It can be lively to fly with family members or a large group of people, but usually, things don’t look so easy. For example, how to ensure that everyone sits sit together during a flight and which position should be chosen.
Learn about your airline’s seating policies before making reservations, as many airlines allow passengers to book adjacent seats at no extra cost.
In fact, in 2016, Congress passed a law requiring airlines to arrange seats for families with children without charging them more. At present, however, it is still up to the airline’s respective policies.
You can contact the airline directly to request information about an airline’s family seat policies or to obtain it from the airline’s website. Make sure they allow you to reserve specific seats on the plane, and then you can book adjacent seats immediately.
In the absence of additional charges, if you cannot find designated seats on the aircraft, we are willing to provide you with the following strategies.
[Read more about Seats on the Plane]
4 Tricks of Having Your Family Sit Together
1. Reserve Online Directly with the Airline
Compared with online travel agencies or third-party booking websites, direct booking through airlines will give you maximum control over seat selection because airlines allow you to register any special needs when booking tickets.
Discuss with the airline your concerns about your child sitting alone. Even if airlines can’t get the whole family to sit together, they can assure you that each child sits next to an adult family member.
Besides, you also have the right of recourse when your seats are transferred, and you can quickly change or cancel the reservation. It can even take effect immediately upon check-in for certain cases.
Also, keep the following four points in mind:
- The sooner, the better. The earlier you book, the easier it is to get adjoining seats.
- If there are no adjacent seats at the time of reservation, you can confirm the unbooked tickets with the airline or request the airline to reserve a row of seats for you later.
- Make reservations for children and adults on the same booking, because airlines will give priority to the allocation or reallocation of seats only if all passengers have the same reservation record.
- In the case of individual reservations, call and ask the airline to link your tickets or passenger name records, which can provide an opportunity of seats next to each other.
However, some airlines may charge additional fees for seat distribution. Please keep reading.
2. Pay Extra Seat Selection Fees to Sit Together
Economy class tickets, especially from low-cost airlines, may not allow passengers to choose their seats because of their lower prices. In such cases, you will need to pay an additional fee for each seat to get adjacent seats. Sometimes you may have to pay extra for carry-on luggage, drinks, etc.
Paying for your seat allocation at the time of your initial purchase is the cheapest time, and you ‘ll pay more if you wait until you check in or arrive at the airport to ask for designated seats.
Some seat assignments have no extra charge, usually the middle seats. Therefore, to get a set of seats, then you may have to pay an additional for at least one aisle or window seat.
Note: Airlines like to freak you out, so you think you will lose all the opportunities in the next second if you don’t spend a lot of money to book the ideal seats. That’s not true. Even if you miss this chance, you have other options. So, in any case, don’t rush to make a decision unless you have an adequate budget.
3. Buy EarlyBird Check-In
The best way to make sure the seats are together is to purchase EarlyBird Check-In, which can ensure that there are seats in the front half of the plane and room for luggage. While you need to pay about $15 for each seat, you can save the cost of checked baggage or drinks.
Either pay for EarlyBird Check-In for all family members, or you can’t get adjacent seats.
4. Seek Help by Boarding Opportunity
Are there still no seats reserved together before going out? It’s okay, and you still have a chance.
If you arrive at the airport early on the day of the flight, there may be kindhearted gate agents, flight attendants, or other passengers who can help you sit together. Don’t forget your politeness and proper gratitude when you ask them for help.
Try to find a staff member at the boarding gate who is focused on getting passengers to board the plane quickly. The gate agents want to make sure that everyone can take their seats before departure, so they have a lot of flexibility and can move passengers’ seats.
Flight attendants often do everything they can to help relocate passengers when they see separated families or even a couple. Sometimes the chief flight attendant may provide better help.
Try to ask other passengers to change seats with you and even offer to pay the seat fee. If you can provide a seat by the aisle or window near the front of the plane, it may be easier to succeed.
Extra Seat Selection Advice
1. Seat Selection for Different Family Members
In order to meet the needs of all types of families, we have prepared a recipe for choosing seats for various family members. Remember to understand the seating arrangement of your plane before selecting a seat.
A family of three
Book a full row of seats so that no one is separated alone and others won’t be disturbed when you are talking. In the case of parents with a child, it is recommended that the child sits in the middle. If it is an adult and two children, it is best to have the children sit in two seats near the window, and the adult close the aisle.
A family of four
In the case of parents with two children, you have three options. If your flight has a four-seat configuration, you can reserve the entire row of seats and give the kids two seats in the middle. Each of the two adults sits in a row with a child, like a four-man squadron. An adult takes the kids in a row, and the other sits right behind them.
A family of five
You can also book the whole row of seats if possible. It can also be a two-row choice of 3 + 2 (i. e. three people sit in a row while the other two are directly in front of or behind them), especially suitable for passengers who like to chat.
A family of Six
You are lucky when it is a large aircraft of 3-3 or 3-3-3, so you can find two rows of seats, three seats in each row directly behind and in front of each other.
2. Seat Selection with Children
Try to book high-level seats, which usually provide extra legroom and larger or flat seats.
If your child is quiet and peaceful, you can sit in the middle seats closer to the front of the plane. The area at the front of the cabin is usually the quietest, and the middle seat will not cause trouble to passengers who deliberately choose the front as the quiet area in most cases.
Fly with Tempering Children
Obviously, noisy kids are unpopular. Under such circumstances, you should choose the seat at the rear of the plane. This can reduce the hassle for passengers in the front row who need a quiet environment, and there may be a bonus benefit of getting more space because there are sometimes unused back seats.
Precautions
Please check the seat allocation carefully before checking in. If there is any problem, call the customer service department and ask to rearrange you together. Otherwise, it is almost impossible to do so at the check-in counter or the boarding gate.
If you do not book your tickets directly with the airline, please obtain or confirm your seat assignments directly to the airline as soon as possible the day before your trip and contact the reservation via the website or phone.
