Selecting Seats on Flight- worth the money?

[pickleo]

I am getting ready to purchase our flight for our upcoming Disney trip. I will be traveling with a 3yr old. Is it necessary for me to spend the $90 to assure that our seats are together or can wait for the 24hr. call to check in.

 

[mnrose]

I am getting ready to purchase our flight for our upcoming Disney trip. I will be traveling with a 3yr old. Is it necessary for me to spend the $90 to assure that our seats are together or can wait for the 24hr. call to check in.

We traveled air tran last year, and DH and my son could not sit together on the return flight. There were seats, just not together. I would think with a 3 year old (my son was 9), they would work hard to get you together.

The flight almost certainly will be full (nearly all of them are these days), and if you care, then I'd spend the $90. On our upcoming Feb trip, I paid $6 per seat (or 48 round trip) to get seat assignments. I did not care to go through what I did last year, TYVM. LOL!

 

[wmharley]

i fly Jetblue for that reason (no fees for seats), but i I had to do another airline, I'd pick the seats. I don't want to have my family (5yo and 2yo) split up.

i could ask an attendant or at the counter, but usually the flights are packed and its a no.

 

[bgirl29]

If you want to be guaranteed seats together, you really do need to pay the fee. The airlines will not guarantee you will seat next to the rest of your family without paying the fee.

 

[bettymae1121]

The other issue is carry on bags. With fees for checked bags, everyone brings on a carry on now and the sooner you get on the plane, the better the odds of getting overhead space. The airline I fly on most loads front to back so getting seat towards the front means I get on sooner, other airlines load back to front so a seat at the back means you get on first. By selecting your seats now you'll have control over where you sit which in turn can mean getting on the plane earlier or not. It might be worth the price to not only know you'll sit with your child but that you'll have good odds of not having to gate-check your carry on.

 

[2girlsmommy]

I just flew Airtran with my 2 and 4 year old and didn't pay extra to choose seats. They are not going to separate you and a 3 year old and I'm sure if they tried whomever was sitting next to your child would gladly give up thier seat and trade with you...Who wants to sit next to a 3 year old crying for their mother??? We checked in online exactly 24 hours prior to our flight and I had plenty of seats to choose from, then on the return flight I checked in about 8 hours before our flight (I forgot) and there were still a few open rows and we were fine. I honestly would spend that much money!

 

[Minniemouse07]

We fly Southwest all the time and don't have any issues where we cannot be seated together. We've flown when the kids were 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 & 8 without a problem.

I wouldn't waste the money...use it to buy or do something cool on your trip instead!

 

[crisi]

They WILL seperate you and a three year old if they have to. Remember that flights to Orlando are filled with families - there are very few single adults on the average Orlando flight to sacrifice their seat for your sake. Many people are going to have to move away from their own family to let you sit next to your kid. Some people will do this willingly, some people will not - and having paid for their seat, are not obligated to.

On a different itinerary you can probably count on the kindness of strangers to see you through. On an Orlando flight, that stranger probably has an autistic child or a toddler of their own, or is on their own honeymoon and is sometimes less willing.

 

[ccgirl]

I just flew Airtran with my 2 and 4 year old and didn't pay extra to choose seats. They are not going to separate you and a 3 year old and I'm sure if they tried whomever was sitting next to your child would gladly give up thier seat and trade with you...Who wants to sit next to a 3 year old crying for their mother??? We checked in online exactly 24 hours prior to our flight and I had plenty of seats to choose from, then on the return flight I checked in about 8 hours before our flight (I forgot) and there were still a few open rows and we were fine. I honestly would spend that much money!

You are lucky you did not get split up. I am not willing to take that chance. I am flying AirTran for the first time and it was only $6 per seat. How do you come up with your $ figure OP? If it is important to you that you sit together, pay the fee. If you search the boards you will find instances of children getting separated. If I was the one they asked to give up the seat I would say no. Not to be mean, but because I paid the $ to get the seat I want and I want to seat next to my child. As a PP pointed out flights to Orlando are full of families. Pay the money or live with the consequences and don't complain.

 

[stichy]

I wouldn't pay extra. Once an airline split us up even though we had confirmed seats all together. We said fine if you don't want to fix it we'll just sit the 3 yr old by himself.

 

[simonsmom]

I would pay the extra. have had my 4 year old twins sit apart from me (and not together themselves either). unless your child is very independant

 

[FergieTCat]

I wouldn't pay extra. Once an airline split us up even though we had confirmed seats all together. We said fine if you don't want to fix it we'll just sit the 3 yr old by himself.

I was thinking the same thing. If you got split up, just seat him and ask the person next to him to trade seats with you. If the person refuses, thank them for babysitting. They'll switch!

Seriously though, if you want to avoid the hassle, pay the extra money.

 

[AndreaDM]

They are not going to separate you and a 3 year old and I'm sure if they tried whomever was sitting next to your child would gladly give up thier seat and trade with you...Who wants to sit next to a 3 year old crying for their mother???

But what if THAT person paid the fee to choose his or her seat? They should be required to move for your convenience because you didn't want to pay the fee? Hardly seems fair! Trust me, if someone pays for an aisle seat, he or she is NOT going to be happy to have to sit in the middle to accomodate someone else. When we fly with DD7 I pay to choose seats for her and myself, if DH can sit close that's great, if not, no big deal, we don't all have to sit together, but at least one parent with our daughter. She is really shy and would feel very uncomfortable sitting with strangers so I don't take that chance.

 

[Jaime4004]

I was thinking the same thing. If you got split up, just seat him and ask the person next to him to trade seats with you. If the person refuses, thank them for babysitting. They'll switch!

Seriously though, if you want to avoid the hassle, pay the extra money.

I wouldn't pay. I doubt you'd have a problem. I don't think anyone wants to see (or listen to) a 3 y.o. sitting by themselves. I've seen flight attendants ask for volunteers to move. But I only fly southwest, don't know how the other work...

 

[AndreaDM]

People pay to choose their seats in advance for all kinds of reasons, not just to sit with their kids. My husband flies at least once a month for work and he sometimes chooses seats with leg room on long flights. I don't think he should be put on the spot to have to move to a crappier seat so that a family who DIDN'T pay the fee can sit together. OP, if you want to sit together, suck it up and pay the fee, otherwise risk not being together and/or ticking off other passangers. JMHO of course.

 

[Minniemouse07]

No airline is going to make a child under 5yo sit by themselves on a flight.

That is not only a HUGE liability nightmare, but I can't see other passengers allowing it. I know "I" wouldn't want to be sitting next to an unsupervised 3yo!

I'm NOT saying a family cannot be split up (our family sits one parent/one child in different rows on our flights) but there has to be at least one parent with a young child.

I'm sure if you do find that EVERY other passenger has paid to choose their seats when you go to check in at the 24hr mark (which is highly unlikely)...that the FAs will do all they can to avoid having an extremely young unaccompanied minor on their flight.

 

[richmond282]

We flew Allegiant Air and had no problems. All 3 of us were seated together w/o any problem. And. yes, the plane was full of families flying to Disney.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

DH and I are flying SW to Orlando in March. I did not pay the extra $20.00 each way as we are obviously old enough to sit by ourselves. That being said I plan on doing everything else we can to sit together. If we manage it I would not want to switch seats and separate from DH because you were too cheap to pay to sit by your child. I also would not be babysitting your child. When my kids fly with us (even to this day and they are 18, 20, & 21) I always fly an airline where we pre-book our seats so we are together, and yes it is more expensive than SW. Now for you isse, will it be ok? Probably, but if it is not it is not the problem of the other passengers on the flight to fix if things do not work out. Only you can decide what is more important to you, a few dollars or your peace of mind.

 

[sjs314]

I have never flown on an aircraft where you do not get advance seating but rest assured if I did and I was flying as a family I would pay in advance to be able to choose my seats. I try to book early as it is so that I can have my choice of seats I prefer window and front of plane.

I can not imagine the amount of people who say don't worry someone will move so you can sit with your child and as one pp mentioned taller passengers need aisle seats to be more comfortable and many times pay for those seats in advance and do not see why they should feel obligated to move.

Pay for the seats in advance and you won't have to worry, peace of mind is priceless

 

[Ava]

I was thinking the same thing. If you got split up, just seat him and ask the person next to him to trade seats with you. If the person refuses, thank them for babysitting. They'll switch!

I understand you're being funny, but if someone actually said that to me on a flight I'd be VERY annoyed. Everyone is responsible for their own family's comfort/safety & I think it's rude to expect a stranger to switch seats just because you don't want to pay the fee. Extra fees are a part of flying these days; if you don't want to pay them either find an airline that doesn't charge them, live with the consequences of not paying them, or don't fly. I would not want to sit next to someone else's 3-year-old, but I would if moving would cause me to be separated from my own child.