Flying with children can be a challenge for parents, and paying a fee to sit together adds to the burden, many fliers say.
The White House is proposing a ban on fees for a family with young children to sit together.
"Absolutely, you should be able to sit with your family and not be charged," said Steve Perrino, an Ohio resident flying himself and his family back home from Seattle.
Airlines would be required to seat children 13 and under next to their parent for no additional charge within 48 hours of booking when adjacent seats are available.
If adjacent seats aren't available, families would have the choice of receiving a full refund or waiting for seating.
If seats don't free up, under the proposal, the airlines must offer the option to rebook for free on the next flight with family seating.
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"People typically pay $25 for example to be seated next to each other per ticket per way. So if you're traveling with a family of four for example, for a round trip, that could easily add up to $200," said Kimberly Palmer, a personal finance expert from Nerd Wallet.
The U.S. Department of Transportation asked airlines to voluntarily end family seating fees in 2023 but says only a few have done so.
The airlines are pushing back, filing suit against a rule that also required automatic cash refunds for canceled or delayed flights.
A court of appeals temporarily blocked the rule from taking effect while the lawsuit proceeds.
"We see a lot of pushback from consumers on travel fees, financial fees, banking fees, all kinds of fees because nobody likes fees," said Palmer.
The Department of Transportation will take comments on this proposal for 60 days before crafting a final rule.
