I Paid for That Seat!

Budget airline economic tactics are often hailed as industry changing. The problem is that they told the industry what to do, but they haven’t told the passenger. For example, you decide to have a family vacation and look at flight prices. There are several tiers to choose from, so of course you click on the absolute lowest price. The next price up might only be a few dollars difference, but with several small children, it all adds up. Now you are able to spend more on enjoying your vacation instead of traveling to your vacation. You hit the purchase button, fill out the required information, and a series of pop ups and fine print pages need to be agreed-to quickly, so you click ok on everything and be done.

One of the things you just clicked “ok” to is that you will be seated last, and your seats may not be together. Understandably, this outraged families, and the government told the airlines that they have to seat children under a certain age with an adult in the same group. Problem solved?

The people who make the policy decisions are not the people who are assigning your seat on the day of your flight. When the government tells those policy makers that they need to accommodate families, the policy decision makers do not change anything about their policies. They tell the same front line workers to both accommodate their budget policies, and the government requirements.

So now, that adult couple who paid the higher tier price so they could pick seats next to each other may have to give up a seat to accommodate the federal law requiring the family to sit together.

I know it sounds dirty and money grabbing, but remember… No one gets rich working in the airline industry. If they did the same job in any other industry, they would make exponentially more money.

Don’t Fix it at the Airport

When you get to the airport, it is not the time to correct policies you don’t like. If you have a family with little ones, and you didn’t pick out seats, show up at your gate one hour before departure time. When your gate agents get there, they will have a ton of things to do to set up, and those computers take at least 15 minutes to get all set up. So, instead of hovering, leave a note by the computer identifying who you are, how old your kids are, and how adults in the party might be able to split up to take care of different groups of kids. And, of course, I am going to suggest you leave them a little gift with the note!

If you get asked to give up a seat you paid for, the time to complain is not as it is happening. The decision makers hope you will complain at the airport. Studies show that if you get it out there, you are less likely to write a letter or email to the airline or better business bureau. The decision makers absolutely hate when you do that! It is much more likely to change the policies they want than complaints in an airport.

If none of this happens to you, but you see it happening around you, consider if you might be able to offer splitting up your own party for the flight. Let the gate agents know of your flexibility.

And of course… leave them a little gift! They get so much yelling from their bosses to enforce policy, from the customers about the policies, and all sorts of stress. If nothing else, please leave them with a kind smile. There are so few of those in airports lately!

Be kind and enjoy your adventure!

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