airline seat assignments

[NotUrsula]

Families with little kids under 10 sitting by themselves? I was told that I would have priority when we get to the airport since we have small children.

In the US, the minimum age for flying as an unaccompanied minor is 5. Most airlines define "accompanied" as "in the same class cabin", so that you would not have to pay the escort fee if you are on the same plane, but the airline won't force anyone to move to get a parent sitting with a child 5 or older. The only time that they are legally required to force it for a younger child is if the child will be sitting in a carseat, though it normally is policy to re-seat for a solitary child that young.

That said, many FA's will help you ask for volunteers, and some may even sweeten the deal by offering the bribe of a free drink. Still, get there early if you need to get several seats together -- normally the best you are likely to get at the gate is a set of 2 or 3; more than that is very hard to do at the last minute, unless a connecting flight fails to arrive on time. As for priority, standby seat assignments are usually FC/FS, so get there as early as you can.

 

[abk96]

Yes, I have seen this happen. It's not the end of the world.

Well it's a big deal to us because they are our children and we don't want them next to someone we don't know without us near them. The airlines should know this. It's common sense.

 

[ducklite]

Well it's a big deal to us because they are our children and we don't want them next to someone we don't know without us near them. The airlines should know this. It's common sense.

One of two things happened. Either your flight was cancelled and you were all moved to another flight that already had seats sold, or your plane was "downsized."

Either way, you need to face the reality that your kids might not be sitting with you. Period. Prepare them and you for this possibility. It likely the the youngest one or two will be seated with ONE of you, but the chances of getting five together are almost impossible.

You aren't going to want to hear this, but you WILL NOT get priority. Priority goes to the frequent fliers. That said, as they get their free upgrades to first class, it will free up some seats in coach, and possibly will give you a set of three and a set of two--but like I said, you will almost defintiely not end up with a set of five, so be prepared and pack for the ride accordingly.

Do not expect anyone to move for you--it's very possible on a flight to Orlando that most of the other people onboard will also be families who will not want to split up to accomodate you. Might it happen, yes.

But do not count on anything.

And frankly as someone who might end up sitting next to your kid, I take offense to your comment. It's probable that your kid would bother me a lot more than I would bother them.

Anne

 

[bicker]

In Sept. booked flight #111 at 2PM with seats 15 ABCDE. Now in April flight #111 is leaving at 11AM. We are now on flight #222 at 2PM with seats that are scattered. Do you think I have any recourse to change the flight entirely and get another one with seats together for the same day?

No, sorry. A flight number change isn't an actual change. Now if you were left on flight #111, that would be another story.

 

[delilah]

I sympathize entirely with the OP in this situation. I am in a very similar situation as OP with our June trip. I have checked the airline website every day for my seat assignments. Originally, we were a family of 3, two adults and one child, age 8, scattered in window seats all over the plane. One day, I was rewarded in my attempts to change seats by there being to empty aisle seats, one in front of the other (like row 18B and 19B). When, a few days later, seat 18F opened up. So, now, all I have to do is negotiate with those in seats 18D and 18E whether they would mind switching with my son so he can seat next to mom or dad. In any case, mom or dad would, at worst, be sitting directly behind him.

 

[abk96]

I'm not asking for 5 seats in a row. 2 and 3 anywhere on the plane together would be great.

And Ducklite,
I don't know why you would take offense to what I said, it wasn't aimed at you. Anyway, my kids are very well behaved and shy. The reason why we don't want them sitting next to a stranger is because some people are just that...strange.

 

[ducklite]

I sympathize entirely with the OP in this situation. I am in a very similar situation as OP with our June trip. I have checked the airline website every day for my seat assignments. Originally, we were a family of 3, two adults and one child, age 8, scattered in window seats all over the plane. One day, I was rewarded in my attempts to change seats by there being to empty aisle seats, one in front of the other (like row 18B and 19B). When, a few days later, seat 18F opened up. So, now, all I have to do is negotiate with those in seats 18D and 18E whether they would mind switching with my son so he can seat next to mom or dad. In any case, mom or dad would, at worst, be sitting directly behind him.

You've got 18B and 18F, as well as 19B.

18 ABC DEF
19 ABC DEF

18 D&E are probably traveling together, and are not going to want to split up--they could be a parent and child as well. Your chances of getting someone to give you an aisle seat for a middle are almost nil. If 18 D&E aren't traveling together, I can't imagine 18E not switching for 19E or 18B. But I really wouldn't count on getting three across when it means 18D would be moving to a middle seat.

No offense but I wouldn't give up my aisle for a middle--regardles of how many free drinks they want to ply me with.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

I'm not asking for 5 seats in a row. 2 and 3 anywhere on the plane together would be great.

And Ducklite,
I don't know why you would take offense to what I said, it wasn't aimed at you. Anyway, my kids are very well behaved and shy. The reason why we don't want them sitting next to a stranger is because some people are just that...strange.

You were implying that you were afraid that any passenger might do something terrible to your kids. I was stating the truth that in general kids are far more of a nuisance to adults on a plane than adults are to children.

How old are your kids?

Anne

 

[abk96]

My kids are 9,7,4.

Maybe I should tell people they are very hyper and we'll see you in 3 hrs, have fun. Then maybe they'll move.

 

[Aisling]

And frankly as someone who might end up sitting next to your kid, I take offense to your comment. It's probable that your kid would bother me a lot more than I would bother them.

I wonder if you'd be singing that tune if it were your 4 year old assigned to a seat next to a stranger and 5 rows away from you.(And yes, I know you probably do not have a 4 year old at the moment.)

We've been rearranged so many times, the 4 of us, so I always check my upcoming flights daily. This way, I can call immediately and have a greater chance of simply reassigning our same seats.

No offense to travel agents, but I stopped using them 4 years ago after I realized I could do what they do better and less expensive.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

My kids are 9,7,4.

Maybe I should tell people they are very hyper and we'll see you in 3 hrs, have fun. Then maybe they'll move.

More likely, stating that "Little Jimmy is prone to air sickness" would be more effective in getting the adult seated next to him to trade seats with you.

Please don't let this ruin your vacation. Most adults would not be enthusiastic about being seated next to an unaccompanied child. With all due respect to your children, who I'm sure are well-behaved, I really would not want to feel obligated to "babysit" for the duration of a flight. And even if no one asked me to look after the tyke, I would still feel the need to (you never lose that instinct to mother). Plan for the worst by preparing the kids for the possibility and hope for the best. I have seen people rearrange their seats to accommodate families with small children. It does happen.

 

[ducklite]

My kids are 9,7,4.

Maybe I should tell people they are very hyper and we'll see you in 3 hrs, have fun. Then maybe they'll move.

I would say that it's an almost certainty that your four year old will be seated next to one of you. It's a pretty good chance that the seven year old will be as well. It's not as good of a chance that the nine year old will be. One thing you might wnat to consider is having your seven and nine year old sit together and have DH sit alone if it comes to that--it might be a better option than having one of the kids alone.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

My kids are 9,7,4.

Maybe I should tell people they are very hyper and we'll see you in 3 hrs, have fun. Then maybe they'll move.

That's not going to help, if anything it might make another passenger hostile towards your kids. If someone said that to me I'd be more inclined to say "Yeah, well sucks to be you, hope you gave them thier Benadryl" and put my book to my face rather than be sympathetic.

You'd be better off nicely explaining that your family is split up all over the plane and would they like to switch seats so you could be with your child.

Anne

 

[jodifla]

That's not going to help, if anything it might make another passenger hostile towards your kids. If someone said that to me I'd be more inclined to say "Yeah, well sucks to be you, hope you gave them thier Benadryl" and put my book to my face rather than be sympathetic.

You'd be better off nicely explaining that your family is split up all over the plane and would they like to switch seats so you could be with your child.

Anne

I think it's COMPLETELY inappropriate to expect a 4 year old to sit without a parent. There's no way my 4 year old could sit without me. He'd literally scream and cry the whole flight.

Especially in this case, where they had seats together, but the lowlife airline switched them around.

And if you said something like that to me about my kid, there'd be police coming to break it up.

 

[safetymom]

I can tell you that if you are trying to trade a middle seat for an aisle or window you are going to have a tough time.

Many frequent flyers pick their seats and earn the right to pick certain seats ahead of time. They won't be real anxious to trade with anyone and I can't say that I blame them.

 

[bicker]

"Lowlife airline" -- this is the root of the problem: Expecting more than you're promised. Airlines don't promise seat assignments. That doesn't mean their "lowlife" -- if anything, we passengers are the low-lifes for not being willing, as a group, to pay more for better service. Airline service is what it is because of us.

 

[Disney Ella]

This happened to us several years ago with US Air. The aircraft was changed and our seats were not reassigned because that would put us in an exit row. I spoke to two different US Air customer service reps who assured me that seats would be available for us at the gate. One even went as far as to say "We would never separate children from their parents."

The gate agent actually laughed at me when I told him we needed seats together. It seems that the flight was overbooked, which I'm sure the customer service agents could have seen on their screens, and there were no seats together to give us.

The kids started crying when we told them we didn't have seats together. It was not pleasant waiting to get on that flight (which was the last one of the day.) Once aboard, DH got someone to switch their seat (after being turned down by a few people) and the kids got to sit together. They sat with a very nice young man who helped them with their seatbelts. When I went back to check on them after we had taken off, he offered to switch with me. So it worked out, but I wish the customer service reps would have told me that the flight was overbooked and there was no way we were getting seats together so that I could have prepared the kids in advance.

I swore then that I'd never fly US Air again! Never! But they were the only airline that had the flight time I needed, so I'm flying them in November. The kids are several years older and still would rather not sit without us, but they could handle it now should it happen.

Separating kids from parents is a real safety issue as far as I'm concerned. If I was separated from my kids and there was an emergency, I would be crawling over people to get to my kids and hampering the whole evacuation process.

I hope everything works out for you! I know this does not make the beginning of the trip any easier.

 

[bicker]

I swore then that I'd never fly US Air again!

But all the airlines are the same in that regard. Read rec.travel.air and you'll see someone complaining about this on Continental last month, Delta the month before, American the month before that. The only airline you don't see this with is Southwest, because you're always on your own trying to get seats together, negotiating with other passengers for whatever you can get.

Separating kids from parents is a real safety issue as far as I'm concerned.

It is important to realize that airlines don't separate children from parents. Rather, parents decide to board their children even though they don't have seats with their children. The responsibility is the parent's, not the airline's.

 

[Pinnie]

Now that NWA is starting to charge $15 extra for some aisle seats there is NO WAY after paying for that upgrade, I am going to move.

pinnie

 

[jodifla]

But all the airlines are the same in that regard. Read rec.travel.air and you'll see someone complaining about this on Continental last month, Delta the month before, American the month before that. The only airline you don't see this with is Southwest, because you're always on your own trying to get seats together, negotiating with other passengers for whatever you can get.

It is important to realize that airlines don't separate children from parents. Rather, parents decide to board their children even though they don't have seats with their children. The responsibility is the parent's, not the airline's.

What kind of reasoning is this!! I bought a seat on the plane...a few seats in fact. Why wouldn't I expect to get on the plane, and sit next to my 4 year old son! Do you expect families to give up $1,000 on that flight and spend maybe thousands more to catch another flight?

What kind of monsters are running the airlines these days? It absolutely is a safety issue....and one much more important than the often brought up car seats for kids issue.

And if the airline is assigning the seats, THEN THE AIRLINE IS SEPARATING YOU FROM YOUR CHILD!!!!