I did this recently, OP. Traveling with two young children, didn't pay the outrageous fees to book for a family of four. It was Spirit one way, Frontier the other. No problems getting seats together at check in.

If I had pre-paid for a seat, there isn't a chance I'd switch with you to be near your child.

Pay the money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and roll the dice, just don’t pitch a sanctimonious fit when your seats are scattered throughout the plane and no one will move for you.

Yes I hate when parents don't pre pay for seats and then try to make those of us who DID pre pay move.

Wow, this is a rude comment. Paying for seats on the plane is a scam! And people are flaming the OP bc she didn't fall for it. Just wow.

You mean when everyone else paid for them you want to get away with not paying for them and inconvenience everyone else who reserved seats? At the last minute? You are an entitled scam artist.

NEWS FLASH!!! "Everyone" does not pay for seats, especially not on budget airlines. Airlines are outsourcing to passengers this responsibility that they took on before (placing small children with a parent.) Also, since most people are NOT paying to select a seat, I'm not scamming anybody. It's common sense that a 2 year old paying full price sits with his parent. What is this??

News flash - then you don’t get to pick your seat- YOU get to sit in the middle of two burping fat guys in the back of the plane near the toilet.
and your SO and toddler get to sit 10 & 20 rows away from you, also in middle seats.

Yes! Exactly. That is an expected and acceptable outcome. In fact, I'd prefer it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you save a bunch of money? Isn't paying for a seat like max $40? So let's round up... you save $200?

If $200 makes a difference in your budget you can't afford to be vacationing in the first place.

Are you aware that sometimes poor people are able to save up for a discount flight for a once in a lifetime trip and yes, $200 can break the budget or at least be an extremely noticeable expense. Guess we should just stay home.

PP is a piece of $hit.

Anonymous wrote:What in the world makes you think all 4 seats will near each other? If you ask me to switch my seat that I did select ahead of time, I will kindly respond with “No.”.

Usually the paid to select seats are in a special section, so this wouldn’t impact you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and roll the dice, just don’t pitch a sanctimonious fit when your seats are scattered throughout the plane and no one will move for you.

Yes I hate when parents don't pre pay for seats and then try to make those of us who DID pre pay move.

Wow, this is a rude comment. Paying for seats on the plane is a scam! And people are flaming the OP bc she didn't fall for it. Just wow.

You mean when everyone else paid for them you want to get away with not paying for them and inconvenience everyone else who reserved seats? At the last minute? You are an entitled scam artist.

NEWS FLASH!!! "Everyone" does not pay for seats, especially not on budget airlines. Airlines are outsourcing to passengers this responsibility that they took on before (placing small children with a parent.) Also, since most people are NOT paying to select a seat, I'm not scamming anybody. It's common sense that a 2 year old paying full price sits with his parent. What is this??

Omg, you are NOT entitled to anything on the airplane that you didn’t pay for. If you don’t like it you can 1) choose a different method of transportation 2) forego your trip until you can afford it 3) pay the fee.

I see a ‘dragging ncident’ in your future, PP. As in your entitled screaming self being hauled off the plane.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and roll the dice, just don’t pitch a sanctimonious fit when your seats are scattered throughout the plane and no one will move for you.

Yes I hate when parents don't pre pay for seats and then try to make those of us who DID pre pay move.

Wow, this is a rude comment. Paying for seats on the plane is a scam! And people are flaming the OP bc she didn't fall for it. Just wow.

You mean when everyone else paid for them you want to get away with not paying for them and inconvenience everyone else who reserved seats? At the last minute? You are an entitled scam artist.

NEWS FLASH!!! "Everyone" does not pay for seats, especially not on budget airlines. Airlines are outsourcing to passengers this responsibility that they took on before (placing small children with a parent.) Also, since most people are NOT paying to select a seat, I'm not scamming anybody. It's common sense that a 2 year old paying full price sits with his parent. What is this??

News flash - then you don’t get to pick your seat- YOU get to sit in the middle of two burping fat guys in the back of the plane near the toilet.
and your SO and toddler get to sit 10 & 20 rows away from you, also in middle seats.

OP, as long as you're prepared to generously compensate passengers (with cash) for their seats, shouldn't be a problem. My prediction is that it might end up costing you more than if you just went ahead and pre-paid the seats, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a single mom and regularly fly alone with my kid. I have never been separated from my son, and have never paid to select seats ahead of time. In the rare event that we initially get seats assigned that aren't together, the airline has fixed it in advance of the flight. I would save the money.

+1 But I’m usually flying United so I don’t know if that makes a difference.

I unfortunately have to fly United regularly. We rarely get seats assigned together, and every time we ask at check in or a gate agent if we can get seats together, they shrug and offer no help.

But no one wants to fly next to the woman with a lap baby, so someone always switches with my husband for a comparable seat.

We’re not talking about adults sitting together. United WILL help a parent sit next to a young minor child - they don’t want to be responsible for that minor if something bad happens. You’re a grown up though, and can sit with your lap baby without your husband close by (or your husband can sit with the lap baby while you sit elsewhere).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a single mom and regularly fly alone with my kid. I have never been separated from my son, and have never paid to select seats ahead of time. In the rare event that we initially get seats assigned that aren't together, the airline has fixed it in advance of the flight. I would save the money.

+1 But I’m usually flying United so I don’t know if that makes a difference.

I’m the quoted pp, and I fly different airlines each time. Ive literally never had a problem with getting a seat next to my kid. Not only that, my kid is now 9, and it’s still not an issue.

Anonymous wrote:If I paid for a seat I'll tell you how much I paid.

Have cash on you, OP.

This is my thought OP. What would you be willing to pay?

I know I'm old but I'm really confused here.

DH and I had never flown together until we'd been married 13 years...we just didn't have the disposable income or time for vacations that incurred flying.

Once we had DC, we didn't fly as a family until she was 4 - in part because of the cost. We would never have wanted or taken a vacation that was anything but comfortable and as stress-less as possible and we didn't (fortunately) have family emergencies that necessitated flying suddenly (i.e., without planning for the trip).

Flash forward to present day (8 years later) and I won't fly Southwest or Frontier or even United Basic when I'm with DC on vacation because I don't want the hassle of possible challenges if we're separated (she has terrible anxiety disorder, for one thing. For another, I've seen and read enough about ill-intentioned and/or drunk passengers on flights and interactions with teenagers).

I HAVE given up my seats and traded (even with DC, as long as we're together) so that another family can be together -- but it never occurred to me that anyone was gambling on good graces just to save money on seat fares. I know. I'm naive. But I guess I also can't really understand why someone would not plan and save for contingencies that could ultimately save a lot of time, trouble, stress, and potentially money - especially when it comes to what I still construe as a luxury (flying).

Before I get flamed myself: I'd take a different stance if this were an emergency bereavement flight or one needed to reach an ill relative or to get to a crisis. I'm struggling with when a person's on a non-essential flight for a non-essential cause and isn't paying for what he/she otherwise considers essential (i.e., sitting with a child -- at whatever age the parent feels the child should be 'accompanied.'). For some that might be any child under 5, for others (like our situation), it may vary -- but that's on *me* to handle, not the airline and certainly not other passengers.....

Either you for for a select seat or you DON'T complain.

Often you can check-in online 24 hours before your flight departs. At this time you can book you seats without any charge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a single mom and regularly fly alone with my kid. I have never been separated from my son, and have never paid to select seats ahead of time. In the rare event that we initially get seats assigned that aren't together, the airline has fixed it in advance of the flight. I would save the money.

+1 But I’m usually flying United so I don’t know if that makes a difference.

I unfortunately have to fly United regularly. We rarely get seats assigned together, and every time we ask at check in or a gate agent if we can get seats together, they shrug and offer no help.

But no one wants to fly next to the woman with a lap baby, so someone always switches with my husband for a comparable seat.