Reply to airplane -- seats not together with 5 year olds

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]We booked our vacation flight to California about a month out[/b] -- 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? [/quote]

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. [/quote]

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.  [u]How can a 5 year old sit by themselves[/u]?[/quote]

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.   :mrgreen:

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.[/quote]

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).  [/quote]

You left your 8 month old alone? [/quote]

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