Thanks for the comments everyone. We are going to make sure we check in right at the 24 hour mark and hope for the best. I'd be perfectly happy with sitting on my own - then someone else can play tic-tac-toe with my 4 year old for 2.5 hours! Maybe after the first hour they will offer to switch.
Paying the seat fee is the only guarantee (short of lugging around a carseat) that the 4 year old won't be sitting alone. So just pay the money for the seat assignment and stop worrying about it.
Paying the seat fee is the only guarantee (short of lugging around a carseat) that the 4 year old won't be sitting alone. So just pay the money for the seat assignment and stop worrying about it.
Sometimes, I think I would be happy to pay extra to be seated AWAY from my kids...JK
Sorry...not helpful!
Isn't it? I always pay for our seats together, come to find out that even though you may pay extra to sit together, you may not be sitting together due to equipment changes etc. I was on a flight with a family in the same situation...paid for seats together.Well they had their 2 yr old and 4 yr old not even remotely near them.No one would switch.How could no one switch? Does a total stranger WANT to be next to a frightened 2 yr old?I nearly had to resort to #7 on one flight. I was traveling with my daughter when she was only 2 and the airline (Delta) said they couldn't find two seats together. The gate agent was not helpful and said that they didn't have to have us together. I could tell she was not willing to be helpful and prayed that the flight attendants would be. They were slightly more so. When a businessman found out he was assigned a seat next to little miss, he consented to trade with me, but not without a great deal of grumbling. I would have never let her sit alone on a flight and would have deplaned if he hadn't moved, because no one else would. It was crazy!
Isn't it? I always pay for our seats together, come to find out that even though you may pay extra to sit together, you may not be sitting together due to equipment changes etc. I was on a flight with a family in the same situation...paid for seats together.Well they had their 2 yr old and 4 yr old not even remotely near them.No one would switch.How could no one switch? Does a total stranger WANT to be next to a frightened 2 yr old?
We usually fly Southwest, so not an issue, but that is excactly why we DON'T pay for our seats....they switch your flight or equipment and you may not get seats together anyway AND they keep your money. And that happens all the time!
I really wish they would pass a passenger bill of rights and include this issue as one of them (ie guaranteeing one parent is able to sit with a child under 5 or something along those lines).
I am in PA too.Where does SW fly out of around central PA ? I should look into them next time, but Harrisburg was so cheap on Airtran that I took it
Did you read the OP? She tried to pay for it, and discovered that there were no pairs left to buy online. Now she is trying to find out what other recourse she might have.
Just FTR, I routinely used my carseat when DS was 4, and I'll be using it when DD is 4, too. If they fit, they use it.
Another thing, why would Airtran accomodate people that choose not to pay for the fee. How would they make money if everyone knew that the gate agent will find seats together for them so why bother paying the fee? Totally defeats Airtran's purpose in charging a fee.
Did you read my very next post where I addressed this issue???? If you had taken the time to keep reading the whole thread, you would have seen that I suggested she call instead of look online b/c agents have access to seats that are blocked out online.
Another thing, why would Airtran accomodate people that choose not to pay for the fee. How would they make money if everyone knew that the gate agent will find seats together for them so why bother paying the fee? Totally defeats Airtran's purpose in charging a fee.
Very important point that keeps getting missed. If it is that important to you that you sit together then give yourself the best opportunity and pay for the seating. If there are no seats left that you can pay for then maybe you don't book that flight. That is called taking responsibility for yourself and not expecting the airline to fix something you could have prevented.
I also REALLY can't believe people are actually so inconsiderate as to refuse to switch seats to help a family with kids separated from parents. That just boggles my mind. Who would want to sit next to a scared, crying 4 year old rather than simply sitting in a different seat? Unreal. Really makes me sad about how self centered people are these days. Even if the parent *did* make a crappy choice (not that the OP has or will), can't people see past that & just help the innocent KID in the situation?
seriously, unreal.
People can refuse to switch seats and it's their right to do so. Of course, they can do it without being rude.
The OP IS asking for advice... and we can hope that there is another compassionate person on board who doesn't mind switching, but they're certainly not obligated to and doesn't necessarily make them self centered.