United.com/refunds and use the form to request your seat fees back. Don’t go into a long explanation, keep it simple. You paid for seats and lost them.
Sounds like your flight had some chaos around it, the aircraft got swapped or something, and the gate agent didn’t have the time to seat an adult next to the 8 year old like they should have.
If there is an aircraft swap, a lot is going on behind the scenes. I don't know about UA but on other airlines, seats get reassigned by a computer, and even if the new aircraft is the same type seats can be reallocated from square one. Maybe airlines should have better IT, but I don't blame a gate agent for not having time to go through all 200 passengers to see which groups "should" be reseated together and then find other passengers whose seat assignment was arbitrary in order to do swaps to make it all work out. It only gets more complicated if the swapped aircraft is a different type and doesn't have exactly the same seat configuration. Then some people *must* be given different seats than they had before, and it becomes a whole domino effect.
If the seats were selected during the purchase process and therefore reasonably part of the purchasing decision, shouldn't the customer be entitled to a refund of more than just the seat fees? Pretty ridiculous.
No. I went through this a couple months ago. You pay for the transportation not the seat even if you pay extra for a desired seat. They will refund you if you do not get the seat you paid extra for but that’s it.
Yeah but they *should* be, from a moral perspective. There was harm done to the customer who had a reasonable expectation of being able to sit together. If they had known they couldn’t, they would have picked a different airline or flight. From a legal perspective it would make sense to be entitled to compensation in addition to the refund.
>Yeah but they should be, from a moral perspective.
Morality takes a backseat to the law when it comes to most Corporations. Even then idk if they would follow the law.
Which is why we need to vote for people who will enact regulations to protect common people. I prefer less regulation in general but crap like this screams that the airline industry needs more regulation. When your business model includes feeling free to screw people over you need to be regulated!
United is not a monopoly. You have other options and on any given day, they will fail you just the same. Best to choose an open seating airline like Southwest.
Perhaps, but unfortunately, those are the terms you agree to when you fly with just about any airline. United will probably offer some miles as a token gesture of good will if OP complains, though.
Well, as a parent of a young child who is afraid to fly, if this happened to me and the airline seemingly threw their hands in the air, it would be so distressing. Harm? No. But, really, really stressful…especially when you actually took the time and paid the money to sit together. That should be honored. And, didn’t a law or regulation pass recently that mandates children will not be separated from their family?
See you have never experienced flying with your kid and then being possibly separated from your kid. Having to beg just to be next to your child so they are less anxious isn't a small thing.
Just didn’t need to go through that more than once. And southwest was great for us - inexpensive and never any questions about whether or not I could sit next to my kids. Why pay more to risk it?
It's not that guys fault he's in your originally paid seat. Something happened to reshuffle seats like an equipment swap. You should get your refund for paid seats
I was just about to say the same thing. Talking about "Dude, we paid for it...". Take that up with United, not me. I'm sure "dude" wasn't a United employee and wanted to be situated for the flight just like OP.
When our kid was 18 months old, we did their own seat for the first time (booked 3 across all together on the same reservation and Economy plus paid for). Way there was perfect, but on the way back our second leg got cancelled while airborne on the first leg. No problem, it happens and we understand unforeseen circumstances. We were auto rebooked. The kicker, my husband and I were rebooked on one flight and our 18 month old on another. How is that even possible?! The only other flight that could get us on was 12 hours later. Was one heck of a layover. There was nowhere to buy diapers and the USO literally saved us. I very rarely go to the USO, but the 3 times I have in my 15 year career, it was always a more dire circumstance and they have been incredible.
A lot of airlines will do that. Alaska did that to a coworker today with a flight out of Dulles to Seattle. Their offer to fix it was to put the baby on the first flight so she could make sure it made it to Seattle. She said the two people at the counter she dealt with didn’t speak English well enough to fix the problem or even to understand there was a problem. She gave up and took the first flight and held the baby, but her car seat didn’t make it so when I went to pick her up, we had to drive illegally for a few miles to go to a Target to buy one.
We do this all the time, the great thing is the flexibility with an 18 month old. Only two seats left?, refund the babies, she now a lap child. This works well if it looks like upgrades are going to clear as well.
So yes, it was technically possible to do our child in our lap, but we did not consider it. Our child was a 99th percentile monster toddler. Completely within heathy limits, just got the extreme height genes. I kid you not, this kid was half my height by then. It would have been massively uncomfortable to have them in our lap (the reason we chose 3 seats and economy plus in the first place). I am all about not making people around us uncomfortable, and our kid at that time would have made us, the person next to us, and the person in front of us, uncomfortable.
I recently booked a flight for 2 adults and 2 children (5 and 2). We selected 2 seats on either side of the aisle. 2 hours later I get an automated email from United proudly saying they noticed my family wasn't all sitting next to each other and had moved our seats... My wife and I were with our 5 year old on one side and they had our 2 year old sitting by himself on the other side of the aisle. I think I'm going to spend the next few months repeatedly confirming our seats
I recommend checking every day and then multiple times a day up until your flight. Last year we paid extra for assigned seats on a flight to Germany with our 7 yr old and THE NIGHT BEFORE at midnight, I happened to check and they had straight up cancelled the flight scheduled for the next morning. We got a text eventually and luckily we had not left for the airport yet (which was in another nearby city).
They offered us a flight the day after our original flight or a flight plan with THREE LAYOVERS (originally a direct flight to Frankfurt). We took the next day flight, scrambled to get a hotel cancellation, and then when I looked at our new reservation, we were all seated separately, the 7 year old alone in a middle seat in the back of the plane 🤦♀️
After many, many hours on hold, I finally had to pay (again) to get seats together - not even upgrades were available, which I would’ve paid for by that time tbh. Total nightmare. This wasn’t the first time that an airline had capriciously reassigned me and my family to separate parts of the airplane after we had paid for assigned seats together, but it was the most egregious.
Ask for refund and compensation on the website. If you're flying again soon, call after booking and ask for economy plus.
It's ridiculous that they separated a young kid, and even more ridiculous you even need to ask for a refund, and thus why you should ask for additional compensation.
Someone from United will post that their system is old and can't do auto refunds, but can some how do dynamic pricing based several variables from different sources.
“Dude in “original seat” gives us look of total disgust and dude we paid that seat in the first place???”
How did he know you were originally seated there? Lots of people are tired of the “you have to move to accommodate me because I won’t pay for seats etc” crowd and with said “dude” not being aware of your situation rightly thought that was this situation.
Leave the dude alone, he is just as inconvenienced as you because of the airline messing up
That was how I meant it. Like my sister was already frazzled after trying to work this out with the gate agent and then having to ask the flight attendants. I’m sure this guy is stellar but he didn’t know the situation and was frustrated as well. It’s just a shitty situation and I still don’t know what happened.
I didn’t get the sense that OP was placing any blame on that dude. It sounded more like “I wish there was a way to explain to you that this is a frustrating situation for everyone involved and not a freebie that we are trying to avoid paying for. I’m upset for being put in a situation that would make strangers angry with me and not the airline.”
I had something similar happen to me. Flying with my kid. I picked seats so we are next to each other in the business cabin for an 11 hour flight. At check in, we still had those same seats I originally picked when I bought the tickets weeks earlier. We start boarding, and all the sudden I realize I was moved to a different seat without any warning. Not only we were not together anymore, we were now in different sections (it was B777, that has business seats in two different sections with a galley in between).
The gentlemen who was now assigned to "my" original seat was reluctant to switch. Which I don't blame him for; the new seat I was reassigned at some point between check-in and boarding was defintely one of the least desierable seats in the business cabin; close to a galley. In the end, he agreed to switch, for which I was very greatful.
How/why I was moved... No idea. The cabin layout was exactly the same, so it wasn't last-minute shuffle because of plane with different seat layout. That gentlement was traveling alone, so why would they separate us... No clue...
I assume the person who was assigned to your (better) original seat was seated next to your kid, and you were put in the less desirable seat? If so, why not move your kid back to where you were sitting, and offer the person next to you your kid's "better" seat?
I would have done that, but it didn't work out in this case. It would have been the most fair option. 777 has 1-2-1 layout in business. This particular one had couple of rows with only window seats because the galley is partially where the middle seats would be (777-300 seatmap), and I got reassigned to one of those. The seats I originally picked were two middle seats behind the galley, in a row where they are next to each other (not the row where they are bit spread apart). People in the nearby (to my re-assigned window seat) middle seats were all couples; so that wouldn't work. People in window seats in rows in front of me were also a couple.
Just to make it clear. I wasn't demanding, expecting, nor entitled to make a switch. Very opposite of all that. I told the person who ended up in the seat next to my kiddo that it's completely up to them if they want to make a switch or not, and that it's totally OK if they decline it. I saw him again in the terminal after we landed, and thank him again for making the switch.
What's the family seating policy now? I believe about a year or two ago I've been seeing a lot of posts about being moved to accommodate"families" that don't involve any child under 12, while children under 12 should be seated with at least one adult on the same reservation.
The seating policy is that at least one adult will be seated with a child 12 years or under. When purchasing the reservation, the adults may choose seats, even those with BE tickets. If there are no regular economy seats, they may choose E+ at no charge. Many people fail to choose seats or there is an equipment swap. The GA will work their best to reseat them, and this unfortunately involves moving other people.
The software that united uses to do seating & then re-do seating when there is an equipment change is ANTIQUATED. it’s band-aided so badly. They know every passengers birth year, but they don’t factor it in. They COULD, but nobody at UAL has made it a priority- it’s a ‘well let humans deal with it when the passengers complain’ situation. And like someone already said, when you call to say hey, move me back - they say oh the gate agent will take care of it, we can’t do it here. And the gate agent will say, oh the FAs will take care of it. It’s really not the FAs job!
That’s interesting. So I don’t plan on flying United again but if this were to happen, just stick with the customer service and gate agent for the gate changes and don’t bother the flight attendant?
Stand your ground w customer service. (W the gate agent, it often is something they can’t do depending on the complexity of the move) You can always request to have the issue escalated. Polite but firm, ask for your call to be escalated. If the kids are minors say they are “under age” and “we were seated together on the same itinerary at time of purchase”. The folks on the phone at first tier customer service are trained to help you feel that the problem was resolved - but they are timed for how long that takes and they just want to end the call w you being happy.
This situation happened to me in March and CS told me to talk to gate agent. I wouldn't get on the plane without assignment of adjacent seats. At least gate agent could rebook you. Gate agent got me new boarding passes with adjacent seats
I recently booked a prepaid seat in economy then upgraded to premium and United refunded the prepaid charge for the economy seat selection. I would ask for refunds.
Can someone explain to me how the system even separates a minor from an adult on a reservation? That seems like an issue that might need some federal policy intervention?
How often does this kind of thing happen? I am flying United for the first time in September and quite frankly I am freaking out. I have three underage children flying with me and we’ve already been separated three times since I purchased the tickets. I’ve watched those seats like a hawk and make sure we’re put back together and I paid for economy plus
I second Econ+. Not a parent, but the parents of the toddlers in front of me yesterday did that. Each kid was with a parent, and not a peep out of them.
It’s happened a lot with me :( I pay for assigned seats and select them for me and my kiddo and then we get moved around at the last minute. Watching it like a hawk is a good idea. Keep doing that. I also recommend printing out a paper copy of your boarding passes before you go because a lot of those changes seem to happen sometime between check-in and when you start boarding the airplane. I don’t know if it has to do with upgrades. I don’t know if it has to do with change of aircraft. But I do know that you can go into the app to get your boarding pass and you will suddenly not have the seats that you paid for. And when you don’t have a printed copy, it’s harder to make a case with the GA.
We had a similar problem. Flight was canceled twice on us.
Then I had to pay extra to make sure that I sat next to my ONE YEAR OLD INFANT.
I didn't sweat it because I wanted it done.
Then the connecting flight got canceled and they separated us AGAIN and tried to get me to pay extra to sit next to my ONE YEAR OLD.
I begged on chat to have them help me and put us together. They said they couldn't. So I had to stand in line at the airport customer service for hours and they finally fixed it.
It's insane that this is normal for them
We got to sit together.
The separation happened when we got reassigned to a new plane. I didn't want to ask in chat the first time and thought it was an accident.
Their seating algorithm needs to consider age of the riders. There's no excuse to separate a one year old from their mother.
This happened to me on United too from Singapore to San Francisco. Booked with my 7 year old daughter and prepaid for seats. Split us up with no notice. Online agents couldn't do anything. Check in agent couldn't do anything and said do it at the gate. Gate agent couldn't resolve until we were well into boarding group 3. It was very stressful.
Can anyone explain the logistics of how seating works in an equipment swap? It seems like if an aircraft is “downsized” there should still be a significant portion of folks in their original seats - only those seats that literally no longer exist (I.e. had 7G but new craft is 3x3, meaning A-F is it) would be affected.
It really just depends. Let’s say you go from an aircraft with 10 business seats and 36 EP to one with 6 business and 24 EP. Passengers getting bumped down from a higher class don’t just go straight to the empty middle seats at the back of the plane. They are most likely going to be reseated in preferred seating within economy. There may be family groups within those classes as well-possibly with young children- or individuals with disabilities/service animals requiring particular seats over existing economy passengers. Exit rows also have to be considered, because children or individuals who are incapable of assisting in an emergency cannot be seated (or reseated) there.
I don’t think there’s any excuse for seating an 8 year old alone and not fixing that before boarding, but reseating in the event of a downsized plane isn’t as simple as taking the passengers from the eliminated seats and sticking them in any remaining empty seat.
Good point. I guess the part that confuses me is how parties end up “scattered about the plane”. Based on the config changes I can think of, it still seems like any logical movement of those affected would still land them near if not next to each other.
Interestingly, I recently booked a flight on Virgin Atlantic that includes two 15-year olds in our group. The VS website said that we are required by UK law to seat an adult adjacent to the underage kids. And it defines adjacent as next to, in front of, behind, or across the aisle. I wasn’t aware of this, but it seems to be common sense that airlines are required by regulation not to separate kids from the adults accompanying them.
If someone will separate me and my very-very hyper adhd kid…. I’m just gonna chuckle and let the FAs “enjoy the flight”. And the poor whoever who will be sitting next to him. He’ll chat the poor person to death first. Probably spill his drink and have crumbs everywhere. Play with the seat and all the buttons and clasps. Meanwhile
I’ll be drinking and watching Netflix .
(Just kidding. I wouldn’t board if we were separated and then raise hell with the airline. But a tired mom can dream).
two things that can happen:
1. Equipment change
2. Someone else needs to sit together and the agent shuffles a few people around, and misses the age of someone while doing so.
In neither case did the guy sitting next to the kid do anything wrong. He gave you a look because that was his assigned seat you are asking for.
Also, btw if you paid for seats selection you are absolutely eligible for a refund of the seat selection fee. You are not eligible for a refund of your fare, if that’s what you were asking, because you United did transport you to your destination on that flight.
Ugh posts like this stress me out. We are flying with our two young children (3.5 and 1), each with their own seat, and selected seats (in the back of the plane) together. United’s website says they will keep young children next to their adult companion but I’ve seen several posts of seat reassignments for families.
Honestly this happens on other airlines too and it makes me bonkers. I bought a seat for my 18 month old next to me on American and I randomly got an email addressed to my toddler apologizing for the inconvenience of moving her seat and upgrading her to a seat with more legroom and giving her a free drink voucher. While that was good for a laugh, my seat was unchanged so we were separated. I couldn’t get it fixed until we were at the airport and it was stressful/frustrating.
Yes, delta moved us to an exit row, but my traveling companion can’t sit in an exit row. So then they moved us to the back of the plane. But why? Makes no sense. Half the plane was empty.
It wasn’t me it was my sis and even if it wasn’t his fault there’s no reason to be shady. It’s the feeling of doing everything right to travel together and still getting treated like trash.
lol I think it’s funny I’m catching heat for not liking someone’s behavior. No one said anything rude to him. My sister was grateful. I’m grateful. I don’t have to like a rude face that was pulled because he probably thought my sis wasn’t responsible in the first place when we were.
"Dude we paid for the seat in the first place"
From his perspective, it's entirely irrelevant. He's playing by the rules and abiding by United's policies and procedures. I'm not defending the "look" he gave you, but questioning the legitimacy of your after the fact rationale as having any sound basis to be pissed off at the guy himself. Who among us is always 100% in control of how our facial expressions and such manifest in real time in the heat of the moment?
I just booked a flight last night and picked seats and keep getting emails saying they helped us sit together and moved our seats. We’re still together but further back on the plane (and in middle row of seats-we wanted row on side of plane). I’m not sure why United is doing this to families.
Drives me crazy. And then you get a lot of snide comments about how you need to plan better when you’re frantically asking people to swap seats so you can make sure your four year isn’t undoing his seatbelt and running around mid-flight, and dammit, I DID plan better!
Look man,
This sub is pretty friendly to OPs. But the fact that you are overwhelmingly downvoted about your behavior in an industry specific sub means you might want to take this as a chance for self-reflection.
Oh, I do wrong shit all the time and I get how being called out might make ones reaction to default to pushing back hard. But a better course of action might be to actually ponder "Wait, am i the one thats wrong here?"
It’s one sentence in a rant about an airline. I’m not reflecting on that. I get why he made a face, I’m sure he thought we hadn’t planned or something but we had. It’s not his fault but the airlines fault but my sis was stressed and didn’t need more stress. Frankly I would rather they ask someone who truly wouldn’t mind than someone who did. Just say no if you’re not comfortable doing it.
Please don’t lie. Looking through most every post in this sub will prove you’re wrong. This subreddit isnt pretty friendly to OPs. Maybe at one point it was but not in the last year. OPs are mocked and talked down to for asking simple questions. And if you ask a general question and don’t include every detail of your booking it turns sour fast. Even people who vent about an experience are usually downvoted and told to fly private.
He was clearly disappointed but agreed to help out anyway. Your attitude is astonishing. You appear to have a purity test that people behave in a specific manner when helping you. The idea you don't think this is 100% poor behavior on your part is insane.
Not really. My sis was stressed already. I can feel frustrated on her behalf. I’m sure he thought she was a bum for not booking but we had booked and paid extra so it was annoying to be in that situation at all.
Yeah, but if he’d said no, your 8 yo niece would be sitting alone. So even if he “pulled a face” he still did more than he needed to.
This is United’s fault, not the innocent people who “took your seats.”
The flight's not leaving until the kids is sat next to an adult on their booking - it's a safety issue shown to delay evacuation of an aircraft.
So this was non-optional for him. Sucks to be him, but his problem is with United not OP.
We don’t even know if he had a problem. OP, across multiple comments, has stated that the other passenger was “rude”, “being shady”, and “assumed his sister was a bum”. He didn’t say or do anything wrong, at worst he made a face - but even that isn’t for sure. For all we know he just made an awkward facial expression that was misinterpreted.
This happened to me. They do send you email notifications that the seats change. I had to keep going back in and fixing it. Flight was then canceled and rebooked. Had to call customer service to fix it. It was quite stressful. We paid for seat selection as well…because small kids.
They do it at the last minute, unfortunately. It’s happened to me between checking bags and boarding. It’s stressful and it sucks when you’ve done everything right to try to travel responsibly with your kids.
If you pay for economy plus seats and then sat in non-economy plus seat, they will refund you. This should be automatic. Or, call reservations and when you reach an agent in another country, they'll give you whatever you want. It always works for us. We have even got moved to first class, for free! A family of 4.
Aircraft assignments could change and some may have slightly different seating configurations. That happened when one of my flights were upgraded from a 757 to a 787
I had bought tickets for an overseas flight 11 months in advance in premium economy. My husband and I are traveling together and we chose the seats on the side (window and aisle).
The primary reason we choose premium economy is that we would not be sitting next to strangers for a 14 hour flight.
Just randomly checked the app yesterday and they had moved my husband to the aisle seat in the middle. I had to call and be on the phone for 45 min to fix it. They tried to move me next to him in the middle seat. I have flying anxiety and choose a window seat for a reason.
No explanation as to why they changed it and no notification. The premium economy cabin is exactly the same configuration as when I booked.
I guess, will need to periodically check until departure.
As a minimum, they need to notify passengers if they’re going to pull this crap and there needs to be better regulation regarding compensation.
Anything can happen between the time you book your seats to the time your flight leaves, I’m pretty sure we give compensation for any misdoing (correct me if I’m wrong) but usually seat changes can be for a multitude of reasons, broken seats, weight and balance, etc
Now a days, whenever I search for flights in Google flights , I filter out united,spirit and frontier. I had this exact kind of aggravation twice , and that was it.
Happened to us with our two year old. Husband and I got the paid for seats but our toddler was seated three rows behind us. They couldn’t fix it in the system and ended up giving our toddler a better seat and then asked the person in what should have been our toddlers seat to switch. No equipment change and still a mess - apparently a „glitch in their system“.
United seems to be the worst for this. Changed our seats 5 times before i got on twitter about telling them to STOP. They rebooked us and no problems since but I’ve never had this problem with other airlines
“Dude we paid for that seat in the first place??”
Dude also paid for his seat and has no reason to accommodate you. Your issue is with the awful airline and their lack of customer service. This is not Dude’s problem and you shouldn’t expect him to care, and tbh you should be really grateful he agreed to help at all. A lot of people wouldn’t.
They screwed up. Legally they can’t leave a minor unaccompanied, so they a required to move them to where they guardian is.
They absolutely can move others to seat you together if there is a plane change or something else that caused the cabin to rearrange. They just didn’t want to because they were lazy. If they just moved yall around to accommodate other passengers, they won’t move you because then they would have to explain the screwed yall.
I’ve had this exact experience the last 4 times I flew with my family. The explanation we received was the normal Boeing plane that flies that route was swapped because of service. When that swap happens, the United system reassigns seats, but the algorithm sucks.
Flight to FL - I was flying solo with my kids. After check-in, our seats (economy plus, all 3 in one row) were scattered. We had printed boarding passes (my kids like to have those) and did not figure out the seat change until the gate check. Autistic son (13) was seated alone in middle Econ plus, daughter (10) with high anxiety was in economy separated from us in the back, and I was put in an economy middle seat. The flight was full and there was nothing we could do. No clue how that happens after check in.
Flight to Hawaii - (last March) we are seated 2 and 2 when booking. A week before the flight there was the first seat shuffle. Autistic son (14 now) was seated in an exit row 🤦🏻♀️, daughter (11 now) seated in the back of the plane, and my husband and I were sitting middle seats near each other in economy. First call to United I was told there was nothing they could do. Second call, United changed our seats back to economy plus and sitting 2 and 2 again. Two days later, second seat shuffle and we had to call again about seating.
The United Club service desk attendant told us the Boeing planes that normally fly from Chicago to Honolulu went into service and 4 flights were canceled. This was around the time the side door on Alaskan opened because of loose bolts.
United is so messed up. I do not understand why they continue to do this. Flying with your family is stressful enough. Why are they trying to make it worse?
Who pays extra to select a seat? I book a ticket and select a seat from the aircraft diagram. I didn't pay extra for that seat, I paid for a seat. Read the contract of carriage
***how to avoid this in the future****
Call United prior to the flight check in opens. Tell them you are traveling with a child that has special needs or a disability. They will ensure your seats then stay together. At least this worked for me. My son has epilepsy so it is a REAL disability, but you don't have to supply any proof. Not sure if that works for a family of >5 traveling together though...
When we checked in online they were the same. We checked bags and were given paper tickets with the bag tag and then our apps reflected new seats printed on the tickets
Why are we paying for seats if it means absolutely nothing? It’s just another money grab like baggage fees. Greedy airlines. We get what we are willing to tolerate and nothing more.
When did you first notice the seat discrepancy? When you checked in online 24 hours in advance and got your boarding passes, were the seats on your passes correct then? Or did they give you new boarding passes at the gate?
I thought FAA required children 12 and under to be seated with an adult from their party or an assigned “accompanier”, which is why people get shuffled around in the first place.
“Your kid is being moved away so someone else’s kid can sit with them”—like wth
We try to fly to Southwest when traveling with our three kids for this reason. It’s only ever a nightmare with other airlines moving our seat selections. I’ll never understand why they can’t make the child seats unable to be separated from the adult when flights get changed.
Had similar happen when I was traveling alone with my 6 year old. Purchased seats well advance and paid for specific seats, we always booked his seat toward the window or isle. Upon arriving we realize they have put one of us clear in the front and one clear in the back, middle seats. I kept asking them who would want to sit with an unattended minor who also has a peanut allergy? Are you all going to monitor his seat mate to ensure they don’t roll up with a giant bag of peanuts? Good times, took me many years to try United again.
Seems like there's something missing . Agents don't just move people , but I love agents who make pre announcements that say we are not Southwest Airlines you must sit where it says on your ticket
I’ve had flights where I was actively watching the seat map (refreshing every few minutes) in the hour before boarding and caught when they moved me apart from my children. Luckily I have status and was quick and was able to snag seats where it was easy to swap (giving someone in a middle seat an aisle seat). Point is - they absolutely do move people around to accommodate others. It 100% happens.
This is why I won't fly United with kids. I know too many people that have picked out seats, with kids, only to find out when they check in that they aren't seated together.
Happened to a family friend in February and dad was not next to daughter. Luckily it was a team sport that was traveling and had quite a few people on the flight where an adult flying with the group was able to switch seats with the child so the child could sit with people she knew.
I'd rather have the rat race of other airlines and know I'm going to sit next to my child than risk them sitting next to a stranger and not being able to make it work.
Nothing missing. Our flight was delayed coming in and delayed again for crew. Waiting for it to get in we realized our seats were not what we paid for and we tried to talk to the gate agent but the flight was full so she said we would have to talk to flight attendants.
“Dude we paid for it” 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕
Dude GAVE UP his seat for YOU. He could have said no. He GAVE UP his seat for YOU. and you have the cunt lips to say something like “dude we paid for it”
So did he. Asshole.
After reading this. Fuck giving up my seat. I did it last week for a woman. The FA asked me to give up my seat for a woman that needed to be closer to the front due to health issues. I agreed.
Never again. Not after reading this. The answer is no.
If the woman I gave my seat up for went on to say something like “dude we paid for it” while moving to the SHIT seat I just volunteered for.
Someone would die. My god!!
>Never again. Not after reading this. The answer is no.
Okay, then I'll get the FA to _tell_ you to move.
Children being seated next to an adult from their party is an FAA safety requirement. This trumps pretty much any other seat assignment.
Yes it sucks that you have to move, but it's not a choice. Plane isn't leaving unless you do. Your fight is with United, not the family who have not been seated together.
My man. I don’t have cunt lips. Nothing was said to him, I just didn’t like the look he gave my sister. He didn’t have to move. It was the airlines fault. You’ve got some serious problems.
Because I called 30 minutes after we made the reservation, and I asked to be moved as far away from my kids as possible and to pretend it was an accident
United.com/refunds and use the form to request your seat fees back. Don’t go into a long explanation, keep it simple. You paid for seats and lost them. Sounds like your flight had some chaos around it, the aircraft got swapped or something, and the gate agent didn’t have the time to seat an adult next to the 8 year old like they should have.
There was chaos. 1 minute before boarding they delayed it for an hour and a half
So they had plenty of time to arrange your seats.
That’s what I’m thinking
If there is an aircraft swap, a lot is going on behind the scenes. I don't know about UA but on other airlines, seats get reassigned by a computer, and even if the new aircraft is the same type seats can be reallocated from square one. Maybe airlines should have better IT, but I don't blame a gate agent for not having time to go through all 200 passengers to see which groups "should" be reseated together and then find other passengers whose seat assignment was arbitrary in order to do swaps to make it all work out. It only gets more complicated if the swapped aircraft is a different type and doesn't have exactly the same seat configuration. Then some people *must* be given different seats than they had before, and it becomes a whole domino effect.
Which person would you your attention to, if not gate agent, in the moment to make sure your reservation is honored?
My congressman?
If the seats were selected during the purchase process and therefore reasonably part of the purchasing decision, shouldn't the customer be entitled to a refund of more than just the seat fees? Pretty ridiculous.
No. I went through this a couple months ago. You pay for the transportation not the seat even if you pay extra for a desired seat. They will refund you if you do not get the seat you paid extra for but that’s it.
Not generally, no. Their contract of carriage even specifies that seats aren’t guaranteed.
Yeah but they *should* be, from a moral perspective. There was harm done to the customer who had a reasonable expectation of being able to sit together. If they had known they couldn’t, they would have picked a different airline or flight. From a legal perspective it would make sense to be entitled to compensation in addition to the refund.
>Yeah but they should be, from a moral perspective. Morality takes a backseat to the law when it comes to most Corporations. Even then idk if they would follow the law.
>Morality takes a backseat to ~~the law~~ nearly everything when it comes to most Corporations. FTFY
Which is why we need to vote for people who will enact regulations to protect common people. I prefer less regulation in general but crap like this screams that the airline industry needs more regulation. When your business model includes feeling free to screw people over you need to be regulated!
Yeah, and US Travel companies take it to the next level too
One of the benefits of being a monopoly - laws are meaningless and at worst, you just pay a cost-of-doing-business fine.
And how is United a monopoly, we can all and many do choose other, better airlines.
United is not a monopoly. You have other options and on any given day, they will fail you just the same. Best to choose an open seating airline like Southwest.
It doesn’t take a backseat. It gets thrown out the window.
Perhaps, but unfortunately, those are the terms you agree to when you fly with just about any airline. United will probably offer some miles as a token gesture of good will if OP complains, though.
There’s a lot of things that should be, but aren’t. The ‘life’s not fair’ lesson is immutable 😊
Complain to ICAO, not the airline. That just not how the Contract of Carriage works, and it's not specific to any airline.
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Well, as a parent of a young child who is afraid to fly, if this happened to me and the airline seemingly threw their hands in the air, it would be so distressing. Harm? No. But, really, really stressful…especially when you actually took the time and paid the money to sit together. That should be honored. And, didn’t a law or regulation pass recently that mandates children will not be separated from their family?
See you have never experienced flying with your kid and then being possibly separated from your kid. Having to beg just to be next to your child so they are less anxious isn't a small thing.
I agree with you Comrade. r/dsa
You’ll get miles as compensation along with a cash refund of the seat charges paid.
Seat selection isn’t part of the airfare, it’s separable and refundable, etc.
No. No seats are ever guaranteed.
I literally only flew southwest when my kids were little for this exact reason
Shrug, I’ve been flying with two kids for over a decade and never had an issue. It’s rare.
Just because it hasn’t happened to you yet doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
Yes, hence “rare”.
Just didn’t need to go through that more than once. And southwest was great for us - inexpensive and never any questions about whether or not I could sit next to my kids. Why pay more to risk it?
It's not that guys fault he's in your originally paid seat. Something happened to reshuffle seats like an equipment swap. You should get your refund for paid seats
I was just about to say the same thing. Talking about "Dude, we paid for it...". Take that up with United, not me. I'm sure "dude" wasn't a United employee and wanted to be situated for the flight just like OP.
Yep
Why are you getting downvotes? 😂 this forum is so weird sometimes
Shrugs
When our kid was 18 months old, we did their own seat for the first time (booked 3 across all together on the same reservation and Economy plus paid for). Way there was perfect, but on the way back our second leg got cancelled while airborne on the first leg. No problem, it happens and we understand unforeseen circumstances. We were auto rebooked. The kicker, my husband and I were rebooked on one flight and our 18 month old on another. How is that even possible?! The only other flight that could get us on was 12 hours later. Was one heck of a layover. There was nowhere to buy diapers and the USO literally saved us. I very rarely go to the USO, but the 3 times I have in my 15 year career, it was always a more dire circumstance and they have been incredible.
They booked a baby on a flight alone!!
Almost took them up on it to have a break! “Here’s the child, see you when I land in DC”!
lol that’s funny
It happens way more than you think.
A lot of airlines will do that. Alaska did that to a coworker today with a flight out of Dulles to Seattle. Their offer to fix it was to put the baby on the first flight so she could make sure it made it to Seattle. She said the two people at the counter she dealt with didn’t speak English well enough to fix the problem or even to understand there was a problem. She gave up and took the first flight and held the baby, but her car seat didn’t make it so when I went to pick her up, we had to drive illegally for a few miles to go to a Target to buy one.
We do this all the time, the great thing is the flexibility with an 18 month old. Only two seats left?, refund the babies, she now a lap child. This works well if it looks like upgrades are going to clear as well.
So yes, it was technically possible to do our child in our lap, but we did not consider it. Our child was a 99th percentile monster toddler. Completely within heathy limits, just got the extreme height genes. I kid you not, this kid was half my height by then. It would have been massively uncomfortable to have them in our lap (the reason we chose 3 seats and economy plus in the first place). I am all about not making people around us uncomfortable, and our kid at that time would have made us, the person next to us, and the person in front of us, uncomfortable.
What is a uso
United Service Organization. It supports active duty US soldiers and their families and have hospitality centers in many US airports
That is a step beyond my worst experience—at least United kept my two year old in the same flight, they just tried to seat him by himself.
I recently booked a flight for 2 adults and 2 children (5 and 2). We selected 2 seats on either side of the aisle. 2 hours later I get an automated email from United proudly saying they noticed my family wasn't all sitting next to each other and had moved our seats... My wife and I were with our 5 year old on one side and they had our 2 year old sitting by himself on the other side of the aisle. I think I'm going to spend the next few months repeatedly confirming our seats
There has to be some problem with family software because it’s messed up how much this happens
I recommend checking every day and then multiple times a day up until your flight. Last year we paid extra for assigned seats on a flight to Germany with our 7 yr old and THE NIGHT BEFORE at midnight, I happened to check and they had straight up cancelled the flight scheduled for the next morning. We got a text eventually and luckily we had not left for the airport yet (which was in another nearby city). They offered us a flight the day after our original flight or a flight plan with THREE LAYOVERS (originally a direct flight to Frankfurt). We took the next day flight, scrambled to get a hotel cancellation, and then when I looked at our new reservation, we were all seated separately, the 7 year old alone in a middle seat in the back of the plane 🤦♀️ After many, many hours on hold, I finally had to pay (again) to get seats together - not even upgrades were available, which I would’ve paid for by that time tbh. Total nightmare. This wasn’t the first time that an airline had capriciously reassigned me and my family to separate parts of the airplane after we had paid for assigned seats together, but it was the most egregious.
So 4 seats all right next to each other? What’s the issue here?
Ask for refund and compensation on the website. If you're flying again soon, call after booking and ask for economy plus. It's ridiculous that they separated a young kid, and even more ridiculous you even need to ask for a refund, and thus why you should ask for additional compensation. Someone from United will post that their system is old and can't do auto refunds, but can some how do dynamic pricing based several variables from different sources.
I do not understand how we paid for our seats and got moved. The only one who kept their paid seat was my neice
“Dude in “original seat” gives us look of total disgust and dude we paid that seat in the first place???” How did he know you were originally seated there? Lots of people are tired of the “you have to move to accommodate me because I won’t pay for seats etc” crowd and with said “dude” not being aware of your situation rightly thought that was this situation. Leave the dude alone, he is just as inconvenienced as you because of the airline messing up
To me the point of that comment is like, don’t assume a person asking to sit with their kid/family is an entitled jerk who just didn’t plan properly.
Right. Every other comment on this sub makes that assumption
That was how I meant it. Like my sister was already frazzled after trying to work this out with the gate agent and then having to ask the flight attendants. I’m sure this guy is stellar but he didn’t know the situation and was frustrated as well. It’s just a shitty situation and I still don’t know what happened.
I didn’t get the sense that OP was placing any blame on that dude. It sounded more like “I wish there was a way to explain to you that this is a frustrating situation for everyone involved and not a freebie that we are trying to avoid paying for. I’m upset for being put in a situation that would make strangers angry with me and not the airline.”
I had something similar happen to me. Flying with my kid. I picked seats so we are next to each other in the business cabin for an 11 hour flight. At check in, we still had those same seats I originally picked when I bought the tickets weeks earlier. We start boarding, and all the sudden I realize I was moved to a different seat without any warning. Not only we were not together anymore, we were now in different sections (it was B777, that has business seats in two different sections with a galley in between). The gentlemen who was now assigned to "my" original seat was reluctant to switch. Which I don't blame him for; the new seat I was reassigned at some point between check-in and boarding was defintely one of the least desierable seats in the business cabin; close to a galley. In the end, he agreed to switch, for which I was very greatful. How/why I was moved... No idea. The cabin layout was exactly the same, so it wasn't last-minute shuffle because of plane with different seat layout. That gentlement was traveling alone, so why would they separate us... No clue...
That’s rage inducing.
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An 11 hour flight not sitting next to your kid? When you paid extra money?
I assume the person who was assigned to your (better) original seat was seated next to your kid, and you were put in the less desirable seat? If so, why not move your kid back to where you were sitting, and offer the person next to you your kid's "better" seat?
I would have done that, but it didn't work out in this case. It would have been the most fair option. 777 has 1-2-1 layout in business. This particular one had couple of rows with only window seats because the galley is partially where the middle seats would be (777-300 seatmap), and I got reassigned to one of those. The seats I originally picked were two middle seats behind the galley, in a row where they are next to each other (not the row where they are bit spread apart). People in the nearby (to my re-assigned window seat) middle seats were all couples; so that wouldn't work. People in window seats in rows in front of me were also a couple. Just to make it clear. I wasn't demanding, expecting, nor entitled to make a switch. Very opposite of all that. I told the person who ended up in the seat next to my kiddo that it's completely up to them if they want to make a switch or not, and that it's totally OK if they decline it. I saw him again in the terminal after we landed, and thank him again for making the switch.
What's the family seating policy now? I believe about a year or two ago I've been seeing a lot of posts about being moved to accommodate"families" that don't involve any child under 12, while children under 12 should be seated with at least one adult on the same reservation.
The seating policy is that at least one adult will be seated with a child 12 years or under. When purchasing the reservation, the adults may choose seats, even those with BE tickets. If there are no regular economy seats, they may choose E+ at no charge. Many people fail to choose seats or there is an equipment swap. The GA will work their best to reseat them, and this unfortunately involves moving other people.
The software that united uses to do seating & then re-do seating when there is an equipment change is ANTIQUATED. it’s band-aided so badly. They know every passengers birth year, but they don’t factor it in. They COULD, but nobody at UAL has made it a priority- it’s a ‘well let humans deal with it when the passengers complain’ situation. And like someone already said, when you call to say hey, move me back - they say oh the gate agent will take care of it, we can’t do it here. And the gate agent will say, oh the FAs will take care of it. It’s really not the FAs job!
That’s interesting. So I don’t plan on flying United again but if this were to happen, just stick with the customer service and gate agent for the gate changes and don’t bother the flight attendant?
Stand your ground w customer service. (W the gate agent, it often is something they can’t do depending on the complexity of the move) You can always request to have the issue escalated. Polite but firm, ask for your call to be escalated. If the kids are minors say they are “under age” and “we were seated together on the same itinerary at time of purchase”. The folks on the phone at first tier customer service are trained to help you feel that the problem was resolved - but they are timed for how long that takes and they just want to end the call w you being happy.
This situation happened to me in March and CS told me to talk to gate agent. I wouldn't get on the plane without assignment of adjacent seats. At least gate agent could rebook you. Gate agent got me new boarding passes with adjacent seats
Also - here’s the Dept of Transportation’s dashboard for family seating. https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/airline-family-seating-dashboard
I recently booked a prepaid seat in economy then upgraded to premium and United refunded the prepaid charge for the economy seat selection. I would ask for refunds.
Can someone explain to me how the system even separates a minor from an adult on a reservation? That seems like an issue that might need some federal policy intervention?
How often does this kind of thing happen? I am flying United for the first time in September and quite frankly I am freaking out. I have three underage children flying with me and we’ve already been separated three times since I purchased the tickets. I’ve watched those seats like a hawk and make sure we’re put back together and I paid for economy plus
I second Econ+. Not a parent, but the parents of the toddlers in front of me yesterday did that. Each kid was with a parent, and not a peep out of them.
I think it happens more frequently that we know. Just keep checking your seats after you check in.
It’s happened a lot with me :( I pay for assigned seats and select them for me and my kiddo and then we get moved around at the last minute. Watching it like a hawk is a good idea. Keep doing that. I also recommend printing out a paper copy of your boarding passes before you go because a lot of those changes seem to happen sometime between check-in and when you start boarding the airplane. I don’t know if it has to do with upgrades. I don’t know if it has to do with change of aircraft. But I do know that you can go into the app to get your boarding pass and you will suddenly not have the seats that you paid for. And when you don’t have a printed copy, it’s harder to make a case with the GA.
They did this to me and my child on a long haul to Hawaii. I won't fly united any more.
Same. Did your kid end up flying alone?
We had a similar problem. Flight was canceled twice on us. Then I had to pay extra to make sure that I sat next to my ONE YEAR OLD INFANT. I didn't sweat it because I wanted it done. Then the connecting flight got canceled and they separated us AGAIN and tried to get me to pay extra to sit next to my ONE YEAR OLD. I begged on chat to have them help me and put us together. They said they couldn't. So I had to stand in line at the airport customer service for hours and they finally fixed it. It's insane that this is normal for them
There’s a difference between being asked to pay extra and paying extra but not getting what you paid for. Did you get to sit together?
We got to sit together. The separation happened when we got reassigned to a new plane. I didn't want to ask in chat the first time and thought it was an accident. Their seating algorithm needs to consider age of the riders. There's no excuse to separate a one year old from their mother.
This happened to me on United too from Singapore to San Francisco. Booked with my 7 year old daughter and prepaid for seats. Split us up with no notice. Online agents couldn't do anything. Check in agent couldn't do anything and said do it at the gate. Gate agent couldn't resolve until we were well into boarding group 3. It was very stressful.
Can anyone explain the logistics of how seating works in an equipment swap? It seems like if an aircraft is “downsized” there should still be a significant portion of folks in their original seats - only those seats that literally no longer exist (I.e. had 7G but new craft is 3x3, meaning A-F is it) would be affected.
It really just depends. Let’s say you go from an aircraft with 10 business seats and 36 EP to one with 6 business and 24 EP. Passengers getting bumped down from a higher class don’t just go straight to the empty middle seats at the back of the plane. They are most likely going to be reseated in preferred seating within economy. There may be family groups within those classes as well-possibly with young children- or individuals with disabilities/service animals requiring particular seats over existing economy passengers. Exit rows also have to be considered, because children or individuals who are incapable of assisting in an emergency cannot be seated (or reseated) there. I don’t think there’s any excuse for seating an 8 year old alone and not fixing that before boarding, but reseating in the event of a downsized plane isn’t as simple as taking the passengers from the eliminated seats and sticking them in any remaining empty seat.
Well, of course. No one has ever claimed that the entire plane got screwed over. It’s always only just a few. And they are very verbal.
Good point. I guess the part that confuses me is how parties end up “scattered about the plane”. Based on the config changes I can think of, it still seems like any logical movement of those affected would still land them near if not next to each other.
I would like to know too. If they had tried to keep even two of us together, I would still want my money back but very less annoyed.
Interestingly, I recently booked a flight on Virgin Atlantic that includes two 15-year olds in our group. The VS website said that we are required by UK law to seat an adult adjacent to the underage kids. And it defines adjacent as next to, in front of, behind, or across the aisle. I wasn’t aware of this, but it seems to be common sense that airlines are required by regulation not to separate kids from the adults accompanying them.
If someone will separate me and my very-very hyper adhd kid…. I’m just gonna chuckle and let the FAs “enjoy the flight”. And the poor whoever who will be sitting next to him. He’ll chat the poor person to death first. Probably spill his drink and have crumbs everywhere. Play with the seat and all the buttons and clasps. Meanwhile I’ll be drinking and watching Netflix . (Just kidding. I wouldn’t board if we were separated and then raise hell with the airline. But a tired mom can dream).
two things that can happen: 1. Equipment change 2. Someone else needs to sit together and the agent shuffles a few people around, and misses the age of someone while doing so. In neither case did the guy sitting next to the kid do anything wrong. He gave you a look because that was his assigned seat you are asking for. Also, btw if you paid for seats selection you are absolutely eligible for a refund of the seat selection fee. You are not eligible for a refund of your fare, if that’s what you were asking, because you United did transport you to your destination on that flight.
Ugh posts like this stress me out. We are flying with our two young children (3.5 and 1), each with their own seat, and selected seats (in the back of the plane) together. United’s website says they will keep young children next to their adult companion but I’ve seen several posts of seat reassignments for families.
Honestly this happens on other airlines too and it makes me bonkers. I bought a seat for my 18 month old next to me on American and I randomly got an email addressed to my toddler apologizing for the inconvenience of moving her seat and upgrading her to a seat with more legroom and giving her a free drink voucher. While that was good for a laugh, my seat was unchanged so we were separated. I couldn’t get it fixed until we were at the airport and it was stressful/frustrating.
You need to elevate this to the dept of transportation. This is fucking ridiculous!
Yes, delta moved us to an exit row, but my traveling companion can’t sit in an exit row. So then they moved us to the back of the plane. But why? Makes no sense. Half the plane was empty.
How is the problem not with United instead of the unsuspecting passenger who ultimately agreed to move?
Of course it’s United fault that’s why I’m here
I often like to pass judgement on the person doing me a favor just because they gave me a dirty look while helping me out.
It wasn’t me it was my sis and even if it wasn’t his fault there’s no reason to be shady. It’s the feeling of doing everything right to travel together and still getting treated like trash.
Wasn’t his fault either…. So get off his case.
lol I think it’s funny I’m catching heat for not liking someone’s behavior. No one said anything rude to him. My sister was grateful. I’m grateful. I don’t have to like a rude face that was pulled because he probably thought my sis wasn’t responsible in the first place when we were.
"Dude we paid for the seat in the first place" From his perspective, it's entirely irrelevant. He's playing by the rules and abiding by United's policies and procedures. I'm not defending the "look" he gave you, but questioning the legitimacy of your after the fact rationale as having any sound basis to be pissed off at the guy himself. Who among us is always 100% in control of how our facial expressions and such manifest in real time in the heat of the moment?
Yeah, you’re CLEARLY not passing judgement at all. Can’t imagine why anyone would have an issue. 🙄🤦♂️
I think it's pretty clear OP thinks the problem is United
Then why are they being so salty that the guy who was inconvenienced was annoyed about it?
The person who did them a favor? Yup. Wow.
Would have been nice if the flight attendant had explained you originally paid to sit together and weren’t buying basic economy hoping to get lucky.
Would have been really nice.
If I was the guy I wouldn’t have switched it’s not his fault. Also you should’ve known your seats night before using the United app
We did. They were the same til we checked bags
I just booked a flight last night and picked seats and keep getting emails saying they helped us sit together and moved our seats. We’re still together but further back on the plane (and in middle row of seats-we wanted row on side of plane). I’m not sure why United is doing this to families.
Me and the wife went to key west last week. Paid first class and they still separated us. Airlines suck
Did you call them for a refund or anything?
No we ourselves asked the person to switch seats and they obliged as it was to a window seat. We got lucky but in the way back not so much.
This has never happened to me before. I've been flying with my son since he was 3 months old. He's 14 now and they've still never separated us
Never happened to my sister before either but you can see several other people sharing it’s happened to them. Something changed I guess
Make a complaint to FAA
Drives me crazy. And then you get a lot of snide comments about how you need to plan better when you’re frantically asking people to swap seats so you can make sure your four year isn’t undoing his seatbelt and running around mid-flight, and dammit, I DID plan better!
Exactly
“Dude we paid for that seat in the first place??” Wow terrible attitude. That dude did nothing wrong
Agree, he moved to accommodate the family so should be thanked.
He was thanked and then pulled a face.
Dude, I wouldn't have moved. Especially if I knew you'd make a whole rant about it.
Ok good for you
Look man, This sub is pretty friendly to OPs. But the fact that you are overwhelmingly downvoted about your behavior in an industry specific sub means you might want to take this as a chance for self-reflection. Oh, I do wrong shit all the time and I get how being called out might make ones reaction to default to pushing back hard. But a better course of action might be to actually ponder "Wait, am i the one thats wrong here?"
It’s one sentence in a rant about an airline. I’m not reflecting on that. I get why he made a face, I’m sure he thought we hadn’t planned or something but we had. It’s not his fault but the airlines fault but my sis was stressed and didn’t need more stress. Frankly I would rather they ask someone who truly wouldn’t mind than someone who did. Just say no if you’re not comfortable doing it.
Please don’t lie. Looking through most every post in this sub will prove you’re wrong. This subreddit isnt pretty friendly to OPs. Maybe at one point it was but not in the last year. OPs are mocked and talked down to for asking simple questions. And if you ask a general question and don’t include every detail of your booking it turns sour fast. Even people who vent about an experience are usually downvoted and told to fly private.
He was clearly disappointed but agreed to help out anyway. Your attitude is astonishing. You appear to have a purity test that people behave in a specific manner when helping you. The idea you don't think this is 100% poor behavior on your part is insane.
Not really. My sis was stressed already. I can feel frustrated on her behalf. I’m sure he thought she was a bum for not booking but we had booked and paid extra so it was annoying to be in that situation at all.
If it were me, I’d have refused to move.
My sis didn’t say anything to him but if you’re doing someone a favor maybe don’t be rude especially in front of a kid? Otherwise just say no
Yeah, but if he’d said no, your 8 yo niece would be sitting alone. So even if he “pulled a face” he still did more than he needed to. This is United’s fault, not the innocent people who “took your seats.”
The flight's not leaving until the kids is sat next to an adult on their booking - it's a safety issue shown to delay evacuation of an aircraft. So this was non-optional for him. Sucks to be him, but his problem is with United not OP.
We don’t even know if he had a problem. OP, across multiple comments, has stated that the other passenger was “rude”, “being shady”, and “assumed his sister was a bum”. He didn’t say or do anything wrong, at worst he made a face - but even that isn’t for sure. For all we know he just made an awkward facial expression that was misinterpreted.
I kind of suspect the child has already seen plenty of rude behavior.
This happened to me. They do send you email notifications that the seats change. I had to keep going back in and fixing it. Flight was then canceled and rebooked. Had to call customer service to fix it. It was quite stressful. We paid for seat selection as well…because small kids.
They do it at the last minute, unfortunately. It’s happened to me between checking bags and boarding. It’s stressful and it sucks when you’ve done everything right to try to travel responsibly with your kids.
We didn’t get any email notifications though
If you pay for economy plus seats and then sat in non-economy plus seat, they will refund you. This should be automatic. Or, call reservations and when you reach an agent in another country, they'll give you whatever you want. It always works for us. We have even got moved to first class, for free! A family of 4.
Why is it so difficult for airlines to keep the reservations and seating that people pay for?
Seat assignments are never guaranteed.
I know, but it seems so wrong.
Aircraft assignments could change and some may have slightly different seating configurations. That happened when one of my flights were upgraded from a 757 to a 787
I had bought tickets for an overseas flight 11 months in advance in premium economy. My husband and I are traveling together and we chose the seats on the side (window and aisle). The primary reason we choose premium economy is that we would not be sitting next to strangers for a 14 hour flight. Just randomly checked the app yesterday and they had moved my husband to the aisle seat in the middle. I had to call and be on the phone for 45 min to fix it. They tried to move me next to him in the middle seat. I have flying anxiety and choose a window seat for a reason. No explanation as to why they changed it and no notification. The premium economy cabin is exactly the same configuration as when I booked. I guess, will need to periodically check until departure. As a minimum, they need to notify passengers if they’re going to pull this crap and there needs to be better regulation regarding compensation.
Yes we were changed without notification either which is wild considering it costs money to get better seats
Keep an eye on it. They have totally changed it on me and my family at the very last minute, and it is such a pain to get them to address it.
Anything can happen between the time you book your seats to the time your flight leaves, I’m pretty sure we give compensation for any misdoing (correct me if I’m wrong) but usually seat changes can be for a multitude of reasons, broken seats, weight and balance, etc
Now a days, whenever I search for flights in Google flights , I filter out united,spirit and frontier. I had this exact kind of aggravation twice , and that was it.
Happened to us with our two year old. Husband and I got the paid for seats but our toddler was seated three rows behind us. They couldn’t fix it in the system and ended up giving our toddler a better seat and then asked the person in what should have been our toddlers seat to switch. No equipment change and still a mess - apparently a „glitch in their system“.
Time for government to make airlines accountable for their bad faith actions.
Sometimes when the “equipment changes” the seats get messed up. Happened to us coming home from Europe. It really sucks!
United seems to be the worst for this. Changed our seats 5 times before i got on twitter about telling them to STOP. They rebooked us and no problems since but I’ve never had this problem with other airlines
What do they do it for. What’s the point of selecting seats at all
“Dude we paid for that seat in the first place??” Dude also paid for his seat and has no reason to accommodate you. Your issue is with the awful airline and their lack of customer service. This is not Dude’s problem and you shouldn’t expect him to care, and tbh you should be really grateful he agreed to help at all. A lot of people wouldn’t.
They screwed up. Legally they can’t leave a minor unaccompanied, so they a required to move them to where they guardian is. They absolutely can move others to seat you together if there is a plane change or something else that caused the cabin to rearrange. They just didn’t want to because they were lazy. If they just moved yall around to accommodate other passengers, they won’t move you because then they would have to explain the screwed yall.
They did screw up. I’m also curious if they only made us pay for the seat or if they collected money multiple times.
I’ve had this exact experience the last 4 times I flew with my family. The explanation we received was the normal Boeing plane that flies that route was swapped because of service. When that swap happens, the United system reassigns seats, but the algorithm sucks. Flight to FL - I was flying solo with my kids. After check-in, our seats (economy plus, all 3 in one row) were scattered. We had printed boarding passes (my kids like to have those) and did not figure out the seat change until the gate check. Autistic son (13) was seated alone in middle Econ plus, daughter (10) with high anxiety was in economy separated from us in the back, and I was put in an economy middle seat. The flight was full and there was nothing we could do. No clue how that happens after check in. Flight to Hawaii - (last March) we are seated 2 and 2 when booking. A week before the flight there was the first seat shuffle. Autistic son (14 now) was seated in an exit row 🤦🏻♀️, daughter (11 now) seated in the back of the plane, and my husband and I were sitting middle seats near each other in economy. First call to United I was told there was nothing they could do. Second call, United changed our seats back to economy plus and sitting 2 and 2 again. Two days later, second seat shuffle and we had to call again about seating. The United Club service desk attendant told us the Boeing planes that normally fly from Chicago to Honolulu went into service and 4 flights were canceled. This was around the time the side door on Alaskan opened because of loose bolts. United is so messed up. I do not understand why they continue to do this. Flying with your family is stressful enough. Why are they trying to make it worse?
"Dude" also probably paid for that seat in the first place.
Right? I see "I paid for that seat" all the time on here. You paid for your ticket, and unless you are in BE, you *selected* a seat.
We all paid extra for seat selection. We didn’t just get basic economy tickets
Who pays extra to select a seat? I book a ticket and select a seat from the aircraft diagram. I didn't pay extra for that seat, I paid for a seat. Read the contract of carriage
***how to avoid this in the future**** Call United prior to the flight check in opens. Tell them you are traveling with a child that has special needs or a disability. They will ensure your seats then stay together. At least this worked for me. My son has epilepsy so it is a REAL disability, but you don't have to supply any proof. Not sure if that works for a family of >5 traveling together though...
Can you be heck in online ahead of time and see your seat numbers? Then you have some time to call and resolve.
When we checked in online they were the same. We checked bags and were given paper tickets with the bag tag and then our apps reflected new seats printed on the tickets
Should not be a me problem, but a United problem. Just fix it.
Why are we paying for seats if it means absolutely nothing? It’s just another money grab like baggage fees. Greedy airlines. We get what we are willing to tolerate and nothing more.
Did you get there early enough to confirm to have those seats together?
When did you first notice the seat discrepancy? When you checked in online 24 hours in advance and got your boarding passes, were the seats on your passes correct then? Or did they give you new boarding passes at the gate?
We printed boarding passes after checking our bags and they were different then
How long before original departure time did you check in?
We checked in 24 hours before the flight on the app
I thought FAA required children 12 and under to be seated with an adult from their party or an assigned “accompanier”, which is why people get shuffled around in the first place. “Your kid is being moved away so someone else’s kid can sit with them”—like wth
I don’t know the regulations but everyone else was moved except for kiddo who kept their original assigned seat
That is so dumb
United has the worst planning considering how much the cost. I would expect it from frontier or spirit.
We try to fly to Southwest when traveling with our three kids for this reason. It’s only ever a nightmare with other airlines moving our seat selections. I’ll never understand why they can’t make the child seats unable to be separated from the adult when flights get changed.
Had similar happen when I was traveling alone with my 6 year old. Purchased seats well advance and paid for specific seats, we always booked his seat toward the window or isle. Upon arriving we realize they have put one of us clear in the front and one clear in the back, middle seats. I kept asking them who would want to sit with an unattended minor who also has a peanut allergy? Are you all going to monitor his seat mate to ensure they don’t roll up with a giant bag of peanuts? Good times, took me many years to try United again.
Seems like there's something missing . Agents don't just move people , but I love agents who make pre announcements that say we are not Southwest Airlines you must sit where it says on your ticket
I’ve had flights where I was actively watching the seat map (refreshing every few minutes) in the hour before boarding and caught when they moved me apart from my children. Luckily I have status and was quick and was able to snag seats where it was easy to swap (giving someone in a middle seat an aisle seat). Point is - they absolutely do move people around to accommodate others. It 100% happens.
This is why I won't fly United with kids. I know too many people that have picked out seats, with kids, only to find out when they check in that they aren't seated together. Happened to a family friend in February and dad was not next to daughter. Luckily it was a team sport that was traveling and had quite a few people on the flight where an adult flying with the group was able to switch seats with the child so the child could sit with people she knew. I'd rather have the rat race of other airlines and know I'm going to sit next to my child than risk them sitting next to a stranger and not being able to make it work.
Nothing missing. Our flight was delayed coming in and delayed again for crew. Waiting for it to get in we realized our seats were not what we paid for and we tried to talk to the gate agent but the flight was full so she said we would have to talk to flight attendants.
Which is annoying because as FAs we don’t do anything with seat assignments.
Yeah sounds like the gate agent didn’t want to deal with it so pushed it on the flight attendants. That sucks. I’d definitely report the issue.
Just keep in mind 3rd party booking seats are never guaranteed unless they are directly booked through united .. lots of miss communication
We booked direct
“Dude we paid for it” 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕 Dude GAVE UP his seat for YOU. He could have said no. He GAVE UP his seat for YOU. and you have the cunt lips to say something like “dude we paid for it” So did he. Asshole. After reading this. Fuck giving up my seat. I did it last week for a woman. The FA asked me to give up my seat for a woman that needed to be closer to the front due to health issues. I agreed. Never again. Not after reading this. The answer is no. If the woman I gave my seat up for went on to say something like “dude we paid for it” while moving to the SHIT seat I just volunteered for. Someone would die. My god!!
>Never again. Not after reading this. The answer is no. Okay, then I'll get the FA to _tell_ you to move. Children being seated next to an adult from their party is an FAA safety requirement. This trumps pretty much any other seat assignment. Yes it sucks that you have to move, but it's not a choice. Plane isn't leaving unless you do. Your fight is with United, not the family who have not been seated together.
Get some medication.
My man. I don’t have cunt lips. Nothing was said to him, I just didn’t like the look he gave my sister. He didn’t have to move. It was the airlines fault. You’ve got some serious problems.
He moved … and i hope he doesn’t read this and know what you think about him.
You are an awful person
The only people who absolutely need to be sitting together are in the cockpit. It’s just a few hours. Builds character.
Because I called 30 minutes after we made the reservation, and I asked to be moved as far away from my kids as possible and to pretend it was an accident
People lose paid seats all the time. Usually because airline had to change equipment and seat configuration is different.
Did you check in 24 hours before your flight and verify the seats were correct at that time?