OUTRAGED WITH EXPEDIA PLAIN TICKETS PURCHASE- what would You do?

[Anonymous]

Dear 23:07, thank you for your tips. I know it is my fault, I know I should wait and see. I see it did not work for the whole ton of people from the links above.
But thanks again for your kind and helful attitude, however little help it is.

Dear 23:57, the minute I finished payment on Expedia and realised that the seats are separated I jumped on the very tool to change the seats and
for two flights the tool just was not available and for the reminding two it did not let me make any changes. Calling airlines immediately after expedia
sugested did not do much help. They just did not help in any way shape or color. Not even when I offered to pay for the switch.

It might not help me today and we might stay at home altoghether but I am sure many people will be more aware of this problem as it does not
seem to be isolated case but general practice. I would not mind to go to the next flight or airlines or whatever knowing they are not seating us
together. It is clearly simple and human solution and I wish more people of good will would voice it out somwhere so airlines would somehow fix it.
It does not seem to much to ask, to have a Parent to seat next to his Toddler or Preschool age child. Just think about it for a second.

[Anonymous]

OP, I trust you got some sleep and will feel better tomorrow (oops, today!).

We fly every year to Europe and Asia, and have never sat apart, even when our seats were officially at either end of the plane, which happens routinely for us.

Here are your options:
1. Call 24h before the flight to change seats.
2. Get there early to change seats at check in.
3. Change seats upon gate arrival.
4. Board the plane, target the persons who look the friendliest, and charmingly say with your most winsome smile that you are afraid your babies will cry and spill their food if they are not near their mother or father, and would you be so kind...? Thank them profusely.

It ALWAYS works, no one in his right mind would refuse. (Slightly older children might actually like to be "independent" and may not excite such sympathy, but my kids have not reached that stage and still look very much like the cute babies they are!).

Don't worry, it will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should cancel your trip and stay home. Clearly you are not emotionally ready to handle the annoyances of modern day travel.

Just did it. We are not going anywhere.. I think I could deal with one emotional uncertainty of this sort and take a chance that it will go all well on one plain but not on all 4!
I mean FOUR times to worry about if someone mercifully let my children to sit next to their parents? The tickets are malicously scattered over each and EVERY plane.
so I am giving up. Thanks. It was the best advice from all the postings. I think it is not worth to go with it.

Clearly I am not cut for today's demends of the airline travel.


Signing out.

[Anonymous]

lol

[Anonymous]

yeah.. lol but nor really.. and here is what airlines think about this and this is defenetely lol

http://childwild.com/2010/02/17/us-airways-polite-still-not-helpful/

[Anonymous]

I fly several times a year with my kids. Yes, it was veryupsetting at first. But each time it worked out fine. Just have faith that people won't all be jerks. If you encounter resistance just tell them fine, but to please alert you if the little one starts vomiting.

[Anonymous]

omg, troll much?

Your kids were "maliciously spread out"

I always wonder how people like you function with the stress of everyday life - seems like its a miracle you made it this far.

[Anonymous]

"Child endangerment is a criminal offense that involves the subjection of minor children to inappropriate or [b]dangerous situations. It is not the same as child abuse, which involves direct harm to children, but carries a similar penalty in the American judicial system."

"Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment of children"[/b]

This actually is debatable if the whole airlines aproach that malicously and constantly separates children from their parents -what seem to be ongoing and very wide sperad problem - has not voilating some basic rights of a minor child. Closness of the parent equals to sens of safety and
security and it is emotionally disturbing to a child to be traumatized by situation of sudden and stressful enforced separation depraving a child from
immediate help, assistance and supervision of a parent. How a parent can be providing a child care in an airplane few rows away? Therefore from a legal
perspecitve an airline depraves parent from being able to provida a parental care and a child from being cared for since an airline does not provide
a childcare.

An airline collect info about age of children and should and could have a system in place not allowing or advising parents that there is not enough
seats to accomodate their togetherness.

An airline could reserve seats for this occassions just as it reserves any other ample of seats. They can do it under other pretences they could do this just the same.

If they are not doing it it is because they don't care.

[Anonymous]

If a disabled person has a right to have a caregiver to seat next to him her on the plane by the law how it is possible that helpless child who can't tend to his her own
needs on the airplane has no right to have a caregiver=parent to seat nex to him?

It is amazing how many parents is being subjected to this form of abuse nation-wide yet each and everyone things that this is an isolated case that it only happend to them. It is enough to read the links and google children separated from their parents in flight to see how wide sperad it is.

[Anonymous]

"Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment of children.[1] In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child"

Okay.. so potentially speaking.. a child can barf on the plain and not having parent helping or assisting or supervising might potentially end up with a child choking on some
food being stucked in the airpassages.. there you have a potential for harm therefore this is a form of a child abuse by exposing a child to potential harm, what airlines are taking so easily.

[Anonymous]

"If you discover your seats aren't together, don't get on the plane. Inform the agent at the desk, and wait, as patiently as you can. You need to be aware of your seating assignments before you ever get to the gate."

More solid advices for parents who want to avoid being separated from their children (It happens more often then one might think)
- how to deal with airlines:

http://www.blogher.com/my-kids-are-seated-where-flight-oh-no-they-arent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"If you discover your seats aren't together, don't get on the plane. Inform the agent at the desk, and wait, as patiently as you can. You need to be aware of your seating assignments before you ever get to the gate."

More solid advices for parents who want to avoid being separated from their children (It happens more often then one might think)
- how to deal with airlines:

http://www.blogher.com/my-kids-are-seated-where-flight-oh-no-they-arent

Let the agent know you're not getting on the plane; also that your bags are checked and on the plane.

[Anonymous]

Happened to us last spring when DH booked us flights on expedia or travelocity or whatever. We were heading for Mexico, and our 4 y.o. had a middle seat by herself far away from each of us. I tried calling the airline, I tried when we checked in at airport 1, and at the connection airport I skipped going to the bathroom to deal with it. At the connection airport, the gate agent wouldn't even discuss reseating me, they were busy checking passports and had received lots of requests to change seats. I finally stood 10 feet from the podium and loudly annouced "I have a four year old sitting by herself. Just how to do you want to deal with that?" She finally dealt with it. By the time we got on the plane, another passenger switched with my husband so we ended up together.

I try to now fly only airlines on which I have status, because the gate agents are horrendous.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I meant to say the conditions they work under are horrendous. Really, I have sympathy.

[Anonymous]

Don't have time to read all the replies but I do have lots of experience with this over the years, traveling alone with my 2 kids from when they were infants. Even when I've bought tix directly from the airline and they've even "assigned" seats, we've shown up and all been separated so I say it's not just an "Expedia" issue.

I've found Americans to be the worst at being willing to give up their seats but one flight while I was lamenting to a flight attendant while in line for the bathroom with a kid, he gave me a great tip when I had to beg and plead for people to change seats (often I asked and got NOOO help from flight attendants), just pass a vomit bag over to the passengers and say - here, you're going to need this! I loved that comeback to a refusal.

The other thing that usually worked if the flight attendants refuse to help me was that luckily at least one of my kids would start balking once they were toddler age and crying - this always helped. Also, you have to make direct eye contact and say things like - you will really have a more comfortable flight if you move. Young people seemed more willing to accommodate a seat change. Lots of people will give you the but I have to have an aisle seat...blah, blah, blah but sometimes you'll have an aisle seat to give or one of the others in the row will be willing to switch.

Bottom line: I always got something worked out even if it was stressful. Good luck and be prepared for it to continue happening in this age of declining airline service.