A mum has copped flak after flying business class while her partner and their baby sat in economy during a long-haul flight.
British woman Ellis Cochlin was excited to be sitting in the pointy end of an 11-hour flight from Paris to Los Angeles, where she now lives with her family.
She shared a TikTok of her experience admitting that even though her boyfriend Rob was supportive of her business class venture, which was part of her ‘push present’, she still felt guilty.
The mother-of-one questioned whether she was a “horrible” person for leaving them both in economy, adding it was her only opportunity to have a baby-free flight.
“In our relationship what we decide to spend money on is complexly different. I love jewellery and put me in business class any day, where Rob would never spend money on business class because he finds it pointless,” she said in the clip.
“I have never flown with anybody else, it’s only been me and Prince so the thought of having help on this flight was amazing.
“How I managed to do all of this [on my own] I actually don’t know.”
She said flying on a long-haul flight with a baby is “not easy” so being able to have a baby-free flight was like “music to my ears”.
“May I add Rob has never done this with Prince so he took the opportunity and really wanted to fly with him and I said ‘you know what, that is completely fine with me’.
Ms Cochlin said even though there were empty seats in business class, it still wasn’t something Rob wanted to fork out cash on.
“They wanted a full seat ticket [for Prince] … it was cheaper to buy a return than just pay for an upgrade, it was honestly crazy. So Rob was like ‘no, I am going to stay in economy, I am not spending my money on that’.”
Despite the pair’s decision to separate on the flight, Ms Cohlin copped some criticism, with viewers labelling the mum’s act as “strange”.
“Yeah this is strange,” one person wrote.
“Defo odd, I could never,” a second person said, while a third added: “I couldn’t but good on you.”
A fourth chimed in: “I wouldn’t do it but each to there own (sic).”
Others were in favour of the mum having some alone time, with many coming to her defence,
“Why are people giving hate? Women are allowed to enjoy time away from their baby and not feel like a bad person. Let’s not mum shame! Enjoy “It” girl,” a fellow woman wrote.
“Imagine a mum having a break who would of thought that ever!!! You go girl,” said another.
One woman told Ms Chochlin not to feel guilty, adding: “Us mamas just want to breath alone sometimes”, to which responded: “Yessss 100% I needed this!! Flying with a baby is hard, and who knows when I’ll have this opportunity again”.
While others continued to question her act, fellow mums hit back.
“I don’t see anything wrong with this – you deserve a break. Wish we all have partners like yours,” one woman wrote.
“Lol she literally said that she’s flown on her own so why can’t dad take this one,” said another.
A third added: “If you usually take the responsibility for travel then it’s his turn.”
Meanwhile, others said while they would love to do the same, they would feel too guilty.
“I couldn’t do this to my partner I wouldn’t enjoy the flight at all. Pleased for you though I really wish I could do it and not feel guilty,” one mum wrote.
Ms Chochlin said that it was “refreshing” to relax and have a child-free flight given the night before she had a shocker of a sleep.
“As you can tell by my hair I had the most amazing nap on the plane.
“My whole family told me I was a horrible person as a joke obviously … but I said ‘as if you wouldn’t do the same’.
“Rob said the business class (seat) would be the last bit of my push present, so I was obviously going to take that.”