Do people really pay $50 each way per person for seat selection??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be kind to people if you’re flying this week. We were originally seated together, then our flight got wildly delayed and we couldn’t have made our connection. We’re now seated away from our young special needs child. We will indeed be rectifying the situation when we get there. We’ll probably get judgment from strangers who think we were too cheap to pay the fee. We weren’t.

I’ve had this happen to me too (my family of 4 traveling with an infant and toddler was split up on a rescheduled flight and told to ask around at the gate). Literally, we paid them extra money and their solution was to beg other people to swap. I wish there was some sort of steep fine for airlines if you pay extra to be seated with your child and then they separate you.

So for people who judge parents trying to sit with their children, please realize this may not be because of cheapness. Airlines literally don’t give a crap if you buy your infant a ticket and then you’re what … supposed to install the baby’s car seat 4 rows behind you.

[Anonymous]

We don’t like it but would always pay in order to sit together with our kids. I really don’t like that people ask to switch seats in order to sit with their kids because they don’t want to pay the extra, and once I was pregnant was supposed to sit next to DH with seats assigned in advance at an international flight, had to sit separately and in middle seats, because a mom wanted to sit with her 2 toddlers at our 2 seats and we couldn’t say no.

[Anonymous]

I love that we all direct our ire at fellow passengers, when we should be all pissed at the airlines, not watching game of thrones next to a 5 yr old bc the airline f’d up.

[Anonymous]

Airlines should not be allowed to do this. I'd rather they just charge more for the flight cost than upcharge later on. I feel the same way about luggage fees. And it's not just budget airlines anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve flown a lot with little kids over the past ten several years. There have been many changes and some airlines do their seating and ticketing differently than others. It can be tricky to keep up with. Now with the ticket classes of basic economy etc, it can be confusing to people, understandably. I would never ask someone to change seats to sit by another adult, but there have been multiple situations where I was separated from my children, including as young as two, and I think it is a terrible policy to not automatically seat families with young kids together. Before someone says well I should have paid in advance, my experiences included times where I didn’t purchase seats together fast enough, and when I traveled last minute for a funeral and there were not seats available. It is depressing to require families with young kids that may be stretching to pay for flights to shell out more than the ticket to sit together. It is obviously the right thing for families and the airlines and everyone should understand this.

Anyway, now it seems the airlines have figured it out to save the last rows for families and will seat you together without an extra cost. This seems to be the best way they can handle it. I just booked flights for two of my kids and myself on United and we were able to buy basic economy and sit together in the very last row. I’m fine with this, as it is better than paying an extra $600 (four legs) to sit by my four and six year olds.

A sane post.

Wanting to sit next to your small child on an airplane is functionally different from wanting a seat by a window or on an aisle or near the front of the plane or in an exit row or bulkhead. A seat next to a small child is not a desirable thing of high value to the average airline customer. It is a *necessary* thing that is of value only to the parent of the child (and the child). Treating these as equal is a strange sort of mental gymnastics that ignores very basic things about society (like the fact that small children are in greater need of supervision and help than other people). To me it is like telling someone who is helping a person with a physical or mental disability that they can not be accommodated with seating next to the person they are caring for (which would violate ADA rules). It is a callous and anti-social position.

Asking families to pay extra to sit next to young children as though sitting next your young child so that you may care for and help them is a privilege for which a person should have to pay is similarly callous and bizarre.

This was a problem created by airlines that the airlines are now resolving but it has been very eye-opening to see how many people quickly seized on the attitude that parents are "entitled" or "cheap" for expecting that they will be seated next to minor children on a plane. It's crazy how quickly many people acclimated to the idea that sitting next to your own child so that you can feed and entertain and reassure them is a commodity that it is reasonable for an airline to charge people for. Dystopian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just part of the cost of flying if you don’t want a middle seat. If you are fine with a middle seat feel free not to pay. Don’t expect others to move so you can be with your family/friends.

+100
I'm still amazed that there are people who decide not to pay and then expect others to move for their convenience. Nope. I'm staying in my great, paid for seat.

I am amazed that people forget their manners and are not willing to be considerate or accommodating. The aggressive me first culture is atrocious

I have very good manners and I am generally nice and accommodating, but this is why I pay for a seat: I don't expect anyone to switch for me, and would hope anyone polite and considerate also purchased their own seat. I also would very much mind sitting next to a small child whose parent was too cheap to purchase seating together. I know I'd feel obligated to help out the child as it's not their fault their parent didn't care. It's unfair to hope strangers will babysit for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love that we all direct our ire at fellow passengers, when we should be all pissed at the airlines, not watching game of thrones next to a 5 yr old bc the airline f’d up.

THIS. I don't actually care if the reason someone is separated from their infant or other small child on a plane is because they didn't pay to select seats or because they were on a cancelled flight and were reassigned. Like it doesn't actually matter to me. I view that as an airline screw up -- they should ensure all minor children are seated next to parents as a matter of course. They know the ages of people in parties and it would not be hard to do.

And I am fine moving seats to accommodate the parent sitting with their kid though if I paid extra for my seat I do expect to be compensated the difference. HOWEVER it is obviously the airline who should compensate me not the parent who just wants to sit next to their kid. How is this even a question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another things airlines should do is make checked luggage free and charge $50 or more for carryons.

That would be a dream. I’d love this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just part of the cost of flying if you don’t want a middle seat. If you are fine with a middle seat feel free not to pay. Don’t expect others to move so you can be with your family/friends.

+100
I'm still amazed that there are people who decide not to pay and then expect others to move for their convenience. Nope. I'm staying in my great, paid for seat.

I am amazed that people forget their manners and are not willing to be considerate or accommodating. The aggressive me first culture is atrocious

I have very good manners and I am generally nice and accommodating, but this is why I pay for a seat: I don't expect anyone to switch for me, and would hope anyone polite and considerate also purchased their own seat. I also would very much mind sitting next to a small child whose parent was too cheap to purchase seating together. I know I'd feel obligated to help out the child as it's not their fault their parent didn't care. It's unfair to hope strangers will babysit for you.

I don't get the "too cheap" argument because airline pricing is incredibly variable over time. It's entirely possible that the parent with the basic economy ticket paid more than you paid for the upgraded ticket with seat selection depending on when and how you bought your tickets. As someone who has occasionally bought tickets for my spouse and children to accompany me on business travel I am also very aware of how different prices can be depending on whether you book through corporate travel agencies or with miles or as a regular customer paying directly. The difference is sometimes in the thousands even for domestic travel.

So people who are calling parents "cheap" for not paying to select seats together: it's way more complicated than that. In many instances I would bet you that the families who fly rarely and buy basic economy and hope they will be seated together have paid among the highest per-seat prices for seats in the economy cabin even when you factor in upgrades for seat selection (and most people don't actually pay for that upgrade -- they get it as a result of status or it's paid for by and employer).

Like this is really an argument about classism and access and not about "cheapness".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve flown a lot with little kids over the past ten several years. There have been many changes and some airlines do their seating and ticketing differently than others. It can be tricky to keep up with. Now with the ticket classes of basic economy etc, it can be confusing to people, understandably. I would never ask someone to change seats to sit by another adult, but there have been multiple situations where I was separated from my children, including as young as two, and I think it is a terrible policy to not automatically seat families with young kids together. Before someone says well I should have paid in advance, my experiences included times where I didn’t purchase seats together fast enough, and when I traveled last minute for a funeral and there were not seats available. It is depressing to require families with young kids that may be stretching to pay for flights to shell out more than the ticket to sit together. It is obviously the right thing for families and the airlines and everyone should understand this.

Anyway, now it seems the airlines have figured it out to save the last rows for families and will seat you together without an extra cost. This seems to be the best way they can handle it. I just booked flights for two of my kids and myself on United and we were able to buy basic economy and sit together in the very last row. I’m fine with this, as it is better than paying an extra $600 (four legs) to sit by my four and six year olds.

A sane post.

Wanting to sit next to your small child on an airplane is functionally different from wanting a seat by a window or on an aisle or near the front of the plane or in an exit row or bulkhead. A seat next to a small child is not a desirable thing of high value to the average airline customer. It is a *necessary* thing that is of value only to the parent of the child (and the child). Treating these as equal is a strange sort of mental gymnastics that ignores very basic things about society (like the fact that small children are in greater need of supervision and help than other people). To me it is like telling someone who is helping a person with a physical or mental disability that they can not be accommodated with seating next to the person they are caring for (which would violate ADA rules). It is a callous and anti-social position.

Asking families to pay extra to sit next to young children as though sitting next your young child so that you may care for and help them is a privilege for which a person should have to pay is similarly callous and bizarre.

This was a problem created by airlines that the airlines are now resolving but it has been very eye-opening to see how many people quickly seized on the attitude that parents are "entitled" or "cheap" for expecting that they will be seated next to minor children on a plane. It's crazy how quickly many people acclimated to the idea that sitting next to your own child so that you can feed and entertain and reassure them is a commodity that it is reasonable for an airline to charge people for. Dystopian.

This is a very well thought out response.

I recently flew a bunch with my elementary aged kids on TAP and SATA airlines. SATA especially excelled at treating families with children with dignity. They seat family members together and give them priority boarding status without extra cost, and the best part is as soon as we reach cruising altitude, the flight attendants walk around and hand out kids meals to all the child passengers, BEFORE they start the regular beverage services that could take a long time reaching some of the passengers seated in the back of the plane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just part of the cost of flying if you don’t want a middle seat. If you are fine with a middle seat feel free not to pay. Don’t expect others to move so you can be with your family/friends.

+100
I'm still amazed that there are people who decide not to pay and then expect others to move for their convenience. Nope. I'm staying in my great, paid for seat.

I am amazed that people forget their manners and are not willing to be considerate or accommodating. The aggressive me first culture is atrocious

So people who paid for a specific seat should just let someone else have it because they didn't bother to pay for a seat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just part of the cost of flying if you don’t want a middle seat. If you are fine with a middle seat feel free not to pay. Don’t expect others to move so you can be with your family/friends.

+100
I'm still amazed that there are people who decide not to pay and then expect others to move for their convenience. Nope. I'm staying in my great, paid for seat.

I am amazed that people forget their manners and are not willing to be considerate or accommodating. The aggressive me first culture is atrocious

So people who paid for a specific seat should just let someone else have it because they didn't bother to pay for a seat?

Airlines have an obligation to seat families together for everyone's benefit. They know who the kids are and where they are seated. If they seated them away from their parents, that is their mistake and they are legally required to rectify it. They are. not, on the other hand, legally required to give you the seat that you have paid for.

They need to start acting like honest brokers and take seating seriously. Paying extra for a certain seat and then not giving people that seat is unacceptable. As is seating small children away from parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they didn't buy el cheapo fares r flew enough to accrue status they would get seat selection as a matter of course.
DCUM is a weird mix. Basic Economy flyers and people asking who else has over $500k hhi. Hope not same people.

I’m in biglaw and I’m a basic economy flyer when it’s on my own dime. It’s one of the very few things I’m cheap about, mostly on principle.

I don’t pay to select my seat, but I’m fine with a middle seat (I’m 5’4” and have short legs). I don’t particularly care about being separated from my travel companion/s. Most of my flights are international, though, so I’m usually able to choose from the limited number of free seats at check-in. I check in early and 75% of the time get an aisle, which is my preference.

We have a healthy income and never pay for a premium seat domestically. We usually fly Southwest or American/Jet Blue on points, both of which offer free seat selection. It's trickier for international. Virgin gave us free advance seat selection but Air France did not so I'm debating if I'm going to fork over the money or roll the dice at online checkin.

Since you mentioned Air France, I'll chime in with our experience last week. Three members of my family of four are over 6'2 so legroom is paramount. I paid extra for the exit row seats in economy instead of upgrading to first. Thank God I did because the legroom in "first class" is the exact same in regular coach - all they do in First is block the middle seat so it's max two people per row. I would have been fuming if my tall ones paid a premium for worse legroom than exit row coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just part of the cost of flying if you don’t want a middle seat. If you are fine with a middle seat feel free not to pay. Don’t expect others to move so you can be with your family/friends.

+100
I'm still amazed that there are people who decide not to pay and then expect others to move for their convenience. Nope. I'm staying in my great, paid for seat.

I am amazed that people forget their manners and are not willing to be considerate or accommodating. The aggressive me first culture is atrocious

So people who paid for a specific seat should just let someone else have it because they didn't bother to pay for a seat?

Now-- airlines should make an effort to see aside undesirable seat to accommodate families traveling with small children so that this situation never arises. Airlines should not be able to extort an extra fee from families just so they can sit in *undesirable* seat next to their children.

No one should have to pay an extra $50 for the privilege of sitting in a middle seat at the back of the plane next to their own small child. That's idiotic.

[Anonymous]

I heard a story from a woman who gave up her nice aisle seat near the front of the plane so that a woman could sit next to her child. Turns out her child was a teenager.

Airlines really need to put kids and parents together so it doesn't become any else's problem. I *know* they can figure this out.