People always say the most dangerous part of traveling is the plane ride, but what about the parents? Because it seemed as though when these parents were packing for their trips, they forgot to pack their common sense!
People on Reddit roast the most entitled parents they've ever encountered on an airplane. Content has been edited for clarity.
That Didn’t Work Out The Way She Planned
“I was in the US Air Force and deployed individually to Iraq (not with a unit). At the end of my rotation, I also took the rotator back by myself. It was a commercial 747 the military paid to take a bunch of us to the US. Back then, we’d typically wear our uniforms, even on commercial flights. The guy in the seat next to me was similarly redeploying and also in his uniform. This was usually never a problem because Americans were typically very kind to Servicemen in their uniforms in public.
We had a layover in Rammstein, Germany, and civilians began boarding. These were mostly wives, children, and other dependents of those deployed to Europe. It had to be obvious those of us already on the plane were coming back from deployment. We were in desert patterned camo, glassy-eyed from mental and physical fatigue, and generally stunk of burn pit.
Well, this woman with a baby came right up to my seat and announced we were in her seats. The other guy needed to move too because she wants to put her kid there. We were both kind of bleary and just stared at her in surprise. I didn’t care where I sat, but the stewardess hurried over and says the flight was full, and they couldn’t reseat us.
This woman shoved her ticket in the stewardesses face and said it clearly showed my seat number on her ticket. She wanted to kick my seatmate and me off the flight. Clearly, she was more entitled to it than us. She flips her lid right in the middle of the plane and goes off on the stewardess.
I stayed seated more out of shock than stubbornness. I’d been awake for longer than I cared to think about by that point, and I was not reacting quickly to anything. I guess my seatmate was in the same boat because neither of us said a single word to her or moved a muscle at all. We just watched her make a fool of herself in front of all these gawking passengers. She ended up getting herself kicked off the flight.”
They Should Have Appreciated The View
“My family and I were on a plane, and the plane was arranged so there would be three seats on either side and a place to walk in the middle. My brothers and I sat together (I got the isle seat) and my mom and dad sat on the other side with some nice guy. My two older brothers and I pulled out our DS’s after the plane took off, but this apparently was the wrong thing to do. When we closed the window and started playing on our DS’s, an entitled Italian mom got mad.
This lady was sitting behind my dad, and she was sitting next to her 16ish-year-old son and what I assume was her husband. And when she saw my brothers and I not looking out the window, she immediately started screaming at my dad. This woman was yelling about how this was her first time on a plane, and how my brothers and I were setting a bad example for her kid by not looking at the beautiful land below. She then launched into how we should be overjoyed to be looking out the plane, and we were wasting it, and how my dad was a horrible parent. I really didn’t know why she had such a problem with three boys not looking out the window.
My dad, who didn’t speak Italian, was confused and asked me to translate, so I told him what she was screaming about. My dad asked me to tell her in Italian about how this wasn’t anything new for us and we were being quiet.
I, however, was mad at this woman for being loud, rude, and for calling my saint of a dad a ‘horrible parent.’ So instead of saying what my dad wanted me to, I said in a very polite tone in Italian, ‘Listen lady, just because this is your first flight doesn’t mean it’s ours. We have flown many hours and have looked out the window plenty. We have been quiet and respectful unlike you. You have annoyed other people because some kids you have nothing to do with have chosen to play quietly on their games instead of looking out the freaking window. Mind your own darn business you ugly piece of trash.’
The woman sat there in shock for a few minutes, and then went back to her seat and shut up. She didn’t bother us again, and we played our games in peace the rest of the flight.”
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
“My relatives live in a city about an hour and twenty-minute flight from where I live. My parents and I used to go there every three months or so. However sometimes my parents had work and I had to fly alone. On the airline we took if you flew alone and were under the age of fourteen, you had to be a UM (unaccompanied minor), which would mean a flight attendant would help you get to your gate and you would board first. But the best part of being a UM is how you will usually get upgraded to first class (if it’s available) so you can be close to the flight attendant.
On flights shorter than three hours, the seats are in two by two formation. So I got in the seat my parents paid for in economy, a window seat. Next to me was the ‘Entitled Mother’ (EM) with a toddler on her lap, and on the other aisle seat in our row sat her husband with another toddler. After everyone boarded the plane, the ‘FA’ (Flight Attendant) came up to me and said:
FA: ‘You’re the UM right?’
Me: ‘Yeah.’
FA: You’ve been upgraded to first class.’
Me: ‘Cool.’
The FA didn’t see EM’s husband and thought she was a single mother.
FA: ‘Ma’am, there are two seats available would you like the other one?;
It was common for FA’s to ask the people next to someone with a priority if they wanted to get a first-class seat too if one was available.
EM: ‘Sure! Can my husband come too?’
FA turns around and sees her husband.
FA: ‘Oh sorry Mam, there’s not enough room for the both of you.’
EM: ‘But WHY? You said there were two seats available.’
FA: ‘Yes, but one of them has to be taken by the UM.’
EM turns around and looks at me.
EM: ‘He’s big enough, he doesn’t need those seats!’
FA: ‘And you need them?’
EM: ‘YES I DO! Do you not know hard it is to raise not one but two children?’
FA: ‘Ma’am, I do know how hard it is, I have kids of my own.’
EM: ‘So then you’ll know why I need those seats more than him!’
FA: ‘Ma’am, we will be departing very soon and I need to bring this boy to the front of the plane. Now I need you to cooperate and let me bring this kid to his seat.’
EM: ‘Listen here you brat! My life is hard enough as it is now, and I don’t need your insults on top of that! We deserve those seats! Give them to us now!’
FA: ‘Alright look kid, just come with me and we’ll deal with her later.’
As I’m getting up the EM pushes me back down on my seat.
EM: ‘Forget you! You do not just ignore me like that! You are going to give me those seats, right now!’
At this point, everyone on the plane was looking at her. Even though I wasn’t saying anything, my mind was set on being anywhere but in a seat next to this woman, so that’s when I practically jumped out of my seat to the FA. As I got in the aisle, the EM starts pulling on my shirt to bring me back, so I grabbed her arm and threw her off of me.
EM: ‘How dare you touch me, you little brat! Now you have to give me your seats!’
Instead of listening to her, I just went up to my seat in first class. I could still hear her screaming. Eventually, they deplaned her and her husband, which delayed the flight by ten minutes.
On the way out the EM gave me the stink eye and screamed, ‘You’re so selfish!’
I just grinned at her, and enjoyed my seat.”
At Least There’s Hope For The Kid
“I was on an airplane with three seats per side of the aisle, so it is a decently sized plane. However, it was with Southwest (where there are no assigned seats, it’s a free for all), and so because of my height, I always go for the one special row they have where they removed the window seat. So, it is a two-seat row, instead of 3, meaning the window seat in the row behind it has a completely open space in front of it, perfect for tall people and those with leg issues.
I was lucky to be one of the first on and got that extra legroom seat. So, I sat down, put my backpack under the seat in front of me (which was technically 2 rows in front of me, as that’s the next seat in front of mine), stretched out my legs, and put on my music as I waited for everyone else to get seated. A couple of minutes after that, a mom who I’d estimate to be in her 40s, came by with her teenage son, each with a backpack and she also had another large bag she was carrying. The mom stopped at the 2-person row in front of me and seemed excited, so she quickly pushed her son into the row and they sat down.
She put one of her bags in front of her seat, and the other in front of her son’s. It appeared she then indicated for him to put his backpack under the seat in front of me, and when he didn’t, she grabbed it from him and leaned over to put it there herself, but spotted my bag. She talked to her son for a second, he shrugged, and she looked back at me, saying something that I couldn’t hear. I popped out my headphones, asking her to repeat herself.
‘Is that your bag?’ she snapped at me.
‘Yeah?’ I replied.
‘You need to move it!’ she snarled.
‘What?’ I asked, I was legit confused. ‘Why?’
‘That’s our spot!’ she shouted. ‘You need to move it so that I can put my son’s bag there!’
I looked at my bag, then back to her, trying to figure out how she leapt to that conclusion, given that the spot was clearly in front of my seat and not directly in front of either of theirs. There were a few seconds of silence as I stared at her, my brain unable to process her level of dumb and entitlement, as she impatiently waited for me to comply.
‘That’s my spot,’ I replied.
‘No,’ she said with that drawn out condescending tone. ‘It’s in front of our row, it’s ours, move your bag right now so that I can put my son’s there instead!’
When I didn’t, she tried to grab it herself.
Thankfully, her son finally spoke up and stopped her so that I didn’t have to. Her son was clearly the one with the brains and pointed out it was my spot, not theirs because it was the next seat in front of mine. She glared at him, then at me, got really huffy, aggressively yanked all of her bags up, and stomped away, yelling at her son to follow. They went a number of rows back, though I’m not sure to what end. There was still plenty of overhead storage above our rows at that point, so she would have the same result sitting there or in another row, because it was a sold-out flight, there wasn’t an empty seat.
A guy sitting next to me gave me a Wow, what an idiot, sympathy look, we shared a laugh, and I went back to listening to my music.”
Stealing Isn’t A Sign
“This happened a few years ago when my uncle was moving from Mexico to the US. He left a few weeks before my Entitled Aunt (EA) to get an apartment and start classes while she finished up packing her house in Mexico. We met up with them after they had settled into their house, and my aunt started telling us this ‘hilarious story’
So apparently she while was on the plane, there was a businessman in front of her and he had his business laptop with him. The way that she told it was exactly like this in front of my family:
EA: ‘So I was on the plane, and I prayed the entire flight he would leave his laptop on the plane so that I could take it so your uncle could do his homework. We need the money and can’t afford a new laptop, so if he left it, it would a sign for me to take it’
M: ‘But you didn’t take it did you?’
EA: ‘Well that’s the wonderful thing! It was a miracle because when he was getting off the flight he left his laptop in the front pocket of the seat, and I prayed harder he wouldn’t remember that he was missing his laptop. So I waited until the plane was empty and I grabbed it!
M: ‘What the heck is wrong with you? You realize business laptops can be tracked right? You need to return it!’
Uncle: ‘That’s what I told her, but she won’t let me see it so I can contact the guy’
EA: ‘I really don’t understand what’s so wrong with it! God wanted us to have it! You don’t appreciate anything I do for you! Can’t you see it’s what God wanted for us?’
So my mom ended up forcefully taking the laptop and mailing it back to the owner, but the moral is that my aunt is insane.”
Why Would That Be The Name?
“I was on a plane with my mom and sister, and I brought my Nintendo Switch to play some games.
A kid was sitting behind me watching me through the gap between my seat. About an hour into the flight, he started to cry. I thought it was because his ears needed to be popped from all the pressure so I continued to play my game. About ten or so minutes later I feel someone tapping my shoulder, I turn around and the Entitled Mother (EM) was staring at me.
Me, trying to be nice: ‘Yes?’
EM: ‘You have something my son wants.’
I thought she meant my drink,
Me: ‘No sorry that’s mine, my mom got it for me to drink. *pointing at the Gatorade.’
Em: ‘No, are you stupid?! My son wants your game.
Me: ‘No, sorry it’s mine, I bought it.’
EM: ‘I don’t care if you bought it! My son wants it, so give it to him or I’ll have you kicked off this flight!’
Her yelling attracted the flight attendant (FA).
FA: ‘What’s going on here?’
EM: ‘This kid stole my child’s game!’
FA: ‘Give her back her kid’s game.’
Me: ‘I didn’t steal anything, she walked up to me and told me to give my switch to her son.’
FA: ‘Ma’am, is this true?’
EM: ‘No, he stole his game!’
Me: ‘I can prove it’s mine, I know the system’s nickname and the accounts I have on it.’
I whispered to her what the nickname and accounts are in her ear so I can prove I’m right.
FA: ‘Okay ma’am, if it’s your sons what is the name of the accounts on the system?’
EM says the name of what I’m guessing is her sons and her name, and FA knows she’s wrong, so she tells her to sit down and to stop bothering me.”
That’s Not A Nice Way Of Playing
“I used to fly a lot when I was working. Towards the end of my career, the hours were insane, so I was working pretty much all hours of the day.
When I was on a plane and heading to wherever I usually used the time to finish reports or presentations. This meant I had the laptop on my tray, and would industriously type away. On one flight, I had the window seat and a mother and her three – four-year-old child had the middle and aisle seats. The mom sat the child in the middle seat and she took the aisle seat. The flight was pretty normal. We leveled out and got the go-ahead to use electronic devices, so I pulled out my work laptop and began working.
I was very focused on what I was doing, so the chocolate-covered small hand that slapped my screen came as a bit of surprise.
I looked over at the child and the mom just smiled at the antics of her kid, told me, ‘He just wants to play,’ and then went back to her in-flight magazine.
I did the whole Huh, okay, eyebrow bounce, and moved the laptop closer to the wall, and continued on. Because of the new position of the laptop, I was prepared when the chocolate-covered hand reached out again. I didn’t say anything, just gently fended off the kiddie’s paw to stop him from touching the screen. And then I fended him off again. And again. And again.
I’m pretty sure that mum was ostentatiously ignoring what was going on.
The kid was getting frustrated and angry. So was I. In the end, the kid tried to stand on my leg to make a lunge at the computer and I turned to him and just said ‘No!’
I didn’t think I was mean about it – just firm but he had a freaking meltdown. I’ve heard fire engine sirens that were quieter. The mom finally put down the in-flight magazine and grabbed her kid from the middle seat and put him on her lap while glaring at me ferociously as she tried to soothe her spawn.
I listened to the yodeling for a minute with pursed lips while ignoring the furious glares from mama bear. I realized that the time was going to be a write-off so I put the laptop away and pulled out my noise-canceling headphones and listened to music for the rest of the flight.”
This Man’s Patience Is Insane
“A few years ago, my sister and I were on a flight to Orlando, so clearly there are a lot of families on the plane. There were also some people who appeared to be traveling for business but had been sentenced to coach. I happened to be sitting in a row in front of a very patient man, an entitled Karen, and her entitled little ‘Caleb’ who was about six. Caleb was in between his mom and the patient man, and the patient man had the window seat. The mom made sure little Caleb had a full introduction to the patient man before the plane took off.
PM= patient man, EM= entitled mom, EK= entitled kid
The flight was from Salt Lake City straight to Orlando, so about four hours. EK starts right at take-off and asks PM for some of the sandwich he brought on the plane. I could tell this whole scenario was going to be good, so I left my earphones out. PM chuckled like EK was kidding, and he probably didn’t know what else to do.
EM said, ‘He can have some as long as there is no mayo, he is allergic to eggs.’
My sister and I looked at each other wondering if we were both hearing things because no one would say that, right? Right?
PM said, ‘Oh shoot, it’s got mayo on it.’
EK said, ‘Ok well, I can just have chips then.’
Judging by what we heard, the kid reached over and grabbed the man’s bag of chips! The poor PM, I am sure he had no idea what to do. The EK handed the bag of chips over to the EM, and she opened the bag for her kid. Doesn’t bat an eyelash, like it’s a regular occurrence for her kid to steal food from someone he has known for 20 minutes.
A few minutes later, EK asks PM for some gum, and PM said,’ I don’t have any.’
The ever-observant ED said, ‘You’re chewing some.’
PM replied with, ‘It’s my last piece.’
EK shot back, ‘No it’s not, I saw you put a package in your backpack before we got on the plane. Mommy, he won’t let me have gum.’
EM said, ‘I guess he isn’t very good at sharing.’
PM, who I am sure has qualified for Sainthood, gets his backpack out from under the seat in front of him (which was mine) to get EK some gum. Possibly hoping it will keep EK’s mouth busy for a while. PM takes the opportunity to take his tablet out. My sister was trying to watch all this from the seat next to me because we were genuinely curious as to how all this is going to play out.
EK saw the tablet and nearly wets himself with excitement. When his EM saw the tablet, she told a hapless PM, ‘Oh good, that will keep him happy for a couple of hours.’
She then puts on her sleep mask, headphones, and her neck pillow, and told PM not to let EK have anything with caffeine with the flight attendant comes by for drinks. Anyway, PM ended up buying a pair of those cheap headphones from Delta so EK could watch a movie so PM could have his tablet back. EK was a giant pest the entire flight and finally three hours in, PM lost it when EK said to him, ‘Can I have a dollar?’
PM snapped with, ‘I will give you $5 if you sit there and keep your freaking mouth shut the rest of the plane ride.’ EK knew he had reached the limit. His Mom was snoring away happily.
The plane landed, and EM asked PM if he wanted EK’s address so they could be pen pals.
Looking completely done, PM said, ‘No, thank you.’
The person in the row behind them jumped in with, ‘Listen, Ma’am, I have an idea…next time you fly why don’t you stay awake and do some parenting so some rando doesn’t have to do it for you? Pack your kid some toys to keep him entertained so strangers don’t have to do it for you.’
She had this look of shock on her face that she couldn’t understand that everyone in the world wasn’t just completely enthralled and charmed by her little Caleb.
Oh, and PM refused to give EK the $5.”
She Did Not Learn Her Lesson
“I’m a welder from the south. I have the accent, I wear the work boots and Jean’s, I wear the camo hat, drive the diesel truck, and I’m really into watching anime. A few summers ago, I was working in Southern California for about a month and a half when I said, ‘Forget it I’m going home for a bit.’
Well I know it’s a long flight, like seven hours to Ft Hood and I think like 5 to Atlanta. Well, I didn’t want to pay for Wi-Fi so I had all of Evangelion on my phone plus the movies and all of Black Lagoon. Both are excellent anime and by no means acceptable for kids. I settled in, and I was not even through the opening for episode one of Black Lagoon when I felt a tap on my shoulder from ‘Entitled Mom’ (EM)
Me: ‘What’s up?’
EM: ‘My kid saw you watching cartoons, and wants to watch them.’
Me: ‘Ma’am I’m sorry, this isn’t really appropriate for kids.’
EM: ‘IT’S A CARTOON. IT WAS MADE FOR KIDS!’
Me: ‘No, it’s more for teens and adults, and I don’t want to give your kid my phone.’
Well, that was wonderful. She went off onto a tirade that darn near had the plane routed because ‘how dare someone deny her kid their phone with ‘cartoons?’ Thank God there were several empty seats, and the flight attendant was kind enough to let me move.
No joke, I got tired of Black Lagoon and started watching Evangelion. Ididn’t notice EM had decided to run to the restroom. She came by and not so subtly looked over my shoulder and shrieked, ‘See I TOLD you that show was for kids, you’re watching Power Rangers!’
I was so dumbfounded and typically I’d have met that invasion of my bubble with violent removal. But the whole thing ended when the flight attendant threatened to not only have her removed but to also have her blacklisted. Because apparently when she realized she wasn’t getting my phone, she turned to the guy behind her and tried snatching his Switch out of his hands, and the guy darn near squeezed her wrist till it broke.”
How Could He Do That To His Daughter?
“When I used to work at an airport, I often dealt with kids traveling without parents. This was a paid service called ‘Unaccompanied Minors’, available to everyone under 18 but mandatory to kids under the age of 12 who traveled alone.
The rule is the parent or guardian or whoever takes the kid(s) has to stay at the airport until the plane is in the air. This was in case the flight was canceled because the paid service did not cover anyone staying with the kid until the next flight. The most extreme case would obviously be that there’d be no flight available that day anymore, in which case the kid would have to go home and come back the next day. Obviously, most parents were fine with going to the gate with their kids and staying until the very last minute. In all my years, I only had trouble with one entitled dad.
He came to the business counter with his child, which was already a big no-no, as checking in unsupervised kids takes longer than average, and the business counter was, well, supposed to be a fast lane for business class and high-tier passengers. The dad shows his own Gold card, so I bit back my annoyance and asked the person next to me to check in my queue until I was done. I gave the dad all the forms he had to fill, which already annoyed him. The kid was obviously under 10 and seemed very sweet. She looked relaxed and I guessed she had done this plenty of times.
The dad gave me back the forms and asked, ‘So, where do I leave her?’
I got a bit confused but told him, like always, that he had to stay at the airport until the plane was in the air.
ED: ‘What? No! I paid for her to be accompanied!’
Me: ‘Well, yeah, from the gate to the plane and from the plane to arrivals.’
ED: ‘I have a meeting (in a town 3 hours away), I can’t stay with her!;
Me: ‘Sir, what if the flight is canceled? We’d have to call you back.’
ED: ‘She’d stay here with you, wouldn’t she?’
Me: ‘That’s not a possibility. Sir, you agree to the terms when you pay.’
ED: ‘I didn’t pay for this, her mother did, and she told me I could just leave the kid with you!’
At this point, the kid started crying, ‘Daddy, please, come with me!’
ED: ‘Don’t start, you like flying, don’t you?’
Kid: ‘Mom always comes with me.’
ED: ‘I don’t care, I don’t have the time! I want to speak to your manager!’
While we waited for my supervisor, we heard an announcement through the loudspeakers about a car in the no-parking zone. The ED turned bright red and ran away, leaving his daughter at my counter. She started crying in earnest, and I panicked that the dad was taking this opportunity to bail. My supervisor came, we closed my counter completely (the queue was almost empty at this point), and took the kid aside to talk over our options, hoping that the dad would come back.
After five minutes and no dad later, we tried to call him. No answer. Then we tried the mom, whose contact info was also on the papers. She said she’d call the dad and asked if there was any way we could take the kid to the gate if he didn’t appear if she promised she’d be there in about 30 minutes. We told her there was still plenty of time before the flight left, and they could skip the security queue so we could make a little exception and wait for her at the check-in with the kid, but that we wouldn’t let the kid go to the gate without a parent. The mother was understanding and told us either she or the dad would be there soon.
A few minutes later, the dad did come back, arguing over the phone with whom we assumed was the mom. He yanked the daughter by her arm and took her through security. We felt bad but thought that was that.
No.
I went back to my counter to finish the check-in and then got a call from the gate, telling me the dad had left the kid with them. Obviously, there’s a LOT to do before a flight leaves, so they couldn’t really look after her and they asked if I could try to see him and tell him to come back. I didn’t manage to spot him and my supervisor told me to go sit with the kid while she, again, called the mom. My shift was about to end so I didn’t have to hurry anywhere except home and I agreed to work a little overtime. The kid was in tears and my shift manager had to get involved – while my supervisor called the mom, the shift manager called the airline asking if we can allow the kid on the flight if there’s no parent present when the flight leaves (we were a ground handling company and did not directly work for any airline). They told us straight up no.
Fortunately, I then got a call from my supervisor telling me the mom had arrived. To make things easier at the security, the kid and I went back to check in, the mom signed new forms and took the kid through security again. The kid made the flight fine and it left on time. The mom was so embarrassed about the whole incident but didn’t really stay to explain the dad’s behavior and well, it wasn’t really our business anymore. She did say this was the first and last time the dad would ever take the kid, and thanked us for doing all we could. She was obviously upset and overwhelmed but we’re not a country where we share more than we have to so it was not surprising that she just left after the thank-you.
I had to stay a while longer to write an incident report and got home absolutely exhausted.”