Helpppppp not sitting together? Sort of budget related

[zoo2tycoon]

We have flown with kids since they were 6 weeks old. Mine are 20 and 21 now. We didn't fly SW until about 5 years ago because of the no assigned seats. We always paid extra for assigned seats when we flew Delta, United, etc. I would always monitor and make sure seats didn't change, we'd do 3 in the row and aisle across.

Now we pay for EBCI and just count as part of fare when booking. We will take 4 aisles because of tall men in the family and I get claustrophobic in middle or window. We sit as far forward also because we pay extra to get better boarding position. We don't save seats.

We witnessed one man saving several seats for his family who were late B or C.

If someone with small kids chooses not to pay and rely on family boarding or others to move for them especially when flying to MCO that is stupid! My rear will remain in the seat I picked and paid extra for. Threatening to put your small child by me is fine. Now if it's a like seat one of us would move but don't threaten or act all oh they can't seat my snowflake by themselves. They can. If it is important to sit together suck it up and pay the cost. Don't expect people to move especially these days when flights full.

 

[NinaBella]

You're contradicting yourself. You didn't start paying extra until after you had the experience of what can happen when you don't pay extra, but you're expecting the OP to be able to reach the same conclusion before having a similar experience.

No I am not. You are only reading what you want to read. If I was traveling with a toddler, I would book a flight with assigned seats. Just as I did when my kids were younger. We didn't start using SW until about 2 years ago. This summer is when I started booking the early bird. It seems more and more are doing early bird now. I am just not as selfish to demand or expect the airline to accommodate my wishes for seating while paying the bare minimum fare.

I started flying with DD when she was 4 months old. Every airline we have flown (except SW) I have booked and picked our assigned seats. I started paying extra for the SW early bird to have luxury of picking more desirable seats. The early bird doesn't guarantee we sit together but significantly increased the odds. LOL. I don't like the back of the plane either, so the one flight we sat in the back was enough to pay extra in the future. I wouldnt throw a tantrum if we were not sat together on SW, because with SW that is the chance we take.

 

[GaryDis]

No I am not. You are only reading what you want to read. If I was traveling with a toddler, I would book a flight with assigned seats. Just as I did when my kids were younger. We didn't start using SW until about 2 years ago. This summer is when I started booking the early bird. It seems more and more are doing early bird now. I am just not as selfish to demand or expect the airline to accommodate my wishes for seating while paying the bare minimum fare.

I started flying with DD when she was 4 months old. Every airline we have flown (except SW) I have booked and picked our assigned seats. I started paying extra for the SW early bird to have luxury of picking more desirable seats. The early bird doesn't guarantee we sit together but significantly increased the odds. LOL. I don't like the back of the plane either, so the one flight we sat in the back was enough to pay extra in the future. I wouldnt throw a tantrum if we were not sat together on SW, because with SW that is the chance we take.

My point is that you learned something from one experience and changed your future behavior. No one is throwing a tantrum, and it's not about the reaction to the situation.

It's not fair to expect other people to anticipate all the consequences without first having experience with those consequences, while you are relying on experience for your own decisions. Particularly when it's a new airline policy. I'm sure that in a few years, the disadvantages of Delta's policy will become common knowledge (if it isn't totally wiped out by the FAA).

 

[GaryDis]

People have to do their own research and be their own advocates - and if you aren't comfortable with that, book through a travel agent who will walk you through the variations. To claim you didn't know - which may be true - will make a lot of people show up who simply claim they didn't know - or expect the same treatment next time.

Since when did airline travel become a research project? How is it even possible to research the implications of a brand new policy?

 

[crisi]

Since when did airline travel become a research project? How is it even possible to research the implications of a brand new policy?

Travel became a research project beginning around 1988 when we stopped using travel agents and started booking our tickets through Sabre on Prodigy and you needed to understand fare classes, refund ability, the rights of an airline to bump you - possibly before that - when deregulation made all those things possible. Since the policy in discussion hasn't gone into effect yet, it isn't necessary for the OP to be researching it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We have flown with kids since they were 6 weeks old. Mine are 20 and 21 now. We didn't fly SW until about 5 years ago because of the no assigned seats. We always paid extra for assigned seats when we flew Delta, United, etc. I would always monitor and make sure seats didn't change, we'd do 3 in the row and aisle across.

Now we pay for EBCI and just count as part of fare when booking. We will take 4 aisles because of tall men in the family and I get claustrophobic in middle or window. We sit as far forward also because we pay extra to get better boarding position. We don't save seats.

We witnessed one man saving several seats for his family who were late B or C.

If someone with small kids chooses not to pay and rely on family boarding or others to move for them especially when flying to MCO that is stupid! My rear will remain in the seat I picked and paid extra for. Threatening to put your small child by me is fine. Now if it's a like seat one of us would move but don't threaten or act all oh they can't seat my snowflake by themselves. They can. If it is important to sit together suck it up and pay the cost. Don't expect people to move especially these days when flights full.

While I agree with you in general if you go to a place such as MCO (and in general really) you'll find that EBCI and Family Boarding still doesn't guarantee you seating together or the seating you prefer. Family Boarding is really by the rules only for one adult with a child not the whole family though gate agents may not adhere to this a lot depending on the destination.

With SWA you can't book your actual seats so you are actually at the mercy of each and every flight you take. Some flights you'll find little family boarding or you didn't need to pay for EBCI because you happened to get a good enough boarding position without it..most people agree that an A without paying for EBCI is good nowadays. Some flights you'll have a ton of pre-boarders, which by nature tend to take up the first part of the plane, or you'll have more business class passengers, which likely take up the first part of the plane but not necessarily.

I don't agree with pressuring people to move to accommodate you at all but you also can't assume that by paying for EBCI that you'll be guaranteed your preferred seat even if that tends to be your luck.

Also sitting in the front doesn't equal paying extra to get a better boarding position. Truth be told you didn't pay extra to get into your preferred seat; all EBCI pays for is the opportunity to get a better boarding position. The seats available on the plane depends on a lot of factors that are dependent on the flight you are on including pre-boarders, business class members, A-listers, anytime fare passengers (in conjunction with when those are booked), your destination and the actual preferences of the passengers on your flight.

Also my husband is an A-lister who 99% of the time buys Wanna Get Away fares..never purchases EBCI..booked flights around 12-13 days before the flight for the most part and still tended to get lower A's simply because of his A-list status which doesn't cost him extra to get..he got it because he flew a crap ton for over a year for his company. I don't expect him to keep his A-list past the 12/31/17 expiration date of his current one.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I deleted my original statement about Delta.

But even if the OP bought a basic fare, it doesn't excuse Delta from seating a 3 year old apart from their family. Delta is aware these situations exist, and their seating algorithms should deal with it. And I have every faith they will correct it when the OP gets to the airport.

Why? Delta in no way looks like a parent. If a parent chooses to buy this fare they need to be prepared to face the consequences

Airlines don't do this to people. People do it to themselves. I just booked our Christmas vacation. I did not even consider "basic economy". And before I hit purchase I looked at the seat map to make sure we had open seats available to book


Now I do feel sorry for OP I expect that since she booked via Expedia the big warning Delta posts on their site was buried in the fine print. For others reading I recommend booking direct just because of things like this.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I get both sides of this argument, but it would really be a non-issue if airlines went back to seat set ups where we weren't all packed in like sardines in a tin can. http://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...airplane-reclining-seat-pitch-width/16105491/ Back in "the day", the middle seat wasn't as horrible a seat when you had more leg room and more seat width. Now, it's almost a torture to sit there as an adult-sized person, especially if you don't know who will be on either side of you...I mean, who really wants to give up an aisle seat for it?

They tried that. AA rolled out "more room in coach" because "we" said we wanted more room and would pay for it. Oh no. When we had to pick Delta was $20 cheaper so we flew then. AA gave up


The truth is we want cheap more than we want space. Otherwise Spirit would be bankrupt

 

[crisi]

Now I do feel sorry for OP I expect that since she booked via Expedia the big warning Delta posts on their site was buried in the fine print. For others reading I recommend booking direct just because of things like this.

I really avoid booking airfare through a travel site unless the price difference makes the restrictions worthwhile. Too much fine print that they gloss over. I'll do my shopping on the travel site (although for airfare we use either Hipmunk or Kayak), then book through the airline's web site. Even hotels - if I can get the same deal through the hotel's site, I book there. And ALWAYS car rentals.

I live in the Twin Cities - so Delta is sort of what we almost always have to fly to get much choice in time. And my husband did a lot of international travel from work - so he still has his status, which does make flying with him easy. It also means that he spent a few years learning about the complexities of the system.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I wish they would just charge everyone $20 more per ticket and have you pick seats when you book.

Well, I know jetBlue has three (sometimes four) fare classes, and the one that lets you choose your seat and includes a checked bag is about $20 more than the a la carte fare.

You people are so weird. If you can't afford prefered seating, a child under 13 should just be alone? How is that fair for the CHILD? Let's spend some more time judging people with tight budget and punishing their children for it.

You're lucky you can spare dollars for those upgrades. Other people can't or if they do, they'll have to cut somewhere else along the line.

Travelers who can't financially manage all aspects and potential costs, really need to delta travel until they can.

And again, let me say that if there are unsold seats on this flight, then I absolutely think the airline should do what they can to move things around to let the OP 's family sit together.

Very rare for flights to have unsold seats, though.

Delta knows the age of its passengers.

Not during the seat selection or non-selection portion of the booking, though.

except when assignment to an adjacent seat would require an upgrade to another cabin class or a seat with extra legroom or seat pitch for which additional payment is normally required.

No requirement at all for airlines to change their booking categories.

Since when did airline travel become a research project? How is it even possible to research the implications of a brand new policy?

Basic Economy was introduced in 2012. While it's "new" relative to the entire passenger aviation industry, four years isn't "brand new".

 

[kamik86]

I think for everything now with travel it is up to everyone to do research to ensure they get what they need/want. I had to do that alot for my next trip. I probably missed a few things and some things won't be the way I want them to be, but I will deal with that without putting others out and I will learn.

For flying if you have to sit together you have to pay more. It is just how it is. Sometimes even if you dont have to sit together you do. For example I have a SW flight in january I am buying EBCI for. I don't care if we sit together but I do NOT want to sit in the middle between strangers. So I'll buy EBCI because I'll be on a cruise and unable to check in 24 hours before reliably. The way down I can easily check in. Now its possible I coudl still end up in a middle seat but its highly unlikely and a risk I am willing to take for that one.

At least the more people post rants about this and rant to their friends the more people will learn for the next time they fly.

 

[crisi]

Airlines don't do this to people. People do it to themselves. I just booked our Christmas vacation. I did not even consider "basic economy". And before I hit purchase I looked at the seat map to make sure we had open seats available to book

Coming back to this - we've completely changed travel plans - booked different flights, flown in a day earlier or out a day later - when the seats that were left weren't what we wanted. Especially if the flight is over three or four hours (if its a 90 minute flight, I don't care). Now, we know that sometimes there are unavoidable changes to our seats - sometimes we end up with weather that has us completely changing our plans last minute - we flew to Europe with elementary aged kids not seated as a family because of a weather delay - and got lousy seats. But to go through the research of choosing a flight/seat combination - making our own tradeoffs in terms of price, comfort, timing of flights - to switch because someone else wanted to save $20 a ticket - heck no.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Air travel is not some 'right' that is required to be affordable to everyone. Heck the entire idea of a vacation is not affordable to a lot of people. So the "we can't afford" chant doesn't do much for me. If you can't afford $40 for you and the child to sit together then the budget is probably a little too tight anyway. What happens when something unexpected comes up and you are out of money.

I expect most of the "we can't afford" actually translates as "we don't want to do this just because we don't like it" .

 

[crisi]

Air travel is not some 'right' that is required to be affordable to everyone. Heck the entire idea of a vacation is not affordable to a lot of people. So the "we can't afford" chant doesn't do much for me. If you can't afford $40 for you and the child to sit together then the budget is probably a little too tight anyway. What happens when something unexpected comes up and you are out of money.

I expect most of the "we can't afford" actually translates as "we don't want to do this just because we don't like it" .

I feel for people who are trying to get a family on a plane for Grandma's funeral with a tight budget - but cases like that are the minority of family travelers. And plenty of families only send the grieving spouse - because they can't afford to fly the entire family.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I feel for people who are trying to get a family on a plane for Grandma's funeral with a tight budget - but cases like that are the minority of family travelers. And plenty of families only send the grieving spouse - because they can't afford to fly the entire family.

I know that when my grandmother died, only my dad, her son, and I went. Mom couldn't afford to take off of work. And nor could my sister.

We weren't flying, we were driving. But neither of them could afford the time.

 

[jeepnjudy]

This has happened to myself and DS12 in the past when my employer booked my flight and I had to purchase my son a single seat after the fact. We flew United at the time and they were very understanding. They were able to move both of us to accommodate being seated together. No airline is going to want to seat a 3 year old by themselves without their parents' supervision.

 

[jeepnjudy]

You can find the text of the bill here:


Like I said before, nothing that requires an airline to move a seated passenger in order to accommodate a parent or that the airline has a responsibility to provide the family with adjoining seats at all. What is does require is that an airline must inform passenger traveling with a child under the age of 13 as to whether there are free seats for selection which are available for adjoining seats at the point of purchase. If no free seat selection is available at the time of purchase, the airline must inform the passenger as to what accommodations might be made between check in and departure. It still does not guarantee that parents and children will sit together if the parent chooses not to pay for seat selection. But as you said, it is open to interpretation when it comes to implementation.

Despite this...HUGE liability if something occurs to the child while seated with a stranger and I am willing to bet the airline is not completely comfortable with assuming that liability.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Despite this...HUGE liability if something occurs to the child while seated with a stranger and I am willing to bet the airline is not completely comfortable with assuming that liability.

Have you ever read those terms and conditions you agree to?

Actually very limited liability on the airlines side.

 

[jeepnjudy]

Have you ever read those terms and conditions you agree to?

Actually very limited liability on the airlines side.

Depends on how effective your attorney is!

 

[crisi]

Depends on how effective your attorney is!

Doesn't make too much difference if you sign away your right to sue them in the terms of carriage.

Airlines have been doing this for years. If they had significant liability risk, they wouldn't do it in our litigious society. That it is a continuing practice says that they pretty much have their back ends covered.