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Home » American Airlines » Despite Family Seating Policy, American Airlines Tell Mother To Pay Extra To Sit Next To Toddler
American Airlines

Despite Family Seating Policy, American Airlines Tell Mother To Pay Extra To Sit Next To Toddler

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 29, 2023November 13, 2023 12 Comments

a woman pointing at a child's screen

It’s one thing to have a policy in place, but it is quite another to get agents to actually respect it. One mother found out the hard way when American Airlines asked her to pay extra to sit next to her toddler or sort it out onboard.

American Airlines To Mother: $61 To Sit Next To Your Toddler

American Airlines unveiled a new policy in March that pledged that children 14 years of age and under would be guaranteed seating next to their parent or guardian:

“American Airlines lets families sit together at no additional cost. We are proud to offer industry-leading, customer-friendly policies that ensure a positive travel experience for families traveling together. Our current policies allow families to sit together without having to pay more, and we are pleased to update our Customer Service Plan to provide additional clarity to families traveling with us.”

Let’s begin with a clarification. The point of family-friendly seating policies is two-fold. Most importantly, of course, it is to ensure that families are seated next to young children. But the policy is also meant to give peace of mind, which can lift a tremendous burden of stress in the run-up to travel.

A woman booked a ticket for herself, her husband, and her toddler three months in advance. As is often the case, when booking there was no complimentary seating available: she could either wait or pay extra for preferred or extra legroom seats on the regional jet she was traveling on (she was traveling from Washington, D.C., to Minnesota).

She held off, assuming AA’s policy meant what it implied: that there would be no issues sitting with her toddler.

But the day before the flight, she noticed that American Airlines had assigned her seats: she and her daughter were given seats across the aisle from one another while her husband was seated seven rows back.

So she messaged American Airlines on Twitter and was offered two options: 1.) pay $61 for Main Cabin Extra or 2.) “let our flight attendants take care of this matter…the power to reassign is with the airport and flight attendant.”

She told USA Today:

“I didn’t think that was in the spirit of what those commitments were.”

And I tend to agree, though to AA’s credit after posting the tweet below AA moved her into adjacent seats.

Is this adjacent seating @AmericanAir for me and my 2 year old? @USDOT @PeteButtigieg pic.twitter.com/AlLRznHU33

— Sara Kloek (@sarakloek) August 23, 2023

This is a difficult situation for airlines. It seems the only solution (absent free upgrades) is to hold more seats back for these types of situations. But I also do not think a family that booked tickets three months in advance with a two-year-old should have to be separated because an aircraft has so many “preferred” seats.

Certainly, one way or another, they would have ended up together onboard. But the stress that comes with dealing with a frazzled gate agent or flight attendant to make it happen is necessary stress: American Airlines (and all carriers) should develop additional mechanisms to ensure families are seated next to each other before they check-in.


Tip: If traveling with a toddler and there are no adjacent seats available, do not assign seats all: the system is more likely to auto-assign seats together when you have no seat assignment.


CONCLUSION

The family ultimately flew together, but it took some public shaming on Twitter to make it happen. If American Airlines is going to guarantee families will be seated next to each other, it should ensure that happens well in advance rather than leaving it to be sorted out on the day of travel.

image: American Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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12 Comments

  1. Mike D Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 11:03 am

    Those are adjacent seats as far as I am concerned. My wife and I actually seek this arrangement out.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      August 29, 2023 at 11:38 am

      I get it, but a car seat should be placed only in a window seat.

    • Mr. Marcus Reply
      August 29, 2023 at 9:44 pm

      I think what you’re saying is that you and your wife both like to sit on the aisle, across from each other. Great.

      Unless you’re saying that you seek out a situation in which you sit across the aisle from your 2yo child, that isn’t really comparable.

  2. derek Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 11:10 am

    The airline may have a valid excuse but the window for that excuse is diminishing. The policy of sitting together started in March. That policy could not have been fully implemented for a flight in April because seat assignments have already been assigned for many seats. However, by August, that problem could start to be resolved if, in March, large blocks of seats were pulled from advanced seat assignments.

    In order for family seating to work, there has to be quite a few seats blocked from advanced seating assignments so that families buying tickets close to the flight, say one week or even 2 days, can get seating together. There has to be greater allowance in certain markets, say to Orlando or to the hubs than a JFK-LHR or LGA-DCA flight.

  3. Dave Edwards Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 11:40 am

    Dumb decision to announce that policy unless they were trying to stay ahead of the government forcing it on them. But once you announce it, you need to follow it.

    But I still semi blame the customer who didn’t ensure it when booking if it’s important to you. No different than the budget carriers, do the math and see what’s it’s going to cost you in total to get what you want.

    • Darin Reply
      August 29, 2023 at 12:42 pm

      Huh? That is the entire point of the new policy which the airline has adopted. Parents won’t have to worry about paying because it is a service the airline provides in the base ticket. The customer wasn’t saying they had to sit in a certain seat, just that a child and parent on same PNR sit next to each other.

  4. Cy Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 1:04 pm

    So if I’m traveling with my 6 yo and we want free assigned seats next to each other, as per policy, how do I get them? Make reservation with unassigned seats and then call AA? Just leave it unassigned and let the system sort it out?

  5. Billiken Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 1:45 pm

    Even before March, AA proactively assigned adjacent seats to our family shortly after booking our B/E tickets. Delta, on the other hand . . .

  6. Scooter Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 4:17 pm

    This should be really simple to code: if the person booking notes 1+ kids, they sit next to an adult on the ticket. OR AA should up fares to include seat selection

  7. 121Pilot Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 6:51 pm

    I went through this when booking tickets for my wife and two kids this summer on Alaska. One flight I could not find seats together for all three without a substantial up charge. I called Alaska reservations right after I booked the flight and they took care of it for me on the spot.

  8. ps241 Reply
    August 29, 2023 at 8:05 pm

    “This is a difficult situation for airlines.”

    No, it’s not. It’s a mess the greedy airlines made for themselves, when they decided to separately monetize seat selection and a reasonable amount of legroom to go with your seat. Some of us are old enough to remember when the price of the ticket included your choice of seat anywhere in the cabin of the class of service you paid for.

    • PolishKnight Reply
      August 30, 2023 at 11:21 am

      I’m going to sympathize with the airline here and say that it’s unfair to stick a business flyer who flies economy (assuming they don’t get an upgrade) who booked a day before into the last middle seat in the back while some economy flier who paid a fraction 2 months ago gets the best seat because they showed up first. Seat locations have value for some and it’s appropriate to allow them to bid on them.

      That being said, I can see the airline’s logic in assigning two seats across the aisle as “together”. I do the same with my wife and I when necessary. No biggie. But for a 2 year old that’s unacceptable and the computer algorithm needs adjusted. I got all seats assigned together on Jetblue because I have a 7 year old daughter, the ideal traveling companion.

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