airplane -- seats not together with 5 year olds

[Anonymous]

Ask when you check your bags and ask when you get to the gate. They likely won't be able to help you but you never know so just keep asking. Call the airline a couple different times before your trip too.

I have offered my seat to children and parents who have been separated. I had one man offer his seat up when my DH and I were traveling with a lap child and we both were moved to middle seats at the last minute, despite booking together. He gave up his aisle seat voluntarily and we weren't even looking or asking. Prepare for the worst but there are nice people traveling who just might make your day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We booked our vacation flight to California about a month out -- but there were no seats available next to each other... and only middle seats available. Our twins are 5 yrs old. Have people generally had luck with people switching seats (even tho they have windows & aisles, probably don't want to sit next to needy, possibly crying 5 year olds??) or other options/suggestions for how to handle?

I would have had more sympathy for you - but you need to plan better. You are now asking people who have windows and aisle seats to accommodate you because you didn't get your act together or aren't willing to pay more.

I'm not the OP, but how far in advance, exactly, would be required for your sympathy? Last Christmas, I booked flights from DC to Portland in October (so 3 months in advance) and we were still seated in 3 separate aisles (me, DH and 4 year old DD). The gate agent said, "Sorry, it's a full flight, I can't switch anyone. You'll have just ask on the plane if someone will switch with you."

Not sure what they or you expect people to do in such a situation or the OP's situation. Should the children sit alone, next to the strangers who paid more?

3 months out for Xmas isn't a lot. Moreover, you need to not just take the cheapest fare, but find the airline and the fare that works for you. Anyhow, 3 different AISLE seats are a whole other kettle of fish, as PP has said.

PP here. I misspoke. I meant seats in 3 different ROWS. At least one of them was a window seat, as we'd planned to use DD's carseat. I don't remember what the other 2 were except that they were not in that row.

People have a limited number of choices. Booking holiday travel 3 months out is completely reasonable, given that many people's schedules are not always predictable. Additionally, I chose the airline, flight and fare that worked best for our family based on timing, connections and price. I'm glad that you have the freedom to plan all your travel a year in advance and pay as much as you have to so that everyone can sit together, but down here in the real world where mortals do not always have the flexibility to plan way, way in advance and also do not have all the money ever minted, 3 months out + request to have minor child seated with at least one parent is not an unreasonable request. My issue is with the airline, not the other passengers, but when the airline foists the responsibility onto the passengers to work it out themselves, the ire of the passengers who have to either trade seats or not trade seats and sit next to someone else's kid should also be directed at the airline, for creating this situation.

Apparently, that isn't the case. Well, maybe it is, but you went into the situation knowing that you'd have to inconvenience others to make things work for you. The words selfish and entitled get thrown around a lot, often improperly, but they squarely apply to you. And trying to foist in on the airline is ridiculous - you're still putting it on the other passengers. What you're saying is, "Hey, you, who booked your flights 4 months out? You can't have that aisle seat, because the airline had to hold several rows open to allow for the CHANCE that a family might want to travel on this flight. Oh, and we don't; want to pay any extra, either." That you can't see the narcissism in that is mind-boggling.

[Anonymous]

Not sure of the airline, but sometimes if you hop right on the airline's website 24 hours before departure, there will be a batch of premium seats -- you can upgrade for about $50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We booked our vacation flight to California about a month out -- but there were no seats available next to each other... and only middle seats available. Our twins are 5 yrs old. Have people generally had luck with people switching seats (even tho they have windows & aisles, probably don't want to sit next to needy, possibly crying 5 year olds??) or other options/suggestions for how to handle?

I would have had more sympathy for you - but you need to plan better. You are now asking people who have windows and aisle seats to accommodate you because you didn't get your act together or aren't willing to pay more.

Not the OP.

This is often not a question of planning better. This is the airlines trying to make money. If you book through a third party site, often you get whatever seats the third party site if authorized to give - and sometimes those are only crappy seats. Also, some airlines, like US Air, charge extra for the window and aisle seats, so this might actually be an affordability question. Most airlines do release some seats 24 hours in advance, so get on the website of your airline then and see if you can move your seats together. 24 hours in advance is also when most of the upgrades happen, so some seats may free up as passengers with status get moved around. I have also had help from the gate agent or the flight attendants, but don't count on it.

I agree, though, don't count on anyone switching with you if they had to pay for the aisle or window. Don't expect help from the flight attendants. I was on a United flight recently in economy plus window, with the middle seat open and the aisle occupied. The lady in the aisle was upgraded to first, and the poor guy in the middle seat in non economy row behind us was not allowed to move to the empty aisle seat, even after the plane took off, because "people pay for those seats" according to the flight attendant. Maybe the flight attendants will be nicer on your flight.

I find it reprehensible that the airline split families up on flights in the interest of extracting more money. How can a 5 year old sit by themselves?

Airline isn't splitting up the families. Airline indicated which seats were available and OP bought those seats. OP should have checked other airlines until she found an option to have at least 2 and 2 side by side seats. Yes, she would have paid extra, but that is what happens when you book late. I am totally sympathetic, but you can't blame the airline who clearly indicated what seats are available. OP - try and check in online exactly when that opens - about 24 hours a head of time. Until then, periodically check to see if other seats come available. Call the airline and see what they see. Worse case scenario - offer to buy someone a drink or a meal on the plane to switch with you.

[Anonymous]

DD and I had a flight to CA with adjoining seats. One middle, one window. Returning, our connecting flight to LA was late and we missed our connection. We were given two middle seats behind each other. DD got lucky. A couple had the window and the aisle and the woman offered to switch with her and DD got the window. I was miserable in that middle seat. Had DD been next to me, I could have leaned on her a little-we could have switched off.
I would be quite hesitant to give up an aisle seat to a five year old on a flight that long. Ask to have your seats behind each other.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately if you only have middle seats you will have a hard road ahead of you. Keep trying to rebook your seats to get two windows or aisles. That way you can do a middle-middle trade, which people will be willing to do. I hate to say it, but it's the wild west on planes these days. People won't help you if it means switching their window or aisle (which as PPs said they may have paid significantly more for) for your middle seat. You should have not have picked a flight with this problem, and yes you did know before you purchased.

Sorry. (Signed, a frequent flyer who has small children and tries to fly southwest for this reason).

[Anonymous]

Why not bring $50-$100 cash and ask someone if they would take money to switch seats?

[Anonymous]

So I've flown twice recently where the airline has tried to get families seated together. In one instance, the gate attendant offered me a business class seat (domestic flight) in exchange for my previous seat. No problem there!

Another time I heard someone being offered an upgraded food package for switching seats.

I'd talk to people when you get there.

[Anonymous]

Call the airline and see what they can do. I would not count on getting someone to move - your flight is sure to be full of families in the same position, and people who have paid extra to get the aisle or bulkhead or whatever. And jerks.

[Anonymous]

Most of you are ridiculous. No, everyone can't just pay more or take another airline. Those options aren't always available. One month isn't last minute, and sometimes work schedules, family emergencies, etc make it difficult or impossible to plan further ahead. And yet, little kids should not have to sit alone. Airlines created this problem by holding out SO many seats for which passengers must pay extra, greatly limiting the availability of "regular" seats. Guess what? Almost no one wants those seats, so they sit unreserved, until the day of the flight when they are given to whoever doesn't have a seat, without having paid extra. Meanwhile, families can't book seats (either at all or without paying a lot more) together because of the airlines' BS attempts to mickle and dime us for every damn thing. It's the airlines' fault, but it doesn't kill people to be nice and trade seats. With a family of four like OP's, just 2 of 8 possible people need to change seats. It's unlikely they all have some condition making this difficult. DCUMers love to wag their tongues about "entitled" parents who should have just done this or that, but fortunately, most people in real life are nicer and more helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We booked our vacation flight to California about a month out -- but there were no seats available next to each other... and only middle seats available. Our twins are 5 yrs old. Have people generally had luck with people switching seats (even tho they have windows & aisles, probably don't want to sit next to needy, possibly crying 5 year olds??) or other options/suggestions for how to handle?

I would have had more sympathy for you - but you need to plan better. You are now asking people who have windows and aisle seats to accommodate you because you didn't get your act together or aren't willing to pay more.

Not the OP.

This is often not a question of planning better. This is the airlines trying to make money. If you book through a third party site, often you get whatever seats the third party site if authorized to give - and sometimes those are only crappy seats. Also, some airlines, like US Air, charge extra for the window and aisle seats, so this might actually be an affordability question. Most airlines do release some seats 24 hours in advance, so get on the website of your airline then and see if you can move your seats together. 24 hours in advance is also when most of the upgrades happen, so some seats may free up as passengers with status get moved around. I have also had help from the gate agent or the flight attendants, but don't count on it.

I agree, though, don't count on anyone switching with you if they had to pay for the aisle or window. Don't expect help from the flight attendants. I was on a United flight recently in economy plus window, with the middle seat open and the aisle occupied. The lady in the aisle was upgraded to first, and the poor guy in the middle seat in non economy row behind us was not allowed to move to the empty aisle seat, even after the plane took off, because "people pay for those seats" according to the flight attendant. Maybe the flight attendants will be nicer on your flight.

I find it reprehensible that the airline split families up on flights in the interest of extracting more money. How can a 5 year old sit by themselves?

Quite easily. What's wrong with everyone's 5 yr olds? That's the minimum age to fly alone on the airplane, nevermind having your parents on the same flight. It's not that big a deal. I've had to sit apart from my very young kids on flights of over 10 hrs. There are movies, food, etc to keep them entertained. They're not going anywhere.

I booked a seat for my then 6 month old DS, who the airline put 7 rows away from me. They refused to help, nobody wanted to switch, so I strapped him in his car seat, told the guy next to him to just nurse him when he woke up crying.

He switch pretty quickly after that.

We an all agree that the airlines often have issues with seating, but it's not the huge problem people always make it out to be.

I did that too with my 8 month old. We asked the people in all the rows to switch, everyone said no. Flight attendant would not help so I installed the seat, put the bottle in the car seat, told the people next to him that there was food, diapers/wipes, toys, extra clothing which they will need along with a burp cloth on the car seat and told them he had bad reflux so here is a burp cloth to catch it as it sometimes projects pretty far. We had to go to an medical appointment (and its easy to say do not fly, but often we are flying to out of state medical appointments).

On a recent flight, our son is 5 and my son was so excited two older women were entertained and offered to watch him when we were having trouble finding seats - luckily there were a few empty rows. (not sure if they were joking or serious - they seemed serious as they looked like the attentive grandma types).

People say what is the big deal even at 5, but not all strangers are going to help your child or come find you if your child needs help. I would move as I would want someone to do that for us. Or, I would take care of someone's child if there was no other way (i.e. mom/dad with a few kids). In all reality, people say they will not move, but are you prepared to help a child who is sitting next to you? Keep them entertained, help them eat, make sure they stay seated, take them to the bathroom or find the parent, etc. My child has some developmental delays and need a lot of support. Looking at him, he "looks" fine, but he has some minor special needs. Its no one's business and we don't share, but if you sat next to him, you'd have to help with everything (he'd behave but be confused as to where we were).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately if you only have middle seats you will have a hard road ahead of you. Keep trying to rebook your seats to get two windows or aisles. That way you can do a middle-middle trade, which people will be willing to do. I hate to say it, but it's the wild west on planes these days. People won't help you if it means switching their window or aisle (which as PPs said they may have paid significantly more for) for your middle seat. You should have not have picked a flight with this problem, and yes you did know before you purchased.

Sorry. (Signed, a frequent flyer who has small children and tries to fly southwest for this reason).

Southwest has family boarding but if the plane is coming from another location first and is full, its a problem. We had that happen once.

[Anonymous]

Get to the gate early - be 1st in line when the gate attendants start talking to passengers. IF you want them to be in the best position to help you this is the way to do it.

[Anonymous]

At five, both of our kids sat alone on direct flights to California. No problem. I'm guessing it won't be a big deal for the kids or other passengers if your kids wind up seated separately (though I'm guessing someone will offer to switch seats). The OP's kids are five, not three, so I don't think there's much to worry about, especially if she prepares them beforehand. They may see if as a big kid adventure!

[Anonymous]

If you can't find someone willing to switch with you, smile nicely to the person sitting next to your lone child, let them know about the kid's goodie bag in cSe child gets fussy, thank them for the free babysitting and wish them good luck!