I have been told that specifically with United they will make travelers with lap infants move despite purchasing tickets with predetermined seats. I'm wondering if anyone has come across this? I think it may be due to the oxygen masks to make sure there is an extra one for any lap infants.

I've looked on seat guru to see if I can find anything on where it's best for lap infants but can't find anything. Does anyone have info? I've tried to call United but the wait time hasn't been less than 45 minutes...

TIA

Why wouldn't they limit which seats you can reserve when you are making the reservation? They know you have an infant, right? We're are flying next Thursday with a 10 month old in our lap. I'll let you know.

It may have been for people who booked emergency exit seats? Just a thought

Bassmaster that is what I was thinking but they moved my seats from our original reservation. My husband and I are on separate reservations (his return date is different than mine) and his stayed the same but my seat was moved to the 2nd to last row which I avoid at all costs. Happened to check because I had to change my return flight.

I'll be curious to hear if it changes for you and any other thoughts with flying with your little one. Ours sound about the same age- we go next month.

Who else was in the row? You can only have 1 lap child in a row

Right now husband in aisle seat I'm in middle w/ infant and window is open. I'm sure it will change and we won't have an open seat next to us

Sorry in husband's username

[This message has been edited by Dpz (edited 6/8/2012 10:39p).]

Depends on the plane you're on. My wife and I and our son were moved on two flights last week. They got us into a row with an oxygen mask for an infant...both times the worker at the gate worked with the flight attendant to make it happen.

I don't think online reservations let you tell them ahead of time. They should add that.

United has it listed for online reservations

My wife and I have flown United with a lap child a couple of times, and each time we were not allowed to check-in for a seat assignment until we reached the gate. When we checked in, we were assigned to the last row both times, but I don't know if it was because that's all that was left or because they hate children (kidding).

Colorado: where?

I've never seen it. Always been when I get to the airport

I fly united all the time. When you book a child it will ask you ages and whether the are a lap child or if you want to reserve/pay for a seat. Just it child on the reservation tab

Interesting. Ever even thought to do that.

We always just booked an adult ticket and when we got to airport showed a birth certificate. Though technically it was Continental

[This message has been edited by BMX Bandit (edited 6/9/2012 5:44p).]

BMX when you go to reserve your ticket I put in one child and then it asks for the age. If he/she is under 2 it asks if you are purchasing or a lap infant. Maybe it's all been updated with the merge.

That's where my concern comes in, I went ahead and included her on my ticket and if they're asking for it ahead of time, one would think that they would block out rows that you can't pick. I have a feeling it doesn't... I guess we'll see in a month. Everything I have read on their website says only 1 per row, but I have been on flights where they have had parents switch with others, hopefully it was just on an exit row.

I have never seen a lap child have to move and I fly a lot on united

It happened to me before. It is because of the masks. I would guess different planes have different set ups and they may not know which plane is going to service which routes day to day (maintenance, schedule changes, delays etc).

They were accommodating for all of us.

In the instance it did happen, we were originally on the left side of the plane and we had to move to the right hand side of the plane because those seats were equipped with an extra mask. But I am not certain if this is the case for every plane.

[This message has been edited by Say Chowdah (edited 6/12/2012 5:30p).]

aggieswmr04 - we just got back and were not asked to move on either flight. I reserved certain seats when we originally booked and when I checked in at the gate, nobody ever mentioned anything about moving seats. Good luck!

With a kid, my preference would be back of the plane on our own row. I would probably buy the ticket to guarantee nobody is sitting on the row with me and my wife.

That's just a preference - not saying I suggest that for others.

I think this is an issue only on the ERJ's from Continental, not the mainline planes like 737,757,767, and 777. Not sure about the CRJ from United Express. We used to deal with this for about 4 years with our kids flying as lap kids to see my in-laws a couple of times per year. The rows with extra masks on the RJ-145 are 3,7,11,16 & 19. (Still had this in my outlook contacts from when Continental would allow you to book any row even though you indicated lap child!).

Thanks Bassmaster and AgCPA. We leave in a few weeks and hoping there is no change!

AgCPA is correct. The FA's will move you to the closest available row with extra oxygen masks. We have 4 kids under 6 years old and have been through this many, many times. It's never been an issue once we were on the plane.

I have no tips for the lap infant issue, but if you can pick your seats and there are 3 seats to the row, I'd pick the window and aisle and leave the middle seat empty. It'll be much less likely to fill up because nobody wants that seat. If someone does sit in it, just ask them if they'll switch for the aisle or window. You'll have a much better chance of having an empty seat, and if you don't then you'll have a happy person who thought they were going to be stuck in the middle the whole flight.