Mom's decision to travel business class while her son is in economy sparks debate

Managing children while traveling can be quite challenging, and most parents can relate to this. However, imagine if parents were offered the opportunity to leave their kids in economy class while they enjoy the comfort of business class. A mother and social media user recently shared her experience of taking advantage of this option, sparking a range of responses from fellow parents. Kay Akpan, who goes by @themomtrotter on Instagram, shared pictures and videos from her travels with her family.

In one of her recent videos, Akpan and her husband Sylvester can be seen enjoying a glass of champagne together in Business class. The caption of the video reads, "POV: Enjoying business class with my husband on a 13-hour flight while our 10-year-old sits in the back in economy class because he doesn’t have United Premier 1K status as we do and didn’t get a complimentary upgrade. Sorry son."

She further gave three options to her followers asking them if they would accept the offer of upgrading to business class without their children. She wrote: "Take the business class upgrade and leave your child in the economy. Give your child the business class upgrade and sit in the economy. Decline the upgrade so that you can all sit in economy together."

Akpan's video sparked debate among many parents as while some agreed that they would take the upgrade, some said they would never leave their children alone. @taeisbaeee_ commented, "Definitely wouldn’t have left my boy. My nerves and heart wouldn’t have let me." @guided_beauty wrote, "Parents work hard and deserve some perks and praise. At the end of the day, he’s still flying on the same plane and being cared for. This isn’t any different than parents being in the house having charcuterie and wine with the AC on while kids play outside. Let grownups enjoy grownup things."

@fionatek91 shared, "I agree in letting the kids stay in the economy but not alone. There needs to be someone there with them. Mom and Dad would be taking turns in business." @pleasepeas said, "I would give the child and my husband the upgrade and I would take the economy seat. Thirteen hours of alone time is an upgrade." 

However, some parents were upset with the fact that Akpan left her son in the economy. @businesscoachsteph commented, "It’s dangerous to leave him alone back there. People are very strange on flights and in the airport. What could happen to him is not worth a luxury seat. I'm just saying, as a woman, I’ve experienced unfortunate circumstances while in the airport and on flights. I hate when folks get a large following on social media and then ruin their credibility by posting bs about their parenting. Just stick to your original content." @helen_jesshope expressed, "No way on earth would I leave any child of mine alone in a different area of the plane. So what did you do?? I'm confused as you appear to be agreeing with every answer anyone gives either way?"

In an update, Akpan clarified that she did not let her son fly alone in the economy and he was also in business class in a different row. "In my last post, I agreed with every response because whatever option you chose to go with is fine as long as it works for your family. There’s no right or wrong answer, please let’s stop with the mom shaming," the mom wrote in the caption.

Watch the full video here: