Which airlines will always let you sit next to your children free of charge? How can you guarantee you and your kids have seats together on a flight? Here are key facts and tips for getting the low-cost flights and plane seats you want and flying with family together.

If you are getting on a plane with your children, it’s clear that you want to sit next to them. You have to wait until they are old enough to occupy themselves safely during the flight. 

However, securing adjacent seats in the cinema or movie theater is not quite as easy as ensuring your family sits together when traveling by air. Airlines used to offer open seating on their aircraft, which allowed passengers to board and select a seat when available.

In this blog, Mint Fares will help you learn how to sit with families together on a flight.

Regarding family seating, what are airlines required to do? 

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which regulates aviation security in the UK, doesn’t have any particular rules about seating families together on a flight. Young children and infants who are traveling with adults should be sitting in a similar row as the adults. 

The child should be separated from accompanying adults by no more than one seat if this is not feasible.

Is that not very helpful? But at least it’s good to know that, in reality, most airlines operating from the UK currently allow young children to sit with an adult. The seats you want might not be accessible. Your family could be split up, like you sitting with your child but not your partner.

What can you do to guarantee that your family gets a seat together when flying? 

It’s unlikely your 4-year-old will sit by the angry businessman in row 6 while you’re in row 37.   So your actual mission is to do all you can to make sure your child is sitting next to you. The perfect time to launch your mission is when you select your airline and confirm your tickets.

To help you, we have laid out below six strategies to use. Also, we cannot guarantee you will get the exact seats you want, but these are the best ways to try.

Know which airline guarantees to seat a child next to a parent free of charge 

Sure! Airlines like Southwest, JetBlue, and Emirates usually ensure children under 12 sit with a parent without pre-booking or extra fees. Always verify policies.

These airlines 

• British AIRWAYS
• Air France 
• American Airlines
• KLM 
• Delta Airlines
• Emirates

These promise to keep kids under 12 near their adult companions, but not always right next to them. It’s for safety.

• Virgin  Atlantic
• TUI 
• Easy Jet 
• Norwegian Air 

This undoubtedly means that on these airlines, your child may find themselves across the aisle or in a seat directly in front of you or behind you.

What about Ryanair?

Ryanair has a little different system. Kids under 12 will receive seats with an adult for £4. Adults reserve seats, and children get adjacent seats at no extra cost.

This charge is automatically added when you book a child’s fare. Moreover, it is essential to know that you don’t have to select a paid-for seat from the seat plan on top of this payment.

Each paying adult may reserve up to four children between the ages of 2 and 12 for £4.

If you are traveling with a partner, reserve a seat near you as soon as you can 

Remember that even airlines that guarantee to make a parent sit next to their child free of charge are only talking about one adult.

So if you’re with a partner or older kids, they could end up with a different seat assignment on 

the plane.

If you want to avoid this without paying extra fees, here are four tips.

• You can book seats for free as soon as you book your flights on Virgin Atlantic, Qatar, and Japanese Airlines if you plan to check in a bag.
• British Airways has a seat reserving service once check-in opens (24 hours before the flight time). If you are not happy with the seats, they are available to reserve for free 
• EasyJet flights assign seats on a first-come, first-served basis. So the earlier you check in, the more likely it is that you will get a seat together. Check-in for EasyJet is 30 days before your flight; hence, make a note in your calendar.

And if all else fails,? Just go with it 

Accepting disorganized seating may be necessary when purchasing low-cost flights on short-haul routes, even if it means separating your extended family. Moreover, children over 12 years of age can manage short flights without any adult by their side. We understand it could be tough for whoever ends up next to the kids, but it’s just for a few hours, so it’s not too bad.

Conclusion 

When flying with family, obtaining nearby seats is challenging, particularly on low-cost carriers. However, some airlines focus on making children sit with adults, but not always together. Knowing policies in advance helps. We don’t want you to suffer during your flight, so we made our greatest efforts to provide you with all the details to flying with family together. Our central theme is to serve your intent. For more such updates, stay tuned to our website MintFares .