After 12 years in business, it is amazing that we are still learning the "tricks of the trade". Yet understandable, considering how drastically the travel trade has changed in the last 12 years. I don't normally use this blog to speak negatively about travel suppliers or relay the personal woes of our industry, but this most recent episode regarding seat assignments is worth sharing.
Pay attention to this statement: All airlines reserve the right to change your seating assignments at any time, for any reason, without warning or notice.
As agents, we have zero control over this process. At the time of booking, we select seat assignments for our clients, seating the entire party together on all flights where the seating chart is available to us. If a flight is particularly full at time of booking, or for random other reasons, sometimes the seating charts are not available to us. (or to the consumer on the airlines website) When this happens, we pass along the airline's message that seats will be assigned upon check-in at the airport and advise our clients to arrive a little early to ensure enough time to discuss seating at the ticket counter.
All of the above is manageable, until an airline edits the seating on a reservation where a minor is involved. Recently, this occurred and forced the separation of a family of three into 3 different rows and 2 different areas of the plane. The minor child was only two years old. Upon realizing this change, 3 weeks prior to departure, we called the airline to inquire and request our clients be moved back to their original seats. We were told there was no 2 year old noted in the record. I contested as I was holding travel documents that clearly stated "2 years old" next to the young man's name. The airline representative went on to inform me that they were showing this child as having a birth date in 2001 - and being 10 years old, which apparently the airline considers old enough to sit alone. Countless calls and emails up the chain of command at Continental Airlines and I was met with "NO" the entire way and repeatedly told that the plane was full and the clients would have to be reassigned at the airport on the day of travel. No apology.
As a mother, I understand the enormous amount of stress and anxiety of having to wait until arrival at the airport, not knowing if you will be able to sit by your child on the longest leg of your 16 hour journey from the West Coast to the Caribbean.
Fast forward to the client's post-travel report and as feared, the situation was not resolved in a satisfactory manor. Continental was unable to rebook the child near a parent until 15 minutes before the flight departed and after all other passengers where seated. And even then, the other parent was in another section of the plane causing more stress because Mom had been depending on Dad's help with the two year old since it was his first time flying.
It is most upsetting that we are increasingly being shown airline passengers have really no rights. These clients booked their trip 4 months in advance, when the seating charts on each leg were wide open. We did our job and selected adjacent seating at time of booking. It appears Continental ran into a seating issue and in order to move the 2 year old away from his parents, someone changed the child's birth date so it wouldn't cause any alarm. Whether this was intentional or not, it is NOT acceptable.
Continental is not a discount airline, but a competitor with all other major full fare airlines. Their lack of assistance in helping this family is shocking. When selecting suppliers to partner with in our business, we focus more on how a supplier deals with troubling situations rather than their day to day operations with satisfied clients. This trouble situation was caused by Continental. Because of this, we certainly expected more. We give Continental a big fat FAIL and will think twice before booking any families on their airline in the future.
Better luck next time,
