are airlines splitting up travelers on purpose?

Last week, my partner and I booked a quick flight to visit our daughter. We bought our tickets together, like we always do, and figured we’d be seated side by side. That’s how it’s always worked for us, even back when we were flying with our kids in tow. But lately, every time we fly, we end up in totally different rows. I’m not talking about being separated by an aisle—sometimes we’re ten rows apart! It’s not just us, either. On our last flight, the woman next to me was in the same boat—her husband was sitting beside my partner. We all laughed and figured we’d just swap seats. Problem solved, right? Well, apparently not. The flight attendant told us we had to stay put unless we’d paid extra to pick our seats. Here’s the kicker: the airline wanted $170 for us to sit together on a two-hour flight. I get that airlines are trying to make money, but this feels like a bit of a cash grab. I never had to pay extra just to sit with my spouse before. Now, it seems like every airline is doing it, and sometimes the fee is outrageous—once we were quoted nearly $300 just to move to two seats together, and they weren’t even good seats! I can’t help but wonder if this is all intentional. Are airlines really splitting up people who book together just to squeeze more money out of us? It’s not just an inconvenience—it feels a little sneaky. Has anyone else noticed this happening more since the pandemic? Or is it just my bad luck? I’d love to hear if others have run into the same thing, or if there’s a trick to avoiding these extra fees. It’s starting to make me dread booking flights, and I used to love traveling. #airlinetravel #travelproblems #familytravel #Travel