Your guide to airline family seating policies

As a mom of three, I’m no stranger to the ins and outs of flying with family.

I know how to disassemble and reassemble my double stroller with ninja-level precision so it will fit through the baggage scanner at security. And I am firmly in the camp that screen time rules do not exist on travel days. Most importantly, I don’t take any chances when it comes to getting my family’s seats together when we fly.

Finding seats together when traveling with young kids can be costly and confusing. Some parents assume they will automatically be seated with their kids. Others end up separated from their families when rebooking due to a cancellation. Regardless of the reason, airlines are not legally required to seat families together — though there is a proposal to change that.

In 2023, the Department of Transportation launched an online dashboard that displays, among other things, which airlines guarantee free family seating. This dashboard was part of a larger initiative spearheaded by the Biden administration to improve consumer protections in the airline industry.

Under former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the agency was working to implement a rule making it mandatory for airlines to seat young children next to an accompanying adult. However, legislation is still pending at the time of writing, and it is unclear whether the Trump administration will continue pursuing these regulations.

That said, five airlines — American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines — voluntarily comply with the DOT guideline that airlines guarantee “adjacent seats for children 13 and under and an accompanying adult at no additional cost for all fare types.”

That doesn’t mean you’re completely out of luck in guaranteeing your family sit together if you’re flying on another major airline. Here is a guide to each airline’s family seating policy, and tips for ensuring your family members can sit together on your next flight.

American Airlines

Like most major airlines, American allows passengers to choose their seats at the time of booking or anytime before their flight.

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

There is no fee to choose your seats if you book a first-class, business-class, premium economy or main cabin fare. However, you will have to pay a fee to choose your seats if you choose basic economy tickets — American’s least expensive (and most restrictive) fare type.

If you’re traveling with children 14 and under on any fare type, American’s system will detect that you are a family traveling together and automatically search for seats together if you don’t choose them yourself. If adjacent seats are unavailable for your entire family, American guarantees children 14 and under will be seated next to at least one accompanying adult at no additional cost.

It’s important that you do everything in your power to choose seats for your entire family at the time of booking. This is the only way to guarantee your entire family will sit together during your flight.

To do this, American advises the following:

Book your entire party’s tickets in the same reservation.
Book your tickets as early as possible so there are more available seats to choose from.
If you can’t find seats for your entire family, it’s better to skip seat selection entirely.

Alaska Airlines

To select your seats at the time of booking on an Alaska flight, you’ll need to book either a first-class, premium or main-cabin ticket. If you purchase Alaska’s Saver fare tickets, the airline will automatically assign your seats upon check-in.

The good news is that Alaska Airlines’ family seating policy does guarantee that children 13 and under will automatically be seated with at least one parent or guardian at no additional charge, including on Saver fares. So even if you can’t find adjacent seats for your entire family, you can rest assured that your children won’t be seated separately from an adult.

To guarantee your family sits together on an Alaska Airlines flight:

Book as early as possible and reserve your family’s seats together at the time of purchase.
Book children on the same reservation as adults.
Confirm seat selections made through third parties on Alaska Airlines’ website or by speaking with a reservations agent by phone.
If you cannot get reserved seats together with your family during booking, call an Alaska Airlines reservation agent to review available seating options.
As a last resort, check in online exactly 24 hours before your flight, as this is when most unclaimed seats become available (this does not apply to Saver fare seats, which are assigned at the gate on the day of departure).
Arrive at the gate at least 60 minutes before departure and speak with a gate agent. Alaska blocks a limited number of seats to accommodate families and other needs on a first-come, first-served basis.

Delta Air Lines

Despite not having a family seating guarantee, all but one of Delta’s fare types allow you to select your seats when you purchase your tickets.

If you want your family to sit together, steer clear of Delta’s basic economy fares, as they do not include advanced seat selection. If you purchase first-class, Comfort+ or main-cabin tickets, you’ll have the option to select your seats during the booking process.

Delta has other tips for getting your family’s seats together:

Book children on the same reservation as the adults in your party.
Confirm seat selections made through third parties by calling a Delta reservations agent or going online.
If you and your family cannot obtain seats together, contact Delta by phone to review your options or, as a last resort, speak with a Delta gate agent at the airport.

Flight attendants will sometimes ask for volunteers to switch seats; the airline also blocks a handful of rows in the main economy cabin on most flights to accommodate groups and families. Still, there are no guarantees unless you reserve your family’s seats together before arriving at the airport (preferably at the time of booking).

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines’ base fares can be alluring to budget-conscious flyers. However, you’ll have to pay extra if you want the luxury of advance seating assignments. Unless you have elite status with Frontier, seat selection fees run between $17 and $55 per passenger per flight segment. There are no fare types that include complimentary seat selection for nonelite members if you want your entire family to sit together; that said, even Frontier’s lowest elite status tier does include complimentary seat selection.

Luckily, Frontier’s family seating policy complies with the DOT’s recommendations and guarantees that children 13 years of age or younger will be seated automatically with at least one parent or guardian at no additional charge.

Frontier also recommends that families:

Book as early as possible and purchase advance seat reservations at the time of booking.
Book children on the same reservation as adults in your party.
If you book through a third party, visit Frontier’s website as soon as possible to purchase advance seat selections.
Check in as early as possible online or through Frontier’s mobile app and Frontier will assign group seats together if any are available.
If your family is not assigned seats together, ask a gate agent for assistance.

JetBlue

JetBlue offers complimentary seat selection with all fare types, but the timing can vary. For example, Blue and Blue Extra fares include free advance seat selection; however, for Blue Basic fares, there is a fee to choose your seat more than 24 hours before departure (seat selection is available for free at check-in).

The good news is that JetBlue’s family seating policy guarantees that children under 13 will be seated next to at least one adult traveling with them on the same reservation without an additional fee. This applies to all fare types, including Blue Basic fares. At the time of booking, JetBlue’s system will assign seats together for at least one accompanying parent as long as adjacent seats are still available when you book your flight.

Other tips from JetBlue:

Book as early as possible for maximum seat selection availability.
Book children on the same reservation as adults.
Confirm seat selections made through a third party on JetBlue’s website.
If you cannot obtain seats together at the time of booking, contact a JetBlue agent at check-in or talk to one at the gate. They will do their best to seat your family together.

JetBlue does its best to keep families together and blocks a limited number of rows until the day of travel for passengers with disabilities and unaccompanied minors. If any seats are available after accommodating these passengers, JetBlue may be able to use them to seat families together.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines is the one airline on this list that does not assign seats in advance, so you cannot purchase a specific seat assignment ahead of time. That will soon change when Southwest launches assigned seating in 2026. When that happens, the guidelines for getting your family’s seats together on Southwest will mirror those of other major airlines.

With Southwest’s current open seating policy, you will be assigned a boarding group (A, B or C) and a position within that boarding group (1 through 60-plus) at check-in. Essentially, A1 is the best boarding position and you’ll have the most seating options available to you when you board the plane.

Because of this, the strategies for getting your family’s seats together on a Southwest flight differ from other airlines.

Check-in on time

To get into as high a boarding group as possible, you’ll need to check in exactly (like, to the second) 24 hours prior to your flight. This should land your family in an A or B boarding group — and most of the time, you won’t have an issue getting your family’s seats together. You may have to venture to the back of the plane to find those seats, though.

Utilize family boarding

If you have a B or C boarding group and are traveling with a child 6 years old or younger, you will have the option to board between the A and B groups during “family boarding.” Southwest’s policy states that up to two adults can board with a child age 6 or younger during family boarding. If you have more adults than this in your party, speak with a Southwest gate agent to determine your best strategy for finding seats together once on board.

Purchase EarlyBird Check-In or Upgraded Boarding

You can also purchase EarlyBird Check-In, which gives you the convenience of automatic check-in 36 hours before your flight. This means you’ll automatically receive an earlier boarding position and more available seats to choose from than if you’d done it yourself.

EarlyBird Check-In pricing starts at $15 per passenger per flight segment, and you must purchase it for everyone in your party. Depending on availability, you may also be able to purchase Upgraded Boarding at the gate or in the Southwest app 24 hours prior to your flight for between $30 and $50 per person per flight segment to secure an A1-A15 boarding position.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card holders can receive two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year, bringing the total cost for your family down a bit. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card also has a benefit of four Upgraded Boardings per year.

Rapid Rewards A-List and A-List Preferred members (and those traveling on the same reservation) automatically receive a boarding position 36 hours before departure, though you will still need to check in within 24 hours of your flight to receive your boarding pass.

The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Buy a Business Select fare

Finally, you can purchase a Business Select fare, which, among other perks, includes priority boarding in the A1-A15 group.

Speak with an agent

If you don’t heed our advice and find yourself at the airport with a less-than-desirable boarding group, Southwest advises that you speak with a gate agent or flight attendant. They will see if any passengers are willing to move to accommodate your family if you can’t get seats together.

Spirit Airlines

Spirit Airlines keeps its family seating advice plain and simple: The only way to guarantee you’ll be able to sit with your family is to purchase your seat assignments ahead of time.

Seat assignments start at $5 per person per segment and vary by route and seat location in the aircraft. You can purchase your seat assignment when you book your flight, during check-in or anytime in between. However, the earlier you choose the seats, the better the chance that your entire family will be able to sit together.

Spirit currently has no official family seating policy. It only states that it “can’t guarantee that you’ll sit with your friends and family” if you don’t purchase seat assignments; it says that gate agents will work to provide adjacent seats for guests flying with children ages 13 and under whenever possible.

There are ways to save money when purchasing your seats, though. Spirit Saver$ Club members receive low fares and discounted prices for add-ons like bags and seats. There is an annual fee — but if you have a large family or plan on flying Spirit Airlines often, the cost may be less than purchasing seats for your entire group.

Speaking of frequent flying, members of Spirit’s Free Spirit loyalty program at the Gold level receive, among other perks, free seat selection at the time of booking. Unlike Frontier’s program, Spirit’s elite status perks, such as seat selection, do not confer to other members on the reservation.

United Airlines

United’s family seating policy guarantees families with children under age 12 in certain cabins can sit together for free, regardless of fare type. United’s new “dynamic seat map feature” will enable passengers to book two seats together for travelers under 12 and an adult companion for free, including on basic economy fares.

Beyond that, however, you will have to be savvy about seat selection to ensure the rest of your party can sit together. Note that while most United tickets include seat selection, basic economy does not. You will have to purchase seats to join your whole party beyond the automatic pairing for travelers under 12.

If your seat assignments change due to an aircraft change, United will allow you to switch to another flight with available seats in the same cabin for free.

Here are a few more helpful tips for families flying United:

Book your tickets as early as possible and reserve your family’s seats together when booking.
Book children on the same reservation as adults.
Confirm seat selections made through a third party.
If only scattered seats are available at the time of booking, you’re better off letting United’s system automatically choose seats for you because it will attempt to seat families on the same reservation with unassigned seats together.
If you cannot obtain seats together, arrive early at your departure gate and speak with a gate agent. They will ask for volunteers to move seats and help accommodate your family.

General tips

The guidance for getting your family’s seats together on most U.S. airlines overlaps greatly. You want to do everything possible to:

Book early and select seats when you book — do not wait until the last minute to check your seat assignments.
Avoid saver or basic fares, as these often do not offer complimentary seat selection.
Choose your family’s seats at the time of booking. This may be included with your fare, or you may have to pay an additional fee.
Speak to customer service. If you are unable to get your family’s seats together at the time of booking, call the airline and speak with a reservations agent to determine the best course of action.
Keep checking, as seat availability may change in the months and weeks leading up to your flight — especially in the final week before your trip and again 24 hours before your flight.
Get to the airport early. If you arrive at the airport and still haven’t been able to secure your family’s seats together, politely ask a gate agent or flight attendant for help. You may still be able to pay for an upgrade, or they can assist you by finding open seats. It may be too late to do anything official, but they’ll be much more willing to help if you approach them with kindness.

Bottom line

Sometimes, kind travelers will help parents who end up in a bind onboard, but there’s no guarantee. Luckily, several airlines are making it easier for families traveling together to sit together.

Related reading:

Source link