United Air not seated family together.

[Anonymous]

If you are traveling with young kids always pay the extra when you book the tickets. Otherwise it’s a crap shoot and the onus is on you and not the airline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A woman on my flight lst night was upset about being 'separated' from her kids (2 boys about 5 and 8) but they were only separated by an aisle. They had an aisle seat then the two seats across the aislt. So seat C, then the aisle, then seat D (also aisle) and E (middle).

She sat in C and had the boys in D and E but was complaining to the flight attendant and asking her to get them three together (the middle section of seats were groups of 3 (DEF) but the plane was full. Then she held the hand of younger child across the aisle creating issues for the flight attendants trying to walk back and forth. About halfway through the flight she moved to seat D, younger kid moved to seat E (right beside her) and slightly older kid moved to her seat in C across the aisle. This seemed to calm her down as there were no complaints after that.

I just felt bad for the flight attendants! They were very calm and patient.

This reminds me of a time I sat behind two kids, with their mom sitting across the aisle in the row next to them. She kept plying them with toys and activities, checking in on them every two minutes, and just overall getting them really riled up. Then she fell asleep and they were perfect, well-behaved kids who just sat quietly doing whatever they were doing. Their mom's constant interventions were entirely unneeded.

Maybe she didn't want them to be on electronics the entire time? When left alone, kids will spend the *entire* time on electronics and will sometimes forget to eat or drink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't be a cheapy Charlie and then play dumb.

I hate grifters. I always pay to sit together but even then because of flight problems have been separated from my kids. That has happened to my family more than once so don't assume that all families who are begging people to change seats didn't prepare. I hate flying because of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't be a cheapy Charlie and then play dumb.

I hate grifters. I always pay to sit together but even then because of flight problems have been separated from my kids. That has happened to my family more than once so don't assume that all families who are begging people to change seats didn't prepare. I hate flying because of this.

The grifters are the airlines here. Imagine booking a table at a restaurant and having to pay extra to be seated with your party. It's non-sensical. People who book together should be seated together as the default. That it's not that way and we've been conditioned to cough up money for something so basic is pretty ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

you can call weeks before flight and state the rule and usually the customer service person will seat the part of your party that includes kids wtih parents - i e they don't give my spouse a seat.

[Anonymous]

United's IT system is complete garbage.

They don't even track traveler names correctly. This old complaint is still true now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/comments/ues8am/hey_quick_question_it_combined_my_first_name_and/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't be a cheapy Charlie and then play dumb.

I hate grifters. I always pay to sit together but even then because of flight problems have been separated from my kids. That has happened to my family more than once so don't assume that all families who are begging people to change seats didn't prepare. I hate flying because of this.

The grifters are the airlines here. Imagine booking a table at a restaurant and having to pay extra to be seated with your party. It's non-sensical. People who book together should be seated together as the default. That it's not that way and we've been conditioned to cough up money for something so basic is pretty ridiculous.

You get a discount for choosing to seat separately. It's your choice (except when the airline screws up your order).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A woman on my flight lst night was upset about being 'separated' from her kids (2 boys about 5 and 8) but they were only separated by an aisle. They had an aisle seat then the two seats across the aislt. So seat C, then the aisle, then seat D (also aisle) and E (middle).

She sat in C and had the boys in D and E but was complaining to the flight attendant and asking her to get them three together (the middle section of seats were groups of 3 (DEF) but the plane was full. Then she held the hand of younger child across the aisle creating issues for the flight attendants trying to walk back and forth. About halfway through the flight she moved to seat D, younger kid moved to seat E (right beside her) and slightly older kid moved to her seat in C across the aisle. This seemed to calm her down as there were no complaints after that.

I just felt bad for the flight attendants! They were very calm and patient.

This reminds me of a time I sat behind two kids, with their mom sitting across the aisle in the row next to them. She kept plying them with toys and activities, checking in on them every two minutes, and just overall getting them really riled up. Then she fell asleep and they were perfect, well-behaved kids who just sat quietly doing whatever they were doing. Their mom's constant interventions were entirely unneeded.

Maybe she didn't want them to be on electronics the entire time? When left alone, kids will spend the *entire* time on electronics and will sometimes forget to eat or drink.

Introduce the kid to their neighbor. Teach your child to make polite conversation.

Or, let them be on electronics because this is the one place in their entire life where being distracted by electronics is the absolute best play.

You can visit your child during the flight for a snack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You haven’t finished booking the flight until you have seats.

This. And I won’t even pay until I can see that there are appropriate seats to select.

Doesn't help. The airline sometimes chooses to cancel your seats later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A woman on my flight lst night was upset about being 'separated' from her kids (2 boys about 5 and 8) but they were only separated by an aisle. They had an aisle seat then the two seats across the aislt. So seat C, then the aisle, then seat D (also aisle) and E (middle).

She sat in C and had the boys in D and E but was complaining to the flight attendant and asking her to get them three together (the middle section of seats were groups of 3 (DEF) but the plane was full. Then she held the hand of younger child across the aisle creating issues for the flight attendants trying to walk back and forth. About halfway through the flight she moved to seat D, younger kid moved to seat E (right beside her) and slightly older kid moved to her seat in C across the aisle. This seemed to calm her down as there were no complaints after that.

I just felt bad for the flight attendants! They were very calm and patient.

This reminds me of a time I sat behind two kids, with their mom sitting across the aisle in the row next to them. She kept plying them with toys and activities, checking in on them every two minutes, and just overall getting them really riled up. Then she fell asleep and they were perfect, well-behaved kids who just sat quietly doing whatever they were doing. Their mom's constant interventions were entirely unneeded.

Maybe she didn't want them to be on electronics the entire time? When left alone, kids will spend the *entire* time on electronics and will sometimes forget to eat or drink.

I know about the perils of too much screen time, but see no issue with a kid burying their noses in a device if it makes the flight better for all involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are traveling with young kids always pay the extra when you book the tickets. Otherwise it’s a crap shoot and the onus is on you and not the airline.

Why do people keep saying this? United does not charge you extra to choose seats together unless you are in basic and even then that doesn’t apply for kids under 12. The Internet is full of people whining about parents who are cheaping out and not booking seats together, but I really think that is rarely the case.

The only times I’ve had issues is not being sat with my child is when my flight was canceled, and I had to rebook last minute. No parent is booking a plane ticket and then just crossing their fingers that they get to sit by their kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are traveling with young kids always pay the extra when you book the tickets. Otherwise it’s a crap shoot and the onus is on you and not the airline.

She said she did pay up in fare. She just can’t remember if she selected seats. Read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A woman on my flight lst night was upset about being 'separated' from her kids (2 boys about 5 and 8) but they were only separated by an aisle. They had an aisle seat then the two seats across the aislt. So seat C, then the aisle, then seat D (also aisle) and E (middle).

She sat in C and had the boys in D and E but was complaining to the flight attendant and asking her to get them three together (the middle section of seats were groups of 3 (DEF) but the plane was full. Then she held the hand of younger child across the aisle creating issues for the flight attendants trying to walk back and forth. About halfway through the flight she moved to seat D, younger kid moved to seat E (right beside her) and slightly older kid moved to her seat in C across the aisle. This seemed to calm her down as there were no complaints after that.

I just felt bad for the flight attendants! They were very calm and patient.

This reminds me of a time I sat behind two kids, with their mom sitting across the aisle in the row next to them. She kept plying them with toys and activities, checking in on them every two minutes, and just overall getting them really riled up. Then she fell asleep and they were perfect, well-behaved kids who just sat quietly doing whatever they were doing. Their mom's constant interventions were entirely unneeded.

Maybe she didn't want them to be on electronics the entire time? When left alone, kids will spend the *entire* time on electronics and will sometimes forget to eat or drink.

They aren't going to perish forgetting to eat or drink. I would not be remotely worried if my kid skipped a snack and drink on a flight. An this is the one time unlimited screen time is ok. What do you think all the adults are doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You haven’t finished booking the flight until you have seats.

This. And I won’t even pay until I can see that there are appropriate seats to select.

Doesn't help. The airline sometimes chooses to cancel your seats later.

I keep screenshots and have never had an issue resolving it to my satisfaction. And we fly about 4 round trips a year with the kids.

[Anonymous]

Airlines will seat you with your children regardless of class but you need to call them after