new high in lows for AirTran

[duffy]

I don't know what people think. You want to sit next to your 3-year old child, but don't choose to have assigned seats. It doesn't occur to you that your seats could be widely separated?

I would plan for the worst, but it seems that some people expect the best. Problem is, if the best doesn't happen, well, they EXPECTED it, and then get mad because it didn't happen.

Heck, I paid for assigned seats on our flight in November, and my daughter was 14! She wanted to sit next to mommy, and I totally understood, and paid the extra fee. That's what it's FOR!!

 

[Suellen]

Yes and had they CLEARLY shown that "sitting together" was an option that you needed to pay for ~ I most likely wouldn't have even flown them as they were no longer the lowest cost. HOWEVER at the time they made it seem as though choosing your seat was if you cared WHERE you sat on the plane... not that your party would be split up.

This is pointless. Now that I know I just don't fly them. No I didn't care about where on the plane I sat or if we had aisle seats or extra legroom or front of the plane ~ heck I didn't even care if all the seats were together. They new the birthdate of my DD and KNEW she was THREE ~ why in the world would I expect they WOULDN'T allow a parent to be seated next to their child?

They now CLEARLY state on their site while purchasing tickets that "sitting together" is an option you have to pay for. Obviously they ran into enough dummies like me that expect an extremely minor child to be sat next to a parent.

I probably wouldn't even have been able to get her to sit in a middle seat between two strangers anyway.

I'm done here.

 

[Santa]

What do people expect when all they search for is the cheapest flight?
Do they think the airline fairy will sprinkle pixie dust on the plane to make it grow & add more seats because someone didn't take the time to read what they are paying for.

I guess next time I go buy a new reindeer I can return it when it dies because when I bought the reindeer it had food & water but now it doesn't because the dealer didn't have a sign that told me to feed & water it.

You get what you pay for people & you should know what you are paying for.

 

[kaytieeldr]

heck I didn't even care if all the seats were together. They new the birthdate of my DD and KNEW she was THREE ~ why in the world would I expect they WOULDN'T allow a parent to be seated next to their child?

It appears AirTran expects the parent to take responsibility for ensuring they are seated nextto their own young children.

"Window/middle/aisle" was an example they gave of why passengers might want to pay to preselect their seats because that affects more passengerst than does being seated next to one's young child. Simple logistics. There are more adults - and older children (i.e. five and up) capable of being seated away from the parent in the same plane for several hours - than there are young children. therefore, "window/aisle" matters to more passengers, so AirTran proviced that as an example.

 

[Suellen]

What do people expect when all they search for is the cheapest flight?
Do they think the airline fairy will sprinkle pixie dust on the plane to make it grow & add more seats because someone didn't take the time to read what they are paying for.

I guess next time I go buy a new reindeer I can return it when it dies because when I bought the reindeer it had food & water but now it doesn't because the dealer didn't have a sign that told me to feed & water it.

You get what you pay for people & you should know what you are paying for.

This is one of the most ridiculous posts I have ever read here. Totally not even close to what I was saying.

 

[Suellen]

It appears AirTran expects the parent to take responsibility for ensuring they are seated nextto their own young children.

"Window/middle/aisle" was an example they gave of why passengers might want to pay to preselect their seats because that affects more passengerst than does being seated next to one's young child. Simple logistics. There are more adults - and older children (i.e. five and up) capable of being seated away from the parent in the same plane for several hours - than there are young children. therefore, "window/aisle" matters to more passengers, so AirTran proviced that as an example.

You clearly won't be happy until I say you are right.

You are right. I should have known.

Happy?

 

[mom2aba]

Two years ago I came to this forum asking for advice on whether paying the extra money for assigned seats on AirTran was really nescessary. People came down on me really hard and I decided to pay the fee. BUT when I went to check in 24 hours early I found out our seats were all over the plane. None of my family of five had seats next to each other. I called and the best CS could do for me was put us in pairs and then one person separate. When we got on the plane my 14 year old son came back up the aisle to where my daughter and I were sitting and said someone else was in his seat. My husband verified that the other passenger also had the same seat number on his boarding pass. My son stood in front of the seat next to me waiting for a flight attendant to take care of the matter. Meanwhile I heard someone tell the attendant that my son was in her seat (he wasn't sitting; he was just stuck standing in front of it so he didn't block the aisle as people were boarding the plane.) The FA told her to sit in another seat for the time being and she'd work it out. Next thing I knew she told my son to just sit down and we took off.

Even though the CS had assured me that we were okay for the flight back I still worried about it for the rest of our vacation. I did check in 24 hours ahead from the resort and all was well. But when we got on the plane the woman sitting next to me had had the same thing happen to her on that flight. She had paid ahead but her whole family was all over the plane. Fortunately her kids were older but it left a very bad taste in my mouth for AirTran.

 

[cm8]

, I have never flown AT, or JB and I hope that you and OP have a better flying experience on another airline. Have a nice day

 

[M5ward]

Well, this turned out to be a pretty opinionated thread. I can see lots of different points being made here but..whether or not someone pays up front for seating or not, NO ONE should expect that a 3 year old not sit with a parent; just not logical..or safe. I DO NOT and WILL NOT fly Air Tran simply because they are prone to too many time changes (and changing nonstops to flights with stops.) I do prepay my seating simply because I HATE to fly and would rather panic next to my husband than a stranger.
In a day and age when it seems that cities, states, the country, and all our legislators are trying to pass 'feel good' laws and protections for children, it seems strange to me that anyone would condone a young child sitting without a parent on any form of mass transportation.
All that being said..and taking my extreme hatred of flying into account..I would always give up my paid seat to allow a parent to sit with their child.
ALWAYS!!

 

[sorul82?]

Also--there are a few people on this board who ONLY post negative things--one in particular (I think she must own stock in AirTran)--to state that it would not be a big deal to not sit next to your 3 year old during a 3 hour flight? Are you kidding me? That could be the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on this board.

ooh, ooooh, pick me! I know the answer!!!

 

[maxiesmom]

Well, this turned out to be a pretty opinionated thread. I can see lots of different points being made here but..whether or not someone pays up front for seating or not, NO ONE should expect that a 3 year old not sit with a parent; just not logical..or safe.

Well, the airlines that charge for seat assignments do expect you to pay for seats if you need to sit next to your child. Maybe it doesn't seem logical to you, but to an airline that is struggling to make some sort of profit it seems perfectly logical.

No one is forced to fly an airline that charges for seat assignments. Just as no one is forced to pay for seat assignments. Each person must make the choices that work best for their own family. But don't blame the airline if you simply decide to not choose, and then have to deal with the consequences.

Also, some people seem to be confusing negative with pragmatic.

 

[danielle.st]

Well, this turned out to be a pretty opinionated thread. I can see lots of different points being made here but..whether or not someone pays up front for seating or not, NO ONE should expect that a 3 year old not sit with a parent; just not logical..or safe. I DO NOT and WILL NOT fly Air Tran simply because they are prone to too many time changes (and changing nonstops to flights with stops.) I do prepay my seating simply because I HATE to fly and would rather panic next to my husband than a stranger.
In a day and age when it seems that cities, states, the country, and all our legislators are trying to pass 'feel good' laws and protections for children, it seems strange to me that anyone would condone a young child sitting without a parent on any form of mass transportation.
All that being said..and taking my extreme hatred of flying into account..I would always give up my paid seat to allow a parent to sit with their child.
ALWAYS!!

You could be right. Perhaps they should pass a law that people with minors have to be seated next to their children, even if they have to pay extra. Maybe when you put in your child's age, the extra automatically is added to your total.
Of course, that would mean that if you are trying to get tickets for a mostly full flight that doesn't have seats together, you wouldn't be able to get them. And people who send their minor children to fly without a parent could no longer do that...
I'm pretty sure more people would be fighting that kind of law, but you never know!

 

[danielle.st]

Yes and had they CLEARLY shown that "sitting together" was an option that you needed to pay for ~ I most likely wouldn't have even flown them as they were no longer the lowest cost. HOWEVER at the time they made it seem as though choosing your seat was if you cared WHERE you sat on the plane... not that your party would be split up.

This is pointless. Now that I know I just don't fly them. No I didn't care about where on the plane I sat or if we had aisle seats or extra legroom or front of the plane ~ heck I didn't even care if all the seats were together. They new the birthdate of my DD and KNEW she was THREE ~ why in the world would I expect they WOULDN'T allow a parent to be seated next to their child?

They now CLEARLY state on their site while purchasing tickets that "sitting together" is an option you have to pay for. Obviously they ran into enough dummies like me that expect an extremely minor child to be sat next to a parent.

I probably wouldn't even have been able to get her to sit in a middle seat between two strangers anyway.

I'm done here.

Dude, they do clearly show that sitting together is one of the options. They show it now and they were showing it 6 months ago when I booked my April trip and 2 years ago when I booked my last trip. I just went and double checked because you've said they don't so often that I thought I had been imagining things.
When you select your flight and then do the confirm and get to the next window where you start submitting personal information, towards the bottom of that page is the part about paying to select your seats. They have it in written form and with little pictures for those who can't read. It's absolutely there.
When I booked my last flight, as i said 2 years ago, we were going to WDW and had booked the rest of our trip with our AAA agent. She had suggested we do the flight ourselves to save money. We hadn't flown in over 10 years, and before had been pre-kids. Before I booked anything, I di a run through so I would know what to expect when booking. I saw the select seats thing and the little picture of parents with a small child and the "sit together" option. I double checked with our travel agent to make sure that I would need to pay that extra to select seats for us to sit toogether, she confirmed the information. But really, that checking with her was just me being a bit anxious because the site was very clear.

 

[Suellen]

I said it wasn't there at the time we booked our flight and that is clearly is NOW.

*sigh* people are commenting without even reading my words. It is like dealing with my five year old who only hears the words she wants to hear.

 

[Suellen]

and don't call me "dude" ~ I am female. Thanks.

 

[maxiesmom]

I said it wasn't there at the time we booked our flight and that is clearly is NOW.

*sigh* people are commenting without even reading my words. It is like dealing with my five year old who only hears the words she wants to hear.

If the above poster saw the prompt to choose seats 2 years ago, then clearly it was then when you purchased your tickets 18 months ago. As you yourself said, you were not really looking for a place to pay for seat assignments. It is very likely you just didn't see it.

 

[danielle.st]

I said it wasn't there at the time we booked our flight and that is clearly is NOW.

*sigh* people are commenting without even reading my words. It is like dealing with my five year old who only hears the words she wants to hear.

This thread is numerous pages long. I apologize if in the midst of the many, many posts criticizing AT for not advertising the need to prepay seats to sit next to a small child, I missed one where you acknowledged that for years now, they have clearly shown that you do need to pay to sit next to your child.
Of course, it's rather difficult to show that they didn't do the same however many years ago that you booked this flight, but really, lots of things change over the years with many airlines. If you know they have been showing people for a couple of years that this is something you need to pay for, then I really don't get the point in bringing it up.

 

[Suellen]

I didn't start this post.... I was commiserating with the OP about WHY I don't fly AT.

And I actually said it in the POST YOU QUOTED that they do clearly display it now. I assume you read the post you quoted ~ of course I guess you picked the words you WANTED to read.

 

[Suellen]

If the above poster saw the prompt to choose seats 2 years ago, then clearly it was then when you purchased your tickets 18 months ago. As you yourself said, you were not really looking for a place to pay for seat assignments. It is very likely you just didn't see it.

I would have to go back through email to find out when we booked the trip. I am estimating 18 months ago ~ but like I said DD was (not quite three actually) and she is not quite five now we traveled in March and I booked in Sept prior to.

I was not an example AT THE TIME. It is now.

 

[gullyf]

Well, this turned out to be a pretty opinionated thread. I can see lots of different points being made here but..whether or not someone pays up front for seating or not, NO ONE should expect that a 3 year old not sit with a parent; just not logical..or safe.
...
In a day and age when it seems that cities, states, the country, and all our legislators are trying to pass 'feel good' laws and protections for children, it seems strange to me that anyone would condone a young child sitting without a parent on any form of mass transportation.
All that being said..and taking my extreme hatred of flying into account..I would always give up my paid seat to allow a parent to sit with their child.
ALWAYS!!

HEAR HEAR!!! I'll second this opinion. Common sense and decency seem to be simply lacking today, but this post exhibits both. Quit defending the airlines: policies that would separate a young child of 3 or 4 (or potentially younger if not flying on a lap from what I can gather) from a parent with no chance of remediation are untenable and I am surprised they would not recognize that. I have flown with my children when they were that young, and I would pity both the child and the neighboring passenger in that case. 3 and 4 year old's sometimes need comforting and attention only a parent can give.

As someone mentioned in a previous post, there is no reason for the airline not to know there when there are young children involved. Though it varies by airline, most ask at least the general age makeup of the party. It would be very simple for them to set up a warning if their policies might end up separating them, or require the fee as part of the price. Not everyone is a seasoned flyer, the rules constantly change these days, and there are ins and outs that simply aren't apparent in a lot of cases.

Excuses for mediocrity, whether perpetrated by a business or an individual, only assures more of the same.