United and Frontier Airlines Make it Easier for Families to Sit Together

In early February, United Airlines announced an improved family seating policy that will make it easier for children under 12 to sit with an accompanying adult for free. The policy will extend to travelers who purchase Basic Economy tickets and came after the airline made several investments in a new seat map feature that can search for open adjacent seats during the time of booking.

Interested in more details? Here’s how it works. To start, the seat map feature reviews all available free Economy seats and offers neighboring seats to travelers. If adjacent Economy seats aren’t available, the program will offer complimentary upgrades to open Preferred Seats instead. Additionally, in situations where side-by-side seating isn’t available prior to travel, United will allow customers to change their reservation to a flight to the same destination with adjacent seating in the same cabin at no extra cost, even if there’s a difference in the fare price.

“In an era where more families are working in a hybrid environment, they’re traveling more often, and they’re flying United,” said Linda Jojo, chief customer officer for United. “We’re focused on delivering a great experience for our younger passengers and their parents and know it often starts with the right seat. We look forward to rolling out more family-friendly features this year.”

In its February 20 press release, United noted that the manual family seating process used by most airlines can be stressful and often results in a longer boarding process for everyone. “Today’s announcement reflects the investments United has made in its technology and tools,” said the airline. “Since last summer, the airline has worked to improve its ability to seat families together more easily by optimizing the airline’s seat engine to prioritize families who did not have seats assigned before their day of travel and prioritize adjacent seating for families during schedule changes, aircraft swaps or irregular operations.”

A day after United's announcement, Frontier Airlines followed suit with the rollout of a new policy where the airline will automatically seat children under 14 years old with a parent or guardian. Frontier stated that seats will be automatically assigned based on age before check-in opens. "We recognize the importance of seating children next to an adult with who they are traveling," said Daniel Shurz, senior vice president of commercial for Frontier Airlines. "Since last October, we have been doubling down on our efforts and further enhancing our system for ensuring a parent is seated with any children under the age of 14 in their family group. The system is working well and we are receiving positive feedback." 

Curious about other airlines’ family booking policies? The U.S. Department of Transportation has a brief overview of each, linked below.

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Frontier Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• Southwest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• United Airlines

About the Author

Senior Editor for VAX VacationAccess and world explorer, Jenna loves writing about all things travel. When she’s not busy creating content, she spends her time exploring the great outdoors, cuddling with her two black cats and researching her next big (sometimes strange) adventure.