Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
He had separation anxiety in the sky.
An Emirates passenger was outraged after he couldn’t sit with his baby on an international flight — despite choosing the seat in advance so they’d be together.
“Emirates sold my pre-selected seat mid-trip and separated me from my baby!” the anonymous poster rued in a Reddit post taking off online.
The Post has reached out to Emirates for comment.
According to the post, the fiasco occurred while the pair and their 8-month-old son were flying from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Düsseldorf, Germany with a stop in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The flyer reportedly had a Flexible ticket, a more expensive pass that includes “free seat selection,” per the poster, who took pains to ensure the family sat with each other.
“I carefully chose our seats early, checked in online, and even got my boarding pass in Vietnam with my assigned seats,” the Redditor wrote. “Confirmed with check-in counter about our seat selection.”
He even made sure they had “window-side seats in the first row of economy” where his wife could comfortably hold the infant.
Although the “seat was locked” and therefore ostensibly unavailable for purchase, it still showed a “0” next to the payment because choosing a seat is free via Flex, the flyer explained. “If I had bought a cheaper (Saver Economy) ticket, I would have to pay a small amount for the chair,” he said.
While the first leg from Vietnam to the UAE went swimmingly, they hit some turbulence during their stopover when, without warning, the airline divvied them up because someone else had bought the seat.
“When transiting in Dubai, Emirates suddenly reissued my boarding pass and changed my seat, separating me from my wife where there is a corridor in-between us,” the passenger lamented. “When I asked why, the ground staff told me that my original seat was sold to another passenger who paid for it.”
As a result, the family, who had just flown seven hours, was forced to endure “extreme discomfort” for yet another seven-hour journey.
The distraught passenger recalled how their tyke was unable to sleep and fussed and cried constantly, disturbing nearby passengers while neither he nor his wife could get any shuteye due to the stress.
On the rare occasion that the tot did zonk out, someone would walk by and startle him awake as he wasn’t “used to movement around,” per the post.
The Redditor ultimately found the whole situation ludicrous as Emirates allowed someone to buy his reserved seat.
“I was never given an option to pay for my seat,” protested the Redditor, who accused the luxury airline of trying to “make extra money on a seat I had already selected.”
Many commenters sympathized with the passenger’s flight plight with one writing, “I’ve realized they just don’t give a s–t. Sorry that happened to you, so lame.”
“This is quite bad on Emirates’s part,” said another. “Your ticket price obviously included the price for seat selection, so makes zero sense for them to give it to any other paying customer. Have you contacted them to give your feedback? I’d urge you to escalate this.”
The commenter responded that they’ve since reached out. “Hoping they at least acknowledge the issue, but if nothing else, now more people know this can happen!” he said.
