I have witnessed children as described in the report by the airline. It's not a good sign if the 3 year old was crawling under the seats and hitting the parents. Those parents have already lost control of that child- and I suspect will expect the public schools to "fix" the problem, all without using any discipline - (corporal punishment just isn't humane, and any other penalty for acting inappropriately might harm her little ego...errr..I mean her self esteem).
And before anyone gripes at me for passing judgment, you are probably right - I don't know these parents. But I know and see their kind on a daily basis. The airline's story rings way too true.
And for the airline to both give them a full refund AND offer them three free tickets to anywhere they fly was FAR more than generous.
Next time, maybe they should think about teaching their child something a bit more constructive than hitting her parents. But that won't happen because they got rewarded for bad behavior.
So the airline goes and rewards them for bringing a brat on the plane. Meanwhile, all of us parents who have well behaved kids get to pay for our next flight.