Seats together on plane to WDW

[crisi]

I wouldn't count on preboarding for small children. Many times there are so many families the whole plane would preboard.

When we preboarded it wasn't all small children preboarding, it was us so that we could be "in the seat" when the ticket holder for the seat arrived.

On business flights they usually preboard small children. On flights to Orlando I've never seen it happen. As you said, the whole plane would preboard.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I wouldn't count on preboarding for small children. Many times there are so many families the whole plane would preboard.

SWA does this b/c they do zone seating--and unassigned seats. They allow families with children under 5 to pre-board b/c otherwise....they'd run the risk of not getting seats together in this set up.

 

[ptslp]

On American, you can get emails about any changes to your flights or reservation (times, or plane style changes) and then you go to the website and change your seating. We have been fine with keeping the seats we booked ahead of time and we did not pre-print our boarding passes- the computer wouldn't allow us to do it.

As for preboarding- I wouldn't count on it to Orlando. We flew from NY to Orlando with 2 car seats to be installed and asked about pre-boarding with the kids so we didn't hold everyone up and we were told that to Orlando, there is no pre-boarding for children, since half the plane is made up of young children. Just an FYI!

Good luck. You will probably be fine if you select your seats early online or call AA to select your seats. Double check when you get there and make sure they are still together.

 

[murcor]

Purchased airline tickets and paid the x-tra 15.oo p/p for seat selection. The travel agent then goes ahead and book 4 seats that are in different areas of the plane. Im like.....the ages of the kids are 4 & 3 (which they know because they asked) why would I pay extra for those seat selections???? It was too late, she couldnt change it!!! If I would have known that was all that was availlable I would have booked another flight or even another day.

She suggests I call Air Canada, In tears, I call Air Canada...there is nothing they can do, but assured me at check in they would handle it.

At check in they said try at the gate.

At the gate they said they were too busy and they were trying to get other passengers seats as the flight was also oversold.

I was assured by other passengers that they will give up their seats so I can sit my kids. (thanks for their kindness)

Just before boarding began my ds & dd were paged to the boarding area ......Air Canada thought they were unaccompanied minors ..... huh

I was beginning to think I was going to have a nervous breakdown!

Good news...in the end we got to sit together

 

[MrsPete]

You're not likely to be separated from your children in the first place; if you are, people will probably be willing to switch with you.

If not, here's how to handle it:

Begin by telling the person seated next to your child --the one who insists he or she cannot move -- that the child has really been a handful that morning, and secretly you're glad for the rest. Begin by explaining that the child is a bit fearful about flying, but if the adult will just talk to him throughout the take-off process, he should get over it without much of a tantrum -- too bad he's too young for gum. He did have that ear infection last week, and the take-off could be painful to his ears. Then open up the child's bag and explain that you've brought along crayons and coloring books, and they should entertain him for 15-20 minutes -- caution the adult that he does like to throw crayons, and do make sure he doesn't put them up his nose. There was that Emergency Room trip, but, oh, why talk about that now? After that, it'll be time to read a couple books -- here they are -- the child does so enjoy when you read with enthusiasm and use different voices for the characters. Oh, and you're really sorry that you forgot to give the child some motion sickness medicine before you left the house, but he's only thrown up twice before in the car, so it should be okay. At this point, you show the child the barf bag and say, "Remember what Mommy said this is for?" Demonstrate just for good measure. Before you have time to bring out the child's snacks, the adult will be begging to trade with you.

 

[tazleiten12]

You're not likely to be separated from your children in the first place; if you are, people will probably be willing to switch with you.

If not, here's how to handle it:

Begin by telling the person seated next to your child --the one who insists he or she cannot move -- that the child has really been a handful that morning, and secretly you're glad for the rest. Begin by explaining that the child is a bit fearful about flying, but if the adult will just talk to him throughout the take-off process, he should get over it without much of a tantrum -- too bad he's too young for gum. He did have that ear infection last week, and the take-off could be painful to his ears. Then open up the child's bag and explain that you've brought along crayons and coloring books, and they should entertain him for 15-20 minutes -- caution the adult that he does like to throw crayons, and do make sure he doesn't put them up his nose. There was that Emergency Room trip, but, oh, why talk about that now? After that, it'll be time to read a couple books -- here they are -- the child does so enjoy when you read with enthusiasm and use different voices for the characters. Oh, and you're really sorry that you forgot to give the child some motion sickness medicine before you left the house, but he's only thrown up twice before in the car, so it should be okay. At this point, you show the child the barf bag and say, "Remember what Mommy said this is for?" Demonstrate just for good measure. Before you have time to bring out the child's snacks, the adult will be begging to trade with you.

I love this idea!

 

[crisi]

Don't forget that if you do need the snack, the correct prop is the red juice box, with "remember, Mommy said don't squeeze or you'll spill all over the man next to you." And something gooey to eat - chocolate pudding. By this time, the person in the seat next to your child will either be bolting out the door, or will deserve what he gets.

 

[scrapperjill]

You're not likely to be separated from your children in the first place; if you are, people will probably be willing to switch with you.

If not, here's how to handle it:

Begin by telling the person seated next to your child --the one who insists he or she cannot move -- that the child has really been a handful that morning, and secretly you're glad for the rest. Begin by explaining that the child is a bit fearful about flying, but if the adult will just talk to him throughout the take-off process, he should get over it without much of a tantrum -- too bad he's too young for gum. He did have that ear infection last week, and the take-off could be painful to his ears. Then open up the child's bag and explain that you've brought along crayons and coloring books, and they should entertain him for 15-20 minutes -- caution the adult that he does like to throw crayons, and do make sure he doesn't put them up his nose. There was that Emergency Room trip, but, oh, why talk about that now? After that, it'll be time to read a couple books -- here they are -- the child does so enjoy when you read with enthusiasm and use different voices for the characters. Oh, and you're really sorry that you forgot to give the child some motion sickness medicine before you left the house, but he's only thrown up twice before in the car, so it should be okay. At this point, you show the child the barf bag and say, "Remember what Mommy said this is for?" Demonstrate just for good measure. Before you have time to bring out the child's snacks, the adult will be begging to trade with you.

Hahaha...Love this one. We may just have to try it. Right now we have our whole group of 12 seated near each other...that is all but one of the kids. It's our neice...she's 12 and joined our group just a couple weeks ago. Were lucky she was even able to get a seat on the same flight as us...since we booked our flight MONTHS ago. But as it is right now...we have groups of 3,3,3,2,and 1.....we are hoping there will be a kind stranger sitting next to the group of "2" (which is my dd12 and her friend 13)...that will swap seats with our neice (12)...so she can sit with the other girls. When we selected our neices seats...we made sure to pick the same area (isle, window, middle) as the booked seat near the other two girls...so if the person that booked the "isle" seat near dd and friend would still get an isle seat if she/he swithched. I hope it helps.

One thing were not looking forward to is the fact the our neice DOES get car sick...and has done so MANY MANY times...so in some ways the other girls are happy she's not sitting with them. I just think it would make her flight (6.5hrs) alot better to be sitting with other people she knows.

 

[can'twait]

Mrs. Pete, that's classic! LOL! I can't imagine why anyone would want to sit next to an unattended small child. Unless they have special needs themselves, who cares where you sit? Then again, I haven't flown in years so maybe it does matter, but still, if someone asks you to switch so they can sit with their kid, how could you say no and look yourself in the mirror?

 

[Zoesmama03]

When we preboarded it wasn't all small children preboarding, it was us so that we could be "in the seat" when the ticket holder for the seat arrived.

On business flights they usually preboard small children. On flights to Orlando I've never seen it happen. As you said, the whole plane would preboard.

I've been on half a dozen Orlando flights that all had preboarding. I've flown SWA NWA and TWA all had preboarding. Of course we were kids under 18 flying alone so may be different but I can assure you others getting on in the preboard were families or those in wheelchairs.

 

[jtopp]

flew to orlando many times with small children. Only once did I have an issue about seat assignments, and it was cleared up at check-in. Have used USAir, Airtran, Southwest, United, Delta, and USA3000 out of PHL, and never had a problem. You should have no problems having already booked your flight.
Good Luck

 

[Pinnie]

My bil works for NWA so I was reassured (and later confirmed with SWA) that families with kids under 5 do get to pre-board. However---you do need to get to the gate early...b/c I did see at a couple of places on

NOT always true. I have been on numerous SWA flights out of MCO where perboarding families with young children was suspended because there were so many of them, unless the parents had bought a seat for a child in a carseat.

pinnie

 

[MomOf3Mice]

Okay, SO nervous now about our flight! We too are flying USAir with 2 adults and 3 kids (ages 7.5, 5, and 2.5). I have preselected seats so that we can all sit together, but obviously that doesn't mean a hill of beans!

Our flight leaves early in the morning, so I guess we will practically have to be spending the night at the airport to ensure seats together, and then not even be sure!

Oh, I pray for kind souls who will switch with us!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

NOT always true. I have been on numerous SWA flights out of MCO where perboarding families with young children was suspended because there were so many of them, unless the parents had bought a seat for a child in a carseat.

pinnie

We had a car seat--and on our particular flight...no suspension announcement.

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

We have taken at least 10 R/T flights with our kids since dd5 was born. At least 70% of them have ended up with reassigned seats after our initial booking. We almost always books several months (frequently 6 months or more) in advance and this really seems to increase our chances of having our seat assignments messed up. We almost always fly AA (we are in DFW where AA is king and few other airlines offer direct flights) and I make it a habit to check our seat assignments on any already booked flights at least once a week. I found that not doing so means I find out too late that our seats have been reassigned and then there are no seats together left to put us in. Even when the plane is still mostly unbooked, the computer that reassigns the seats will frequently not put our seats together (even with an under 2 child in a purchased seat with a carseat - ds was once assigned 10 rows away by himself at age 6 months). So, I would recommend checking and rechecking so that if you are reassigned you can try to deal with it as early as possible. We have even been reassigned multiple times throughout the months leading up to our flights - very frustrating to book great seats months ahead of time only to end up in lousy seats at the back of the plance due to computer reassignment.

I know that the you can ask people when you get on board but with small kids and carseats in tow it is stressful enough just getting on board. When we have had a problem, the airline personnel always makes it our problem ("you'll have to ask someone to switch" rather than offering in any way to assist) to deal with which means going to one of our booked seats with kids and carseat (that can't be installed yet since we don't really know where we'll be sitting) and then waiting until the people show up so we can ask them about switching. It just makes the whole experiene so stressful and frustrating since I did everything I could by booking the right seats in the first place. Other passengers are always grumbling about how they booked the seat they wanted and now they have to move (assuming that I must have booked at the last minute with no seats together available) to accommodate my family.

So, just be prepared and check as often as possible on your seat assignments. Hopefully all will be well for you and your family and you won't have any switching to worry about.

 

[Disney Ella]

We've only had this problem with US Air - won't fly with them again for this reason. Our seats were taken away when the aircraft was reassigned; they wouldn't assign us new seats over the phone, said seats together would be available at the gate. The customer service rep also insisted that they would never split up parents and children.

When we got to the gate (and not at the last minute either - for those people who claim you're only out of luck if you get there at the last minute), the gate attendants did not care at all what we were told over the phone and said the plane was oversold and there was nothing they could do.

None of us were sitting together. DH got someone to switch so that the two girls could at least sit together. He had to ask several people before anyone agreed to switch.

Obviously this could happen on any airline, but it happened to us on US Air, and that, coupled with the two hours we had to wait for our luggage, has encouraged us to give our business to other airlines.

 

[NotUrsula]

When we have had a problem, the airline personnel always makes it our problem ("you'll have to ask someone to switch" rather than offering in any way to assist) to deal with which means going to one of our booked seats with kids and carseat (that can't be installed yet since we don't really know where we'll be sitting) and then waiting until the people show up so we can ask them about switching.

This really should NOT be an issue for two contiguous seats if you are using a paid-for carseat. FAA regs specify the legal placement of carseats, so if you are using one, it's rather tough luck if the FA's don't want to be the bad guy and move people; they HAVE to find a legal spot for that carseat, and with a parent right beside it in case of emergency. On a US-based carrier, you have a legal right to use an approved carseat if you paid for the seat and the child fits the weight limit, and if there is assigned seating, it is not your responsibility but the airline's to make sure that seat is in a legal spot. (On SWA, it *is* your responsibility to plan your arrival at the gate so that you will be there in time to preboard, so that they can get you onboard and into a legal spot before open boarding begins.)

One thing to note about this: gate-agents often do not know the rules about where a carseat may not be placed, and will often leave the matter up to the FA, who does know. To avoid having to play musical chairs after boarding, don't accept assignments in the row in front of or behind the exit rows. If they offer you the exit row (even though it's not a legal spot), go ahead and take it, because that is one seating position that other passengers are guaranteed to be willing to trade for. If you are stuck with separated seats, try to get any open aisles that are available; these are also more attractive as trades.

 

[Delilah Bleu]

After reading this thread I am a little concerned. It's been about 6 years since we've flown. My DD is 8 but does not remember flying. Although she is independent, I would hate for her to have to sit next to strangers for a 6-7 hour flight. We are flying SWA. I plan to check in on-line at 12:01AM. It's a 8 AM flight on a Sunday (12/18). I can only hope that we will end up together!

 

[ChrisAlli]

It was my understanding that carseats need to be next to the window??? I e-mailed Airtran since I have two car seats obviously they can't be together. They put my DH and DD in one row and me and DS right behind them, they e-mailed me my seat assignments, now I'm nervous they may not accomodate us, I'll just get there early. One more thing to worry about!

 

[Nancyg56]

You're not likely to be separated from your children in the first place; if you are, people will probably be willing to switch with you.

If not, here's how to handle it:

Begin by telling the person seated next to your child --the one who insists he or she cannot move -- that the child has really been a handful that morning, and secretly you're glad for the rest. Begin by explaining that the child is a bit fearful about flying, but if the adult will just talk to him throughout the take-off process, he should get over it without much of a tantrum -- too bad he's too young for gum. He did have that ear infection last week, and the take-off could be painful to his ears. Then open up the child's bag and explain that you've brought along crayons and coloring books, and they should entertain him for 15-20 minutes -- caution the adult that he does like to throw crayons, and do make sure he doesn't put them up his nose. There was that Emergency Room trip, but, oh, why talk about that now? After that, it'll be time to read a couple books -- here they are -- the child does so enjoy when you read with enthusiasm and use different voices for the characters. Oh, and you're really sorry that you forgot to give the child some motion sickness medicine before you left the house, but he's only thrown up twice before in the car, so it should be okay. At this point, you show the child the barf bag and say, "Remember what Mommy said this is for?" Demonstrate just for good measure. Before you have time to bring out the child's snacks, the adult will be begging to trade with you.

I had been thinking of the barf bag, but I love your sense of "drama" so perhaps best to lead up to a slam dunk finish. I would happily buy tickets to your show.