Parent outraged after getting separated from baby on long haul flight: I was never given an option

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 ...