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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 12:53:50 PM
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FunBetty
Posts: 7091
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From: Land o Cheesecake and Pizza
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quote:
ORIGINAL: PrincessDonna
quote:
I think that a 9 year old, if necessary, can sit by himself reasonably and safely if no one wants to switch seats.
Not my 9 year old, who has never flown before. He would be very nervous and I would not ask him to sit alone. I would think it very rude for an adult to not relocate for the sake of a pre-teen child.
When you buy tickets, can't you ask for two seats together? Or does it not work that way?
It's Southwest, and their seating is a "first come, first served" basis. The order that you check in online determines the order that you get to choose your seat. However, they just started a new thing where you can "check in" earlier for $10 each person/each way to get higher on the totem pole.
Usually, DH and I are camping on the website at exactly 24 hours prior to flight (when you can first check in). We didn't have that luxury for yesterday's flight, so we were halfway down the list.
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 1:49:54 PM
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uponeagleswings
Posts: 675
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Out here in the desert
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quote:
ORIGINAL: PrincessDonna
quote:
I think that a 9 year old, if necessary, can sit by himself reasonably and safely if no one wants to switch seats.
Not my 9 year old, who has never flown before. He would be very nervous and I would not ask him to sit alone. I would think it very rude for an adult to not relocate for the sake of a pre-teen child.
When you buy tickets, can't you ask for two seats together? Or does it not work that way?
Southwest doesn't assign seats at all. They issue numbered boarding passes, and people get on and choose their seats in that order.
I prefer to sit by a window, but I'd move to accommodate someone else. DH prefers aisle seats for the leg room.
Personally, I'd think the man would have been more than happy to move. Seems like most people would welcome the opportunity to get away from (or put a parent between) a child who could potentially wind up being a nuisance on a flight where you just want to sleep or get some work done.
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 2:02:45 PM
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anne-girl
Posts: 1087
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From: Wherever I am
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Maybe I'm just irreverent, but when I saw one of the Eharmony ads scrolling at the top, and it said:
"Eharmony matched my daughter..."
I mentally filled in "... with a walrus! .... with an axe murderer! ... with her cousin!" before it scrolled to "... based on her Faith Values." 
Maybe it's just me, but trailing ellipses should never be used unless there really is a shocker, or a very vehement statement.
ETA: correction of the ad--guess which ad popped up when I posted!
< Message edited by anne-girl -- 11/4/2009 2:09:14 PM >
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 2:13:32 PM
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FunBetty
Posts: 7091
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From: Land o Cheesecake and Pizza
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Harvie
quote:
ORIGINAL: FunBetty
It's Southwest, and their seating is a "first come, first served" basis. The order that you check in online determines the order that you get to choose your seat. However, they just started a new thing where you can "check in" earlier for $10 each person/each way to get higher on the totem pole.
Usually, DH and I are camping on the website at exactly 24 hours prior to flight (when you can first check in). We didn't have that luxury for yesterday's flight, so we were halfway down the list.
So if you check in right at the 24-hour ahead of time point, you can get on or near the top of the list and therefore get to choose your seats before everyone boarding later?
Generally. Even then the highest we've gotten is around #20 in line. For this past trip, DH checked in at the 21 hour point and we were already #80. I would imagine that SW will really see a surge in the $10 "upgrades". Then again there is a loophole that you only have to purchase the upgrade for 1 person in your party (who could then save seats for the rest of the family).
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 2:47:20 PM
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TwinCityGirl
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When traveling with children I would choose airlines where I could choose our seating ahead of time so that I didn't have to rely on other people to make it happen for us to sit together. Those other people are paying customers, too, and like TToes said, some people have health issues and NEED the aisle seat (and they don't have to explain it to the mom of the 9-year-old "Oh, actually I have a bladder infection so I am going to be in the bathroom about 10 times during this 2-hour flight.")
That being said, I have always switched seats on flights when I was able to do it and traveling alone. I have also traveled sitting alone when sitting separately from my husband or the group I was with (without asking others to change seats). One flight was 9 hours where I was separated from my mission team.
People who are able to give up their seat for a family should try.
Those who aren't able should politely decline.
I have never taken Adam on a flight (he'll be 20 months soon) and I am fearful of doing so because I don't want to be that mom that has the fussing kid with the painful ears. My kid is easy-going but I am not sure how he would do on a long flight to California to see my sister and her twins. I bet the lady with the fussy toddler on the previously mentioned flight wasn't any too thrilled to be "That mom" either. I've only seen really bad, lazy parenting on a flight one time (and I have taken many flights and have flown to many countries). That was just the parents wanting to not be parents for the whole flight while their kids stood on the seats, ran around, dropped toys over and over again to the row behind them (guess where we were sitting?).
When we finally landed back in America (this was a London - Minneapolis flight) I do believe my husband and I *ran* to get away from those people so we wouldn't have to stand by them in the customs line. Awful-awful-awful.
But I do get it when the babies and little ones' ears hurt. You kind of expect it when you see the little ones boarding with their parents that there is going to be pain for them and some crying. It's always kind of sad for me. Poor kids.
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 4:06:07 PM
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FunBetty
Posts: 7091
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I was in too much agony to discern whether that toddler was simply acting up or had ear problems of their own. I gave the benefit of the doubt, but it didn't help my case any. lol. Truth be known, as many problems I had with my own ears growing up, I would have been the same kid if I had flown that young. My first plane ride I was 11 and had just outgrown ear problems - even then it was quite painful.
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 5:09:42 PM
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peculiar_lady2
Posts: 4309
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quote:
ORIGINAL: PrincessDonna
quote:
I think that a 9 year old, if necessary, can sit by himself reasonably and safely if no one wants to switch seats.
Not my 9 year old, who has never flown before. He would be very nervous and I would not ask him to sit alone. I would think it very rude for an adult to not relocate for the sake of a pre-teen child.
When you buy tickets, can't you ask for two seats together? Or does it not work that way?
Not my 10yo either, and he HAS flown before. He does not like flying though and it makes him very anxious, and he would not do well being separated from us.
On some flights they do not assign seat numbers to your ticket.
I have been in that situation before...it is not fun. Only I was pregnant, alone (without Paul), and going across the world with my two kids...who at the time were barely 5yo (turned 5 the month before) and 3yo. The Army had purchased our tickets, so I didn't have any say in where we sat for any of those flights. It was a small plane though (maybe 150 people?), and they had not assigned seats. So everyone just sat wherever they wanted to. There were two seats at the very back of the plane that were empty, and one seat at the front that was empty...and I was the last one on (because of a connecting flight issue and customs). No one wanted to move so my kids could both sit with me. The flight attendant asked many people...even announced it. No one would move. So she spoke to the pilot, who came out and announced that until someone moved so that BOTH of my kids could sit near me, the plane was not moving. (and said something about it being "against the rules" for kids under teen years to not be with an adult). So someone in the middle of the plane spoke up and said she would switch...then another in front of her...so the pilot made another person around there move so that I could sit right behind Jake.
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 5:36:35 PM
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Mollymouser
Posts: 3893
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From: california, land of the happy cows
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I once flew from Los Angeles to Boston in between a 4 year old and a 6 year old (brother and sister). Their mom was in the very back of the plane with 2 month old twins ... so the flight attendant told me "good luck" and said she'd be back often to check on me. They were both, surprisingly, pretty good sports about sitting with a total stranger though at one point the little boy poked me and asked why I wasn't reading my book out loud so he could hear it!  Beverage service and mealtime was interesting (I'm not used to supervising kids, after all) and I needed to help with some opening of packages, etc. Their mom did come check on them once, but said that she could tell from the back of the plane that they "must be behaving" since she couldn't hear them. The little boy was quite the chatterbox, and had lots of questions about everything. (I am sure my explanation that turbulence = potholes in the sky wasn't entirely accurate, but worked fine!) And while I did need to walk both of them to the lavatory, fortunately I was able to stand outside, LOL!!!!
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 9:28:33 PM
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Sideways
Posts: 3355
Joined: 4/12/2005
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One of the most interesting flights I've ever taken was years ago before I was a parent. I was on a business trip, and the flight was filled with 17 year old children who had just graduated high school and were headed for basic training and Iraq. These boys were from towns that barely broke 1,000 in population, if you know what I mean. Most had never flown before in their lives.
We hit the worst turbulence I've ever been in, and I've flown a good bit. At one point, if you weren't strapped in, you would've been thrown against the ceiling. It was kinda fun for me, but I saw the boys trying to act brave in front of each other. They were so cute, so polite and small-towny. I prayed for them, and always wondered how they fared after basic training and going to war. 
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RE: Kicka #6 - 11/4/2009 10:28:02 PM
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uponeagleswings
Posts: 675
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Out here in the desert
Status: online
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Harvie
(I am sure my explanation that turbulence = potholes in the sky wasn't entirely accurate, but worked fine!)
LOL- this is what I told my husband when we flew through lots of turbulence one time! We're from Michigan, so he understood. Now he shares it with anyone sitting near him who looks nervous.
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and he found another seat very quickly. 
Nice!!!! (I don't think it sounds cocky!)