Travel Experts Reveal The Airplane Seats They Try To Book For Their Kids

When it comes to choosing an airplane seat, there are many considerations to keep in mind. Are you trying to sleep? Do you prefer to move around and stretch a fair bit? Does turbulence terrify you?

But there’s another factor that can override all of these: Are you traveling with a child?

To help parents and caregivers make more informed choices, HuffPost asked travel experts with kids to share which seats they prefer when flying with a child ― or multiple children. Keep scrolling for their best practices.

“When traveling with a child, you may want to book a window seat for them,” said Jurga Rubinovaite, the creator of travel website Full Suitcase. “Kids love watching through the window, and they will not disturb other passengers.”

The window seat can also provide an extra surface for leaning or sleeping, as well as a feeling of having a little more room.

“When it comes to what works for us, we normally let our kids have the window seat and the one beside it,” content creators PJ and Thomas McKay told HuffPost via email. “They love looking out the window and taking turns ooo’ing and ahhh’ing.”

“If two parents are traveling with one child and there are three seats on each side of the airplane, then it’s best to book all three seats: a window seat for the child and the middle and aisle seats for the parents,” Rubinovaite said.

The earlier you book your family’s flight reservation, the likelier you are to score a row of three seats together. You should try to book everyone on the same reservation as well.

“We always book two rows since we have three kids,” said the McKays. “One of us will be in one row with two kids, and the other will be in the row in front with another kid.”

Don’t be discouraged if you can’t find any seats together as you make your reservation.

“If you tried to book your tickets early, and seats are not available together, contact the airline through reservations to ask whether additional seats will become available later,” advises the U.S. Transportation Department’s website.

Of course, circumstances don’t always allow for early booking. But if you are scrambling, you might consider flying with an airline that guarantees fee-free family seating.

“If you have the ability to use some credit card points or airline miles towards your trip, long flights with kids are a great time to use them to lock in some extra room,” said Summer Hull, the director of content at travel site The Points Guy.

“While using miles for business class so the kids can sleep is great (and it can cost a lot fewer miles than you think with some strategy), even premium economy can be a great way to get a little extra space, and even just extra legroom seats in economy can offer some valuable extra inches.”

If you aren’t able to tap into points or spend too much extra cash, try to snag some bulkhead seats, located directly behind a wall or other partition.

“Front-row seats are always great if you can secure those as they make it easy to move around without disturbing other passengers,” Rubinovaite said.

She offered another piece of advice for parents looking to make wiser, more intentional choices with their air travel.

“One tip I want to add for parents flying with kids on long-haul flights: Reserve a special kids meal in advance,” Rubinovaite said. “Special meals are always brought much earlier than the rest, so you can help your children before you get your own food.”

The longer the flight, the bigger the difference these kinds of choices can make.