Frontier, United Put Family Seating in Focus
Joe Cortez February 21, 2023
Both Frontier Airlines and United Airlines announced they will take steps to ensure at least one parent is seated with a booked child on the same itinerary for no additional charge.
New Policy Applies to Children of Certain Age Without Purchasing Seat Choices
Prior to the policy, flyers on a “basic economy” ticket or flying an ultra-low-cost-carrier would have to either purchase a seat selection to ensure they could sit with their child. These policies ran afoul of the Biden administration, after a multitude of complaints from families. As a result, several pieces of legislation attempted to change the rules, before the White House stepped in with their own proposal.
Under United’s policy, families with flyers 12 years old or younger will be seated with an adult in their party, even if the group booked a Basic Economy ticket. The airline credits a “series of investments in a new seat map feature” for the changes. Family travers will start to see more availability now, with the full policy change going into effect in March 2023. The airline’s premium products, including United Polaris, First, and Economy Plus are excluded from the changes.
At Frontier, the policy will apply to families flying with children 14 years and younger. At check-in time, the child will automatically be seated with at least one parent without an additional fee. Flyers always have the option to purchase a seat to guarantee their place on the plane with their child. The new policy compliments other family-friendly options, including pooling points with family and “Kids Fly Free” promotions through their subscription Discount Den.
Family Travel Remains Target for Airline Recovery
The push to attract family flyers remains a key target for airlines as they continue to push forward from the endemic. In December 2022, Southwest Airlines announced they would test moving family boarding forward, giving flyers with young children more access to seats aboard their aircraft.
What are your best strategies for flying with children? Share your best ideas on the FlyerTalk Forums.
Familees think they deserve special perks just for being a unit. Tough nouguts.
Agree with the other comments. Families shouldn't get additional perks just for being families. If you want to pay Greyhound fares, you're entitled to nothing more than Greyhound service.
You then wind up with a seven-year-old, scared and confused, sitting by themselves, and the FAs being forced to try to move people around.
You can blame the parents for buying BE tickets, but I guarantee many of them aren't clearly made aware of the fact that at seat assignment time there won't be two or three seats together.
If the BE booking screen - Including across all 3rd-party booking sites - Said in big letters IF YOU BOOK THIS FARE CLASS YOU WILL NOT BE SITTING WITH YOUR CHILD then there'd be no excuse, but the airlines refuse to do that, and the parents don't realize it.
I'm sure they will be placed together towards the rear of the aircraft. Most airlines do this already if you call them. They won't be taking your fancy preferred seating at no charge.
Yeah, rear of the aircraft, like the tail wing.
The correct solution is to offer family seating together for a fee. If single travelers have to pay to get a perferred seat, families should do the same. No freebees.
"... If single travellers have to pay to get a perferred (sic) seat, families should do the same ...". There's nothing in the article about "families" getting "preferred" seating ... just says child under 13 years will be seated with an "adult in their party". No intimation that the adult and/or child get to select "where".
What they should do is refuse to sell basic economy to anyone travelling with a child.
The reason BE seats are so cheap is the seats get assigned at the gate. Also you board last, so someone with a child is getting priority boarding and assigned seat for the cost of a BE ticket.
Sooo... As a solo traveler, I pay for a better seat, but someone traveling with a child gets a freebee?
Yes, I understand the desire/requirement to be seated next to a child (I totally "get" it), but isn't this a form of discrimination?
I don't see anything in the article that says they (parent + child) get a "better" seat/better seats ... just says that the child under 13 years will be seated beside "an adult in their party" (in a presumably same class seat and non-selected position). Doesn't seem too, too, too unreasonable.
It guarantees an aisle or window seat for one of the people (on 3-3 seating), which two Basic Economy tickets wouldn't necessarily get.
66.6% of seats in the configuration you describe are preferred window or aisle seats. Without a guarantee that a child under 13 years will be seated with an adult in their party there is a 66.6% chance both with be seated in a "preferred" seat, either window or aisle. If an adult and child (<13 years) are seated together there is 100% chance one of them will be assigned a "dreaded" middle seat (equals one less middle seat available to assign). Therefore this proposed arrangement IMPROVES the chance of NOT being assigned a dreaded middle seat for all other passengers. Or by way of example, if a single aisle aircraft with 3-3 seating has 66 passenger seats, 22 will be middle seats and 44 will be (preferred) window or aisle seats. If there are 22 children below 13 years to be seated beside an adult from their party, ALL middle seats will be occupied and all passengers who are not accompanying a child below 13 years with be guaranteed a "free" preferred seat. Win, win.