How To Handle Your Family's Seats Being Split Up On A Flight

Airlines have made the news cycle lately for the practice of splitting up family groups on domestic flights, with some parents reportedly being made to sit separately from children as young as 11 months old. If you think it's hard on a parent to have to sit rows away from their child, just imagine how awkward it must be for the unsuspecting passengers seated next to an unattended infant or toddler. And yet, according to the US Department of Transportation's Family Seating Dashboard, only four domestic airlines still guarantee that parents can be seated next to their small children without paying extra for the privilege.

New regulations may soon put the kibosh on this controversial practice, but in the meantime, to learn what steps you can take to make sure your family sits together, Islands spoke to Court Acree, a six-year veteran flight attendant and content creator whose 15,000 YouTube subscribers love her insider's look at the industry. Her number one tip? "Book under the same reservation." Not doing so, perhaps by adding a parent to the trip later, Court says, "could cause the family to be assigned seats separately."

Even reserved seats can change at the last minute. "If something happens and your seats aren't together before arriving at the gate, contact customer service prior to arriving at the airport and they can assist," Court Acree told Islands. "If at the gate the family's seats aren't together, discuss with the gate agent, and they will be able to assist."

Some airlines' bottom-tier, super-saver economy classes do not allow for seat selection at all, so parents hoping to sit with their children may have to pay more for reservable seats. It's important to read the fine print, too, because even if you book a reserved seat, the airline's Terms of Service may reserve the right to reassign your seat at any time.

Passengers are increasingly reporting changes to their seating arrangements even after carefully booking seats together, so pay close attention at check-in, both online and at the gate, to be sure your seat selections haven't been changed. One step you can take to help increase your odds of everything going smoothly, according to travel guru Samantha Brown, is to check in as early as you can online, even if you need to set an alarm to do it.

Have you ever had a fellow passenger ask you to swap airline seats to keep their party together? Many of us have, and according to Court Acree, this is not the best way for parents to address the problem. "The worst time to ask another passenger to switch seats is during boarding, especially if the seats aren't close by," Acree says. "This can delay the boarding process, which can ultimately delay the flight. Boarding can be hectic traveling with family and small children, so eliminating the inconvenience can make the traveling process much smoother."

If you do decide to ask someone to switch seats with you, the internet agrees that you need to offer an equally good seat or even an upgrade, like a justly-coveted aisle seat, for the person's trouble. Otherwise, you may end up like this Redditor who booked a flight for them and their two-year-old. "The last flight I was on, I had a middle seat and my son had a middle seat behind me, and the people in window and aisle seats did not want to move — which I completely empathize with," they said. "Finally two other people volunteered to trade. It was all very awkward."