United Airlines Makes Family Seating Easier—Will Other Airlines Join In?

United Airlines has unveiled a new dynamic seat map feature designed to facilitate family seating, regardless of fare class. This initiative could indicate a swift shift in how airlines approach family seating policies.

Launching in early March, United's new seat map will display available adjacent seats during booking for groups traveling with children, confirming that kids under 12 will sit next to an adult at no extra charge. This policy not only keeps young ones close to their parents but also helps families save money, as pre-selecting seats can cost between $10 and $100, which can add up for larger groups.

As stated in a press release from United, the new feature “assesses all available complimentary Economy seats and can offer free upgrades to available Preferred Seats if necessary.”

The airline explained that when “adjacent seats are unavailable before travel—due to last-minute bookings, full flights, or unexpected aircraft changes—United’s new policy allows customers to switch for free to a flight to the same destination with available adjacent seating in the same cabin.” Unlike the current rules, where basic economy ticket holders incur same-day change fees and fare differences, families changing flights to sit together won’t face extra charges for fare price differences.

In August 2020, United became the first airline to eliminate change fees on standard economy and premium class tickets for travel within the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, effective immediately. Within about 48 hours, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Alaska Airlines announced similar measures. It’s likely that other airlines will follow this trend as well, although not necessarily due to United leading the charge.

Last July, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a notice to airlines requesting that they implement policies allowing children aged 13 and under to sit next to the adult accompanying them at no extra cost. The DOT provided airlines with four months from the notice to reassess their policies, after which the agency would consider whether to establish official regulations “to ensure that airlines’ seating policies do not prevent young children from sitting next to an adult family member or guardian.”

Southwest Airlines, which does not assign seats but instead groups travelers into boarding categories—A, B, and C—allowing them to choose available seats upon boarding, announced in December 2022 that it was testing a policy to allow families to board earlier. In January, the airline further refined its family-friendly boarding process; previously, families with children six and younger could board between groups A and B, but now this range extends to include children up to 13 years old.