight if bf is unwilling to split that specific cost. He thinks I'm being weird for wanting to make that concession and it's not a big deal for child to fly alone.

"So, WIBTA or am I being a helicopter and stressing over something silly?"

The consensus to the post felt that she would be out of line if she did allow the child to sit by himself.

One user wrote: "YWBTA if you travel in a different class from your child. Yes, a 13 year old can travel in a different class fine. Heck, they could travel alone. But there’s just something unsettling about a parent being on the same flight but in a different seat class."

Another added: "Sit in economy with your son. Let your boyfriend sit in business class alone. If you start letting him exclude your son he will think it's okay and continue pushing that boundary."

A third said: "'Family' trip...Sounds like your BF would rather have your kid stay at home."

In an edit, the original poster added: "He has a view where children might not appreciate the value of business class and that his parents went on business class while he flew economy on his own.

He absolutely wants to enjoy the business class for himself for the long haul on a nice plane. He's fine with me sitting in economy also or bumping up my child at my own cost, even though he disagrees morally and thinks I'm being kind of silly, he would accept it.

He has spent plenty of money and time on my child, for birthdays, events and milestones. They get along well and have had very few upsets. Every now and then I've had to stick up for one or the other but I feel like that's to be expected with blended families."

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