Possibly not sitting with children on airplane

[mrs. magoo]

I am so frustrated with Jet Blue right now that I could scream. I made my reservations in August knowing that this is a very busy time to fly (I did get great rates though). We are flying out of Buffalo so we have to drive there from Rochester. My frustration is that I picked out my seats when I bought the tickets for all my flights. Same seats same row for everything. The flight home was changed 2 times and I changed my seats both times. Being slightly obsessive complusion I went on the check last night (we leave on Saturday) and suddenly we did not have seats on the flight from Boston to Orlando and coming home from JFK to Buffalo. I call Jet Blue say I have my print out in front of me with my seat numbers - lady says nothing she can do and has to separate us 3 in one row with 2 rows separating the other 3. I pity the parties between us. This made me upset, but the kicker is on the return flight there are no seats together. She spent 15 minutes looking up the info and basically said that there was nothing she could do, but at check in they could try and put us together. This is completely not cool. I have 4 children - the oldest is 9 and the youngest is 4. My 6 year old has some sensory issues and there is not way that they can be everywhere on a plane. I don't really know what to say to Jet Blue. I am sorry that this got long - but I needed to vent

Thanks for any information.

kathe

 

[debster812]

OK--deep breath, this will more than likely be OK.

JetBlue has always had nothing but exemplary customer service (your most recent calls notwithstanding). I would call them back, and ask to speak to a supervisor, and explain your situation again. If there is anything that can be done prior to your flights, they will try to do it.

If that fails, my only other suggestion is to get to the airport a little earlier than normal for the first leg of your flight, and see if they can help with seat assignments for your last leg. And if that doesn't work, try again at the gate for your final leg.

There may also be passengers willing to move once they hear of your plight. I know I have switched seats many times to allow families with small children to sit together.

 

[Kailani6]

Don't worry!

A similar situation happened to me (twice!)

The first time the flight attendant helped get someone to move and the second time the flight attendant wasn't helpful at all and I was 5 rows away from my DD (5 at the time) and so I went to work pleading very nicely to the people around me and a family with teenagers moved around to help us out.

I think that chances are even if they can't help you at the gate that there will be some people more than happy to help you out. ( I would if I was flying without my daughter and someone needed the same help)

If all else fails just make it quite clear to them that you will not sit down if you are separated (I'm sorry but they can't gaurantee that they won't be sitting your child next to a predator)

But in my experience (twice) the problem was solved so don't stress about it...I'm sure you have lots to plan with your upcoming trip without worrying about that!

Good luck and have a great trip

~Farley

 

[Princess Roo]

Ditto to what Debbie said. I have had this problem before on several different airlines. As long as you get to the airport a little early, Jet Blue should be able to fix it for you. Otherwise, put the "kicker" in the back row that you have and if anyone doesn't want to switch with your family to let them sit there, they deserve the consequences
I know it's frustrating since you were being so proactive - It really doesn't seem fair. Really try not to let it bother you. It may make for some stressful time in the airport/boarding, but I'd be willing to bet your family gets to sit together.

 

[mrs. magoo]

Thanks for the reassurances. This is what I hoped people would say. I am most worried about the flight home where there is really nothing together. I can just see it now the 6 year old crying the 4 year old crying and we being on the national news for being kicked off the plane. Good times.

Thanks once again. I am sure all will be fine.

Kathe

 

[debster812]

If all else fails just make it quite clear to them that you will not sit down if you are separated (I'm sorry but they can't gaurantee that they won't be sitting your child next to a predator)

I can understand your concerns, but this strategy could result in your family being deplaned. Remember the temper tantrum girl on AirTran a couple of months ago. Announcing you will not take your seat, could result in similar action.

 

[Hannathy]

Be prepared that you won't be sitting all together. When you get to the airport they should be able to get you and the 6 yr old together and your DH and the youngest together but if the plane is full I doubt you will get 6 seats together. Prepare the other 2 kids to the possibility they will not be with you. Make sure they have their own back packs with their activities for the plane. My family has been separated many times on the plane but they were always able to get 2 of us together when they were young. I always figure we all get there at the same time and there sure isn't anyway for them to get off mid air so I don't worry about it.

 

[hollieplus2]

Hopefully someone will move and help you out. I had this happen to me once.

Me and DS 4 (at the time) were flying for Thanksgiving. We both ended up with aisle seat a couple rows apart with him being behind me. I begged and pleaded and no one wanted to give up their window seat. It was 2 seats on either side 4 in a row.

It was a very early morning flight and everyone wanted to sleep. So....the guy that DS ended up sitting next to that didn't want to trade had a VERY bad flight. DS wouldn't let him sleep, kept messing with the window, took his magazine, spilled his OJ. He kept looking at me to do something and I didn't. I just sat there and smiled. When he spilled the OJ (it was a bumpy flight) I just got up and went to the bathroom.

When the plane landed and everyone around us was PO'd I just smiled and said happy thanksgiving, maybe next time you'll move.

I don't normally let DS act that way but I let it slide and he knew he could get away with more and he did. I was more than happy to let him be. If they don't accomodate you at first they probably will after they realize they'll have to handle the kid themself.

 

[Kailani6]

I can understand your concerns, but this strategy could result in your family being deplaned. Remember the temper tantrum girl on AirTran a couple of months ago. Announcing you will not take your seat, could result in similar action.

I had to do this in order to get help on one of my flights because they were not taking me seriously and were ignoring me so I told the flight attendant that I would NOT sit apart from my daughter and that was final and then they paid attention to me and helped, I was not screaming and was calm about it and they would have had no reason to kick me off the plane
I'm sorry but like i said before how do I know who is sitting next to my child while I cannot see...NOT going to happen.
Start out asking nicely and pleading if you have to and if all else fails then you just be insistent that this is not an option for you.

 

[mrs. magoo]

I am trying to figure out how to prepare the oldest. The 8 year old will probably be like - hurrah!!! The 9 year old would be the weepy one though. The good thing is it is a short flight (1hour 15 minutes). As my children would say it's just not fair though - you followed all the rules and did everything why are we being punished. That is how I feel. It's good that it is not their first flight and we will survive.

You are all very helpful and calming to me. I am not usually the type to have a spasm either. I guess it caught me off guard.

Kathe

 

[ducklite]

I can understand your concerns, but this strategy could result in your family being deplaned. Remember the temper tantrum girl on AirTran a couple of months ago. Announcing you will not take your seat, could result in similar action.

Agreed.

OP: to make the assumption that anyone on an airplane is a predator who will rape your children in front of 200 other passengers is a bit rude. I'm not saying that we don't need to have common sense with our kids, but to basically accuse the entire plane of being horrible people is grossly unfair. How would you feel if someone else on that plane said that about you?

Your older two are certainly old enough to sit alone. They go off to school ont he bus every day and manage just fine without you. I'm sure that the airline will be able to work things out so that you are seated next to one of the younger ones and your DH is seated next to the other. I have no idea why it's a problem to be seperated by a couple of rows on the way down. Your kids are old enough to not kick seat backs or act like banshees. If you think it's going to be a problem, then line up chairs to make it seem like a plane and practice at home. Or risk being deplaned and possibly even arrested.

Anne

 

[Kailani6]

Agreed.

OP: to make the assumption that anyone on an airplane is a predator who will rape your children in front of 200 other passengers is a bit rude. I'm not saying that we don't need to have common sense with our kids, but to basically accuse the entire plane of being horrible people is grossly unfair. How would you feel if someone else on that plane said that about you?

Your older two are certainly old enough to sit alone. They go off to school ont he bus every day and manage just fine without you. I'm sure that the airline will be able to work things out so that you are seated next to one of the younger ones and your DH is seated next to the other. I have no idea why it's a problem to be seperated by a couple of rows on the way down. Your kids are old enough to not kick seat backs or act like banshees. If you think it's going to be a problem, then line up chairs to make it seem like a plane and practice at home. Or risk being deplaned and possibly even arrested.

Anne

What in the world are you talking about?! I gave her my two stories that ended up fine and how I was able to handle it. So I should just assume that everyone in this world (or on a plane) is nice as pie-that is delusional....I wouldn't ask a complete stranger to baby-sit my child nor would I leave my child alone away from my watchful eye for 3 hours (that is how long my flight is) and to say that the other people on the plane would stop something innapropriate may be true but what happens if the other person in that row falls asleep, I will not leave the safety of my child into a strangers hands and trust that they will not allow anything to happen to my young child.
I was not trying to scare the OP, I was stating what went through my mind when the same thing happened to me. By letting the flight attendants know (after being ignored) that I wasn't going to let me daughter sit five rows away from me simply got them to pay attention to me and realize that there was a situation that they needed to handle. There are ways to talk to people without throwing tantrums and being deplaned and I managed to handle that one pretty well.

To the OP again like I said Don't worry! Everything will be fine and I'm sure there will be helpful people more than willing to help you out.

~Farley

 

[Hannathy]

Hopefully someone will move and help you out. I had this happen to me once.

Me and DS 4 (at the time) were flying for Thanksgiving. We both ended up with aisle seat a couple rows apart with him being behind me. I begged and pleaded and no one wanted to give up their window seat. It was 2 seats on either side 4 in a row.

It was a very early morning flight and everyone wanted to sleep. So....the guy that DS ended up sitting next to that didn't want to trade had a VERY bad flight. DS wouldn't let him sleep, kept messing with the window, took his magazine, spilled his OJ. He kept looking at me to do something and I didn't. I just sat there and smiled. When he spilled the OJ (it was a bumpy flight) I just got up and went to the bathroom.

When the plane landed and everyone around us was PO'd I just smiled and said happy thanksgiving, maybe next time you'll move.

I don't normally let DS act that way but I let it slide and he knew he could get away with more and he did. I was more than happy to let him be. If they don't accomodate you at first they probably will after they realize they'll have to handle the kid themself.

I am sorry but if you sat there and watched your child purposefully misbehave and be rude to the person next to them then you were being TWICE as RUDE as the people you accused of being rude for not moving!
I would never teach my child that if was OK to be rude if you didn't get your way, what a lesson to learn. And please explain the long term damage to you and your child not sitting next to each other for a couple of hours?

 

[Elaine R]

Try not to worry too much. This has happened to us several times. Once when my DS was about 6 months ols they had DH, DS, and myself all separated. When it get right down to it, the airline really does not want your children to be unsupervised. If they can't help at the gate the you can easily ask another passenger to switch seats. If they don't respond, a flight attendant can ask the passenger to move. If all else fails leave the passenger tons of information/ instructions so that they can supervise your kids (like an overprotective parent leaving their child with a babysitter for the first time.) "Don't forget she allergic to milk so make sure to take the cheese off her sandwich. And DS isn't fully potty trained so you have to take him to the bath room every 30 minutes. Oh, you want to trade seats now? Great." OK, I'm kidding. Well sort of. My youngest son is a terrible traveler. More than once I've wanted to not sit with him on a plane.

 

[ducklite]

What in the world are you talking about?! I gave her my two stories that ended up fine and how I was able to handle it. So I should just assume that everyone in this world (or on a plane) is nice as pie-that is delusional....I wouldn't ask a complete stranger to baby-sit my child nor would I leave my child alone away from my watchful eye for 3 hours (that is how long my flight is) and to say that the other people on the plane would stop something innapropriate may be true but what happens if the other person in that row falls asleep, I will not leave the safety of my child into a strangers hands and trust that they will not allow anything to happen to my young child.

You do realize that when you book a flight, seats are NOT guaranteed, and neither is your choice of seatmates. If you refuse to sit down and take the seat that you are given by teh airline, you can be arrested, and most certainly will be deplaned. nice way to start--or end--a vacation. Not! If you do'nt like that FACT, then you might be better off finding another mode of transportation to WDW.

I was not trying to scare the OP, I was stating what went through my mind when the same thing happened to me. By letting the flight attendants know (after being ignored) that I wasn't going to let me daughter sit five rows away from me simply got them to pay attention to me and realize that there was a situation that they needed to handle. There are ways to talk to people without throwing tantrums and being deplaned and I managed to handle that one pretty well.

And very simply put, you took the chance of being deplaned when you refused to take your seat. The airline is NTO under any obligation to ask other passengers to move, nor are they under any obligation to give up seats. What if everyone else was families? Would you expect them to break up their family's seats to accomodate you?

If the flight is running late, they will NOT allow one family with scattered seats to hold up leaving. I've seen a SW flight with a late boarding family begin to push away before they were entirely seated--and they were scattered all over the plane. A child in an infant seat was seated next to strangers with the closest parent being four rows away. It does happen, it can happen, you need to be prepared for it.

Anne

 

[Kailani6]

If all else fails leave the passenger tons of information/ instructions so that they can supervise your kids (like an overprotective parent leaving their child with a babysitter for the first time.) "Don't forget she allergic to milk so make sure to take the cheese off her sandwich. And DS isn't fully potty trained so you have to take him to the bath room every 30 minutes. Oh, you want to trade seats now? Great." OK, I'm kidding. Well sort of. My youngest son is a terrible traveler. More than once I've wanted to not sit with him on a plane.

I love this idea!

 

[2forMe]

Agreed.

OP: to make the assumption that anyone on an airplane is a predator who will rape your children in front of 200 other passengers is a bit rude. I'm not saying that we don't need to have common sense with our kids, but to basically accuse the entire plane of being horrible people is grossly unfair. How would you feel if someone else on that plane said that about you?

Your older two are certainly old enough to sit alone. They go off to school ont he bus every day and manage just fine without you. I'm sure that the airline will be able to work things out so that you are seated next to one of the younger ones and your DH is seated next to the other. I have no idea why it's a problem to be seperated by a couple of rows on the way down. Your kids are old enough to not kick seat backs or act like banshees. If you think it's going to be a problem, then line up chairs to make it seem like a plane and practice at home. Or risk being deplaned and possibly even arrested.

Anne

Sorry but if you read the OP's post you would know that her 6 year old has sensory issues.. regardless a 6 yr is not old enought to sit 3 hours or more on a plane by themselves!! Comparing a school bus ride to a plane ride is simply ridiculous.

OP I am sure when you get to the airport either the ticket agent will change the seats, or the boarding agents.. or someone will certainly change seats to that you are closer together

 

[ducklite]

Hopefully someone will move and help you out. I had this happen to me once.

Me and DS 4 (at the time) were flying for Thanksgiving. We both ended up with aisle seat a couple rows apart with him being behind me. I begged and pleaded and no one wanted to give up their window seat. It was 2 seats on either side 4 in a row.

It was a very early morning flight and everyone wanted to sleep. So....the guy that DS ended up sitting next to that didn't want to trade had a VERY bad flight. DS wouldn't let him sleep, kept messing with the window, took his magazine, spilled his OJ. He kept looking at me to do something and I didn't. I just sat there and smiled. When he spilled the OJ (it was a bumpy flight) I just got up and went to the bathroom.

When the plane landed and everyone around us was PO'd I just smiled and said happy thanksgiving, maybe next time you'll move.

I don't normally let DS act that way but I let it slide and he knew he could get away with more and he did. I was more than happy to let him be. If they don't accomodate you at first they probably will after they realize they'll have to handle the kid themself.

That was INCREDIBLY RUDE and someday that karma will pay you back. A four year old is certainly old enmough to have manners to not behave like that. Shame on you for allowing it.

Anne

 

[Kailani6]

That was INCREDIBLY RUDE and someday that karma will pay you back. A four year old is certainly old enmough to have manners to not behave like that. Shame on you for allowing it.

Anne

Do you have children??

 

[ducklite]

Sorry but if you read the OP's post you would know that her 6 year old has sensory issues.. regardless a 6 yr is not old enought to sit 3 hours or more on a plane by themselves!! Comparing a school bus ride to a plane ride is simply ridiculous.

OP I am sure when you get to the airport either the ticket agent will change the seats, or the boarding agents.. or someone will certainly change seats to that you are closer together

And if you read my post, I said that the two OLDER kids can sit alone, that I was sure that arrangements would be made for the two younger kids.

And because the airlines allow six year olds to fly unaccompanied, they DO feel that a six year old is old enough to sit alone for three hours.

Anne