Wife recently completed a DCA => IAH roundtrip. On the return leg and in the row ahead of her sat a mom and dad and a "lap child". Dad was ticketed for the aisle seat and mom was ticketed for the window seat. The proclaimed 2 year old (actually bigger and older according to my wife who knows about such things) sat on mom's lap until the aircraft door was secured. Then with the middle seat unoccupied, mom promptly deposited the child in the empty seat.

Wife was perturbed by the shenanigans of booking an aisle and window seat which usually leaves the middle seat open and then putting the kid there. I told her it was a creative solution but one that could quickly unravel if the plane is full.

The FAs weren't especially concerned as long as everyone was safely buckled in.

Has anyone else see this trick? It was a first heard for me.

Never seen that one. Actually, I am surprised it worked -- most of the flights I have taken lately have been completely full.

pc

Guilty. As said, sometimes it backfires and which time the middle seat passenger is more than happy to switch with either aisle or window adult.

I see it rather often. My sister and brother-in-law will do it when traveling with my nephew. If the seat remains empty then the kid gets somewhere to sit. If not, he stays on one of their laps. And they trade seats with the person assigned to the middle so they aren't passing the kid back and forth over the other passenger. And if the parents ask nicely at the gate they often find the seat blocked if the plane isn't full. It really is better for everyone on the plane if the kid isn't screaming and the extra seat helps.

It is not uncommon, not underhanded and hardly a shenanigan, IMO. If the kid was too old then it is another story, but that doesn't affect the seat assignment part of things.

There doesn't even have to be a kid involved. Couple travelling together, take the window and aisle. Another pax is less likely to choose that middle seat than they would be likely to choose a window or aisle seat. So the couple is more likely to have an empty seat in their row.

If somebody does take the middle seat, they are usually happy to trade for window or aisle, so no loss to the couple in this event either.

Totally standard for anyone marginally savvy imo. I don't see how a lap child changes anything really.

There are reasons to book the aisle & window besides "lap" kids. My husband's a big guy and I'm not too petite myself. We tend to book an aisle & window when flying together and hope the middle doesn't get filled. When arriving at the gate, I always check in with the GA and apprise them of the situation (usually pointing out DH). As long as the plane is not 100% full, the middle usually remains empty. And even if they say it is full, somehow that poor middle person stuck between us usually gets moved. Just so you know I'm not totally heartless -- if it really is 100% full, I'd rather we each take an aisle, even not together, so that no one is stuck between both of us. Makes everyone happier.

I'm surprised any kid capable of being a lap child could sit in a seat without a car seat or booster or something.

Oddly enough, unlike auto travel, an infant is not required to be in a car seat (boosters are not FAA approved). They can sit in a regular seat and be propped up with pillows as long as they're belted in.

It's pretty standard to try and find and extra seat for a lap child if the flight's not full -- makes it easier on everyone. It's even OK to bring on a car seat for a lap child as long as there's an empty seat for it.

Seems OK to me as long as the parent is willing to take that risk of having the child on their lap for the whole flight.

I sometimes seen people bring along a car seat - goes in the overhead until the door closes, and if the middle seat is empty then it comes out.

All seems perfectly reasonable and above board to me.

It certainly isn't unusual.
I rarely flew with my son when he was lap age however flying LGW VIE the airline advised us to book the window and aisle and informed me they had blocked the middle seat-which was surprising as the flight was almost full (this was travelling for New Year)-worked both out and back.

The fabulous Mrs. Xyzzy and I do this all the time. If the flight is full, and the middle seat is assigned, person assigned to it is usually overjoyed to get a window seat. If not, we get an empty middle seat.

My wife and I, when we book the aisle/window combo, will more often NOT switch to the middle seat. We don't spend the whole flight talking anyways, and she likes the window seat and I like the aisle seat. You should've seen the dejected look on the guy's face boarding DEL-EWR when he realized that we weren't going to move into the middle seat even though we were traveling together.

ROTFL! I had a similar reaction once when my kids were in 17AB and I was in 16C (exit row aisle) on a 752 to CGN. The person in 17C offered to switch. No dice!

Having three seats gives the family more room but does not really provide a seat for the infant. There are very few under two year olds who can or will sit on their own in a seat and invariably they will spend most of the flight on laps of either parent or jumping from one to another.

By the way how is the OP to know this was a lap child and that the middle seat was not paid for? For an older child it would not be unusual for the child to be playing with parents till door shuts and then be placed in his seat for take off.

I suspect this child was never a lap child because if they truly are then they MUST be in the lap of a parent for take off (for safety reasons) or in a car seat if not on a lap. The FAs would know if the child was a lap child and would have asked that the child be in a lap (plus minus lap belt depending on airline and crew) for take off.

First off does your your wife have the ability to tell the age of everyone around her by the way they look? My infant son who was 7 months old and still pretty small at the time of his first "lap" flight this past May was required by the airline to have his birth certificate which was verified by the agent when we checked in. I can tell you that nobody would think he is 2 years old yet. However due to airline regs and fees for everything nowdays, most are checking/requiring parents with lap kids to have birth certificates in hand upon check in and they are checking them to verify the child is under 2. So if the kid was a lap kid there is a very good chance the childs age was verified by the airline.

Now also, did your wife know for a fact the parents hadn't booked the middle seat for their child? Either way it seems your wife didn't like the idea of having a little kid in the aisle in front of her. Whether it's a lap child or a ticket was purchased for the kid, the child has just as much a right to be there as your wife, and the parents are free to choose whatever seats they like, including an aisle/window combo leaving the middle open. Nothing in the rules against it.