Swiss Tony

Can someone let me know what the policy is on an adult sitting in an exit row if you have a child in your party?

As I understand it, the rules say you can't sit in an exit seat if you have someone who needs assistance in the event of an emergency in your group. BA.com will let me assign an exit seat for an adult (upper deck on a 747) and it knows we have kids (not infants) in the group.

The challenge is we have 5 in the group. Only way of getting 5 seats upstairs that don't include exits and keeping us in groups is 60JK, 61J, 64BJ

Better seems to be to pick 63ABJK & 64J, with the 2 adults in the exits. I just don't want to get booted at a later date!

(Is this the airline version of Tetris?)

Thanks

x229cle

When my kids were under the minimum age (it was 12) then I could not book "exit" seats in any aircraft.
My recollection is that when you try to book the seats you are asked to confirm that all passengers meet the requirements (able bodied and minimum age). Oops - nearly typed minimum wage!

Swiss Tony

I wonder if it has been changed because I recall that it used to say something like that, too...

When I select an exit seat, it comes back with...

Alwaysfly

I am not sure I understand the problem why would there be an issue if its adults who are in the emergency seats? My sense is that as long as you are placing adults (and the system knows that)in the emergency seats there should be no problem. We traveled last year with my wife and I in First and our two kids in CW so no adult was with the kids (my eldest is 12 so an adult fare). Crew and kids knew where we were.

rruaco

The problem is that you'll be paying attention to your kids (even a tiny bit of attention) when 100% of your focus should be on getting the exit open.

You might think you'd be happy ignoring them but why take the risk when there are lots of people on the plane who won't have such a distraction?

Swiss Tony

This is the rub. All the kids are old enough to fly as UM's.

anyway I have taken the plunge. Let's see what happens.

Tony

Flexible preferences

Swiss Tony did you notice this post?

PaulN

Are you saying people with kids should not book exit row seats? Well that's a limitation I'd never heard before. What about those with loved and perhaps less mobile family members such as parents, granny and grandpa etc. in other seats.

henkybaby

Exit seats are for fit english speaking, able bodied adults only.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...s/public/en_us

If you are traveling in a large party I believe you can contact BA.

PaulN

I know that. Swiss Tony said the those in the exit row were all adults so I think the point being made by rruaco was that, if you were in a party with kids, none of you should sit in an exit row in case you want to try to recover them from a different row instead of concentrating on getting the exit open.

henkybaby

Ah, ok. Well, not sure that is the reason. More likely too complex a rule to implement in the booking system. However, I am sure that most parents would indeed - instinctively - do exactly that. I don't know if that makes you a bad choice for an exit seat and I am certain it is not a rule on any airline.

Maybe even parents might agree though...

wrp96

Actually it is a rule for US airlines. If you or anyone in your party (including those not in the same reservation as you) are not eligible for the exit row due to age, then no one in your party can sit in the exit row. And in most if not all of the US airline systems, if you attempt to choose an exit row seat and someone in the reservation isn't eligible, you won't be able to select that seat.

henkybaby

Makes sense to me...

And I will never say I am certain of anything again.

wrp96

Only reason I know about it is every once in a while there's a post on the US airline boards complaining because they can't sit in the exit row with their 10 year old in the row behind them.

Swiss Tony

Indeed....

Now I know for a fact BA will happily put me in 15A and the rest of my family in 14JK & 15JK on a 777 and have no problem with that. I know that's not about opening doors but using the same rationale, I would be going across the cabin in the event of an emergency, not to the door.

If my wife and I can't sit in the exit seats on the upper deck (which still doesn't appear to be a problem) then a solution is to put two of us behind the exit and three infront. Again, this is no better (and given the way the loads look like on this flight, I reckon we're going to be the best part of half the load on the upper deck...)

Don't get me wrong - I asked because I thought this was a no-no, but it appears that BA may have changed their policy/approach.