dcpatti

I think standing by with 6 people and refusing to have them split up in terms of seating is unrealistic. The empty seats you see today may not be there on the day of travel. Folks buying tickets gravitate towards the empty rows when choosing seats. Basically you'd be relying on luck and the kindness of strangers to get all 6 people on the plane and seated together. If you want the nonstop and adjacent seats, guarantee it by paying for it. Any other approach is going to end up as "take your chances." It's also not really fair on the FA's and GA's to expect them to rearrange other passengers to seat you together if you do go for the stand-by, nor is it fair to the passengers (like a couple) who paid for the more expensive nonstop and arranged to sit together, should they be split up to accomodate your party. I'd recommend if you want to save the money and try for the stand-by, to drop your insistence that the entire party sit together. If that's an absolute must-have, then book the nonstop and select adjacent seats. TBH I think the increase in fare might be worth it to you to avoid having to navigate a large group with several children through a connection but that's just me.