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

SIL just came back from her holiday and her 8 year old was seated in front of her.

Luckily a kind lady offered to swap.

Just book the seats.

You will if cabin crew tell you to

I had to - and I had paid.

OP pay for the seat please

Also, surely not fair on other passengers to sit next to an unsupervised toddler with parent 2 rows away living life and having a nice drink.

You can skip seat selection in the easyJet app, it's optional. Never in a million years would I pay to select seats as it's just me and DH and we couldn't care if we're not sat next to each other (although we are always allocated together anyway).

You'd be sat next to the parent of that child. Not an unaccompanied 2 year old. I know what I'd prefer.

We had to give up paid reserved seats for families on at least 2 flights because they knew they would be seated together anyway

These airlines need to be shamed in the media.

Either insist on customers sitting in their allocated seats, or make it the official policy that children are seated next to their parents without charge,

It is the fact they allow some people to get the service for free, whilst others pay for it that pisses me off the most.

I flew to Tenerife with easyJet a few months ago, paid for my preferred seat (at the back, isle seat specifically😂) and was asked to move as a woman with toddlers (twins!) was sat next to one toddler on our row and the other toddler was placed in the seat directly in front next to the window.

I really wasn't prepared to swap my isle seat for a window seat. It was so annoying and caused a half hour delay to the flight trying to sort it out.

In theory yes they should put you together but sometimes they won't! For £20 I would just pay it to save the hassle in case.

A lot of people here don't seem to grasp the concept of 'no frills' and understand how low cost airlines work.

"What about if you suddenly had the responsibility of a random 2 year old that wasn't yours next to you without their parent?"

Not my responsibility, that's why the call-buttons are there to summon staff.

Just pay the money. The peace of mind will be worth it.

The OP can check in with easyJet online a whole month before she goes, and know what her seat numbers are with a month to change them if necessary.

Just pay for the seats FFS. Airplanes are chaotic and the more seats that are booked in advance, the easier it is for staff to keep things organised.

Then the airline should just fucking include seat selection at point of booking within price, like they used to. Or simply allocate the seats automatically that groups are seated together.

All this crap about splitting bits of the price off to try and kid you into thinking its cheap is such a swindle. We should make it hard work for the airline to implement, to deter them from doing it.

If I’ve paid, I’m sitting where I am.

I can't believe the people saying they wouldn't move! I'd rather sit on a wing than next to a stranger's 2 year old for a flight

It is the principle. The more people enable certain parents to be CFs the more they will do it.

Just pay for the seats FFS. Airplanes are chaotic and the more seats that are booked in advance, the easier it is for staff to keep things organised. They do not have a system where ages of passengers are flagged up so they can "shadow reserve" rows of seats for families. A delayed checkin, change of aircraft or some kind of last min issue can throw everything apart.

We had to give up paid reserved seats for families on at least 2 flights because they knew they would be seated together anyway.

What about if you suddenly had the responsibility of a random 2 year old that wasn't yours next to you without their parent?

I never pay. For safety reasons they will seat you with your child. Worst case your two year old could be across aisle which is fine.

Just pay the £20, why should I be asked to change seats for you just because I don’t have children.

But if you’re in a couple and one moves the other one will still likely be sat next to the 2 year old. Just on their own!

I really don't want to spend another £20 on choosing seats if it's unnecessary.

It is necessary though, isn't it? It's essential that your 2yo sits next to you, so pay the money.

Think about the crew. You may be just one of multiple families doing this, all expecting the crew to find people who may have booked to split up to accommodate them.
I really feel sorry for crew stuck between families expecting this and airlines fleecing people for any extras.

I'd pay not to sit next to my child lol. Surely they can't sit them next to strangers? Who would supervise them?

In principle, I don't think you should have to pay, but that's not the situation you're in.

I would definitely pay and get it sorted, because otherwise there is the potential that there'll be difficulties on the day, and someone who has paid for their seat will end up being asked to move in order to accommodate you. That's not fair on them, and who needs that sort of confrontation and atmosphere at the start of your holiday?

Both times I have been on easyjet at half term we have a 20 minute delay when people were moved to ensure people were sat together. Both times the threat was used that the plane would not take off until it was sorted

Why is that necessary?

Do the parents kick up a fuss and demand to be seated together? IF so then the crew need to boot them off the flight.

Or do the crew require children under a certain age to be next to a parent? If that is the case their seating should automatically allocated when they book the fights, even if they do not pay for it.

We were deliberately separated on a recent Wizz Air flight.

At the check-in desk, I asked if we could sit together, but was told it could only be sorted by the cabin crew. Not a problem.
But it was nonsense, the ground staff could have sorted it without the tight-fisted & entitled parents causing a delay in take-off.