To not pay to choose seats but expect to sit together?

I'd pay £20 to not be sat near mine for an hour.

Depends.

Give up my window seat for another window seat, no problem.

Give up my window seat for a middle seat, not a chance.

Funny how the swaps always mean you get an inferior seat.

LOL would a parent want to move from 1st class to economy to sit with their child, never happened!

You need to get out more 😂

But saying that, I've usually been moved from my PAID seat so that someone with a small child can sit with them, even though they've not paid extra.
So I get really annoyed about that.
Annoys the hell out of me.

It's £20, not a £100. Just pay it for peace of mind. It's not worth the stress or risking upsetting other passengers if it is w busy flight

I've always paid extra for the seats we want, and still at times been moved quite far from my family before.
They do like to promote booking your seats to state you'll get the ones you want and get the money off you, but in the small print it states they can (and do!) move you if they want to.
Really p*sses me off.
I wouldn't pay the extra. With your DCs being so young, they can't move them far from you surely.

I would be complaining if an unsupervised toddler was sitting beside me - I'd happily move.

Yes, they can and they do it all the time.

They have to seat your child nearby, but that doesn't mean directly next to you - it could mean in the row in front, behind, diagonally or across the aisle.

Don’t pay. They can’t separate you from your 2 year and seat them next to some random stranger!!! Besides the fact no other grown up would likely want a stranger toddler next to them, it’s a huge safety risk the airline wouldn’t take.

Exactly this

I still can't believe how many people are paying for something they will get for free.
And how it is apparently 'entitled' to expect to sit next to your own toddler without having to pay.

As a mother of 3, who has a horrible fear of flying, I wouldn’t move myself or my children for your stinginess. Sorry if that’s a bit blunt but I wouldn’t appreciate any sort or pressure to move as I pay to try and ease my anxiety.

I am genuinely amazed by how many people pay to choose their seat allocation. Amazed I tell you!

You should just pay.
I won't move for anyone any more because I have paid extra for my seat. Others should do the same if they want to guarantee a seat next to their child (ie. really next to the child and not "next to" as the airline sees it)

If toddler ends up sitting away from you, offer to pay £20 to whoever is next to them. A decent gamble. And doubt many people want to sit next to someone else’s small child 😊

The OP from her posts isn't your usual CF.

She was genuinely asking would the airline seat them together regardless.

The consensus suggested "maybe".

But I'm definitely in the camp of "I paid extra for this seat, no I'm not moving", and I think the majority are of that opinion now.

I haven't flown in ages, but surely, you would want an a child sat next to one of there parents, in case of an accident.
I don't get why they cannot look at a party and go 2 adults 2 child, then put kids next to 1 adult and put the other adult over the aisle. I don't a stranger would want to sit next to someone else's kid. But if your child is that young, I would probably pay £20 to be on the safe side.

This is what we do.

Pay the money if you want to guarantee your child is next to you. That’s what the fee is for. If you don’t want to guarantee it, and your child might be sat near you then that is also your choice. I don’t think you can expect anyone to move to accommodate you and your tight wallet.

Pay. It’s a cost of parenting. I’m a single mum and I always paid for my son, and on two occasions when I had a rare holiday on my own I paid to choose my own seat and on both occasions I was asked (read ‘pressurised into’) changing seats because of parents who were too tight to pay. I chose that seat because it was a rare treat and because neurodiversity means I chose it to minimise my own stress, but that was blown out if the water by selfish parents. Pay, suck it up and don’t be so entitled.

Well there you go. YANBU to not pay now until you see what seats you have been given, but say your toddler was behind you and that wasn't acceptable to you YABVU to expect someone to change on the day rather than just paying for seats now.

No. We didn't even ask.

Ha ha. I remember boarding a Jet2 flight, I paid for front row seats 1A & 1B, window and middle.
When I boarded a man was in 1B and a I said that's my seat, he said he had to sit next to his wife in 1C as she has a fear of flying.
My husband who was a few people behind me, boarded and just said to the man you're in out seatd, plese move before I ask the cabinet crew to move you... he moved without a word.
Bloody coward.

Out of interest I just checked my last 'it's almost time to fly' email from easyJet that they send a week ahead of travel or thereabouts. It had a link in it to 'change seats' even after we'd long ago checked in and been allocated ours. So check in (as soon as it opens) and if you don't like your freely allocated seats, pay to change them.

As has been said multiple times, no - they won't.

"Next to" in aircraft terms could mean in front of, behind, diagonally to or across the aisle from.