As if you needed another reason to be frustrated with airlines, they have devised a new way to make your blood boil. According to The Wall Street Journal [1], airlines will now charge families a fee to have guaranteed seats next to one another. Basically, if you're hoping to book the cheapest tickets for your family, airlines are going to charge you for seats that are adjacent. Airlines have stopped offering seat reservations for those booking the cheapest ticket [2], so you will be paying for that reservation. While there is no official "family fee" per se, families are most affected by the reservation fees. The only airlines that charge a flat fee to ensure parties are seated together are Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant.

At the end of the day, airlines are capitalizing off parents wanting needing to sit next to their children. That means if you have young children, you will have to start paying to be sure you are seated together. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, potentially. Lawmakers are equally as enraged as you probably are and have introduced a bill requiring airlines to offer seating for families together at no additional charge. That bill passed through the Senate unanimously in April but has not yet passed through the House [3]. Here's to hoping it does.