United Airlines plans to ease family seating fees

Flying is no longer an exercise in musical chairs with your family. United Airlines announced a new family seating policy with eased fees, so now you can all sit together in peace, knowing your little ones won’t be separated from you and running amok in another row.

United Airlines’ new policy now allows children under 12 to sit with an adult in their party for free, even with basic economy tickets, which normally don’t offer free seat assignments. Travelers will be able to take advantage of this new policy starting next month, although United has already increased some seat availability on flights. 

How does this new policy work? 

Through investments in a new seat map feature, nearby seats can be found during the booking process for families. The system first checks all available economy seats for a match before opening up preferred seats if none are available. First class, Polaris, and Economy Plus aren’t affected by this new feature, as opening up seats isn’t as realistic.

If customers are unable to secure adjacent seats during booking, due to factors such as a last-minute reservation, a fully-booked flight, or an unexpected change in aircraft, the new policy allows them to switch to a flight with available adjacent seats in the same cabin, free of charge. This way, customers can travel together without incurring additional charges, even when original and new fares differ.

United’s new family seating policy follows President Biden’s recent call on lawmakers to “fast-track the ban on family seating fees”. Other airlines, like Southwest and Delta, have also enacted policy changes, including blocking certain rows of seats so families can sit together.

You can finally say goodbye to the days of bribing strangers with mini bottles of liquor to switch seats with you, and hello to united family travel!