With a family of 8, we have some unique challenges when flying all together – we just don’t all fit together!
I shared earlier about how we used 100,000 Delta Skymiles to fly the 8 of us back from Seattle to Cincinnati (READ: The worst usage of 100,000 Skymiles EVER?
Why I always pick out my seats (if I can!)
One thing that I always do after booking a flight is to pick my seats, at least on airlines that allow you to pick seats for free. Southwest has the “open” seating model, though there are still some tricks that you can do to sit together as a family. HINT: IT DOES NOT INVOLVE SAVING SEATS!!! British Airways charges a fee to pick your seats, so in that case, we just took what we were assigned.
On the other hand, US Airways once tried to charge me $15 to sit in the seat right next to mine.
Picking seats is important if possible, because if you leave it up to the airline at the time of the flight, you’re going to a) get middle seats at the back of the plane and b) not sit with the rest of the party. One man found that out when Delta sat his 4 year old daughter 11 rows away from him.
Picking seats on a Delta flight
Flying with 8 of us comes with the problem that most planes seat you 3 across. With 6 kids and only 2 adults, we literally CAN’T seat an adult with each kid. Carolyn and I actually have spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best seating arrangement for everyone. It’s a bit trickier than it looks because some kids need to be next to a parent, and some kids can’t sit next to each other, and other kids WANT to sit together, etc.
On our last flight together (READ: Finally putting all those miles and points to good use – 2014 family vacation!), we flew Southwest, and although we tried to arrange things the best we could, the flight was a bit rocky, culminating in a fellow passenger telling my wife and I that we were “the type of parent that should not have children”
Seat selection for a family of 8
Hoping not to have a repeat of that flight, here’s how we arranged seats this time
#1 and #2 are the 2 adults, and #3-8 are my kids, in descending age order. We put our 2 (hopefully?) most responsible kids in a row by themselves, where they’re not NEXT to each other (because heaven help us they’d just either get along really well and just be LOUD, or start fighting and be even LOUDER!), but still close enough that my wife and I (#1 and #2) can hopefully keep the peace and solve whatever problems come up.
What do you think? How would YOU arrange 8 people on a plane?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
That looks to be about the best that you can do.
As I recall, on your previous trip, you experimented with parents in front of kids, which didn’t work very well. I think this arrangement allows you to monitor, cajole, bribe, plead, and threaten each of your little darlings as appropriate throughout the flight.
The fact that you worry about this issue and give thought to it makes me think that you are the sort of people who are good parents. Good luck with your trip!
I tend to prefer the ‘responsible’ kids to be behind me. 1) If they kick the seat (common), it’s just me. 2) If they get loud, I hear them better than from behind. 3) Looking back and across is easier to see what they are physically doing than looking forward.
Another good option is to sit 3 in front of 3, with the 2 extras on the other side – then they can watch movies, play, etc. together with a parent just across the aisle:
(Row n) – xxx 135
(Row n+1) – x46 278
@Jason your post didn’t show up until today 12/19. Just wanna clarify – I didn’t steal your idea 😀
I like this idea, but would put 4 & 6 on different rows (per your statement of keeping those kids apart).
xx6 283
xx4 175
My wife and I are flying with our 5 kids (1 lap child) next week (to Ohio) and planning on going with 3 in front of the other 3. We will put the seat kickers in the 2nd row so they kick us instead of other people. Our kids or still fairly young and skinny, so during the flight we will probably have 3 kids fitting into 2 seats in the 2nd row with an adult to watch movies, etc.
Interesting! This could be a nice little exercise for math, programing, or industrial engineering class
I think you’ve done a good job here! An alternative I can envision is occupy the entire left side of rows 13 & 14, plus the two opposite aisle seats of the same two rows. Parents in left aisle seats. Two youngest kids (or most likely troublemakers) in middle seats. This way, you can minimize kicking on stranger’s seats, and keep the same number of aisle seats (4) and ease of monitoring all children.
One time when my son was in 8th grade he was flying alone from LAX to Kansas City and the airline put him with a group of younger kids. A couple sitting behind them tapped my son on the shoulder and asked him why he couldn’t control the others and he replied ‘I don’t know these **** kids!’ He’s a grown man and we still laugh about it.
I try to control my thoughts when I’m traveling and have empathy for others. I take Amtrak quite often and I prefer Room 14 as it’s easy it jump off at stops for a quick breath of fresh air. Yes, there are crying babies in the family room and children running up and down the aisle from time to time but I consider it part of the ‘earth opera’. One time a woman knocked on my door to apologize about her crying child and explained that they were returning home after a brief visit with the father who was a soldier. I hadn’t noticed any crying in the first place and simply gave the woman a hug. Perspective people.
When we travel with all 5 of our kids (13-2), we usually sit in 2 full rows and the oldest in the window seat behind us. Like others have mentioned, the seat kicker, who is in a car seat, sits in the full row behind other family members so he can kick his brother instead of a stranger. We always fly SW and either purchase early bird check in or just board with families after A. I find it harder when I travel by myself with the 3 younger ones. We don’t all fit in one row and they don’t like sitting with strangers.