Seating arrangement preference - family of 4
Dec 21, 2017, 12:04 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
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Posts: 191
Seating arrangement preference - family of 4
I am traveling with my wife and 2 kids (ages 2 and 5) this week and we will be on a 737. This is the first time we will have all flown together since we have had to buy each kid their own seat and therefore can no longer fit in one row together.
I’m curious what other people have found to work best for selecting seats for a flight with a similar seating arrangement. We decided to go with filling one row of 3, and then grabbing the aisle seat directly across. However, I almost went with 2 and 2 in back-to-back rows so each kid was with one parent.
What have you found to be best?
I’m curious what other people have found to work best for selecting seats for a flight with a similar seating arrangement. We decided to go with filling one row of 3, and then grabbing the aisle seat directly across. However, I almost went with 2 and 2 in back-to-back rows so each kid was with one parent.
What have you found to be best?
Jan 1, 2018, 7:15 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2006
Location: CAV8 or YYJ
Posts: 234
We always book 2+2. Neither one of us adults wants to deal with both kids alone. The parent across the aisle is pretty much useless. We try to rotate which kid sits in front and with which parent for each leg of the trip. Although now that our boys are teenagers I may start putting them together in front of my husband and I...
Jan 3, 2018, 1:24 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Austin TX
Programs: Mr Swise: AAdvantage LifetimePlt/3MM, HH Dmnd, SPG Plt
Posts: 1,451
We will sometimes gamble and start out with a whole row, booking windows and aisles of a row, and leave the middle seats empty in hopes that no one selects them. For less busy times/flights, this has worked. A couple of times, we have offered to trade with one of the middle seat passengers, which they gladly and graciously accepted, which then put us all together, with one parent across the aisle. This seems to work well as a strategy for the elite seats, where you have to pay extra for more room, because who wants to pay extra for a middle seat? They seem to be the last to get selected. We get access to the "more room" seats at no extra cost on AA with my husband's status, so it works out.
However, when we still had a toddler, we went 2x2, with one parent wrangling each kid. Kid in the window, parent in the middle. Sometimes, we'd employ the same approach with consecutive rows on one side. Depends on what's available.
Our boys are 5 and 7 now, and they get completely absorbed in the IFE and require very little minding, so having my husband across the aisle almost next to me is actually a nice treat after ~4 years of him being one row up.
However, when we still had a toddler, we went 2x2, with one parent wrangling each kid. Kid in the window, parent in the middle. Sometimes, we'd employ the same approach with consecutive rows on one side. Depends on what's available.
Our boys are 5 and 7 now, and they get completely absorbed in the IFE and require very little minding, so having my husband across the aisle almost next to me is actually a nice treat after ~4 years of him being one row up.
Last edited by swise; Jan 9, 2018 at 12:15 pm
Jan 9, 2018, 5:53 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 7
I have to agree with some of the others who say 2+2. That makes a lot more sense. I don't have kids of my own but some of my married friends follow this method. It'll be a lot easier to manage the kids and keep them occupied this way, especially if it's a long flight. 3+1 will put the entire burden on one parent.
Jan 16, 2018, 12:52 pm
#9
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Silicon Valley, CA (SJC, SFO)
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We tend to do 2+2 in 2 consecutive rows, but window and aisle - gambling the middle seats stay empty (you can always switch - no one wants to sit between you.). Consecutive rows actually makes it easier to communicate and pass treats back and forth (too hard across the aisle). Sometimes the kids (8 and 11) even decide they want to sit together, leaving DH and I wonderfully alone to pretend we're on a movie date.
Jan 16, 2018, 1:43 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: YVR, HNL
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Honest question here, what is wrong with a stranger sitting beside your kid? Do parents really think that every stranger on an airplane is a pedophile or is there another reason that I am missing?
Jan 16, 2018, 4:06 pm
#11
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Join Date: Oct 2017
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Posts: 191
I wouldn't want my kid sitting next to a stranger because I'd be worried about my kid bothering the stranger. It wouldn't be due to concern for my kid.
Feb 18, 2018, 4:51 pm
#13
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I am traveling with my wife and 2 kids (ages 2 and 5) this week and we will be on a 737. This is the first time we will have all flown together since we have had to buy each kid their own seat and therefore can no longer fit in one row together.
I’m curious what other people have found to work best for selecting seats for a flight with a similar seating arrangement. We decided to go with filling one row of 3, and then grabbing the aisle seat directly across. However, I almost went with 2 and 2 in back-to-back rows so each kid was with one parent.
What have you found to be best?
I’m curious what other people have found to work best for selecting seats for a flight with a similar seating arrangement. We decided to go with filling one row of 3, and then grabbing the aisle seat directly across. However, I almost went with 2 and 2 in back-to-back rows so each kid was with one parent.
What have you found to be best?
Feb 20, 2018, 10:54 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,736
Other thing to consider is carseats - if the kids are in carseats, they need to be in the window (unless you're on a widebody, in which case they can be in the center section or at the window), so you might end up with AB/EF (on a 3x3).
Feb 21, 2018, 3:31 pm
#15
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: WN, DL, UA, AA, Hilton, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 1,303
When I flew airlines with assigned seating with our kids (same age spread, but a year older than yours), I took whatever I could get without paying to have them with an adult. Frequently 2+2, especially if flying a plane with 1 side with only 2 seats on that side.
Now we mostly fly Southwest. If the plane doesn't look like it'll be full we each take a kid and do aisle/window in hopes of middle seats staying open. If we know it's a full flight we typically do 3+1, younger child at the window, me, older child on the aisle, and husband across the aisle. My husband is a big man so he needs the aisle. He helps the older child across from him.
Honestly since we have enough tablets to go around flying with the kids is pretty easy these days.
Now we mostly fly Southwest. If the plane doesn't look like it'll be full we each take a kid and do aisle/window in hopes of middle seats staying open. If we know it's a full flight we typically do 3+1, younger child at the window, me, older child on the aisle, and husband across the aisle. My husband is a big man so he needs the aisle. He helps the older child across from him.
Honestly since we have enough tablets to go around flying with the kids is pretty easy these days.