Travelling with children

[Nizar]

Hi,

Is it acceptable (as per say EY or most top airlines) to have say two adults flying F and two kids (aged 7 and 10) flying in Y or J ?
Or does the entire family have to be seated together (in the same cabin) is the kids are <17 ?

Thanks

 

[Mark3000]

That is a great question, I've been wondering the same thing. Our kids are still a bit little but I've always thought if the adults had the last row of business and the kids had the first row of economy it should be fine. The thought of paying that much money for a revenue ticket in J for 2 kids who wouldn't appreciate it is painful. And it seems that getting 4 points tickets in J is extremely difficult if not impossible for some routes.

I suspect the answer to your question will be no though and the airline wouldn't make that easy. Would love to hear if anyone has managed it

 

[Quickstatus]

The family should be within a few rows of one another. You could do F adults and Y kids on a Qantas A380 as F is infront of Y

 

[Denali]

I would put the kids in Y with the nanny. Didnt an airline once provide a staff babysitter in Y if both parents were paid J/F paxs?

The problem with 2 kids (7 and 10) not sitting with a supervising parent/adult is the kids will become someone elses problem and thats not fair to the other passengers.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I would put the kids in Y with the nanny. Didnt an airline once provide a staff babysitter in Y if both parents were paid J/F paxs?

The problem with 2 kids (7 and 10) not sitting with a supervising parent/adult is the kids will become someone elses problem and thats not fair to the other passengers.

I don't think the average 7 and 10 year old will be anyone's problem. Especially if they are used to flying.

 

[UP4014]

Glad I'm not part of your family. :shock:

Matt

 

[Denali]

I don't think the average 7 and 10 year old will be anyone's problem. Especially if they are used to flying.

Having seen unmonitored 7 & 10yrs on a bus and at a sporting venue, they will inevitably require supervision and it's not fair for other passengers to have to supervise while the parents are at the pointy end. Kind of like when Airlines put unaccompanied minors next to women and not men. Why do women get stuck quasi babysitting other people's children.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi,

Is it acceptable (as per say EY or most top airlines) to have say two adults flying F and two kids (aged 7 and 10) flying in Y or J ?
Or does the entire family have to be seated together (in the same cabin) is the kids are <17 ?

Thanks

you'll get a definitive answer by calling the airline.

you can always have one adult + one child in each cabin or maybe check availability to see if there are 4 F seats on another day?

 

[Princess Fiona]

Having seen unmonitored 7 & 10yrs on a bus and at a sporting venue, they will inevitably require supervision and it's not fair for other passengers to have to supervise while the parents are at the pointy end. Kind of like when Airlines put unaccompanied minors next to women and not men. Why do women get stuck quasi babysitting other people's children.

I disagree. I don't think the OP is asking or expecting anyone to supervise his/her children or asking for an opinion as to whether it's morally or otherwise acceptable or not for the kids to be in a separate cabin.

I think the issue will be that the kids will require to travel as unaccompanied minors as the parents are not in the same cabin.
Note that some airlines eg.AA will not allow mileage redemptions for unaccompanied minors so that will need to be factored into the plans if applicable.

 

[Nizar]

I think the issue will be that the kids will require to travel as unaccompanied minors as the parents are not in the same cabin.
Note that some airlines eg.AA will not allow mileage redemptions for unaccompanied minors so that will need to be factored into the plans if applicable.

Haha you read me like a book Princess. That is exactly what I had in mind.
An AA redemption from EY for my sister, brother-in-law and two nieces.

When you say AA don't allow mileage redemptions do you mean on their metal or their partner airlines also ?
If the latter - how will they know ?

I've booked EY over the phone for different people many a time and not once was I asked for date of birth. Just full name as per passport and off we go.
If they were to rock up at EY check-in having been issued a ticket with e-ticket number etc surely there is unlikely to be any hassle ?

But yes I will call EY just to make sure.

 

[Jack_OC]

If they were to rock up at EY check-in having been issued a ticket with e-ticket number etc surely there is unlikely to be any hassle ?

But yes I will call EY just to make sure.

If they rock up at check in and are considered unaccompanied minors (which I think will be the case), then they won't be let on board if you haven't gone through the unaccompanied minor procedure.

From EY's website:

Children above the age of 5 and below the age of 12 and travelling alone are treated as Unaccompanied Minors (UM’s). UMs are charged at the adult rate and can only be booked on Etihad-operated flights.

To book, please contact your nearest Etihad office or call our contact centre on +97125990000 to receive and submit the required UM documentation at least a week before the date of departure. UMs cannot be accepted onto a flight without this documentation and they must be seen off and met on arrival by their parents/guardians.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Haha you read me like a book Princess. That is exactly what I had in mind.
An AA redemption from EY for my sister, brother-in-law and two nieces.

When you say AA don't allow mileage redemptions do you mean on their metal or their partner airlines also ?
If the latter - how will they know ?

I've booked EY over the phone for different people many a time and not once was I asked for date of birth. Just full name as per passport and off we go.
If they were to rock up at EY check-in having been issued a ticket with e-ticket number etc surely there is unlikely to be any hassle ?

But yes I will call EY just to make sure.

safety and operational considerations will always trump a ticket.

 

[Nizar]

From EY's website:

Children above the age of 5 and below the age of 12 and travelling alone are treated as Unaccompanied Minors (UM’s). UMs are charged at the adult rate and can only be booked on Etihad-operated flights.

To book, please contact your nearest Etihad office or call our contact centre on +97125990000 to receive and submit the required UM documentation at least a week before the date of departure. UMs cannot be accepted onto a flight without this documentation and they must be seen off and met on arrival by their parents/guardians.

I understand that but are they really considered unaccompanied though if their parents will be in the row in front of them ?
Does unaccompanied mean not in the same cabin or not on the same flight ? Or is it one of those things that definition changes between each airline and their own interpretation etc ?
We can call up EY and book seats straight away and try to get first row of J and last row of F ?

 

[Nizar]

safety and operational considerations will always trump a ticket.

Absolutely but what you will exactly happen ? You will be refused boarding and given a refund ? Put on the next flight where they are 4 seats ? Downgraded to the next available cabin where you can all be together ?

But anyway lol this is all besides the point I am looking for ways to actually make this work.

 

[Jack_OC]

I understand that but are they really considered unaccompanied though if their parents will be in the row in front of them ?
Does unaccompanied mean not in the same cabin or not on the same flight ? Or is it one of those things that definition changes between each airline and their own interpretation etc ?

I'm not entirely sure - but I was just pointing out that having a valid ticket will not necessarily get them access to the flight - I was responding to your comment that you could book them without even telling EY that they were kids. I definitely would not try that.

I suspect they will be considered UM's, because (a) they're not in the same cabin as their parents and (b) they will be on a separate booking (AFAIK, you can't have different pax on the same booking in different classes). Also, on many EY aircraft, there is a galley/toilets between different classes, so it may not be possible to be seated that close together. I suspect the biggest concern would be that you would not be able to assist your kids in an emergency, so from that perspective it is the same as you not being on board at all.

 

[Princess Fiona]

No personal experience with EY but I know that QF regards kids in separate cabins as UM's.
Colleague had this exact experience at SYD (they were WP flying J). QF managed to sort it out at the airport but there's no way personally that I would risk finding this out at the airport and risk being denied boarding.
I don't think it will get picked up by AA during the phone booking process. I agree that the only strategy is to contact EY after booking and try to sort it out then.
Personally I would do as suggested earlier in the thread and book 1A and 1C together in each cabin and save the hassle.
YMMV

 

[Denali]

I disagree. I don't think the OP is asking or expecting anyone to supervise his/her children or asking for an opinion as to whether it's morally or otherwise acceptable or not for the kids to be in a separate cabin.

The OP did ask if it was acceptable which is why I gave my opinion of no. And even if the OP was able to be separated by one row, there will be a bulk head, toilet or galley increasing the distance and the magical curtain so the parents will have zero visual on their children for many hours, making them unaccompanied minors.

 

[Deleted member]

Mrs GPH and I have flown with the Grandies, ( they were 5 & 6 at the time) we took them in the pointy end with us , I would feel VERY uncomfortable separating them from us, regardless of how long or short the flight.
I wouldn't be able to relax, and I would feel that it is a little disrespectful to the other pax.
If we couldn't have afforded 4 J tickets, we would have made do inY .

 

[Nizar]

Ok then to reduce complications I will book it one adult/one child in F and one adult/one child in J.
If say I book A1 and C1 in F return and A2 and C2 in J return surely it will not cause a hassle if we choose to swap on the way back so each parent/child gets to try F ? Or will this also be a headache lol

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Ok then to reduce complications I will book it one adult/one child in F and one adult/one child in J.
If say I book A1 and C1 in F return and A2 and C2 in J return surely it will not cause a hassle if we choose to swap on the way back so each parent/child gets to try F ? Or will this also be a headache lol

thats not a problem. check in as normal, and simply advise the cabin crew on boarding that pax 1 and 3 will swap with 2 and 4.

the airline doesn't really care who sits where as long as it is like for like... so a child taking a child seat and and adult taking an adult seat will not cause any problems.

anyways... it depends really on what AA and EY say about seating two children in Y.

the real concern is a safety issue. during an evacuation the parents are likely to go and seek their children rather than taking the most immediate exit available. that endangers the safety of all other passengers on board.