Topics: Macaulay Culkin, Celebrity, Travel
As it turns out, booking first-class doesn’t ensure a Suite Life, as Brenda Song slammed Alaska Airlines claiming a mishap impacted her and fiancé Macaulay Culkin's trip with their children.
It’s not often you hear about a celebrity complaining about being let down by an airline, however, it’s also not common to learn that travel companies can split a family up just moment before boarding – despite paying premium for adjacent seats.
In an Instagram Story post on 21 March, the actress says she and Culkin were ‘split up’ from their children, Dakota, four, and Carson, three, despite their seat reservation booking.
The 37-year-old posted that the move came with ‘no warning’ and sadly occurred on a trip booked for one of her sons’ birthdays.
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Calling on people to ‘never fly’ with the airline, Song’s rant was then reposted by the Home Alone star, who added to his own story: “Hell hath no fury like a Brenda scorned...”
Song, who has been an item with Culkin since working with each other on the set of the 2017 flick, Changeland, wrote online: “I didn't know when you book your first class tickets 6 months in advanced for your family of six for your son's birthday @alaskaair can just give away your seats the morning of with no warning.”
After the incident was posted online, E! News reported Alaska Airlines had deemed Song’s experience ‘unacceptable’ and ‘not reflective of the care we strive to deliver.’
“Traveling can be stressful, especially with young children, and we pride ourselves on being a top airline for traveling families,” a representative for the airline told the publication, adding: “We are deeply sorry for adding friction to the experience.”
The airline company also claimed to ‘have reached out to the family to make it right,’ explaining: “We appreciate that guests have a choice in the airline they select and we take our responsibility to deliver a safe, reliable and caring experience every single time.”
While this is something that might upset anyone, according to the US Department of Transportation, there are some instances where an airline is permitted to give away seats, even if they have been booked by another person.
For example, if the seat holder fails to check in at the cut off time, if the airline experiences issues and needs to move around the seating arrangement, or even if they have overbooked their flight.
It's not great, but it apparently is allowed in those cases, and more.
The celebrity couple are notoriously private people, but they do sometimes talk about the finer details of their lives.
For example, Culkin has been open about what being a father means to him, after being estranged from his own dad, Christopher Culkin, for three decades.
"Since becoming a papa myself I've decided to reinvent the wheel," he wrote on Instagram.
"Other than getting an hour or two of extra sleep I try to make the day a celebration of my boys more than me," Culkin continued. "After all, they are the ones who made me a father (no offense to Brenda)."
"I try to do fun things for the boys on Father's Day," he concluded. "It's a special day."
UNILAD reached out to Alaska Airlines and representatives of Brenda Song for comment.
