Flying with kids - wait to board until the last minute?

[EACarlson]

but it is so weird that that person wouldn't be allowed to at least take one extra of the carry ons.

How many people would then try to have two carryons saying they are bringing one on for a traveling companion? Especially on those companies that charge for checked bags.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Being able to choose seats in advance was the primary motivator for choosing the class of tickets we did. We didn't want to risk not being all seated together! I agree with the generally fine as long as it is moving assessment. I think that kind of works for our kids, too.

keep track of your seats as many have talked about things changing and ending up not together

 

[olive]

How many people would then try to have two carryons saying they are bringing one on for a traveling companion? Especially on those companies that charge for checked bags.

I suppose that is true. Lots of people take advantage of anything they think they can get away with. But we would have planned to go up to the gate well before boarding with our children and asked the agent for permission to do this rather than just show up with an extra bag. Each of our children has a baggage allowance, so we would have had the earlier boarding parent grab one of the children's carry-ons. No biggie, though. The kids can handle their own little roll on bags.

 

[olive]

keep track of your seats as many have talked about things changing and ending up not together

That just doesn't make sense to me with seats being assigned. I know mistakes are made on occasion, but it being a regular occurance is bizarre, especially with people paying a premium for the privilege of choosing their seats. We could have paid significantly less and not selected specific seats. I do understand what you're saying, though - we don't want to create a new problem by trying to avoid a different one!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

That just doesn't make sense to me with seats being assigned. I know mistakes are made on occasion, but it being a regular occurance is bizarre, especially with people paying a premium for the privilege of choosing their seats. We could have paid significantly less and not selected specific seats. I do understand what you're saying, though - we don't want to create a new problem by trying to avoid a different one!

change of plane type and it has happened to me. it is not a mistake by airline as such but different type of plane different seating. just something to keep an eye on

 

[EACarlson]

That just doesn't make sense to me with seats being assigned. I know mistakes are made on occasion, but it being a regular occurance is bizarre, especially with people paying a premium for the privilege of choosing their seats. We could have paid significantly less and not selected specific seats. I do understand what you're saying, though - we don't want to create a new problem by trying to avoid a different one!

It is almost always due to an equipment change or flight cancellations. I don't think it will be as bad going forward as it was the last year with all the flight cancellations.

 

[olive]

It is almost always due to an equipment change or flight cancellations. I don't think it will be as bad going forward as it was the last year with all the flight cancellations.

We are flying out of a smaller airport (Hartford), and there are only 2 flights out a day. Not sure if that makes it more or less likely for there to be changes or cancellations. But at least on Jetblue, there is one early morning flight at 7 am, and one evening flight out, and that is it. We booked the morning flight. I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[Jimsig]

...Someone is always last on the plane, so I think the flight attendants know if they are out of space in the overhead bins roughly as you board. JetBlue now "guarantees" you your overhead space, but who knows if it works out in practice. I was just thinking if the only downside is losing our overhead space, that wouldn't be terrible.

As an FYI the "guarantee" is a $25 voucher in the form of a travel bank credit if the overhead bins are full. Not sure when you are flying but that starts on July 20.