is booking little children on basic economy a travel hack?

[Katrina Gulliver]

Nope, because if you book basic economy tickets they are almost always going to be middle seats- so if you and kid(s) all have middle seats, there is no way to ask people to move in a way that lets you sit together without someone giving up a window or aisle seat for a middle seat.

Not to mention that as a regular flyer, one encounters parents who seem to use this as a TACTIC. Book the cheapest seat option, then attempt to guilt strangers into giving up their (better) seats because "we're a family and we want to sit together".

[cathwen]

I would not want my child seated next to strangers. What if the person next to your child were a creep? Would the child have the guts/sense to call the attendant, make a scene, etc.? What if the person pumped the child for information on the family? Would you want that? I can't believe that a responsible parent would take a risk like that just to save a few bucks.

Then there are all the other reasons detailed by others in postings above.

[Katrina Gulliver]

I would not want my child seated next to strangers.

And airlines are super alert to this with unaccompanied minors. As a frequent flyer woman (ie someone the airline knows a lot about), traveling alone, I would often be seated beside an unaccompanied minor - and I understood why.

[Parasaurolophus]

So, we flew home yesterday. I paid for us to be seated together.

We were seated apart.


I asked a stranger to move (from a windowless window seat to the aisle), and she readily agreed. But just FYI, sometimes you pay to be seated together but aren't.

[lightning]

So, we flew home yesterday. I paid for us to be seated together.

We were seated apart.


I asked a stranger to move (from a windowless window seat to the aisle), and she readily agreed. But just FYI, sometimes you pay to be seated together but aren't.

you should ask for a refund of the premium that you paid to have seating choice

[Parasaurolophus]

So, we flew home yesterday. I paid for us to be seated together.

We were seated apart.


I asked a stranger to move (from a windowless window seat to the aisle), and she readily agreed. But just FYI, sometimes you pay to be seated together but aren't.

you should ask for a refund of the premium that you paid to have seating choice

I shall. And I shall wait a couple years to receive it, I'm sure.

But, y'know. Just a cautionary note for the punishers out there. I'd also observe that one can still be seated with one's family if one checks in relatively early, so it's really not all that deplorable a situation for people to find themselves in.