Seats together on plane to WDW

[ptslp]

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!

That is what I thought too- but found out that as long as the aisle is not blocked, then a carseat can be on an aisle seat. I was travelling with dd (rear facing) and ds (front facing) - with relatives, but "by myself"- I wanted them with me in case of a meltdown type problem, rather than rows away with someone else. Anyway, I put dd near the window and ds by the aisle- one attendant said something, but I said how can I put ds next to dd- then I can't get to dd in an emergency. They said fine. All the other flights like that were not a problem- no one even mentioned it.

If there are two seats in a row, I would put the carseat in the window seat because I think it is better to have the aisle for myself. Also, your child won't get hit/bumped with a drink cart or people walking by

 

[Rapunsel]

I just came back from a trip to California... I was on United and I had the &^%$#@#$ of a person to deal with on the plane... A passenger that it is . I informed the flight attendent that my son was seated in front of me and I would like him across from me. She said to put him in the seat that I wanted him in and make the other person move. Well in came this lady and her Daughter. She thought she was the Queen of France.... She $%^&#@$ and complained that she needed to sit with her Daughter... Who was not 2 as you would think but about 25. I had DD8 mos next to the window next to me a had my DS 3.5 across in her seat. She came in and yelled at me that my son was in her seat and I had to move him because that we her seat etc...

I just said that I met the passenger that is supposed to sit next to him and he did not mind moving at all..

So needless to say when my DD started scraming bloody murder because the sun was in her eyes the $%^&%# passenger didn't want to block her view by closing the shade. So I loudly wisperd to my DD that the nasty lady in front of you seems not to mind that you are screaming because the sun is in you eyes.

Needless to say. I hope that woman had a crappy flight for cussing at my son.

But the older gentleman who sat next to my DS complemented me on having such a nice seat mate.



While I am venting. I had another flight where it was my Ds (about 4mos.) and I. and there were plenty of open seats around and they offered an open seat to the guy who was next to me who was on the aisle to move. Well he put up a fit this was his seat and he was supposed to sit there and was not moving...

Needless to say I was unble to nurse my son in my seat because this guy stared at me the entire flight and smelled nasty. So I told the FA what was happening and she let me sit else where to nurse him and he sat in his car seat for take off and landing.


I give the FA a hand though. They can make or break a flight. I had one give my son a hot fude sundae once.. We have flome AA ever since...

I don't worry about seats.. I just put in what I want to begin with and let them know that I will make a scene if we are not together. But who will argue with a woman with 2 kids who is flying alone..

Best of luck to you all out there.. HAve a safe tip to WDW..

 

[Colinsmom]

That is what I thought too- but found out that as long as the aisle is not blocked, then a carseat can be on an aisle seat.

That's never been my experience. I've always been required to put the car seat in a window seat, regardless of whether the aisle would be blocked or not. If you have two car seats that have to go in the same row, you are required to put them in the window and middle. Of course, not all FAs will enforce the rules the same way, but I would go on with those expectations since that is almost always how it works.

 

[bunnysmum]

Thank you all for the reassurances. I had planned to make the children practice falling down and throwing a fit to ensure that no one else would want to sit by them. Good to know I should not have to resort to such measures!

 

[NotUrsula]

Even if airline personnel for some reason do not enforce the window position placement of a carseat, they normally do not allow babies to sit on the aisle; as there is too great a chance that the child's hand or foot might be caught and crushed by a service cart as it goes by. The carts have almost no clearance in the aisle, and weigh quite a bit when fully loaded. People get injured by them quite often, actually, including the FA's.

 

[Kimmielee]

Booked a very last minute flight at Christmas last year to go to KY to surprise my 79 year old Father. When I booked and selected the seats... there were NOT two seats together for DS (5) and I. I called NWA and explained the situation and the person was more than accomodating.... and put us together immediately. I assume someone got "bumped" to another seat... because we needed to be together.

That was the travel day from #%#@ because we ended up spending 10 hours in the airport before take off anyway!!!

I've flown about 6 times in the last 5 years with my little one, never been separated, never had a problem... all on NWA or Spirit.

 

[deadhedjen]

Another gripe anout US Air here...

We are a family of 6. Our baby was still in the rear-facing infant seat when we flew and we purchased a seat for her. We were picking up a connecting flight in Pittsburgh on US Air going to MCO. Well, since our tickets/boarding passes from our travel agent showed our seats were all together, and in the front rows. We waited for our row to be called rather than board earlier with the kids...figured it'd be less time they'd have to sit still. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Turns out the seat assignment was changed to accomodate other passengers that wanted to travel together....even though our passes said our seats were together.
When we went to board the aircraft, DH was first to board. He notices that others are in our seats and says "hey honey, what are our seat numbers again?" I look at our tickets, tell him the row/seat numbers only to find others in our seats. I say, "um, excuse me please but you are all sitting in our seats" BIG lady in one of our seats gives me a look and says "I don't think so!"
There we are..DH and his carry-on, the 3 school age kids and their carry-on junk, and me with the baby in the infant seat. The flight attendant asks what is wrong...calls out to the terminal only to find out seats are all changed!!! NOT A SINGLE SEAT WAS TOGETHER!!!!!
The flight attendant notices the baby in the carrier and realizes she has a problem. THere's another flight attendant trying to help by now as well but its not going well. The one goes up to first class and sees how many seats are available there while the other one asks if anyone would please move around in coach to make room for us. A few passengers agreed to move. And after they do the other flight attendant comes back from first class and asks a few more passengers if they would like first class seats. Of course they do...people started getting up and heading for first class. This pissed off the folks that moved around in coach. ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!
DH is now totally aggravated and I'm trying to calm him down. The kids are all like "we're going to Disney, We're going to Disney" over and over.
BY NOW WE HAVE DELAYED THE FLIGHT. THE PILOT LOST HIS TURN AT THE RUNWAY. not good.

We all sit down and the pilot has to make the announcement overhead that our flight will be delayed. We'll have to wait at least 20 min for runway clearance now. Boy are people REALLY mad at us now. It was AWFUL!!!

People are complaining that now they might not make their connecting flights, etc.

We ended up sitting in 2 groups of 3. I sat next to the baby and some guy sat next to me. DD age 7 at the time had to sit one row up from me with 2 strangers. DH sat by himself a few rows back with DS and DD (9 and 5) in the row in front of him. They also sat with another child from a different family (his family was split up as well).

When we got to our hotel, I immediately called US Air to complain but more importantly to make sure our return flight would not end up this way. Get this...someone connected with our previous flight had already contacted them to MAKE SURE our seats were not split up on our return flight home.
What an aggravation!!!
We had a blast at Disney though!!!!
Don't we always???

Jennifer.

 

[bunnysmum]

What are the airlines thinking!! Clearly their system needs an overhaul if they are regularly splitting up families. Good grief. It is not safe for parents and their young children to be separated!

My dd is 5 yo and if we have the misfortune to be split up on our flight to MCO this January, I plan to announce very loudly to anyone foolish enough to refuse to change seats with us, "Thank you for agreeing then, to sit next to my child, who has attention deficit HYPERACTIVITY disorder (the truth) for this 2.5 hour flight! I'm sure she'll be no trouble at all."

 

[safetymom]

Whatever happened to courtesy on a airplane? People do have the right to refuse to switch with you. Do you know their circumstances and why they needed that particular seat?

 

[tjmw2727]

Whatever happened to courtesy on a airplane? People do have the right to refuse to switch with you. Do you know their circumstances and why they needed that particular seat?

I am not sure what happened to courtesy on aircraft but if I need to sit with my preschool dd and have reserved seats together 6+ months in advance I expect to sit in those seats. If someone has taken my assigned seat then I do expect them to "switch". Otherwise I just hope someone will switch but I don't expect it. OTOH, DH and I always offer to switch and help families when we are flying solo or together but without the kids.

I was a regular AA flier but after having my seats reasigned on many many flights that I had booked well in advance I won't fly them anymore if I have a reasonalbe alternative. (Trying SWA in October!)

AA was constantly "changing the equipment" and despite the rep's promise that our seats are linked as one adult two young children they always end up separating us. Most of the time the gate agents try but they mistakenly assume that people will "help us out" when often they won't.

One trip on AA my then 4yo and I had window middle and my then 6yo had the asile in the row just in front of us. I very nicely asked the woman seated with dd and I if she would consider moving up one row to the exact same seat so the three of us could sit together and you would have thought I asked for a million dollars. She did however consent to move but only after I agreed to help her "move her things"??? She was flying alone anyway so No I wasn't separating her from anyone.

Anyway - best bet is to check the seats fairly often and if they do an equipment change and your seats get rearranged then call for help. Get to the airport early and check in to verify your boarding passes have the correct seats and then board the plane on time. Make a back up plan as to who can sit alone if necessary and ideal groups of 2 at the most. Pack separate backpacks for each kid just in case.

Have a grat, safe trip.
TJ

 

[Pinnie]

I am not sure what happened to courtesy on aircraft but if I need to sit with my preschool dd and have reserved seats together 6+ months in advance I expect to sit in those seats. If someone has taken my assigned seat then I do expect them to "switch". TJ

I have seen it written many times on this board that the airlines are selling you a SEAT, not a SPECIFIC seat. What is to say that the person who is in your seat when YOU get there didn't book his/her seat the day before you did? OR in some cases is a FF and gets priority? I fly the legacy airlines only when I have too, prefering the open seating of SWA. I know NWA won't let you pick a seat until 90 days out.

Many factors are involved in seating changes including flights that are eliminated and/or combined and equipment changes.

I think we all have to go in with the realization that if we book our flights far iin advance, more chances than not, there WILL be changes to the schedule/seating.

pinnie

 

[tjmw2727]

I have seen it written many times on this board that the airlines are selling you a SEAT, not a SPECIFIC seat. What is to say that the person who is in your seat when YOU get there didn't book his/her seat the day before you did? OR in some cases is a FF and gets priority? I fly the legacy airlines only when I have too, prefering the open seating of SWA. I know NWA won't let you pick a seat until 90 days out.

Many factors are involved in seating changes including flights that are eliminated and/or combined and equipment changes.

I think we all have to go in with the realization that if we book our flights far iin advance, more chances than not, there WILL be changes to the schedule/seating.

pinnie

Agreed for the most part, except that if my boarding pass says row 9 seats a,b,c and someone else has decided to sit in that/those seats I will "expect" them to move. My mention of booking in advance is a result of those on the flights, who when asked to move, assume that we booked late and deserve to be separated. I do understand that I am getting a potential favor but some do overreact, IMHO! And yes I have experienced both of the above situations.

When my seats are re-assigned then I know full well I am on my own. Its better now that my girls are older and can sit alone if necessary. Honestly though you would think that a family who plans ahead, picks a flight with seating together and pays for the ticket under those conditions should be able to expect to sit together. I know we can't I just think we should, LOL.

Like you I have started flying alternative airlines, LOVE Jet Blue and we are trying SWA in October.

TJ

 

[bunnysmum]

Whatever happened to courtesy on a airplane? People do have the right to refuse to switch with you. Do you know their circumstances and why they needed that particular seat?

Either I was unclear (and badly botched an attempt to be a little light-hearted in the face of dealing with ADHD 24/7), or perhaps you misunderstood my intent.

Of course, people have the right to refuse to switch. And of course, I would never haul off and launch into a tirade right off the bat when attempting to arrange a switch if this ever happened to me. If one person refused to switch, there are certainly others that might be willing to, and I would make every attempt to quietly find some other way to seat us together. (I might however, resort to such tactics if the plane were about to take off, and no one, including the flight attendants were able to work with us. Although I guess I could just sit down and wait for my daughter's behavior to demonstrate the need for other seating arrangements.)

However, as other posters have pointed out, if I have reserved side-by-side seats to accommodate my ADHD child, then it seems reasonable to me to expect that, for her sake, for my sake, AND for the sake of unsuspecting passengers who would otherwise have to endure a very long flight next to her, it really would be best if SOME switching arrangement could be made. Believe me, to do otherwise really would be discourteous on my part.

Please don't worry. I'm not as discourteous as I evidently appeared to be.
(I should probably go back to lurking...I don't seem to have the hang of this.)

 

[Kimmielee]

Either I was unclear (and badly botched an attempt to be a little light-hearted in the face of dealing with ADHD 24/7), or perhaps you misunderstood my intent.

Please don't worry. I'm not as discourteous as I evidently appeared to be.
(I should probably go back to lurking...I don't seem to have the hang of this.)

Bunnysmum, please don't feel that way! Everyone's opinion counts... You can't imagine how many posts I have to go back and edit after reading them... I referred to another poster today as a SHE and he was a HE. Don't be discouraged... just be yourself! That's what the DIS is all about!

 

[can'twait]

After reading this thread I became worried, so I called my TA and asked her if we had assigned seats. She said Spirit doesn't assign seats ahead of time unless you booked the flight online directly with them, then you can can reserve seat assignments online. The TA booked for us, and not online. Great. She assured me that as long as we get there early we won't be separated. That's just what I need, to get there even earlier and torture the kids even longer.

 

[abaldacci]

I feel so much better after reading this. NOT!!! We leave on friday. Hope all goes well.