Airtran seat assignments question

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

We flew Airtran last Disney trip and I just booked them yesterday for our trip in January to Disney. I didn't purchase seat assignments last trip and we all ended up together and I don't really want to spend and extra $72 this trip either. I just want to make sure the my kids don't end up by themselves. They're 8 and 12. It's the four of us travelling, the kids and myself and my husband, will they atleast put one child and one adult together if they don't put all four of us together? Anybody know if they have a policy on that? I tried finding it on their website yesterday with no luck...Thanks in advance

 

[dudspizza]

We flew Airtran last Disney trip and I just booked them yesterday for our trip in January to Disney. I didn't purchase seat assignments last trip and we all ended up together and I don't really want to spend and extra $72 this trip either. I just want to make sure the my kids don't end up by themselves. They're 8 and 12. It's the four of us travelling, the kids and myself and my husband, will they atleast put one child and one adult together if they don't put all four of us together? Anybody know if they have a policy on that? I tried finding it on their website yesterday with no luck...Thanks in advance

No policy.

You could get lucky and find seats together at the 24 hour check in or you could end up spread all over the plane. I personally pay $6 per person and sit in the back of the plane.

Many people will say take your chances. I say that is fine, but don't expect anyone to move for you if you end up spread all over the plane. JMO.

duds

 

[clanmcculloch]

Airtran allows children to fly as unaccompanied minors at 5 years old so that means flying without a parent even on the same plane. They have no problem with an 8 year old or 12 year old flying with parents not next to them on the plane. If not sitting next to your kids is unacceptable to you then I suggest you pay for seat assignments. Airtran will not do anything to help you find seats together and passengers who did pay for their assignments are unlikely to be willing to switch seats so that you can sit together. Some people find it to be an acceptable risk to not pay for the seat assignments but I would REALLY recommend only taking this risk if is acceptable to you that you may not have an adult with each child. It comes down you to your own personal risk tollerance.

 

[azdizzymom]

As others stated they don't and won't make people move so you can sit by your children (even 1 child with 1 adult). Flights to MCO are FULL of families with kids...some will buy seats since they want to guarantee they sit together. Some will risk the 24 hour mark and there will be a 'rush' to check-in and grab those seats by others who are unwilling to pay the fee. Some are lucky and some aren't in finding 4 seats or even 2 and 2 together. There is a really really old thread about Airtran and people report seeing families separated from kids. If people pay for their seats they don't have to move and flight attendants can't make them. People who don't pay for seats don't have to move either. You might get lucky but is it a risk...you kids could be next to someone and that someone might not be you! In all honesty I would not give up my seats....I pay the extra for the seats (if on Airtran) or make sure our 'free' seats don't get moved. I have teenagers and for me it is important that we are near each other (even aisle across from each other).

You say it is $72...for me the $72 is worth peace of mind. Figure it in to the trip cost and cut costs other places.

Good luck and have a fun trip!

 

[iamadisneynut]

I'm flying with my two kids in a couple of weeks and I paid the seat assignment fee because I don't want to risk being split up...I can't imagine them being comfortable with it.

 

[ancestry]

No guarantee that you will be seated together or 2 x 2. Your kids are old enough that AirTran would have no issues at all seating them by themselves.

If your flight is full and many people have paid for seat assignments you most likely will not be seated together but rather separated all over the plane. People who have paid for their seat assignments are not going to voluntarily give up their seat to you, who didn't pay for seat assignments. Flight attendants and gate attendants will not force others to move so your family can sit together.

Consider yourself lucky last time that you got seated together.

If it is that important to you pay for the seat assignments.

 

[sam_gordon]

Another option is to book 2 (or 3) seats together. If you get two together, you can put the two kids side by side. If you get 3 together, the two kids + 1 adult and the other adult is on their own.

Just a suggestion.

 

[maxiesmom]

You have to decide which is worth more to you, the $72 or the knowledge that you will be sitting all together for sure. Without paying, you just don't know where you seats will end up. They won't guarantee that your children will end up with either you or your husband. They could end up seated away from you.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I'm sort of wondering where you are getting the $72 from....you can pay for seats starting at $6. That would be $24 for your flight to MCO and $24 for your flight home.....$48.

Of course there are higher priced seats but you do not have to take those ones.


If you want to reduce the added cost then book 2 seats and put the kids together. That assumes they will sit together happily.

 

[bear_mom]

On our last flight home from MCO there were issues:

me, dh and both dds had seats in a row, dds and I were on one side of the plane and dh was across the isle (dh and I had isle seats).

Mom, lap baby, 4/5 year old ds, 7/8 year old dd and grandma - the other family.

At the gate I overheard mom arguing with the gate person that her dd was sitting by herself. The gate attendant told her that she was sitting across the isle from grandma and there wasn't anything they could do, the flight was full.

So we get on the plane and dh is sitting next to mom, lap baby and ds. Dd and grandma were a few rows up. Flight attendant appropaches dh and asks him if he is with us, he says yes. The flight attendant tells mom that there is nothing she can do, the person sitting next to her was with a family also and she couldn't make anyone move.

She was kinda miffed and luckily she didn't put up too much of a fuss and make dh's flight miserable. (TBH, if she would have asked dh nicely, he would have moved and the flight attendant told her she couldn't make dh move so quickly he didn't even realize what was going on after she walked away - he asked me when we got back to our home airport).

Emily

 

[aubriee]

I usually fly Air Tran from DFW to MCO several times a year. It seems like every flight I see some parent raising heck with the gate agent demanding that others be moved so they can sit next to their kids. The response is always the same: if you choose not to pay the seat fee there is nothing they can do. They will not force others to move to accommodate you. I fly solo at least 3-4 times a year and with family the other times. Due to claustrophobic issues I always sit in an aisle seat close to the front of the plane. I do not sit in the back half of the plane, nor will I sit in a window or middle seat. Even for my solo flights, I purchase those $15.00 or $13.00 seats close to the front of the plane. It seems like every flight I'm asked to switch for someone who chose not to pay for their seats and they always want to offer me some middle seat in the back of the plane. Sorry, not happening! If you want someone to switch seats with you, offer your better seat. I'll switch for another aisle seat close to the front, but will not trade my good $15.00 aisle seat in the front of the plane for a middle seat in the back.

More and more people are purchasing their seats and are just figuring the seat fees in, as they compare different airlines' prices. My suggestion would be to purchase the seats you need. If sitting together is not important enough to you to purchase the seats, then don't expect it to be important enough to others to give their seats up. Those seats past about row 13 or 14 are only $6.00. My husband and I paid $60.00 r/t trip for our seats this past May ($15.00 a piece each way) and yes some family that was too cheap to buy their seats had the nerve to ask us if we'd be willing to move to the back of the plane so they could have our seats (their teenage daughter was sitting next to my husband). "Uh no, but you might offer your daughter's seat to the guy sitting next to you in row 31. I'm sure he'd be glad to move up close to the front, but we are not moving back".

 

[minnierocks]

I pay for my seats...I pay for my luggage...I consider it part of the cost of flying.

 

[azdizzymom]

I usually fly Air Tran from DFW to MCO several times a year. It seems like every flight I see some parent raising heck with the gate agent demanding that others be moved so they can sit next to their kids. The response is always the same: if you choose not to pay the seat fee there is nothing they can do. They will not force others to move to accommodate you. I fly solo at least 3-4 times a year and with family the other times. Due to claustrophobic issues I always sit in an aisle seat close to the front of the plane. I do not sit in the back half of the plane, nor will I sit in a window or middle seat. Even for my solo flights, I purchase those $15.00 or $13.00 seats close to the front of the plane. It seems like every flight I'm asked to switch for someone who chose not to pay for their seats and they always want to offer me some middle seat in the back of the plane. Sorry, not happening! If you want someone to switch seats with you, offer your better seat. I'll switch for another aisle seat close to the front, but will not trade my good $15.00 aisle seat in the front of the plane for a middle seat in the back.

More and more people are purchasing their seats and are just figuring the seat fees in, as they compare different airlines' prices. My suggestion would be to purchase the seats you need. If sitting together is not important enough to you to purchase the seats, then don't expect it to be important enough to others to give their seats up. Those seats past about row 13 or 14 are only $6.00. My husband and I paid $60.00 r/t trip for our seats this past May ($15.00 a piece each way) and yes some family that was too cheap to buy their seats had the nerve to ask us if we'd be willing to move to the back of the plane so they could have our seats (their teenage daughter was sitting next to my husband). "Uh no, but you might offer your daughter's seat to the guy sitting next to you in row 31. I'm sure he'd be glad to move up close to the front, but we are not moving back".

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

Wow...never expected a simple question to cause quite a stir. But thanks for the info.
I just simply couldn't remember the policy, wasn't expecting anything that wasn't due to me or expecting anybody to give up anything they had paid for. I had actually forgotten that airtran had charged for seat assignments or I would have booked the cheaper less convenient Delta flight.
Dancing Dinsey- Yesterday when I checked out the seat assignment tool it plugged in $6 per person for all 3 flights-1 on the way down and 2 home. But when I just went and bought seats it only charged $6 for each way, not per flight, so you were correct, $48 total.

 

[azdizzymom]

Wow...never expected a simple question to cause quite a stir. But thanks for the info.
I just simply couldn't remember the policy, wasn't expecting anything that wasn't due to me or expecting anybody to give up anything they had paid for. I had actually forgotten that airtran had charged for seat assignments or I would have booked the cheaper less convenient Delta flight.
Dancing Dinsey- Yesterday when I checked out the seat assignment tool it plugged in $6 per person for all 3 flights-1 on the way down and 2 home. But when I just went and bought seats it only charged $6 for each way, not per flight, so you were correct, $48 total.

I don't think anyone meant to offend you (and I know for one I am terrible at it at times). It is just some people come and ask about Airtran and make the threat they if someone doesn't move (this is if they haven't paid for seats and don't get them together) that that person can take care of their XX age child. Some people who fly and don't have seats expect special treatment since they have children. BUT THIS WAS NOT YOU!

Good luck---glad to hear you got the seats! Have a good trip

 

[aubriee]

Wow...never expected a simple question to cause quite a stir. But thanks for the info.
I just simply couldn't remember the policy, wasn't expecting anything that wasn't due to me or expecting anybody to give up anything they had paid for. I had actually forgotten that airtran had charged for seat assignments or I would have booked the cheaper less convenient Delta flight.
Dancing Dinsey- Yesterday when I checked out the seat assignment tool it plugged in $6 per person for all 3 flights-1 on the way down and 2 home. But when I just went and bought seats it only charged $6 for each way, not per flight, so you were correct, $48 total.

Don't worry about it. You sort of hit on a sore topic. I don't think anyone meant to offend you and am sorry if we did, but just wanted you to be prepared. If you do a search you will see that this question gets asks fairly frequently and some people always post ways to make sure you get to sit next to your child. They tell people not to worry about buying seats, that since you have a child Air Tran will make sure you get to sit next to that child, even if they have to move someone who paid for their seat. No True! Too many people on here have seen even very small children separated from their parents. Then some people come on here with ideas on how to make people move, (if you can board before them, just take the seat anyway and refuse to move when they get on, toss the kid's bag at them and tell them to take care of their child then, tell the child something like 'when you throw up, this nice lady will take care of you', tell the kid to cry and throw a fit, etc). Personally you ask me nicely and I may accommodate you (still refuse to move to the back of the plane though), but try a stunt like some people on here suggest and I'm not budging.

Twice I've had flights where I was on one of those smaller MD80 type planes that have two seats on the right and three on the left as you get on, where someone was sitting in my seat. In neither case was it a matter of sitting next to a child though. The first time a lady was in my row 9 aisle seat by herself. When I showed her my boarding pass and told her she was in my seat, she kept pointing to the back of the plane, but refused to get up. A FA came up and the lady pulled the no English routine. The FA finally got her boarding pass from her and told her she was in the third row from the back in a middle seat on the left side. Suddenly her English improved and she called me a b-tch. The second time a couple was sitting in those seats with the boyfriend in the aisle seat. I told him he was in my seat and without even looking up at me, he just kept flipping through his magazine, jerked his thumb toward the back of the plane and said he knew it, but I could have his 32E seat, because he wanted to sit with his girlfriend. He didn't even ask, just told me what he was going to do. Uh no! Not happening. I was calm, but firm and told him to get out of my seat, that if I had wanted to sit in a middle seat in the back of the plane, then I'd have bought that $6.00 seat, instead of the $15.00 one I did. Come to find out, they hadn't even paid for their seats, just checked in at the 24 hour mark and couldn't get seats together. Again a FA came up and asked what was wrong. The guy finally stood up and tried to intimidate us with his size, demanding that she make me move to the back of the plane so he could sit with his girlfriend. Sorry wrong thing to do! This grandma doesn't get intimidated and neither do the flight crew. He was told his choices were to move to his assigned seat or get off the plane. As we were taxiing out, the girlfriend started giving me a hard time. I told her that since her boyfriend was in a middle seat, more than likely the people sitting next to him were not with anyone and I was sure one of them would probably be willing to trade their seat in the back for her nice window seat up front. She got angry and said she didn't want to sit in the back and it wouldn't hurt me to move back there, so her boyfriend could sit with her. I smiled and politely asked her if I needed to call the FA back to keep her from harassing me and I was sure it wasn't too late for the captain to pull back to the gate to have her escorted off. I then put my earphones on and went to sleep. These weren't young teens, they were like in their 40's.

Anyway, my long winded point is that because it happens fairly frequently, some of us that purchase our seats may get a little sensitive about constantly being asked to give up seats we have paid for, for people who chose not to and just assumed that everyone else would accommodate them.

 

[Waybuloo]

Wanted to thank everyone for their information here - wishing that the AirTran website would accept my Aussie credit card to book our seats together.

Could someone tell me if I'd call Reservations or Customer service to organise this?

Thank-you.

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

I really wasn't offended, just surprised as I wasn't expecting to see the heated replies my question got. But I do appreciated anybody apologizing if I was offended.
I can understand the frustration and irritation everyone feels when dealing with those who don't buy a seat but feel entitled to sit wherever they please-including in your seat that you paid for. I would be upset too.
And again, thanks to everyone for answering my questions. I'm still trying to remember why we ended up together on our last airtran flight, I must have checked us in at the 24 hour mark and found seats together, it was the planes with 3 seats on 1 side and 3 on the other and we sat 1 adult and 1 child together on the side with 2 seats, in consecutive rows both on the way to MCO and on the way home.

 

[Lewisc]

Look at it this way. A lot of passengers would rather not pay for assigned seats. Most passengers want to sit next to a traveling companion. A lot of passengers check in at T-24. Many are able to get seats together. Some passengers wind up with middle seats.

The fact that some posters were able to get seats together at T-24 is irrelevant. Other posters weren't able to. Passengers who need to sit next to traveling companions need to pay for assigned seats.

 

[kristenrice]

My SiL and I are flying together to WDW in October. We did not pre-purchase seats for our flight down because we plan on doing the BC upgrade.

We weren't planning on pre-purchasing seats on the way back either. We figure that we are both adults and if we end up split up, then we're split up...no big deal. Then, when I read about the Little Debbie $10 coupons, we decided that we would use them to buy the $15 seats for the way back. Now, we have the better seats, we get in-flight internet and we are sitting together...and we only paid $5.

When we fly as a family, with the kids, I always factor the cost of the seats into the airfare when I price-compare. No way do I want either of my kids sitting by themselves on a plane. If I cannot afford an extra $12 per ticket, then I should probably not be going on vacation.