Thanks guys. We booked A/C.
Originally Posted by
fairviewroad
Here's how it could go wrong:
Passenger in B boards late, then refuses to switch. FA is by then too busy to help and/or doesn't care about your "plight." You are then separated from your 3-year-old by a stranger who has every right to be where they are.
You spend the flight wondering "why didn't this dude switch with me?" and can only think of sinister reasons. You then resolve to keep an eagle eye on the stranger and your child, and arrive at your destination exhausted from the vigilance. Your child arrives scared and/or frazzled after sitting next to a stranger for 2 hours.
(The stranger, meanwhile, may have a perfectly innocent reason for not switching...or may not...but you won't know for sure.)
I'll grant you that's far less likely than encountering someone who will gladly switch, but it is indeed a possible outcome.
This possibility did occur to me although, like you, I view it as highly unlikely. Truthfully, both of my kids are going to sleep for most of the flight (We strategically book flights during their nap times.), but for the portion that they're awake, they'll be thrilled to have a new playmate. We always book the kids in the window seat because A) they could spend hours looking at the clouds outside and B) we try to minimize their impact on those sitting around us. If 17-B refuses to switch, I hope he/she doesn't mind reading "Llama Llama Red Pajama" 87 times.
Originally Posted by
Kevin AA
Why does a 3 year old need a car seat? Could you check the car seats as luggage and then just sit on the plane window/middle/aisle?
Checking the car seat is also a possibility. As an added bonus, it doubles as a stroller (and triples as an airplane seat), so we could wheel it down to the plane and check it plane side (or gate-check).
We keep the car seats, though, because it helps the kids sleep and provides an added measure of control over them. They're extremely small for their age (Both are in the third percentile.), so we don't mind the extra restraints.
Originally Posted by
nycboy
Book a fully refundable ticket for the third seat. And its yours.
Didn't even cross my mind, but I wouldn't feel right doing that.
Mike