Plane tickets for a kid visiting grandparents
May 27, 2015 8:25 PM Subscribe
Micropanda (4) is being shipped off to spend a week with the grandparents this summer. What's the best way to book the plane tickets? Grandma will fly him down, and I will fly him back.
The plan is for Grandma to come visit, then fly Micropanda down to her house for a week. I will meet them in a different city for a family gathering, and fly Micropanda home. This complicates the plane tickets, because it means Micropanda's itinerary doesn't match an adult's. What have you done in this situation? What's our best bet in terms of not relying on the mercy of airline personnel not to separate him from us, both in terms of seating and in terms of a hypothetical rebooking situation?
The plan is for Grandma to come visit, then fly Micropanda down to her house for a week. I will meet them in a different city for a family gathering, and fly Micropanda home. This complicates the plane tickets, because it means Micropanda's itinerary doesn't match an adult's. What have you done in this situation? What's our best bet in terms of not relying on the mercy of airline personnel not to separate him from us, both in terms of seating and in terms of a hypothetical rebooking situation?
Micropanda's itinerary does match an adult's, just not the same one. There are 3 roundtrip tickets here. I have done this with my kids. I went to a travel agent and she booked them all for lowest fares and so that there was a responsible adult with underage kids. I think she booked the legs as one ways but the cost was the same as roundtrip.
Travel agent.
posted by AugustWest at 8:34 PM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Travel agent.
posted by AugustWest at 8:34 PM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just remembered a little more. I think she booked the adults first then added the kid to one leg of each adult.
posted by AugustWest at 8:35 PM on May 27, 2015
posted by AugustWest at 8:35 PM on May 27, 2015
Response by poster: So, uh, followup: I haven't used a travel agent in basically, ever. How does one go about finding one on short notice?
posted by telepanda at 8:36 PM on May 27, 2015
posted by telepanda at 8:36 PM on May 27, 2015
I looked in the yellow pages and found one near my office. I walked in and sized them up to be long time in business and likely to not screw me although I could not define how they would screw me. After we got our reservations, I confirmed them independently with the airline and got confirmations from them.
Also, if you or your spouse works for a large corporation consider using the travel agent they use. You may get a corporate discount but regardless, you know that they will be responsive as you are coming from a larger account.
posted by AugustWest at 8:50 PM on May 27, 2015
Also, if you or your spouse works for a large corporation consider using the travel agent they use. You may get a corporate discount but regardless, you know that they will be responsive as you are coming from a larger account.
posted by AugustWest at 8:50 PM on May 27, 2015
Not sure if flying Southwest is an option, but Southwest boards families with young children between the A and B groups, so families can sit together/ have extra time to settle.
posted by oceano at 9:00 PM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by oceano at 9:00 PM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
I really like oceano's Southwest idea, since Southwest seating is first come first served. Family preboarding FAQ. You could spring for a $12.50 Early Bird pass for each of you and get A boarding if you want to board extra early.
posted by mochapickle at 9:17 PM on May 27, 2015
posted by mochapickle at 9:17 PM on May 27, 2015
He's a four year old. At the end of the day, he won't be separated from an accompanying adult during the flight. The realistic worst case scenario is that you can't get seats assigned together even after calling the airline a few times, you tell the agent at the gate, they talk to the cabin crew if they can't make it work, and eventually some combination of people change seats until it works out. Your seating woes are really no different than if you were booking a simple roundtrip for the two of you together. By all means do Southwest if that makes the most sense for you, but it's not your only option.
You could ask the airline/travel agent to put a note on the reservations indicating that the seats need to be kept together if they are rebooked, but there's no real guarantee anybody will read it.
posted by zachlipton at 10:15 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
You could ask the airline/travel agent to put a note on the reservations indicating that the seats need to be kept together if they are rebooked, but there's no real guarantee anybody will read it.
posted by zachlipton at 10:15 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
He's a four year old. At the end of the day, he won't be separated from an accompanying adult during the flight.
I'm sure this is a rare case, but Delta totally did this just this month.
posted by mochapickle at 10:18 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm sure this is a rare case, but Delta totally did this just this month.
posted by mochapickle at 10:18 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
He's a four year old. At the end of the day, he won't be separated from an accompanying adult during the flight. The realistic worst case scenario is that you can't get seats assigned together even after calling the airline a few times, you tell the agent at the gate, they talk to the cabin crew if they can't make it work, and eventually some combination of people change seats until it works out.
*Please* don't count on this. As a frequent flyer, I can't tell you the number of times we've had tears/drama/begging to try to find just the right combination of people to move on an overfull flight to make sure that the parent and child are seated together. If it's a long-haul flight, then it often involves someone giving up an aisle or window seat which they have planned well in advance. If it happens because the airline changed the configuration of the plane (occasional), then it's nobody's fault and everyone just has to suck it up. When it happens because the parents don't plan ahead and book the seats together, then it is just plane rude.
OP, I would call the airline and talk them through it. I don't think you should need a travel agent for this (although you can use one if it makes you feel better.). The airline should be able to fix something like this themselves, even if you need to pay a fee for the telephone booking. Make sure you inform them that it's critical to keep the seats together and that some/all of the legs need to be changeable.
posted by frumiousb at 11:53 PM on May 27, 2015 [7 favorites]
*Please* don't count on this. As a frequent flyer, I can't tell you the number of times we've had tears/drama/begging to try to find just the right combination of people to move on an overfull flight to make sure that the parent and child are seated together. If it's a long-haul flight, then it often involves someone giving up an aisle or window seat which they have planned well in advance. If it happens because the airline changed the configuration of the plane (occasional), then it's nobody's fault and everyone just has to suck it up. When it happens because the parents don't plan ahead and book the seats together, then it is just plane rude.
OP, I would call the airline and talk them through it. I don't think you should need a travel agent for this (although you can use one if it makes you feel better.). The airline should be able to fix something like this themselves, even if you need to pay a fee for the telephone booking. Make sure you inform them that it's critical to keep the seats together and that some/all of the legs need to be changeable.
posted by frumiousb at 11:53 PM on May 27, 2015 [7 favorites]
Seconding Travel Agent, seriously, do you really want to be on hold with airline reservations? Mine is part of the Travel Leaders network, and they have an after hours service to help if something happens (flight cancelled, etc) and you need help rebooking. So worth it!
posted by msbubbaclees at 1:45 AM on May 28, 2015
posted by msbubbaclees at 1:45 AM on May 28, 2015
Re finding a travel agent, this is a useful benefit of AAA membership.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:44 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:44 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hi,
If are looking at a quick and convenient way to plan the trip based on price and stops, use Hipmunk.
You can plan multileg journeys for adults and kids and get a lovely graphic map showing airline, price, times etc. Armed with that info you should be able to ring the airline of choice and book quickly and easily.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 5:33 AM on May 28, 2015
If are looking at a quick and convenient way to plan the trip based on price and stops, use Hipmunk.
You can plan multileg journeys for adults and kids and get a lovely graphic map showing airline, price, times etc. Armed with that info you should be able to ring the airline of choice and book quickly and easily.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 5:33 AM on May 28, 2015
Costco and AAA (as mentioned above) both have travel agents!
posted by mynameisluka at 6:48 AM on May 28, 2015
posted by mynameisluka at 6:48 AM on May 28, 2015
Response by poster: As it turns out, booking a shitload of one-way tickets was cost-effective and required no external assistance. Adult A, Adult A +kid, Adult B, Adult B + kid.
Wish him a good trip, he's heading off in a couple of days!
posted by telepanda at 8:43 AM on August 7, 2015
Wish him a good trip, he's heading off in a couple of days!
posted by telepanda at 8:43 AM on August 7, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by joycehealy at 8:28 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]