Selecting Seats on Flight- worth the money?

[4MCMICKEY]

I just learned from someone on the boards that on the larger Airtran planes that if you select the last row of seats on the plane there is no charge. I was able to book all of our seats this way and not pay anything.

Kelley

 

[crisi]

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.

Or you could get my friend, who entertained the child next to her with "Love Actually" off her laptop. She didn't have any problems at all as long as she let him watch the movie.

 

[tjmw2727]

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.

I know from experience that this is absolutely not true. I have seen it on almost every airline even the ones with assigned seating. I have also experienced it first hand due to an equipment change and my dd did fine in the asile seat 2 rows ahead of me and my younger dd.

IMHO if sitting with any member of my travel party is important to me for whatever reason and I have the option to make that happen I am going to do it.

 

[quentina]

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.

I always pay for this. I do not want to take any chances of being split up, my kids are 13, 8 and 6. I know that they probably could sit alone however; in event of emergency, I want them near me.

 

[crashbb]

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.

Nope, sorry. Airlines can and will allow a child to sit some other than beside their parent. The only exception is a child in a car seat.

I'm not saying it happens often, but I've seen it happen. The FAs may ask for volunteers to move but they will not, usually, make anyone do so.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Just a huge FYI - if you are talking SouthWest, you are paying for a place in line - not an assigned seat. Please note the huge difference. In June, we paid the early bird check-in fee to sit together, and on the connecting flight, we were some of the last to board (because we were connecting and got to the gate after they started boarding). They do not wait to board the plane just because you have A-8 (for example) and you aren't there.

I sat in the very last seat on that plane because we were heading toward the back to try to sit together. When we realized all the seats in the back were taken, we turned around only to see the people who boarded after us had taken every seat toward the front of the plane. There were exactly 4 seats left - all middles, and all in different areas of the plane. Every seat was booked. I won't even go into why my seat was the last on the plane -i.e. no-one else wanted it.

Be aware that on Southwest you are not in assigned seats even when paying the early bird fee.

 

[Hannathy]

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.

You shouldn't really make statement that are blatantly not true. Airlines will can and do have 5 yr olds and under sit by themselves.
If the childs parent doesn't feel it is important enough to pay to sit with their child I feel it isn't very important so why should I move.

As far as sitting your child next to me, that is fine! Kids generally aren't a problem when they are away from Mom. I have had some interesting conversations with little ones! Plus they don't overflow into my seat.

If it is important to you to sit with your family pay the money but if you don't care then don't pay.

These threads always make me think of folks at TT in the single rider line who then get mad when they aren't in the same car as their kid!

 

[maxiesmom]

If the childs parent doesn't feel it is important enough to pay to sit with their child I feel it isn't very important so why should I move.

Exactly!!!!!!!

 

[Minniemouse07]

Apparently over the last ten years of parenting...with over 24 flight with at least one child, on four different airlines...I have been in some Utopian travel bubble.

In all that time I haven't seen any families that were forced to sit apart from their children...in fact it has been he exact opposite where FA's (even on packed flights to & from MCO) went out of their way to seat them together.
I also asked a friend of mine her experience. She has logged tens o thousands of air miles with her kids (takes them on business trips often)... and she said he same thing. Has never seen it and would be stunned if an FA didn't step in and reseat passengers until the small child was with a parent.
I stand by my original recommendation to the OP. Skip the pricey reserved seats, check in online at 24hrs out, and enjoy visiting Mickey with an extra $90 in your pocket!

 

[tjmw2727]

Apparently over the last ten years of parenting...with over 24 flight with at least one child, on four different airlines...I have been in some Utopian travel bubble.

In all that time I haven't seen any families that were forced to sit apart from their children...in fact it has been he exact opposite where FA's (even on packed flights to & from MCO) went out of their way to seat them together.
I also asked a friend of mine her experience. She has logged tens o thousands of air miles with her kids (takes them on business trips often)... and she said he same thing. Has never seen it and would be stunned if an FA didn't step in and reseat passengers until the small child was with a parent.
I stand by my original recommendation to the OP. Skip the pricey reserved seats, check in online at 24hrs out, and enjoy visiting Mickey with an extra $90 in your pocket!

You have been lucky - especially lately with all the extra fees and aircraft flying at capacity or over capacity.

As I said prior - my dd sat alone at 5yo a few rows in front of my 3yo dd and I - doubt me if you want. We were late for a connection due to a weather delay and almost missed the flight. The FA offered a free drink if folks would move and nobody jumped.

Just 2 weeks ago a dad and son about 6ish boarded with separate seat assignments and were held to them, the FA's did very little to re-seat them.

I fly almost monthly and have for over 16 years (unfortunately), most of the time as the solo adult with one or both of my dd's and I have seen many familes separated for one reason or another including kids 8 and younger.

We aren't talking about moving to first class or paying for preferrred seats - we are talking about taking a chance that a young child will sit alone.

IMHO it is irresponsible to wait and see if I can sit with my 3yo, or rely on the kindless of others, most of whom paid for their seats, to move. I would much rather spend $100 to insure it and skip a nice dinner or souvineers at WDW.

We see these same folks that can't spend $10 pp to sit with a toddler complaining on the transportation board that all the other meanies would not move for them to sit with their child and the FA won't help.

FWIW I have moved for a family more than once, even when it meant sitting apart from my kids once they were old enough.

 

[crashbb]

You have been lucky - especially lately with all the extra fees and aircraft flying at capacity or over capacity.

Heck, I was separated from my parents when I was about 3-4 years old and that was decades ago. My family still teases me about it because I came off the flight telling them I wanted to become Jewish - the man sitting beside me got a Kosher meal and his dessert was better than mine. Then there was the flight that I got my bubblegum stuck in my hair and came off the flight with my bangs all gummed together (my mum had to chop off my bangs). Okay, that last example may be giving credence to the idea that children shouldn't sit away from their parents

Then again, my parents sent me as an UM the day after my fifth birthday and I flew as an UM many times and after I turned 12 I just flew alone entirely, so perhaps my view is skewed.

If parents feel that it is imperative that they sit beside their children (and I do get that) then it behooves them to do what they can to ensure that it happens.

Like a PP, I fly a lot and have seen kids separated from their parents. I've also moved to allow families to sit together (though when the parent just sits in my seat and tells me I have to move, I won't).

 

[wdwfan16]

I would pay while traveling with a 3 year old. If I am traveling by myself then I don't worry about it and take my chances.

 

[Minniemouse07]

I guess my main point is that if the OP checks in at the 24hr mark...she shouldn't have a problem getting seats together.

...and FWIW it isn't about getting away with something or being cheap it is about being logical. Both of my kids had their own seats (paid for) on flights when flying before two years old.

It doesn't make sense for the OP to lay out $90 for seats that she will get together if she does online check in. If the OP said she had no intention of checking in online...then by all means pay the $90 and be done with it!

 

[mnrose]

I guess my main point is that if the OP checks in at the 24hr mark...she shouldn't have a problem getting seats together.

...and FWIW it isn't about getting away with something or being cheap it is about being logical. Both of my kids had their own seats (paid for) on flights when flying before two years old.

It doesn't make sense for the OP to lay out $90 for seats that she will get together if she does online check in. If the OP said she had no intention of checking in online...then by all means pay the $90 and be done with it!

Just because you check in on line is NO guarantee that you will get seats together. On the flight where we were separated, we tried to check in on line to get seats together (paying very careful attention to do so precisely 24 hours in advance). There WERE seats (delightful middle seat scattered throughout the craft), just none together.

Depending on where and when you are going, it's a crapshoot to get seats together. You cannot bank on it happening, as many previous posters in this very thread can attest.

If the OP wishes to take her chances, I wish her well. If she wants to guarantee seats together, then she should pay. One strategy might be (to lessen the cost) to buy a few seats together so that at least one parent can sit with the youngest child, and take a chance on the others.

ETA: Back in the dark ages (pre-911 and pre kids), DH and I would book seats and take and aisle and a window...leaving the middle to be assigned. Most of the time, it would sit empty (because who wants a middle?), and we'd enjoy the extra space. If someone did show up in the middle, we'd offer to give the middle seat person their choice of aisle or window. They always happily accepted...because no one ever "wants" the middle seat, right? LOL! OP could employ this strategy and "pay" for an aisle and a window...and trust that the middle will not be booked by anyone else except at the last minute. Then, she could "take" the middle when she checks in on line.

 

[cluvsdisney]

If I were traveling with a 3 year old, I would absolutely pay the $90 to have assigned seats together. I would rather have the peace of mind that I won't have to rely on strangers to accommodate me because I chose to take this risk.

 

[Keegansmommy]

I paid $64 extra to book our seats together for our flight on Thursday (Spirit). We're traveling with a 2.5 year old and a 9 month old plus my mom. My 2.5 year old would not be happy if Grandma was sitting in the front of the plane and we were in the back. Plus if he gets antsy, I'd rather him be sitting with just us.

In our experience, seats have been randomly assigned.

 

[Belle5]

I always pay for the assigned seats and have been firm about not moving when asked for that very reason. I am sorry some man really wants my seat to be by his family. I PAID for my seat for that very reason. I am not going to switch because he didn't plan and pay--and I did. I think a family who has young kids of their own and have paid for assigned seats are going to be the least likely people to switch.

 

[yooperfamily]

is this a fairly recent thing?? or just certain airlines? i was so ticked to pay the extra this time (could "pick" for free last time we went in 2006)... but didn't want to take the chance of my family being split up!

all these fees are SO ridiculous!!!!!!!

 

[Jey12]

I just had this same delima a few days ago. The difference wasn't I didn't want to pay the money I simply did not know this was a problem! We haven't flown much in the past 4 years since DD was born, so we are a bit out of the flight loop. Prior to that I flew on a flightpass so I was usually able to score a first class seat and where that's at didn't matter much. We are flying Air Tran next month and this will be DD4's first air travel. She's very social and doesn't scare easily but no way would I for a moment take a chance she'd have to sit with strangers. We paid for 2 seats to be assigned together as soon as we learned this could be a problem. So to be honest if there is the slightest of chance you may not get seats together at the 24hr mark I'd pay. Personally for me if I'm sitting next to my child and your child is occupying the 3rd seat I am not going to move. Why would I pay for you to sit next to your child and not me? I will gladly "babysit" your child and entertain them right along with mine, but moving is not going to happen.

I'm saying this because once I found out about the fee and the problem that could occur not 24 hours went by before I spent $48 happily to avoid this stress.

 

[smokeyblue]

Apparently over the last ten years of parenting...with over 24 flight with at least one child, on four different airlines...I have been in some Utopian travel bubble.

In all that time I haven't seen any families that were forced to sit apart from their children...in fact it has been he exact opposite where FA's (even on packed flights to & from MCO) went out of their way to seat them together.
I also asked a friend of mine her experience. She has logged tens o thousands of air miles with her kids (takes them on business trips often)... and she said he same thing. Has never seen it and would be stunned if an FA didn't step in and reseat passengers until the small child was with a parent.
I stand by my original recommendation to the OP. Skip the pricey reserved seats, check in online at 24hrs out, and enjoy visiting Mickey with an extra $90 in your pocket!

Love the Utopian travel bubble. I must be in the same one! I don't have kids, but my b/f and I fly at least twice a year and have never had to pay to book seats together. We have no special memberships or anything like that either. We've noticed a fee to choose an exit row and that several rows of seats are pay only, but there are always seats for us to choose together. We also get to the airport quite early because we have to take a commuter flight, so we are able to switch to the "preferred seats" free of charge that day. This is with Delta Airlines.

I have actually been moved by the airline to accommodate a baby and its father. I reserved judgement and just took the seat, it was no better or worse in terms of location. God bless them!!! That was one screaming baby and a young dad that was pretty overwealmed. I wouldn't have coped well in that seat.

I've also noticed on my many flights from DTW to MCO that they do everything they can to keep families together on Delta flights. I've heared a lot of negotiating going on at the counter. Maybe it is just certain airlines that make this all a big problem.