749, that's what I always thought.
And I remember being really surprised by a thread on DCUM (maybe last year?) where some posters shared stories of being seated apart.
On the phone with United yesterday the agent said airline does everything it can to place parents and children together, but it didn't sound like a requirement. She put a note in that "passenger would like to be seated with minor children."

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.

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.

The airlines are ridiculous to allow this. It isn't like they don't have the information in their systems. To even tenuously propose that a child be seated away from an accompanying adult is ludicrous. They should be required to treat the kid as an unaccompanied minor (requiring a little babysitting from flight attendants) if tegu separate the kids from the adults.

Let me just add that there are decent people in the world who will accepts middle seat so a family can stay together.

I tend to be flying only with my family now, but as a solo traveler, I have done it.

Yes, two there two back. I moved from DC metro to a lovely but remote location where direct flights aren't readily available.

Thanks for the tips. I'll get online again this morning. On one flight 3 out of the 4 seats are window seats so switching would be tough. The others might be easier.

23:40, great story! My younger one will prob cry. Older one tends to get queasy on landing. Perhaps if Grandpa hands her the barf bag and reminds her to use it before heading to his seat, her neighbor will volunteer him a spot.

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.

Ha! I've secretly wanted to play that card when this has happened to me but the gate agent was able to accommodate me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world did you book a vacation for flight segments? I would not do that even without kids unless I was flying to Timbuctu or something

This should say four flight segments not for

Two ther two back. You can always get there from here on a direct flight.

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world did you book a vacation for flight segments? I would not do that even without kids unless I was flying to Timbuctu or something

This should say four flight segments not for

Why in the world did you book a vacation for flight segments? I would not do that even without kids unless I was flying to Timbuctu or something

Yes try get as many windows and aisles as you can because it is easier to switch

Do not ask someone to switch from a ailse or window to the middle seat. No way would I agree.

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.

I'd consider cancelling just b/c it sounds like your actual vacation time will shrink to near zero.

But for the flight: it's likely that at flight time they can at least seat you two-by-two.

--You can try online checkin, and see what your seat options are (usually you can check in 24 hrs in advance).

--Then if you still have no good options, you can try your luck with the kiosk checkin and/or ask one of the agents for help, though they will likely tell you to try your luck at the gate.

--Gate agent will most likely make a switch b/c NOBODY thinks it's a good idea for a 3yo to be seated with strangers. For the 9yo it's dicier but still...

--Last ditch: try to swap on the flight--easier if you can offer to trade an aisle or window for the dreaded middle seat.

^^^ should add that more snow is expected on the new travel day, which is probably adding to my impulse to call the trip off.

Booked for winter break months ago. Four flight segments with mom, grandpa, just-turned 3 year old, and a 9 year old, and for each segment we were able to get either all in a row or one adult/one child together in one row and the other pair in a 2nd row.

Today was travel day. Just as we arrived at the airport, our first flight was canceled because the crew timed out. United rebooked us on new flights (not per our request, when I went to check in at the kiosk, out came a ticket for 2 days from now). Only on the last of 4 legs do we have any adjacent seats. For eg. on 1st leg we're in rows 6, 8, 10, and 20. Agents at airport and on two phone calls couldn't help with any seat assignment changes, they encouraged me to request switch the day of the flight.

I seem to remember a long thread awhile back about families separated on planes. Anyone have success at getting seat assignments adjusted? problems getting seats adjusted? Will the airline actually do something or would I find myself stuck asking passengers to swap seats (3 flights with 2 swaps each).

I can get a full refund on the tickets and am leaning toward canceling if I can't be reasonably confident that my kids will be seated with their adults, but want some DCUM perspective before bailing.