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I'm sorry if this is a duplicate question (or a trivial one) - I don't know what to search for (my searches for the question title only bring back mathematical answers).

I'm planning on dropping off my daughter with my grandparents for the summer break and returning at the end of summer to pick her up.

The problem is, I'm not familiar with the ordering process - I bought simple 2-way tickets in the past but in this case she needs one return ticket for the whole summer and I need 2 separate return tickets, one at the beginning of summer (for the drop-off) and another at the end of the summer (to pick her up). Obviously, the leaving / returning dates must coincide on the tickets and I'd want her to sit next to me on the flights. The trips are between DFW and BUD.

What is the easiest way to get such an arrangement? I don't think this is supported on sites like Travelocity and the like.

You could proceed in two different ways:

• Make three separate bookings: one for your daughter and two for you. You end up with three bookings DFW-BUD-DFW.


• Make two separate bookings: one for you two for the flights on which you will be travelling together, and one for you for the flights on which you will be travelling alone. You end up with two bookings: DFW-BUD-DFW (2 people) and BUD-DFW-BUD (just you).

The advantage of the second method is that you can ensure your daughter and you will be sitting next to each other, since you are booking the tickets for both of you in the same step.

However, it might be worth comparing prices between the two methods, because in general trips originating in Dallas are not necessarily equally priced to trips originating in Budapest, so you might end up saving money with the first method.

If you do decide to make three bookings, book your daughter's and your ticket directly consecutively to ensure you get the seats that you want.

You have another option. Make two bookings:

• one return flight for the both of you together from where she lives to you, and


• one return flight for yourself from where you live that “overlaps” the other.

The best way I've found to make this kind of booking is either:

• Get a travel agent to do it for you, they can "link" separate tickets and arrange seating, or


• Decide which airline you want to fly, call the airline booking line, and work through it with them on the phone.

The travel agent option is probably a lot less headache than talking to an airline booking agent directly.

This started as a comment on Mophotla but it expanded so much it needs be an answer.

First, the two bookings trick is a great trick.

To expand on the three bookings booking process: search with whatever engine you prefer but book with the airlines directly. I checked Air France, British Airways, Air Canada and all of them offer seats after booking any time before check in for a fee. I heartily recommend subscribing to Expertflyer -- for five dollars a month you can look at the seat map before booking:

The results look like this.

As a footnote, towards Budapest I found it much, much better to have a short flight first in North America then the long one. Waiting hours in the morning in Europe after the overnight transatlantic flight is brutal. I absolutely refuse to do this and check into a hotel instead if my routing is such.