Parents Now Protected From Having To Pay Extra To Sit With Their Kids On Flights

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think with SW , everyone who buys EB should be allowed to board before family boarding or they should get their money back.

A flight some years ago, there was a parent and young child. Last to board. Was not two seats together. No one wanted to move. FA says this plane is not moving until someone moves. I don't know why the parent was last to board or anything, but having to pay for EB and then lose the advanage doesn't sit right with me.

Connecting passengers may get to the gate late. Airlines will sometimes hold a flight to accomodate a late arriving flight with connecting pax.

Southwest guarantees passengers who pay for EBCI will get a boarding number one less then the lowest number assigned to a pax who didn’t pay for EBCI. In other words almost nothing is actually promised.

I get both sides although I think most people lean towards "look I did xyz, so should you".

They do hold planes but it's probably not as common as it was in the years past not just because of the pandemic either however especially so right now where air travel is fraught with delays and cancellations. What planes they can get out they are trying really hard to do so.

On the other hand people do pay for EBCI or for Anytime Fares which come with it to increase their odds of being able to pick their preferred seat. My husband will try for the exit row but if not he'll try for the aisle. Try asking him to move and unless it's in an exit row or an aisle..that's going to be tough. He's very tall and picks those seats for a reason. This was the pic he sent me yesterday on his flight out :



Although the exit row rules are 15 and up and this guideline is for 13 and under it could come up as some people still want to sit next to their kids.

Someone else may have another valid reason such as motion sickness for where they were able to find a seat or bathroom needs.

The thing about EBCI is it's a product that moves you up in the Boarding position intended to give you the greater chance of having a selection of seats. That's straight up from what SWA says. I can understand how it would upset someone who did pay for it and then was asked to move. On the other hand I can understand how it would upset anyone regardless of paying for it who was then asked to move.

 

[piper28]

Regarding the argument that "people paid for their seats and shouldn't have to give them up.." Well, people are forced to give up seats they paid for all the time. It just happened to me on Delta last week where my seat was changed without my knowledge just before we boarded with no given reason. And I had chosen my seats for a reason. Honestly, if it was to allow a parent to sit next to their child, I'm fine with that. It's better than being stuck next to their kid myself..

The seat that you get stuck into makes a big difference to me on whether I'm willing to move. I pick aisles for a reason - it gives me a little more space, and I'm on the larger side. I have no interest in moving to a middle seat to accommodate someone's kids, and probably wouldn't really want to take a window seat, although I'd take that over middle (depending on the plane, some the curvature can make shoulder room particularly tight for me, and while there's no middle seats, I honestly don't know how anyone over about 5 foot tall can fit in the window seat on a crj-200).

I was actually surprised on my last flight - family of 4 boarding had one (middle) seat in the row in front me, the middle and window of my row, and the window of the row behind me. They didn't even try to ask me to move, and just apologized that their kids would be in the seats next to me. Not sure exactly what their ages were, but both were old enough it wasn't unreasonable. (I'd guess 7 to 12 or so, but then again, these days every time I see the new crop of college freshmen they seem to look like they're about 15 years old, so guess could be off a little). (And, FWIW, their kids were very well behaved throughout the flight, and entertained themselves with their tablets and the IFE. There's a lot of adults that could take lessons from them.)

 

[Cheburashka]

Well, people are forced to give up seats they paid for all the time...Honestly, if it was to allow a parent to sit next to their child, I'm fine with that. It's better than being stuck next to their kid myself..

I've flown many times and have never been forced to give up a seat. I also would not be willing to give up a seat. I have very specific reasons for sitting where I sit and I pay to sit there, whether that requires first or business class or some extra fee. I wouldn't move if asked. I doubt any flight attendant would ever force me because it's partially for medical reasons and I would explain that and I doubt they'd want to deal with a lawsuit. They'd just move on to harassing the next poor passenger. I have no problem sitting next to a child- I'm a mother and an elementary school teacher.

Bottom line, not everyone is flexible or has to be, or should be guilted into giving up what they paid extra for. When you fly with your child (which I've done lots of times and my son has special needs), sitting together is your responsibility to arrange and/or pay for. Emergencies happen but are rare. There are usually enough passengers who don't care about their seating (aka, the other people who didn't pay extra to choose their seat) to accommodate those. What this "guideline" is basically saying is that airlines should routinely exempt parents from having to pay for assigned seating, which isn't fair to everyone else, who do have to pay for assigned seating. Essentially it makes the other passengers subsidize the parents who don't want to pay for assigned seating for their kids.

 

[MillauFr]

Southwest typically has no assigned seats (you board based on a group #) and it is first-come first-served, so I no idea how this would work for them.

Exactly. So how does it work on Southwest if you have a family and board as C? Isn't that a recipe for disaster?

 

[DebbieB]

Exactly. So how does it work on Southwest if you have a family and board as C? Isn't that a recipe for disaster?

I was on a flight on Saturday coming back from WDW, they did ask for a couple people to move to accommodate 2 young children. Not sure how young but they were at the end of C. There was a teenage girl who ended up in my row with her mom across and ahead a row. She didn’t seem happy about it but she managed.

 

[lowlight]

I swear some people truly hate children. Make parents pay more to be seated with their family because you paid extra to pick a seat? Nobody is saying they should get pick of the litter, just that they should be seated together in whatever seats are open. Think of it like DVC- paying to pick a prime seat like extra legroom or bulkhead or window is like booking preferred view, it costs more points. Asking to be seated with minors, which any rational parent would do, is like asking for connecting rooms in a room request, which costs nothing more. How is paying an extra 15 bucks to have “the window seat in the seventh row to the starboard side of the plane because it’s got the best view of NYC lights at night” affected by parents sitting with their children by the restrooms and not having to pay an extra $45 each way.

 

[MillauFr]

I swear some people truly hate children.

I do dislike the parents who buy basic economy with no seat assignments and then have a hissy fit at the airport because they all got middle seats. If they got lousy seats because their previous flight was canceled and took anything when they were rebooked... That is a different story.

 

[lowlight]

I do dislike the parents who buy basic economy with no seat assignments and then have a hissy fit at the airport because they all got middle seats. If they got lousy seats because their previous flight was canceled and took anything when they were rebooked... That is a different story.

Right, and I agree, but that’s entitlement. There’s no entitlement involved in making flights safer for kids with everyone that has happened recently.

 

[Cheburashka]

Make parents pay more to be seated with their family because you paid extra to pick a seat? Nobody is saying they should get pick of the litter, just that they should be seated together in whatever seats are open.

The issue is when letting all of these parents sit with their children requires other passengers to lose the seating they chose and paid extra for. (Again, we're talking about making this a blanket policy for all families all the time, not accommodating people in an emergency such as a last-minute flight change that caused loss of assigned seating.) How do you think it's fair for others to lose what they paid for, because the parents don't want to pay to select seating for their kids?

 

[MillauFr]

Right, and I agree, but that’s entitlement. There’s no entitlement involved in making flights safer for kids with everyone that has happened recently.

So you are basically advocating to ban airlines selling basic economy seats? That is fine but it will increase the average ticket price.

 

[Cheburashka]

So you are basically advocating to ban airlines selling basic economy seats?

The airlines should disallow people traveling with children under 10 from buying basic economy seats. If it's important to be seated a certain way, then basic economy isn't for you.

I agree that basic economy should continue to be available to those who want it and are prepared to sit wherever they're placed. Since the government is asserting that children should not be seated apart from parents on flights, and most parents agree (although 13 is a bit old imo), then that should make these families ineligible for basic economy.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Right, and I agree, but that’s entitlement. There’s no entitlement involved in making flights safer for kids with everyone that has happened recently.

Is it any safer for a 14 year old than a 13 year old though?

Aren't most family policies at age 2 for airlines? SWA being a generous one with that being age 6.

And by recently what do you mean? Trying to think of something that you're meaning but coming up blank here

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was on a flight on Saturday coming back from WDW, they did ask for a couple people to move to accommodate 2 young children. Not sure how young but they were at the end of C. There was a teenage girl who ended up in my row with her mom across and ahead a row. She didn’t seem happy about it but she managed.

Young children meaning appearing to be under 6? If so wonder why they didn't use Family Boarding

 

[georgina]

I swear some people truly hate children. Make parents pay more to be seated with their family because you paid extra to pick a seat? Nobody is saying they should get pick of the litter, just that they should be seated together in whatever seats are open. Think of it like DVC- paying to pick a prime seat like extra legroom or bulkhead or window is like booking preferred view, it costs more points. Asking to be seated with minors, which any rational parent would do, is like asking for connecting rooms in a room request, which costs nothing more. How is paying an extra 15 bucks to have “the window seat in the seventh row to the starboard side of the plane because it’s got the best view of NYC lights at night” affected by parents sitting with their children by the restrooms and not having to pay an extra $45 each way.

We paid over $100 each for the extra legroom seats on our 8 hour flight from London to Washington DC, little more than $15. There were no open seats on the plane.

Young children meaning appearing to be under 6? If so wonder why they didn't use Family Boarding

Like someone else mentioned, if you are coming from a late connection you are often the last to board. SW still holds flights for connections, unlike a lot of airlines. When I am solo i have given up my seat for families.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Like someone else mentioned, if you are coming from a late connection you are often the last to board. SW still holds flights for connections, unlike a lot of airlines. When I am solo i have given up my seat for families.

But that's not how it works with SWA. If your Boarding position has already been called you can just go Board anytime after that.

The only reason for a family to be Boarding at the back of C is if that is actually their Boarding position. That is how the PP described it. It's not about being the last to board because of a late connection at least as described.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I’m all about personal accountability. You need to do everything you can do to make sure your needs are met and not expect others to change to accommodate you. If you have done everything in your power to try to have your needs met and circumstances prevent it then it is ok to ask for help in my opinion. That is how I was raised and that is how my daughter is raised. I’m not going to move to take a middle seat. Not going to happen. I will move to an aisle seat if needed (which is what I need for claustrophobia). But that is usually not the option. Once some super tall guy got on my flight and demanded to be moved to first class. I had the emergency exit seat with no seat in front of me. The flight attendant asked if I would be willing to switch seats. She said he was rude and she wasn’t moving him to first class. He was like 7 feet tall. I was young and didn’t ask where his seat was. It was a middle seat but was oddly double ticketed and someone was in it. I went to the back of the plane and stood with the flight attendant watching the plane fill up. I was getting anxious about what if any seat I would get. They had me sit in another seat but a mom with a kid didn’t have seats together (late for connection). So I gave up my seat again (empty middle seat beside me). At this point I started to silently panic as only middle seats were open. The flight attendants were talking about how I gave up my seat twice and they put me in front row aisle first class. I was young and naive and hadn’t thought through the implications of giving up my seat. But the universe rewarded me for it lol.

 

[lowlight]

So you are basically advocating to ban airlines selling basic economy seats? That is fine but it will increase the average ticket price.

No, imagine there are 50 tickets for sale. Someone logs on first and pays extra for a super duper special person window seat. I log on second and buy 3 tickets for me and 2 of my kids, no assigned seats. The first person gets their super duper special person seat, and I get assigned 3 *random* seats, but that are next to one another. Nobody gets deprived of anything, kids are safe. I'm not saying people should expect that on a full flight they should be able to book and make others move, I'm saying that removing the ability for airlines to monetize something that is safer for kids is a good thing. To argue against this is a weird thing, and thus my "must hate children" quote.

 

[lowlight]

Is it any safer for a 14 year old than a 13 year old though?

Aren't most family policies at age 2 for airlines? SWA being a generous one with that being age 6.

And by recently what do you mean? Trying to think of something that you're meaning but coming up blank here

https://nypost.com/2022/06/27/man-allegedly-molests-child-and-woman-on-flight-blames-ambien/

 

[MillauFr]

No, imagine there are 50 tickets for sale. Someone logs on first and pays extra for a super duper special person window seat. I log on second and buy 3 tickets for me and 2 of my kids, no assigned seats. The first person gets their super duper special person seat, and I get assigned 3 *random* seats, but that are next to one another. Nobody gets deprived of anything, kids are safe. I'm not saying people should expect that on a full flight they should be able to book and make others move, I'm saying that removing the ability for airlines to monetize something that is safer for kids is a good thing. To argue against this is a weird thing, and thus my "must hate children" quote.

If you are not buying assigned seats it makes no difference when you buy your ticket. Your seats won't be assigned until hours before the flight departs and you will get all middle seats on a full flight.

 

[MillauFr]

https://nypost.com/2022/06/27/man-allegedly-molests-child-and-woman-on-flight-blames-ambien/

Do you worry more about your kids on an airplane or while driving with them in a car?