When I moved from Argentina to the US 15 years ago, American Airlines was the only one offering an overnight, non-stop flight from New York, where I was living, to Buenos Aires, where my family was.
It became my go-to airline because of it. I racked up miles and status and even got their AAdvantage credit card to get more perks. When my kids were born, I immediately got them their own profiles so they, too, could start accumulating miles.
A recent flight on Lufthansa made me reevaluate my decision, and while one trip is not enough to fully compare both airlines, I realized that there may be alternative airlines for traveling with kids.
We boarded before everyone
If you fly with kids ages 5 and under on Lufthansa, you are automatically assigned “PRE” as your boarding group. This means your family is allowed to preboard before everyone, giving parents extra time to get everyone settled.
My kids are 7, 5, and 5, and on a recent trip from Boston to Munich, we were the only ones preboarding. I really appreciated this because we were traveling with carry-ons only, and we didn’t have to stress about finding overhead space for five bags.
We also had time to figure out who was sitting where (my kids love to argue over the window seat), and get their stuffed animals and snacks ready.
While my American Airlines status allows me to board with Group 4, I always wonder if we’ll have space for our bags.
The flight attendants went above and beyond for my kids
My oldest has been traveling since he was 3 months old, so we are pretty used to flying with kids. That said, the flight attendants at Lufthansa surprised me by how much they did for my kids.
In one of our connections, my kids were greeted with stuffed animals and games for the plane. They each got one, and they were all age-appropriate.
On another flight, the flight attendants were giving chocolates to the passengers as we were landing. When they saw me with three little kids, they just dumped half the basket on my tray and smiled — those chocolates came in handy later in the trip.
American Airlines offers cookies that my kids love. I once asked the flight attendant if we could have extra packages to avoid meltdowns and was given a cold “no” as an answer.
We were all seated together
I bought the cheapest tickets on Lufthansa only to then realize that I had to pay for our seats. I paid about $400 for our longest flights to ensure that we were sitting together, and left the shorter connections up to luck.
On both flights, we were all sitting together and in priority rows, which was key to deplane with little kids.
With my status at American Airlines, we get to choose our seats for free, and haven’t had an issue sitting together. There was only one time, in 2023, when our plane was changed, and the company sat my then-2-year-old son alone at the back of the plane. We were those parents excusing ourselves and asking people to change seats with us, even though we had taken the steps prior to ensure we were seated together.
I’m questioning my exclusivity
The fact that everything ran so smoothly (and without delays) is making me question my exclusivity with one airline, especially now that other airlines offer the non-stop flight to Argentina that I am absolutely married to.
Next time I plan a family trip, I am more willing to travel with other, more family-friendly airlines rather than sticking to what I’ve done for decades.
Editor’s note: American Airlines updated its customer service policy in March 2023. The updated policy states that children 14 and under will be seated next to an accompanying adult at no additional cost, so long as certain conditions are met.
Business Insider has reached out to American Airlines for comment.
Lufthansa’s customer service policy states that they will do their best to seat children between 2 and 11 next to an adult traveling in the same group, free of charge.
A rep for the company replied to Business Insider’s inquiry about pre-boarding for families with the following statement: “Lufthansa does offer pre-boarding for families traveling with children, including both short-haul and long-haul routes. Families with children, group travelers, and travelers in a joint booking will be seated together whenever possible. If this is not possible with the automatic seat assignment, we ask the affected passengers to report to the check-in desk to find a solution.”
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