Man pays for a vacation to Europe with girlfriend and her kids, but books the kids in economy class and the adults in business, girlfriend refuses to go: ‘You can't separate the family’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jan 18, 2025 6:00 PM EST

Are you the kind of person who loves surprises, or are you a normal human being who understands that surprises are terrible and never turn out the way you expect them to?

Whether you are the person who throws the surprise, or the person being surprised, you will always end up being disappointed. This may be a tough statement to start on, but it is only the truth. Surprise parties, trips, or presents are just opportunities for people to get their hopes up for something that will not live up to them. Even if you mean well, especially if you mean well, you are so much better off putting the element of surprise aside, and be as straightforward as possible with your plans.

It seems like the man in this story genuinely wanted to make his girlfriend and her kids happy when he surprised them with an all-paid vacation to Europe. But he made one mistake that put a damper on the whole trip, and now he dug himself into a too-deep hole to be able to fix the trip. Keep scrolling to read the full tale.

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  • 01
    "You're treating my kids like second-class citizens"
    via Aarti Pawar
  • 02

    "AITA for putting my girlfriend's kids in economy while we sat in business?"

    My (34M) girlfriend (32F) and I recently planned a vacation to Europe. For context, we've been dating for 2 years and she has two kids (8F, 11M) from her
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 03
    previous marriage. I offered to pay for the entire trip as a surprise since I'm doing well financially. When booking the flights, I got business class tickets
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 04
    for my girlfriend and me, while putting her kids in economy. My reasoning was that I'm already spending a lot on this vacation - hotels, activities, and their flights. Plus,
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 05
    they're young and I figured they wouldn't really appreciate business class anyway. When my girlfriend found out about the seating
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 06
    arrangements, she completely flipped out. She said I was treating her kids like second-class citizens and that if I was going to separate the family, I shouldn't have offered to
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 07
    pay for the trip at all. She's demanding I either upgrade the kids or downgrade us to economy. I think I'm being more than generous paying for this
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 08
    entire vacation. It's not like I'm their father - we're not married and I have no obligation to pay for luxuries for her children. The kids will be fine in economy and still get an
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 09
    amazing European vacation out of it. My girlfriend is still furious and says this shows how I really feel about her kids.
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 10
    Some of my friends think I'm being reasonable since I'm paying, while others say I'm being a major AH for creating this division.
    via The-laouza-buzz

  • Totally poor judgment call from our boy here, when he decided it was a good idea to separate a mother from her young children on a flight. What he thought was a nice gesture turned out as a complete red-flag move, a move that might damage his entire relationship.

    Can you guess what he could have done differently to avoid this problem? That's right! Not surprise his girlfriend with business class tickets, and just be open with her about all of his plans for the trip.

  • 11
    AITA for not wanting to spend the extra money on business class for kids who aren't mine?
    via The-laouza-buzz
  • 12
    KrofftSurvivor YTA the other passengers - and the flight attendants are not responsible for supervising your girlfriend's children for the 5 to 8 HOURS they'll be on the flight.
    via KrofftSurvivor
  • 13
    You and your girlfriend are responsible for supervising those children. Whether you do so in economy or business. class is up to you.
    via KrofftSurvivor
  • 14
    A309 PASSPORT
    via charliepix
  • 15
    SoMoistlyMoist You are 100% the a hole. Those kids do not need to be unsupervised without a parent. I mean were you just expecting the other
    via SoMoistlyMoist
  • 16
    passengers to take care of those kids if they needed anything? I don't know what planet you're from dude but this is so irresponsible and Thoughtless and just wrong. How is your girlfriend supposed to enjoy herself when all she can think about is her unsupervised kids?
    via SoMoistlyMoist
  • 17
    bigchicago04 lol this can't be real. You literally put them into a different class and you're surprised she thinks you're treating them like second class citizens?
    via bigchicago04
  • 18
    Also, the "I'm paying for everything and being more than generous" is total ks. You CHOSE to do that. You don't get to explain away later dumb choices with that excuse. Of course YTA.
    via bigchicago04
  • 19
    SugarLussh39 Wow, dude, smooth vacation surprise. But separating the fam seat-wise? Bold move. Yeah, being generous, but like, you probs should've thought it through more. Assurance for ya: You're defo the AH here.
    via SugarLussh39
  • 20
    LibraryMegan This is how Kevin got left behind.
    via LibraryMegan
  • 21
    dalealace 8 is pretty young to be seated without a parent for such a long flight. You whiffed this one my dude. It was bad judgement.
    via dalealace
  • 22
    Agitated-Stress870 YTA the sheer audacity of making strangers watch the kids so you don't have to deal with them.
    via Agitated-Stress870
  • 23
    Aggleclack Kids aren't props. They are people.
    via Aggleclack

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