Hello fellow travelers,

Hope you are all doing well with travel during the holidays. I recently had an unfortunate experience with Alaska Airlines that I wanted to share with the community and get your opinions on the matter.

I recently flew with a group of 18 people, consisting of 10 adults and 8 kids, on Alaksa Airlines on a Group Reservation. In advance, we purchased three Exit Row seats to accommodate members of our group who preferred those seats. However, upon reaching the gate, we found that our Paid Exit Row Seats were reassigned to other passengers.

The gate agent informed us that, due to FAA rules, none of the adults in a group reservation with kids were allowed to occupy Exit Row seats. This came as a surprise to us, as our understanding, based on FAA and airline guidelines, was that one parent or guardian could sit in an Exit Row seat as long as another adult could attend to the children. This is not mentioned in Alaska Airlines website - https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...ating-exit-row
. The parents who was seated on the Exit Row had their kids seated next to other adults/parents. This happened during our onward flight and on the return flight, the same people could sit in Exit Row Seats without any issues. I worked with the Group Reservation Desk to purchase the Exit Row seats and they did not inform about this rule.

Not only were our Exit Row seats reassigned, but the interaction with the gate agent was also quite unpleasant. The agent was not only unhelpful but also rude in explaining the situation. When we tried reasoning out with the agent, he was very rude and shouted - This is my PLANE, if you don't want to fly, get off the plane and talk to the reservation agents.

I am reaching out to this community to gather your thoughts and experiences. Have any of you encountered a similar situation with Alaska Airlines or any other airline? What is your understanding of FAA regulations regarding seating in Exit Rows when traveling with children?

I believe it's important for us, as passengers, to be aware of our rights and the regulations that govern air travel. I am considering reaching out to Alaska Airlines to seek clarification on this matter, but I wanted to hear from fellow travelers first. I am not just looking for a refund for the paid Exit Row Seats, what are the actions can be taken here..? I feel hurt that we planned this trip in advance and booked these tickets with Group Reservation Desk, spending a lot of time.

Thank you in advance for sharing your insights and experiences. Safe travels to all!

Cheers
...Mottai