This is why I won’t let my husband book flights.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7 and 9 year old and fly United a lot. When I book my tickets in the app, I get a message about how they will endeavor to seat us together because of the kids (I always found it a bit odd because I get the message right after I selected our seats together anyway, but maybe they mean if there is a plane change or something). Furthermore, when I go through the upgrade process at check-in, they always ask if I want to opt out so I can make sure I am not separated from my kids.

OP, it sounds like maybe your husband booked basic economy through an aggregator like Expedia vs directly with United? You should call United because they do seem to pay attention this.

Op - yes he booked it through our credit card directly. Since we just booked tickets recently through the same process (although with American) I figured it was the same process. My fault for not paying attention to this.

At this point we will just call United. If we can’t get together I think we will just keep the flights and try to get myself with the youngest kid and let the older two sit by themselves.

That’s a good plan and honestly, if your older two are like mine, they will think it’s fun/cool to sit separately.

Op - middle kid will hate it and most likely cry. Older kid will love it. Kids are 7 and 8 years old.

Once again, why are you not calling now to try to sort this out in advance?

Are you using your kids to make a point, rather than trying to protect their safety, comfort, and security? That's sucking at parenting.

You said he booked it through the credit card - if you booked through the Chase or AMEX travel portal, it may take a minute for the airline to receive the reservation. Have you checked your app? It may show up there, and you can then pay to reserve a few seats for you and the 4-year old, for example. I too am frustrated with the state of air travel in so many ways, but spending the money may save you a lot of anxiety. As PPs said, if you booked basic economy, the reservation agent may only parrot what's on the website about how they'll do their best to seat you together.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just booked flights with United and we didn’t get the option to choose our seats. We have 3 young kids. Will they seat us together or will we just have to hope and pray? Kids are under 8 years old.

FWIW we also booked flights recently with American Airlines and we were able to select seats. Not sure why United doesn’t let us.

That's your problem. Some airlines are bad because of indifference, other are bad because of cost cutting. United seems to take joy in maying flying as miserable and experience as they possibly can

Yep their entire ethos is centered around making you miserable.

FWIW, I find United significantly better than any other domestic airline but you do you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7 and 9 year old and fly United a lot. When I book my tickets in the app, I get a message about how they will endeavor to seat us together because of the kids (I always found it a bit odd because I get the message right after I selected our seats together anyway, but maybe they mean if there is a plane change or something). Furthermore, when I go through the upgrade process at check-in, they always ask if I want to opt out so I can make sure I am not separated from my kids.

OP, it sounds like maybe your husband booked basic economy through an aggregator like Expedia vs directly with United? You should call United because they do seem to pay attention this.

Op - yes he booked it through our credit card directly. Since we just booked tickets recently through the same process (although with American) I figured it was the same process. My fault for not paying attention to this.

At this point we will just call United. If we can’t get together I think we will just keep the flights and try to get myself with the youngest kid and let the older two sit by themselves.

That’s a good plan and honestly, if your older two are like mine, they will think it’s fun/cool to sit separately.

Op - middle kid will hate it and most likely cry. Older kid will love it. Kids are 7 and 8 years old.

I would try calling reservations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7 and 9 year old and fly United a lot. When I book my tickets in the app, I get a message about how they will endeavor to seat us together because of the kids (I always found it a bit odd because I get the message right after I selected our seats together anyway, but maybe they mean if there is a plane change or something). Furthermore, when I go through the upgrade process at check-in, they always ask if I want to opt out so I can make sure I am not separated from my kids.

OP, it sounds like maybe your husband booked basic economy through an aggregator like Expedia vs directly with United? You should call United because they do seem to pay attention this.

Op - yes he booked it through our credit card directly. Since we just booked tickets recently through the same process (although with American) I figured it was the same process. My fault for not paying attention to this.

At this point we will just call United. If we can’t get together I think we will just keep the flights and try to get myself with the youngest kid and let the older two sit by themselves.

That’s a good plan and honestly, if your older two are like mine, they will think it’s fun/cool to sit separately.

Anonymous wrote:Just booked flights with United and we didn’t get the option to choose our seats. We have 3 young kids. Will they seat us together or will we just have to hope and pray? Kids are under 8 years old.

FWIW we also booked flights recently with American Airlines and we were able to select seats. Not sure why United doesn’t let us.

That's your problem. Some airlines are bad because of indifference, other are bad because of cost cutting. United seems to take joy in maying flying as miserable and experience as they possibly can

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7 and 9 year old and fly United a lot. When I book my tickets in the app, I get a message about how they will endeavor to seat us together because of the kids (I always found it a bit odd because I get the message right after I selected our seats together anyway, but maybe they mean if there is a plane change or something). Furthermore, when I go through the upgrade process at check-in, they always ask if I want to opt out so I can make sure I am not separated from my kids.

OP, it sounds like maybe your husband booked basic economy through an aggregator like Expedia vs directly with United? You should call United because they do seem to pay attention this.

Op - yes he booked it through our credit card directly. Since we just booked tickets recently through the same process (although with American) I figured it was the same process. My fault for not paying attention to this.

At this point we will just call United. If we can’t get together I think we will just keep the flights and try to get myself with the youngest kid and let the older two sit by themselves.

I have a 7 and 9 year old and fly United a lot. When I book my tickets in the app, I get a message about how they will endeavor to seat us together because of the kids (I always found it a bit odd because I get the message right after I selected our seats together anyway, but maybe they mean if there is a plane change or something). Furthermore, when I go through the upgrade process at check-in, they always ask if I want to opt out so I can make sure I am not separated from my kids.

OP, it sounds like maybe your husband booked basic economy through an aggregator like Expedia vs directly with United? You should call United because they do seem to pay attention this.

Anonymous wrote:What happens if there are truly not 5 seats together? Or even 2 so kids can sit in pairs (younger with one parent)?

You book a different flight if sitting w your kids is important to you. We adjusted vacation dates and bought more expensive tickets to accommodate sitting w our kids.

What happens if there are truly not 5 seats together? Or even 2 so kids can sit in pairs (younger with one parent)?

You shouldn’t have booked tickets without seats when you have young kids. Cancel them.

Anonymous wrote:Op - to be honest I have no idea what seats were available or not. My husband booked them. He just said he couldn’t choose. It wasn’t an option. So maybe the flight was full and there weren’t 5 seats close together.

Why anybody would want to sit next to a 4 year old by themselves is beyond me. Older kids could theoretically sit by themselves but won’t really like it.

I feel like it is just a lawsuit waiting to happen if a young girl gets assaulted on a flight because they couldn’t sit next to their parent. I have a friend who was sexually assaulted on an over night flight. But of course airlines are only interested in making more money.

Sounds like your issue is with your husband. Maybe this should be in relationship forum.

PSA the lowest class of tickets on United is very bare bones - like Spirit airlines. Comes with no seat assignment and no carry one. You can bring a personal item to put under the seat in front of you and that’s it. I just made the decision to book seats on American instead of United because even though their lowest fare class was a bit more expensive, it came a carry and the ability to spend a little bit more to select our seats - which we did even though we are 2 adults because we wanted to sit together. I will never again give up my seat for other groups to sit together because they are just gaming the system. OP - your kids won’t be this age forever, but right now you need to pay more so that you can sit with your 4 year old. That’s just part of the cost of deciding to fly with a kid. Many families decide to not fly because they don’t want to or dont’ have the money to pay this expense.