How to Get Your Group Together on a Plane
Even when booking a flight early, it can sometimes be difficult to find a seat next to a fellow traveler.
The airlines make it increasingly difficult to find the perfect seat before your flight, which means that sometimes your family can end up scattered around the plane. The fact that your tickets are booked with separate seats does not mean that you will have to fly this way.
Here are some tips for getting your group together:
Ask a person with status to buy tickets
This year my boyfriend and I are going to Paris. A few months ago, when we started buying flights on Delta, we found an amazing deal on a flight that looked like there were only a few seats left on it. After some discussion, we decided that it was not worth sitting together for cheap food. However, when I logged into my Delta account (where I have a status) to buy tickets, we actually found that we have a significant number of aircraft to choose from. Seats my boyfriend could not reach were wide open for me to book.
Airlines are also generally more accommodating to frequent flyers. If your party is booked with a frequent flyer account, then the airline will look more at you when it comes to special requests. Depending on the program and status level of the person booking the tickets, you can still get an upgrade to the best class to sit together. This is not a guarantee that you will get what you want, but it gives you a slightly better chance of winning.
Check in early
Airlines are starting to offer frequent flyer upgrades 72 hours before a flight, with the bulk taking place approximately 24 hours before a flight. If you can, try checking in 24 hours in advance (at the earliest possible moment) and see the seat map to see if you have any other options.
If a frequent flyer has been transferred from the bus to economy class, then an aisle seat is probably available. Even if you can’t get the seats together, try to put them as close to each other as possible so you have something to bargain about later. Assuming you are not flying with small children, you can also try placing your group in the “desired” seats at this stage. No one wants to change their aisle seat to your middle seat, but you can convince someone sitting in the middle seat next to your friend to take your aisle seat a little further on the plane.
Ask the gate agent
Assuming that you are not yet together by the time you arrive at the boarding gate, try to ask the agent at the gate as soon as he is in office (usually 30 minutes before boarding). Sometimes there are seats on planes that are delayed until departure. The agent can free up space to process your request. If not, they may remember you when someone else comes along to rearrange their seat, or when the airline makes seats for passengers who clearly don’t intend to connect and catch your flight.
I tried this several times and although my request sometimes could not be processed right then, I sat next to the agent and was called to move before the flight, as soon as I was handed a new ticket literally at the time of boarding. Be kind and ask politely, you’ll be much more likely to get an answer.
Ask your fellow travelers
If you are boarding a plane and are still not sitting together, now is the time to bargain with other passengers. As with the gate agent, the key here is to be sweet and warm. If they say no, accept it and move on.
It’s much easier to do this if you’re willing to give up a more comfortable seat and replace it with a friend. If you are trading with a seat in the middle, try to make it worthwhile. Offer them a drink or a box of snacks on board, or bring something like a cute chocolate bar or small gift card to bargain with. Think about what you need to do to make you want to close the same deal.
If you cannot physically sit next to your fellow traveler, try taking aisle seats next to each other. If all else fails, explain your situation to the flight attendants and ask them to tell you if they see an opportunity for you to move together after boarding.
Make sure you buy the correct tickets
A friend of mine recently accidentally bought himself and his wife a Basic Economy fare to take on their first ride with a newborn. Basic economy means, among other things, that you let the airline choose your seats, and it is very likely that those seats will be average, far apart. You can try asking the gate agent to move you together, but technically they shouldn’t, and unless you’re on the world’s empty flight, they probably won’t be able to help you. Do yourself a favor and buy a regular economy ticket. Regular Economy will give you the choice of your seat first and give you the option to move in together when it’s time to board.