I booked a ticket from LAX with travel bound to India via DXB. When I tried selecting seats I was asked to pay $40/leg/person. I'm traveling with a child (4 yr) and I called up to see if they will let me select seats for free. They flatly refused to accommodate even after explaining to them that we may end up in different seats if we are going to select seats during the check-in window. I canceled my Cathay Pacific ticket in favor of EK. I had the same situation in CX and CX let me select the seats without any fee since I was traveling with a child.
By law, Emirates is supposed to seat the child next to their parent. What if they can't do that at the airport? We will not be in a position to change our travel plans at the last moment.
Has anyone been in a similar situation on EK? What other options can I look into to mitigate the situation?