Reserved Seating Allocation and Minors
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Reserved Seating Allocation and Minors
Was traveling with the family a few weeks ago and got an interesting seating allocation.
Two adults, two children traveling on a 737-800, so 3-3 seating. The airline allocated us three seats together and then a separate one. Fair enough.
What got me though was that the names on the boarding cards meant that the separate seat was allocated to the six-year-old, which meant there was no legal way we could sit in the seats allocated to us. It's not difficult to swap the seats between the group, and put one of the adults in the separate seat, so this isn't the biggest issue in the world.
Am I overreacting in being bothered by this?
Two adults, two children traveling on a 737-800, so 3-3 seating. The airline allocated us three seats together and then a separate one. Fair enough.
What got me though was that the names on the boarding cards meant that the separate seat was allocated to the six-year-old, which meant there was no legal way we could sit in the seats allocated to us. It's not difficult to swap the seats between the group, and put one of the adults in the separate seat, so this isn't the biggest issue in the world.
Am I overreacting in being bothered by this?
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It's not a big deal as you say, you could change seats so that an adult was separate from the rest of the group.
The crew on-board would make sure you where all seated together if it was a single adult and two children travelling.
The crew on-board would make sure you where all seated together if it was a single adult and two children travelling.
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no legal way we could sit in the seats allocated to us
Reservations systems (which handle bookings, passenger names, ages, etc. and Departure Control systems (which handle seat allocation and other things) are often not that closely linked. While there is some crossover their integration certainly isn't perfect. Some LCCs, who've recently moved to assigned seating, have had to add this functionality on top of a basic reservations system. It likely is going to be a learning curve until they achieve perfection.
Take their assignments to be 'suggestions' and seat yourselves where it makes sense to.
In very rare cases you may find that the crew will not want you to move too much in the aircraft for weight and balance reasons. But I don't think this happens that often any more.
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Whenever I see complaints of this nature from horrified parents that their child is sat away from them is from people travelling in groups with two or more people sat together and their child sat away from them. It's very simple: parent/guardian 1 sits with child, and parent/guardian 2 sits alone, a complete non-issue.
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I'm just very surprised that the issue was not solved at source. Given the emphasis on short turnarounds and on-time departures, it came as quite a surprise that the airline was willing to waste fifteen minutes of cabin crew time to sort out the multiple seating issues caused by a poor seating allocation algorithm.
As this was a full flight to a holiday destination, there were eight or nine families that needed cabin crew intervention to get them seated with the right number of children next to adults, and the right number of infant-in-arms in the rows. Perhaps I had too high an expectation of the systems integration.
As this was a full flight to a holiday destination, there were eight or nine families that needed cabin crew intervention to get them seated with the right number of children next to adults, and the right number of infant-in-arms in the rows. Perhaps I had too high an expectation of the systems integration.
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A few years back I was on LHR-ABZ with BA and some genius had managed to scatter the whole of a school year (?9 year-olds) from Banchory Junior School and their teachers and family at random through the aircraft
One lad was in 1A and there was no-one around him (he thought it was bloody marvelous of course)
Common sense prevailed and the aircraft was "reconfigured" to put the school party all together in the back with an adult on each aisle seat
An American lady started to complain but the flinty looks she got from the other passengers soon shut her up
One lad was in 1A and there was no-one around him (he thought it was bloody marvelous of course)
Common sense prevailed and the aircraft was "reconfigured" to put the school party all together in the back with an adult on each aisle seat
An American lady started to complain but the flinty looks she got from the other passengers soon shut her up
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In fairness though some of one families may not have paid for allocated seating. If people want seats all together then they need to pay for it.
In my days as crew some people would demand the aircraft be moved to sit them all together but getting an adult with the child(ren) was the priority, not getting the other adult, their mate, their mate's wife and their kids all sat in one big group. However you always have to give people the benefit of the doubt as they may have checked in last or suitable seats may not have been available since the time of purchase.
Working at an airline that had free seating was just as bad as there was always a family come on last demanding seats together and again it was not possible to accommodate their preferences, however their needs were always met by having at least one adult say with the children or across the 18" wide aisle (which people would not be happy with but it exceeded the requirement of having children within one row of their responsible adult.
In my days as crew some people would demand the aircraft be moved to sit them all together but getting an adult with the child(ren) was the priority, not getting the other adult, their mate, their mate's wife and their kids all sat in one big group. However you always have to give people the benefit of the doubt as they may have checked in last or suitable seats may not have been available since the time of purchase.
Working at an airline that had free seating was just as bad as there was always a family come on last demanding seats together and again it was not possible to accommodate their preferences, however their needs were always met by having at least one adult say with the children or across the 18" wide aisle (which people would not be happy with but it exceeded the requirement of having children within one row of their responsible adult.
Last edited by fa2fi; 13th Jun 2014 at 15:10.
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Reminds me of one trip back from South Africa. Sabena (a 743, I think) I was in Club upstairs so four seats across, I was in the 'A' and the other three were empty.
At Kinshasha, a Dutch family boarded and it was clear by their looking at their boarding cards, that Mum + Dad were in the 'C' and 'D' and the (apparently 17/18 year old) daughter was in 'B' next to me. The mum took one look at me and told her daughter to sit next to dad in 'C' and plonked herself next to me. I was deeply offended and took to the bottle.
At Kinshasha, a Dutch family boarded and it was clear by their looking at their boarding cards, that Mum + Dad were in the 'C' and 'D' and the (apparently 17/18 year old) daughter was in 'B' next to me. The mum took one look at me and told her daughter to sit next to dad in 'C' and plonked herself next to me. I was deeply offended and took to the bottle.
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Am I overreacting in being bothered by this?
As far as "the system" is concerned, its done its job. You wanted seats allocated together, it gave you seats allocated together. What you do with those seats is your problem.
Dread to think the sort of panic you must get into when you get one of those four-seater tables allocated on a train and the computer puts your family round the table in a random order.
Also bear in mind there are routes at certain times of the year where there are so many children that the computer says 'sod it' I can't deal with this, sort it out yourselves. In other words, there are too many families and children to get everyone sat immediately next to each other.
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I think you guys are being a little hard on the OP. He appeared to be of the view that there was a legal requirement that they take the seats as assigned. In this crazy industry anything is possible!
Try reading an airlines terms and conditions (which everyone SHOULD do) and you will see where he got the idea from.
He now knows that there is no legal requirement and, within his allocation, he can do what he wants. Swapping seats with other passengers is also legal, but a bit more complicated.
Also, with paid seat allocation, you generally can get what you want - if you do it far in enough in advance. If it is a concern you can pay. You will be happy, the cabin crew will be happy and your fellow passengers will be happy.
Try reading an airlines terms and conditions (which everyone SHOULD do) and you will see where he got the idea from.
He now knows that there is no legal requirement and, within his allocation, he can do what he wants. Swapping seats with other passengers is also legal, but a bit more complicated.
Also, with paid seat allocation, you generally can get what you want - if you do it far in enough in advance. If it is a concern you can pay. You will be happy, the cabin crew will be happy and your fellow passengers will be happy.
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Thank you all, and yes, ExXB, that was the point I was trying to make.
So if the seat reservation system has no idea of passenger ages, does that mean I can select seats that are all over the plane? What fun.
It does go some of the way to explaining who so many people were angry that they were booted out of the seats they had booked. I know the terms and conditions say you don't always get the seat you booked, so you have little reason to complain. However it does make the idea of booking seats a little ludicrous if the plane has be reshuffled because the reservation system cannot put minors with one parent.
So if the seat reservation system has no idea of passenger ages, does that mean I can select seats that are all over the plane? What fun.
It does go some of the way to explaining who so many people were angry that they were booted out of the seats they had booked. I know the terms and conditions say you don't always get the seat you booked, so you have little reason to complain. However it does make the idea of booking seats a little ludicrous if the plane has be reshuffled because the reservation system cannot put minors with one parent.
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Passengers who have not paid for a specific seat will be moved first. The cabin crew wil have means if identifying who has paid for seats and only in exceptionally rare circumstances will passengers who paid a specific seat be moved.
Some airlines (Air NZ is one) require you to return to your assigned seat before landing, which - given that crew instructions have quasi-legal authority - people comply with. Tight Slot could perhaps enlighten us?
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The captain has ultimate authorify on the flight. Due to most not having any interest in where people sit outside effecting the trim of the aircraft we delegate it to the cabin crew.
If they say to sit in a seat it becomes you're assigned seat.
If they say to sit in a seat it becomes you're assigned seat.
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I have been feeling very guilty with myself over this issue.
Last week on a flight JFK-DXB-DEL, i took particular care to online check in on time to select all my seats for the long flight. As luck would have it I have it I had a couple and a lap baby in the seat next to me from JFK with the kid being extra cranky for most of the journey including kicking stuff over repeatedly.
On the DXB - DEL sector i had chosen as close to the front of the aircraft in Y class as possible to ensure I did not get stuck in the sub continent baggage trap and get out of the aircraft and immigration as fast as possible.
On reaching my seat it was occupied by a person who said if i could switch seats with him further down about 15 rows middle seat. His wife and 11 year old kid were in window and middle and I was in aisle. He claimed his wife was pregnant and he wanted to sit with her (Probably real early term as not visible). I was particularly irritated and normally would have obliged but after the prior flight politely declined as said I had chosen this seat and did not want a middle or back of the aircraft for a reason.
He was polite enough and got up and subsequently organised multiple moves to ensure his family was seated with him finally.....but i did feel a little guilty later......
Could the air crew have forced me to give up my seat and exchange?.........the splitting the family up issue is hard and would make sense if computer system did talk to each other, but kinda defeats the purpose of online check in and blocking your seat a FF......
Last week on a flight JFK-DXB-DEL, i took particular care to online check in on time to select all my seats for the long flight. As luck would have it I have it I had a couple and a lap baby in the seat next to me from JFK with the kid being extra cranky for most of the journey including kicking stuff over repeatedly.
On the DXB - DEL sector i had chosen as close to the front of the aircraft in Y class as possible to ensure I did not get stuck in the sub continent baggage trap and get out of the aircraft and immigration as fast as possible.
On reaching my seat it was occupied by a person who said if i could switch seats with him further down about 15 rows middle seat. His wife and 11 year old kid were in window and middle and I was in aisle. He claimed his wife was pregnant and he wanted to sit with her (Probably real early term as not visible). I was particularly irritated and normally would have obliged but after the prior flight politely declined as said I had chosen this seat and did not want a middle or back of the aircraft for a reason.
He was polite enough and got up and subsequently organised multiple moves to ensure his family was seated with him finally.....but i did feel a little guilty later......
Could the air crew have forced me to give up my seat and exchange?.........the splitting the family up issue is hard and would make sense if computer system did talk to each other, but kinda defeats the purpose of online check in and blocking your seat a FF......
