Smart Tips for Traveling Without Paying Extra Airline Fees

17. Consider skipping seat selection for families.

“We often think we need to purchase seats right away, especially for families, to ensure you can all sit together,” Nastro says. “With the Airline Family Seating Dashboard, families should fly in confidence that they aren’t forced to pay for one child 13 or under to sit next to one adult at the very least. Major airlines have come forward and distinctly said they will commit to this policy, and will do everything in their power to ensure families fly alongside one another.” 

According to the Department of Transportation, the airlines that currently guarantee adjacent seats for a child 13 or under and an accompanying adult at no additional cost are Alaska, American, Frontier, Hawaiian, and JetBlue. There are conditions that have to be met in order to qualify for the Airline Family Seating Dashboard. These include that the child and family adult must be booked on the same reservation, adjacent seats have to be available at the time of booking, the aircraft can’t be substituted for a smaller aircraft, adults must either choose seats for the entire reservation or skip seats for the entire reservation (and changes to seat assignments can’t be made), and the plane’s seat layout must be able to accommodate specific seating requests. 

If you aren’t flying with a child, Nastro says you don’t have to be forced into purchasing a seat, especially when seat maps can change even after check-in. “I personally check it each hour on the day of to snag a better seat than when I originally booked,” Nastro says. “I also would advise asking the gate agent politely. It’s not a guarantee, but it can’t hurt to ask … nicely!” Just be aware that this method could result in you dooming yourself to booking a middle seat.