The advent of both ultra-low-cost airlines and Basic Economy fares offered by other commercial carriers has created a profit margin for airlines in general by charging extra for what used to be included in the fare — even for the lowest priced tickets — such as securing a seat assignment in advance…
Should Families Be Seated Together Aboard Airplanes Without Paying Extra Money?
…and because advance seat assignments cost extra money per person, families who are on a budget but want or need to travel are loathe to pay extra for the privilege — which often results in members of a family seated in different parts of the airplane. Young boys or girls may potentially be seated by themselves among — or between — fellow passengers who are strangers to them.
“The difference between the Basic Economy fare and a regular economy fare is significantly greater — typically on average of between $50.00 and $100.00 per one-way flight”, according to this article pertaining to a comparison of Basic Economy fare restrictions between airlines which was posted here at The Gate on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. For a family of four members, wanting a seat assignment in advance for each member could cost as much as $400.00 for the assurance of being seated together — and that is not even guaranteed if the airline decides to juggle seat assignments at the last minute.
Even worse is that customers — whether purchasing a Basic Economy fare or a ticket on an ultra-low-cost airline — have no idea what the cost of a seat assignment in advance because it varies in price, depending on the flight. The only way to know the actual price of securing a seat assignment in advance is to start going through the process of booking the ticket — whether the seat assignment can be purchased in advance by itself or as part of a “bundle” which includes priority boarding of the airplane, baggage allowances, and other extras.
The following statement was posted on the official Internet web site of the Department of Transportation of the United States on Friday, July 8, 2022 — along with this link to a document in Microsoft Word format:
The Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) has issued a notice urging U.S. airlines to do everything in their power to ensure that children who are age 13 or younger are seated next to an accompanying adult with no additional charge. Although the Department receives a low number of complaints from consumers about family seating, there continue to be complaints of instances where young children, including a child as young as 11 months, are not seated next to an accompanying adult. In four months from the date of this Notice, OACP plans to initiate a review of airline policies and consumer complaints filed with the Department. If airlines’ seating policies and practices are barriers to a child sitting next to an adult family member or other accompanying adult family member, the Department will consider additional action consistent with its authorities.
Even though the Department of Transportation of the United States has reportedly received greater than 500 complaints during the past five years about members of families who were unable to sit together, that is only approximately one percent of all complaints against airlines; and is significantly outnumbered by gripes pertaining to refunds and issues with flights.
Policies of families being seated together aboard an airplane vary between airlines as well. For example, this statement appears on the official Internet web site of American Airlines…
If you’re a family traveling with children under 15, and do not already have seats assigned, our system will search for seats together automatically before the day of departure. We’ll try our best to keep you together, but if seats are limited, we’ll assign seats so children under 15 are next to at least 1 adult.
…while this statement appears on the official Internet web site of United Airlines:
Please note that customers traveling in a group, including families, will not be able to sit together unless advance seat assignments are purchased and seats are available.
The official policy of Delta Air Lines for children and infants who travel is posted here.
Airlines for America — which is a trade group for the commercial aviation industry in the United States — claims that commercial carriers “have always worked to accommodate customers who are traveling together, especially those traveling with children, and will continue to do so.”
A petition was launched by Consumer Reports almost three years ago calling on American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines to allow families with young children to sit together aboard airplanes at no extra charge. The petition has received 163,180 signatures at the time this article was written.
Final Boarding Call
The title of this article — Should Families Be Seated Together Aboard Airplanes Without Paying Extra Money? — would likely have been a stupid question to ask ten years ago…
…but with the advent of Basic Economy fares and ultra-low-cost airlines and some families not being able to sit together aboard an airplane, it is now an interesting question to ask.
If members of families find themselves seated apart aboard an airplane, they could either attempt to switch seats with fellow passengers — with or without the assistance of members of the flight crew — but the chances of that being successful are not great.
I believe that families should sit together while traveling aboard an airplane — especially with children who are younger than 18 years of age and adults who are older than 65 years of age for a better overall flight experience; and a child who is as young as only eleven months in age should not sit apart from other members of his or her family…
…but does that policy discriminate against groups of people who want to travel together — and is having families not pay extra for seat assignments in advance not fair to those groups who do pay them? Should couples and families be penalized simply because they do not include young children?
One thing is for certain: neither ultra-low-cost airlines nor Basic Economy fares will go away in the foreseeable future, as they help to bring in a significant amount of revenue for airlines…
All photographs ©2005, ©2016, ©2018, and ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
