Seats on plane

[D L and K's Mom]

I posted this message on the transportation board but after thinking aobut it , I think this is the place to put it. We booked out air portion of the trip with AAA I specifically told the TA how important it was for us to have the front row of the plance (I did this months ago so there was plenty of time ) I was told a few days later that it was all set. Whew I was so relieved. DS is autistic and likes to rock and swing his legs and kick when he is sitting. We always get the front row when flying and when it is ok to unbuckle our belts we let him sit and rock in the space in front of the seats. Well, I jsut pickes up the tickets and guess what...ROW 15!!!!! I was so upset and asked what had happened. I was told that it was to early when the tickets were purchased to get assigned seats and now they were assigned and the fron t row was taken!!!!! ANy ideas as what we can do?? Should I call the airlines direct?? If the seats are already assigned there is not to much they can do right??? HELP!!!!! I am so worried that the flight is going to be a total nightmare of holding down DS's legs and him crying because of it. He loves to fly and this is the only problem ..the kicking and rocking .......Thanks for any great ideas you may have

 

[SueM in MN]

I found your other post and added a reply there. Good luck with getting what you need.

 

[JudithM]

You might be able to change seats with the people sitting in the front row. I would ask every chance you get - checkin, at the gate, on the plane, etc. It's worth the try! Good luck & think positively.

 

[pugdog]

the bulk head seats are resevered for mobility needs. One thing that you can do is show up atleast an hour early and explain to the ticket agent about your delima and see if they will help. It rally depends on your travel agent on if you can get the bulk head seats with some they can get them and others can't. we have always gotten them when we asked the ticket agent though.

 

[Figaro]

Hi, we just got back from a trip to Colorado, and I can tell you what we were told by the airline (Northwest in our case) people. They reserve bulkhead (the first row of seats behind first class) first of all for people with mobility problems, second for adults travelling with infants, and third on a first come, first served basis. They told us that they had to leave a certain percentage of the bulkhead seats "open" on the day of the flight in case someone showed up in a wheelchair. Their advice was to be sure to get to the airport at least two hours before the flight (when we don't have confirmed bulkhead seating), explain our needs to the ticket agent and hope for the best.

If our reservations are made several months ahead, and at the time we make our reservations we let them know about needing bulkhead seats because of my lack of mobility, we usually get them about half of the time. When we don't have confirmed bulkhead seats, we try to get to the airport at least 2 and 1/2 hours before our flight, and have only not gotten bulkhead seats one time.

Mostly, people are very, very nice. Once in a while I have ended up in the bulkhead seat while my spouse has had to sit back a few rows, but mostly we have not had a problem with pre-boarding or getting extra help(smile).

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Thank you all so much for all the wondeful suggestions. I have decided to definitly get to the airport early and keep our fingers crossed. Since DS is in a wheelchair they will be able to see for themselves that he really does need the space if it is possible. I also will very nicely explain that fi the front seats are not available it would be to their benifit to put DH or DD directly in front of DS so they are the ones getting happily kicked all the way to Orlando. Since this is a direct flight to Orlando we are also hoping that it is full of understanding parents and children going to Disney!!!! Again I thank you al for the suggestions . It is so nice to see how people really care.

 

[SueM in MN]

At the very least, the flight should be full of parents who are busy with their own very excited children who are hyperr about going to WDW.

 

[nancycels]

seems to me row 15 depending on the plane may be the one w/the emergency exit... it has extra leg room but u have to be able to help people in case of emergency! ck w/the airline now and see, maybe they can reassign your seat early. Also dont forget, bulkhead seats frequently don't have armrests that move so if someone is trying to easily get in from a wheelchr they aren't a great idea! i've had to move out of the bulkhead area for just that reason! good luck!

 

[pugdog]

the last plane we were on row 15 was the bulkhaed seats, go figure.

 

[minniecarousel]

Hey - yeah - do you know that row 15 is NOT bulkhead? Most airlines have a web-site where you can check out the seat configuration of the plane. Might be worth some further checking.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We're back!!! And thanks to a wonderful person on these boards (Not sure if she wants her name mentioned) we were in front row seats on all flights!!! Thank God since DS got a little plane sick on the last leg of the flight home. The row # for for front row seats was 4 (1-3 being first class, which I might mention had 2 people in it!!!). Thanks again.....you know who you are!