Prominent Ways To Get Seat Confirmation Together On Flight!
Did you know it’s not mandatory for airlines to seat families together? Under the Families Flying Together Act, children under the age of 13 would be seated with parents or guardians on flights. As a result, parents who want to ensure they sit together with their children can take the chance and hope that fellow flyers and/or flight attendants will be sympathetic to their cause and switch seats in case they don’t have pre-assigned seats together. Until the FAA drafts new regulations, there are a few tricks to make sure the family is seated together.
- Pay Extra For Seat Assignments
So many airlines, especially budget airlines, have moved to an a la carte menu of options, charging extra fees for carry-on bags, beverages, seat reservation, and more. This means you need to pay extra per seat to ensure your family can sit together. The cheapest time to pay for your seat assignment is during your initial purchase process. If you wait until check-in or when you arrive at the airport, then you are going to pay a premium.
Even there is more challenging to get seats together on non-budget national carriers like American and United. There are some flights that don’t require you to pay extra for a seat assignment, but the only may be the middle seats are “free”. Therefore, you may need to pay extra to get a group of seats together. If you are willing to sit in the back, at least you may only need to pay extra for some of the seats that are aisle and/or window.
- Fly Southwest & Purchase EarlyBird Check-In
Southwest assign a boarding group and number based on when you check in. it means you can line up by group and number. Once you are on board, you can take any open seat. This means that if you want seats together, you need to board in the A group, or possibly the B group.
If you check in exactly 24 hours in advance, you will likely still be in B group, because A-List status members and those who purchase EarlyBird Check-In will take up the A group slots. Family boarding takes place between the A. B group boarding for families with children under the age of 6 and under and their parent/guardian.
For families with children over 6, the best way to ensure seats together is to purchase EarlyBird Check-In. With seat confirmation in the front half of the plane and room for carry-on bags, is worth the investment. Plus, Southwest doesn’t charge for checked bags or beverages so you save some money there. Just note that technically saving seats isn’t allowed if you are thinking of only paying for EarlyBird Check-In for one family member.
- Book Online Directly With The Airline
There are many advantages to book tickets online, especially when it comes to cancellation and changes. However, it will also give you the most control over seat selection and an avenue for recourse should your seats gets shifted. Unless you are booking very far in advance, you should be able to select seats as part of the ticket purchase process. Remember, some airlines may charge an additional fee for seat selection.
- Book Together/Link Your Reservations
If you are booking tickets separately or booking some seats with points and others with cash, you will have separate booking numbers. Therefore, if you select seats together, the airline may still shift seats around due to an equipment change or other issues. If this happens, they will not know that you are traveling together because it was booked under two or more reservations.
Therefore, if your tickets are booked separately, be sure to call the airline and request that they link the reservations or PNRs. This will at least let the airline know you are traveling together and give you some protection.
- Double Check Seat Assignments Before Check-In
Airlines sometimes shuffle the seat reservations. You cannot do it at the airport. If you get any emails about a shift in schedule, be sure to double-check your seat assignments at that time to make sure there hasn’t been an equipment change and therefore changes to your seat selections. Even if you do not get any notifications from the airline, then review your seat assignments at least a few days before your flight. Check-in online at home 24 hours before departure and double-check your seat assignments at that time. And if you find any issue, then you can call at customer service to shift things around to get you back together.
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