WWYD? Airline rebooked our seats and we're all spread out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents and children are obligated to be seated together. They will switch you up at the gate. They will not let an 8 year old sit alone, etc.

In my experience, this is not true. Like PP, I had my then two year old in one part of the plane, my 8 year old in another and me in another. We needed a whole row together. Flight attendants didn't help and people were not kind about moving. It was an awful experience.

It is not true. Some member of Congress proposed a law but I don't think it went anywhere. We pay for economyplus which guarantees they won't reseat us.

[Anonymous]

So glad I haven't flown with the kids in two years. Thanks for the PP who suggested Southwest for family flights. I'll be doing that from now on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents and children are obligated to be seated together. They will switch you up at the gate. They will not let an 8 year old sit alone, etc.

In my experience, this is not true. Like PP, I had my then two year old in one part of the plane, my 8 year old in another and me in another. We needed a whole row together. Flight attendants didn't help and people were not kind about moving. It was an awful experience.

It is not true. Some member of Congress proposed a law but I don't think it went anywhere. We pay for economyplus which guarantees they won't reseat us.

Until you have a last-minute airplane change and the new configuration changes everyone's seats. It is a cluster when that happens.

[Anonymous]

Even when there is a law, airplanes can be awful about this. A online "friend" of mine from a support group for kids with specific disabilities was separated by an airline from her 5 year old who was blind, non-verbal, and unable to sit up unsupported. I think it's pretty indisputable that being able to sit next to a companion/caregiver (in this case mom) is a "reasonable accommodation" for a person with a severe disability, but the airline provided no support. Fortunately, some of the passengers on the plane had some sense and compassion and reshuffled seats and they made it to their destination together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents and children are obligated to be seated together. They will switch you up at the gate. They will not let an 8 year old sit alone, etc.

In my experience, this is not true. Like PP, I had my then two year old in one part of the plane, my 8 year old in another and me in another. We needed a whole row together. Flight attendants didn't help and people were not kind about moving. It was an awful experience.

It is not true. Some member of Congress proposed a law but I don't think it went anywhere. We pay for economyplus which guarantees they won't reseat us.

No no no no no. Economy Plus guarantees you nothing. Read the previous page of this thread. At least a couple of posters (including me) have been bumped out of Economy Plus and separated from our child. If you continue to fly frequently on United believing that purchasing Economy Plus seats will protect you from this experience, you will probably eventually have a rude awakening.

Unless of course you really do rack up a lot of miles with United, in which case you're probably safe.

[Anonymous]

Most of these cold hearted lousy treatments are from united flights... They really are the worst! Our kids love JetBlue and virgin America .

[Anonymous]

I fly Southwest whenever we fly with kids. So much easier than dealing with being separated. A friend of mine got separated from her 3 kids on an international flight. She was beyond panicked. She got it fixed. The gate agent basically told her to pound sand, but one of the flight attendants fixed the problem when she boarded. I told her next time ask to be seated together and then when told sorry no dice just to board the plane and buckle her 3 kids in their assigned seats and head to hers. The problem will get fixed. Nobody wants to sit next to someone else's unattended kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was annoyed when my 3 year old son and I were separated by 2 rows. When I asked the attendant at the desk to put us together, she claimed she couldn't. Another passenger offered her seat, and that was when the attendant announced that everyone must sit in their assigned seat, under no circumstance was anyone to trade seats. Uhhh...won't fly with them again!

Wow, that is really ridiculous. I can't believe the flight attendant did that. What airline?

Why were you separated? Were you unable to get assigned seats at booking?

If this issue is important to you, you really should not book the flight unless you are able to book seats when you buy the flight.

I understand that sometimes families do book seats, and get moved, but families who just booked the flight and don't get seats and then expect people to move all around for them really need to think about what they're doing.

Choice seats are almost always available. If there's no seat assignment available, it is very possible the plane is overbooked and you might get screwed over. Go on another flight.

My sister doesn't take the time when booking to find flights with good seats. She refuses to pay for choice seats. And she doesn't check in 24 hours before. Then she gets to the airplane and expect people to move all around for her. People may have chosen that flight in order to get a good seat.

Our original flight was delayed so missed the connector. When they booked this particular flight the attendant said we would sit together but when we arrived at the gate, they had us sitting separately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an airline separate me from my then 16 month old daughter. I was like, "OKay, no problem!" and plopped her in her seat, buckled her seatbelt, gave her her cup of water and lovey, and told her I'd see her later and skipped off to my row.

Two minutes later I heard her screaming, One minute after that I heard a flight attendant - the same one who'd frostily told me no, she could not give us back our original seats - yelling "Whose baby is this?!" and I smiled at her and said she was mine.

Funny how quickly they managed to get us seats together after that.

Which airline? These people are so clueless!

I agree about the unaccompanied minor !

Can't believe one PP had to sit separate from her two year old!!!!!
Unbelievable on so many levels!

[Anonymous]

United agents have told me over the phone that a seat isn't guaranteed until you're sitting in it!

I was flying to FL last year with my three and five year olds on my own. We bought tx last minute and I saw that our seats were near each other but not exactly together. If I recall, it was something like two together and then one by itself across the aisle and one row back - nothing horrible. I prepped my girls that they'd sit together and I'd be near by if they needed me (bathroom, etc.). I buckled them in and they had coloring sheets and snacks and it wasn't a long flight. We settled in and didn't ask anyone to accommodate us but the passengers around us reshuffled on their own so we could sit together - it was very nice. As the plane is nearly full and getting ready to leave, a loud obnoxious family gets on bi&*%ing and moaning about being split up - it was a mother and father and two kids - probably 6 and 9 years old. And it turns out they had two sets of two seats together! The groans and eyerolling from the passengers was completely appropriate! It's families like that who can ruin fellow passengers' good nature for everyone!

Oh, and I should have added, if my kids were sitting next to anyone that gave me the creeps or clearly didn't want to be next to two little kids, I would have asked for help reshuffling then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents and children are obligated to be seated together. They will switch you up at the gate. They will not let an 8 year old sit alone, etc.

In my experience, this is not true. Like PP, I had my then two year old in one part of the plane, my 8 year old in another and me in another. We needed a whole row together. Flight attendants didn't help and people were not kind about moving. It was an awful experience.

It is not true. Some member of Congress proposed a law but I don't think it went anywhere. We pay for economyplus which guarantees they won't reseat us.

Until you have a last-minute airplane change and the new configuration changes everyone's seats. It is a cluster when that happens.

I didn't read all the posts until after I posted this. So far we have been lucky which I attribute to a couple of things: DH is premier with United and we use a travel agent to make the bookings since our United travel is usually related to his work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never fly an airline that won't let you pick your seats when you make your reservation. Since I always purchase my tickets online directly the airline, I've never had a problem. However, one time I did give up my seat and was moved to the one seat left in business class.

My kids are teens now so no problem. But when they were young I wouldn't even consider being separated.

I don't think you understand the issue. Flying with some major airlines has changed dramatically in recent years. United, AA, maybe some others don't really care if you select the seat ahead of time. They are always changing aircrafts, which means the seating configuration can't be relied on ahead of time. If you purchased assigned seats for your family and are flying United, you should count on "assigned" as meaning nothing. They reassign seats and separate groups, often seating small children away from adults, at the last minute.

OP, don't be fooled into thinking buying Economy Plus ahead of time guarantees you anything. They can and will bump you out of Economy Plus and scatter your group all over the damned plane. Speaking from experience. I hate United.

yes yes, this happened to us. I chose seats with all 4 of us together. I booked my flight 6 months in advance. Since my booking, I had at least 2 updates to my seating because they kept changing the plane that we would be on. When we got there, we were not seated together. Luckily, 2 of our seats were off at the aisle, and two were in the huge middle section of a 747. A nice couple did trade with us to get away from our 1 and 3 year olds. So I booked seats together, and the airline separated us. Very frustrating. This was United.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Wow, amazed to hear from so many people who've been moved around even with economy plus seats. And yes, I naively thought that "investing" in those seats would have protected us from changes. I guess (if you don't get switched back to economy) you at least have more desirable seats to bargain in the event you do need to beg other passengers to switch!

Someone mentioned people getting shuffled by United to accommodate premier flyers. And with that comment, it all fell into place. I have NEVER had a problem on United with seating changes/separate seating with our kids until this trip. We flew with kids several times a year, at least two domestic and one international flight. Eureka! Yep: from when DC1 was born through 2012, we were premier members and DH 1k due to work travel. We almost always flew with him under his status. Never any problems.

I have certainly noticed the difference in customer service and travel now that we're not premier, but didn't make the connection regarding 1) the seat reshuffling to accommodate premier upgrades and 2) the protection 1k gave us from being shuffled. So really, this is all karma and I probably deserve to be seated across the plane from my family! Will definitely try some of the other airlines recommended next time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:United agents have told me over the phone that a seat isn't guaranteed until you're sitting in it!

I was flying to FL last year with my three and five year olds on my own. We bought tx last minute and I saw that our seats were near each other but not exactly together. If I recall, it was something like two together and then one by itself across the aisle and one row back - nothing horrible. I prepped my girls that they'd sit together and I'd be near by if they needed me (bathroom, etc.). I buckled them in and they had coloring sheets and snacks and it wasn't a long flight. We settled in and didn't ask anyone to accommodate us but the passengers around us reshuffled on their own so we could sit together - it was very nice. As the plane is nearly full and getting ready to leave, a loud obnoxious family gets on bi&*%ing and moaning about being split up - it was a mother and father and two kids - probably 6 and 9 years old. And it turns out they had two sets of two seats together! The groans and eyerolling from the passengers was completely appropriate! It's families like that who can ruin fellow passengers' good nature for everyone!

Oh, and I should have added, if my kids were sitting next to anyone that gave me the creeps or clearly didn't want to be next to two little kids, I would have asked for help reshuffling then.

This. An entire family of two adults with kids does not "need" to sit together.

[Anonymous]

So what is the benefit of economy plus?? What does it provide?