Parents Now Protected From Having To Pay Extra To Sit With Their Kids On Flights

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

https://nypost.com/2022/06/27/man-allegedly-molests-child-and-woman-on-flight-blames-ambien/

I hadn't heard that although I'm struggling to find it mentioned in other sources, a little odd IMO as surely this story would have been picked up by many different news sources given its content, far less serious situations are covered so widely.

Not that I don't understand where your thoughts are lying but according to that story an adult woman was touched as well, this guideline isn't protecting her. In all honesty this guideline is from years ago when the FAA was ordered to create a guideline and well that's just what they are doing (you can find old threads on that topic). I don't believe an event such as above prompted much. I do believe they are more thinking about in case of a flight emergency (that's a guess on my part)

And according to the story above it was someone under 16 but older than 12. This guideline is for 13 and under. It's all a very arbitrary age selected which was my point.

And my usage of guideline is deliberate because that's what this is presently speaking at this stage in the game.

 

[lowlight]

Do you worry more about your kids on an airplane or while driving with them in a car?

Do you prefer white or red wine? I thought we were having a conversation about seating on a plane sir.

 

[_19disnA]

It used to be that airlines didn't charge extra to let you select a seat. Airplanes were generally coach or first/business class and you could choose any unassigned seat within your ticket category when making the reservation. Since they now charge extra for exit rows, rows closer to the front of the plane, etc. creates the situation we have today. If I pay extra to sit where I prefer, will I get a refund if asked to move to accommodate a family with small children?......probably not. I don't think that writing a 'guideline' solves this issue and probably creates a number of new problems.

If a family wants to be sure to sit together (regardless of age) under the way things currently work, they would need to choose their seat assignments ahead of time and likely pay more for that type of ticket. Assigning 'family' seats when you arrive at the airport won't be able to guarantee your entire party can sit together.

 

[georgina]

But that's not how it works with SWA. If your Boarding position has already been called you can just go Board anytime after that.

The only reason for a family to be Boarding at the back of C is if that is actually their Boarding position. That is how the PP described it. It's not about being the last to board because of a late connection at least as described.

OK, well I guess you have never had to move fast to a fully loaded plane that was just hanging at the gate waiting for a few stragglers from late arrivals. I have. (The poster said they did not know why they were the last to board.)

My DH recently had a SW flight cancelled a few hours before it was to take off, and he was put on an earlier flight with the last boarding position. It happens. Luckily we live 10 minutes from the airport. I suggested he buy the upgraded boarding positions if available.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OK, well I guess you have never had to move fast to a fully loaded plane that was just hanging at the gate waiting for a few stragglers from late arrivals. I have. (The poster said they did not know why they were the last to board.)

My DH recently had a SW flight cancelled a few hours before it was to take off, and he was put on an earlier flight with the last boarding position. It happens. Luckily we live 10 minutes from the airport. I suggested he buy the upgraded boarding positions if available.

I'm def. aware of many situations, so is my husband who flies all the time for business (like 2 flights this week actually coming home last night, 2 flights next week). What I'm saying is the explanation of connecting flights for SWA isn't how SWA works. You don't have to line up at the end of C if your connection is late and you're just making it to the gate, that's what your comment was.

For SWA they only care if you try to Board before your Boarding position is called. It's why you are suggested to Board at the latest position if you want to board together should you have different Boarding positions. If the Family had been waiting where Family Boarding normally waits (which is not where you line up for A,B,C) when they got to the gate they would have been waived on through usually fairly quickly once the gate agent sees them. Seen that happen enough even as fast as Boarding can be at times.

If you're in the back of C Boarding at that point it's because that's where your Boarding position is at, or you're unfamiliar with how SWA Boarding works. Maybe you think okay well we're here late we'll just go to the back of the line, I get that but it's not out of necessity.

I think the qualifier here is late to Board and last to Board. If the plane is actively being delayed for late arrivals Boarding has completed, if you're late from your connection and as your previous comment said the flight is being held (which I was not disputing) Boarding has completed at that point..that's the point of holding a plane, otherwise once Boarding is complete they go through what they need to go through and they go as quickly as possible. Your comment about a fully loaded plane isn't the same as what the PP said which is they were at the end of C. End of C is not a fully loaded plane waiting at the gate for a few stragglers. End of C is still the normal Boarding process.

I was merely wondering because the PP said young children but then said teenager. If that was part of the same group (sorta why I was wondering) it would make me think even more that it was a C Boarding position that they got and they were not eligible for Family Boarding due to the teenager. Not really meaning to get into an in-depth thing about it just sorta pondered what happened so I guess agree to disagree

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I swear some people truly hate children. Make parents pay more to be seated with their family because you paid extra to pick a seat? Nobody is saying they should get pick of the litter, just that they should be seated together in whatever seats are open. Think of it like DVC- paying to pick a prime seat like extra legroom or bulkhead or window is like booking preferred view, it costs more points. Asking to be seated with minors, which any rational parent would do, is like asking for connecting rooms in a room request, which costs nothing more. How is paying an extra 15 bucks to have “the window seat in the seventh row to the starboard side of the plane because it’s got the best view of NYC lights at night” affected by parents sitting with their children by the restrooms and not having to pay an extra $45 each way.

but connecting rooms can not be booked at Disney. it is just a request which might not happen

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I was moved on Tuesday (called to the gate, given a different seat) so that a parent and child would be placed together. The plane had no middle seats and I didn't pay extra for the one I had, so it was not that big a deal.

Overheard some gate agents talking about how they were authorized to bump passengers who refused to move.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I was moved on Tuesday (called to the gate, given a different seat) so that a parent and child would be placed together. The plane had no middle seats and I didn't pay extra for the one I had, so it was not that big a deal.

Overheard some gate agents talking about how they were authorized to bump passengers who refused to move.

At least there were no middle seats and you hadn’t paid to choose a seat. Hopefully they would pick a single passenger like this.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We always pay for extra legroom (for DH’s benefit) and assigned seats (for the kids). I had a fairly livid conversation with United a couple of weeks ago when they randomly reassigned/separated us and took away extra legroom after an equipment change. Fortunately after about an hour and a half I was able to figure out how to get us all seated together again, but I wouldn’t have known that I needed to if I hadn’t been watching my flights like a Hawk. They also decided to swap out our afternoon flight for a red eye and I was like “heck no!” Got that one moved as well, even though they wouldn’t give us the flight that I wanted (claimed there were no more seats together even though I was looking at the seating chart).

 

[Anthony1971]

I think the majority of this conversation is mute being a lot of airlines you now need to book the regular fare to have an included carry on which includes an assigned seat as well unless saving maybe 5 or 10 a ticket and sometimes it costs more to pay for a carryon . The only way around this is having the paid credit card for the airline that allows checked bags which many people trying to book the lowest fare will not have. I personally never had an issue paying for an assigned seat and one of the main reason we will not fly southwest... way to much stress. There is a HUGE warning that comes up when selecting basic economy and tells you the upgrade price and what is included for each price.... really do not understand why anyone would be shocked they did not get seats together if others paid for the seat assignment. I am not sure what to think about paid seats not being available maybe at 24 hours prior as some airlines let you choose a seat at that time when you did not pay for one as I read but prior I would say it would be extremely rare to not be able to pay for 2 seats together.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think the majority of this conversation is mute being a lot of airlines you now need to book the regular fare to have an included carry on which includes an assigned seat as well unless saving maybe 5 or 10 a ticket and sometimes it costs more to pay for a carryon . The only way around this is having the paid credit card for the airline that allows checked bags which many people trying to book the lowest fare will not have. I personally never had an issue paying for an assigned seat and one of the main reason we will not fly southwest... way to much stress. There is a HUGE warning that comes up when selecting basic economy and tells you the upgrade price and what is included for each price.... really do not understand why anyone would be shocked they did not get seats together if others paid for the seat assignment. I am not sure what to think about paid seats not being available maybe at 24 hours prior as some airlines let you choose a seat at that time when you did not pay for one as I read but prior I would say it would be extremely rare to not be able to pay for 2 seats together.

Ever since basic economy was introduced people have had the inability to understand what that means, no amount of banners, warnings or anything have prevented people from somehow being shocked that they don't have the overhead bin or a seat assignment. Unfortunately..

As for not having a CC which comes with a checked bag that's a bit stereotypically don't you think? A person booking the lowest category doesn't automatically mean they are poor or they lack credit to get a credit card or don't have the funds to pay for a cc that has an annual fee, etc. Heck I have to remind my husband when looking at Delta to make sure he's always looking at Main Cabin and now just looking at the lowest pricing thinking that is Main Cabin and we have a Delta SkyMiles CC that gets us a free checked bag per person up to like what 9 or so people on the reservation. We aren't in financial stress and we will still always pick WGA fares on SWA because it's the cheapest, we also have a SWA Premier CC. Point is don't judge like that, people pick what they pick for many reasons. We all wish however that people would understand and adhere to the terms of the ticket category they book.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We always pay for extra legroom (for DH’s benefit) and assigned seats (for the kids). I had a fairly livid conversation with United a couple of weeks ago when they randomly reassigned/separated us and took away extra legroom after an equipment change. Fortunately after about an hour and a half I was able to figure out how to get us all seated together again, but I wouldn’t have known that I needed to if I hadn’t been watching my flights like a Hawk. They also decided to swap out our afternoon flight for a red eye and I was like “heck no!” Got that one moved as well, even though they wouldn’t give us the flight that I wanted (claimed there were no more seats together even though I was looking at the seating chart).

I *think* there was conversation on another thread that while a seating chart may show seats there could be reasons in the background that those are blocked out for someone to select but I can totally get being frustrated at what happened.

 

[wfjny]

Regarding the argument that "people paid for their seats and shouldn't have to give them up.." Well, people are forced to give up seats they paid for all the time. It just happened to me on Delta last week where my seat was changed without my knowledge just before we boarded with no given reason. And I had chosen my seats for a reason. Honestly, if it was to allow a parent to sit next to their child, I'm fine with that. It's better than being stuck next to their kid myself..

Curious, did you get a refund of the extra money you paid for the seat?

Personally, I cannot think of a time in the past 15 or so years when i did not have a seat reserved when I made the reservation. My last flight back in May, was delayed. Aggravating that they kept delaying it by 10 or 15 minutes at a time. I just looked back at the texts, there were 12 of them. Would have preferred they just said it would be a 3 hour delay up front, and i could have planned accordingly. However, my seat never changed.

My return flight was cancelled. I flew the next day. Fortunately, I did not care where I sat, it was a 90 minute flight, and it was just me.

When flying by myself, I have at times switched seats, especially when it was a like for like request (This aisle seat for that aisle seat).

I was flying Frontier once, actually to Disney. Got a very cheap flight for my wife and I (I want to say $19 on way, and $22 return). You could choose to be assigned a seat at check-in for no money, I paid extra for the seat reservation. IIRC, I paid more for the seat than I did for the flight. We had the only row that had just two seats. While sitting at the gate, a mother was complaining about being separated from her child. Complaining very loudly. My wife looked at me, and asked if we should go up there and offer to switch. I said no.

I said back to her, I paid extra (a lot extra) for these seats. People had a choice. Perhaps if they were willing to pay (refund me) for my seat charge I would consider it.

And that is the thing to me.

Do not ask me to pay extra for a seat, and then not give me the "benefit" that I paid for.
Do not ask me to pay extra for "Early Arrival" at the hotel, and then tell me when I arrive my room is not ready. Along the same lines, if my room was not ready at check in time, do not deny my request to allow me a late checkout.
Do not ask me to pay extra for "Skip to the front of the line pass", and then when I arrive tell me the Lightning Lane is 60 minutes long. And then please do not justify it by telling me well at least the wait is shorter than the standby line. Yes, my issue was I only had 45 minutes till our ADR, and it was the end of the the day.
As I explained at the dentist once, we had missed an appointment for my son. My fault, totally forgot. When we went the next time, after waiting an hour after his appointment time to be seen, they told me there was a $25 charge for missing the appointment. I said I understand, would ask if they would wave this as a one time curtesy, as we never miss appointments. They said they could not, that they have a schedule to keep, and by reserving a time and me not being there, I was costing them money. I said ok, and then asked them for a blank piece of paper. I wrote out an invoice for $125 for the one hour of my time we waited for our appointment. Her perplexed look was priceless. I said I was an IT consultant, and that is what my company charged for my time. I said what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Funny, the missed the appointment fee was waived.

But back to my point, you get what you pay for. And if you do not, you should get your money back. You should also not expect to get a benefit that others must pay for just because...

 

[wfjny]

I swear some people truly hate children. Make parents pay more to be seated with their family because you paid extra to pick a seat? Nobody is saying they should get pick of the litter, just that they should be seated together in whatever seats are open. Think of it like DVC- paying to pick a prime seat like extra legroom or bulkhead or window is like booking preferred view, it costs more points. Asking to be seated with minors, which any rational parent would do, is like asking for connecting rooms in a room request, which costs nothing more. How is paying an extra 15 bucks to have “the window seat in the seventh row to the starboard side of the plane because it’s got the best view of NYC lights at night” affected by parents sitting with their children by the restrooms and not having to pay an extra $45 each way.

As a parent, and now a grandparent, I can assure you that I do not hate children.

When I have flown with my family, I have made sure I reserved our seats so we are all seated together. Here was a lesson for me, when sitting in a three seat row, the child in the car seat must sit in the window seat (instead of in the middle seat between my wife and I). The reason is the car seat impedes your egress if you are in the window seat. Would have been helpful to be told that BEFORE we were taxing.

Again, what people seem to miss, the world has changed. The airlines are attempting to squeeze every last cent from you. I am sure they will start charging for those complementary sodas at some point as well.

On one flight in the past year, the only seat choices left were all "upcharge" ones. So, to basically guarantee we sat together, I paid the upcharge. What I do not like about these upcharges, is just present me the list with the real price. I do not like when "Hilton" shows me the location and price for each hotel, and then when I pick on a hotel, there is a $30 a night "resort charge".

Airlines have determined that each "seat" has a price. Some have more legroom, some are more preferable (such as aisle or window), exit rows have no children and at times extra legroom. Seats in the front get to deplane faster. In a way, I guess no different than Disney charging more during peak times or the convention center hotels charging more when a convention is in town.

On the flip side I do think some parents think they or their children are entitled to something extra, just because they are under some magical age. Don't get me wrong, there is a reason places offer discounts for children, and I am all for that. But if the airline charges for seat reservations, and your party of 4 wants to sit together, then you should pay for the seat. No matter what the ages of the party of 4.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

On the flip side I do think some parents think they or their children are entitled to something extra, just because they are under some magical age.

From my observation most people who get some sort of stance tend to feel this way irrespective of age. They'll use an age when it suits them like saying "fine you want to sit next to my toddler go for it" but in truth most of them just fee like "I want to sit next to my kid regardless because that's what I want and I want what I want". Obviously not everyone is that way because there are people who are fine with their teen sitting by themselves for instance but the ones that tend to be the loudest voices with the most occurrences just want what they want because they want it.

What I do not like about these upcharges, is just present me the list with the real price.

Well they do show you the real price, that was required as part of a past law adjustment to airlines. Unbundling what comes with your ticket is completely fine although not always liked by all (including me for certain fare classes we have now) but you won't go screen to screen to screen just to see what the price is with all the taxes and fees.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

As a single passenger, I would not want to be moved to a middle seat. For any reason. But if they are not going to allow refusals, then there's no choice.

 

[CarolynFH]

I do dislike the parents who buy basic economy with no seat assignments and then have a hissy fit at the airport because they all got middle seats. If they got lousy seats because their previous flight was canceled and took anything when they were rebooked... That is a different story.

The airlines should disallow people traveling with children under 10 from buying basic economy seats. If it's important to be seated a certain way, then basic economy isn't for you.

I agree that basic economy should continue to be available to those who want it and are prepared to sit wherever they're placed. Since the government is asserting that children should not be seated apart from parents on flights, and most parents agree (although 13 is a bit old imo), then that should make these families ineligible for basic economy.

I agree.

 

[amcnj]

Regarding the exit row seats, my daughter selected one for a flight last month. The flight time was changed, resulting in a different type of aircraft being used. Her row was no longer an exit row on the new plane.

 

[lowlight]

On the flip side I do think some parents think they or their children are entitled to something extra, just because they are under some magical age. Don't get me wrong, there is a reason places offer discounts for children, and I am all for that. But if the airline charges for seat reservations, and your party of 4 wants to sit together, then you should pay for the seat. No matter what the ages of the party of 4.

A ton of places give a discount to people just for being old and over some magical age. I don’t think I ever felt entitled as I’ve only flown with my children a handful of times and always bought the assigned seats, but next trip I’ll save the 100 bucks and let the airline do it for me.

 

[charmed59]

If this becomes law I suspect what will happen is that if someone books with a child under 13 and doesn’t pick a seat a middle seat is set to unavailable and their group goes on a list. Once the number of groups on the list matches the dwindling number of seats together they will assign the seats. After that, if a group attempts to buy a ticket for someone under 13 the plane will show as full, as there are no two seats together available anymore. Two adults will still be able to buy tickets for that flight, they just won’t be able to sit together. Families may find flights with a dozen aisle seat open, but they won’t be able to book.