Plane seats - refused to swap

Totally agree with this.

You book in 24 hours before you fly on condition you will accept a seat anywhere, thats because you havent paid to book seats.

If I had been in the same situation I would have pre booked and paid. In the grand scheme of things it probably wasn't that much. It would have saved tons of stress and anxiety. To be honest to expect people to swap what could have been prevented is unreasonable. Blame the husband put it in the experience drawer and overrule him next time.

Sometimes something is outside of your control and unfortunately in that situation you won’t get any sympathy from others.

I was relocating my family (three DC) to another country and we had our flights (and seats) booked months in advance. A last minute change to the plane type and a seat being out-of-order meant that we all got split up. One of my kids had only just turned 2 and it was a total nightmare to rearrange on the flight.

Don't book through 3rd party vendors, check the price and then book through the airline. While booking, pick your seats. Might cost a bit more but you won't be begging or looking for a hug on social media

Worrying about people videoing you is a little over the top, unless you were being an utter arsehole and demanding people move, then anyone with any sense will see you were simply a worried mother.

What are airlines required to do about family seating?
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which regulates aviation safety in the UK, doesn't have any specific rules about seating families together but it does recommend that "the seating of children close by their parents or guardians should be the aim of airline seat allocation for family groups"
.
CAA advises: "Young children and infants who are accompanied by adults should ideally be seated in the same row as the adult. Where this is not possible, child should be separated by no more than 1 seat row from accompanying adults.

https://www.madeformums.com/school-and-family/how-to-sit-families-together-on-a-flight/

your husband is a dick, a knob and every other epithet thats been applied here.

of course it was uncomfortable to have your young children sitting away from you but its not he end of the world and you need to get some perspective on it.

More than anything else you need to grow a back bone. If my husband had done this he would be living through the 7 circles of hell if he was not grovelling and apologising and ensuring that the same thing would not happen on the return flights. His "old fashioned views" on what women are capable of would have been disabused before I had even married him.

I always book via a 3rd party and haven't so far had a problem. Thinking it must be one particular airline

Short of calling the airline and hoping they'll help you, flight locator or not....even Easyjet let you checkin 30 days prior and not the day before. Plus you can book seats earlier than that

What a horrible relationship you have lady. Move away and get your own money. Pay for your tickets!! Oh it was a 3rd party oh 24hrs before. Yes you all are playing it cheap. He was damn happy sitting alone wasn't he? You are just making excuses

That must have been so stressful. I think it would have put the kids together, assuming they get on ok. At least neither would be sitting in their own.

They refused to swap because they had PAID for their seats. Expecting other people to swap at your convenience is incredibly entitled.

If he won’t give you the reference details, so you can book seats together, tell him you’ll book new flights.

Check in opens weeks before a flight so he had plenty of time, also pay for seats together it’s not hard

he clearly can’t doing without messing up so don’t see why he is bothered it you messing it up

I don't know why everyone says you have to pay to sit with your kids....I have never had to pay to sit with my family, I just ensure I check in online as soon as Check in opens...exactly what you were explaining you (well your husband) was trying to do, though this seems to have been missed by some - you did make it clear & shouldn't have had to explain it again.

Your husband sounds like a controlling a$$ who is dismissive of you & pretty derogatory about you.... But as your primary issue is the sitting with your kids on flights, I'm going to avoid saying anymore about those huge red flags or by telling you one way to ensure you sit with your kids on flights is to leave your husband, then you will be booking your holidays yourself ;) & instead concentrate on what you can do in your current situation - in all honesty not a lot, if your husband as lead passenger won't give you the information you need to do it, other than less honest methods, getting into his emails & getting the info you need or else telling him, "well I couldn't mess it up any more than that flight, & us all sit seperately again, so may as well let me have a go" but something tells me you may not have the sort of relationship that you could say something like that without repercussion???

Selfish arseholes who booked and paid extra for their seats together in advance, unlike OP’s DH?

This is what people hate, families not paying (unlike others) and assuming that they can use emotional blackmail of not splitting a family up to force other people to move. The more entitled people I hear of this, the more I will never move.

Would it have worked if you put the girls next to each other ?

Not selfish arseholes especially when they’ve paid to choose their seats

Not helpful to you now, but never leave it until 24 hours before and assume you even can book seats together. If most people have already chosen their seats, there simply might not be any. When we went on holiday in July, I checked in to both flights a whole month before we flew and chose and paid for the seats then. It cost me an extra £8.50 per seat each way and we had a row of 3 and the first one on the next aisle.
Your DP is an arse though and should take responsibility for his mess up!

I'm so sorry to hear your dilemma. We just got back from Canada with Air Transat and by default we were all put together (family of 6) so I think it depends on the airline. I can't imagine what went through your head on that flight thinking about your daughter between two male strangers. If it was me I would have asked others too if they could be kind enough to help out as I wouldn't want to compromise my children's safety. I'm quite shocked that the staff didn't help you out more. Sorry I can't offer you any advice, but I just hope you have a restful break and you can move past this. Sending love and hugs xx

Just pay for your seats in advance and don't be so tight £££

Complaining that you couldn't get seats together is your own fault

Your husband sounds like hard work!!

However I never understand why parents do not book and pay for seat in advance. I always did this.

I would not move either unless someone pays me for the seat I paid for or if the seat is much better. Harsh but it is what it is

The first thing a parent does when booking flights is to ensure family seats together especially with children of that age .
the sitting together is very important I think .
so you are not being unreasonable .
if there are no seats together , then book another flight .
as simple as that

I’m intrigued. You’ve spent possibly 100s of pounds to select your parties seats and you would happily give them to someone who decided not to pay that extra cost?

I feel for you but your husband was being tight to save a couple of hundred quid. The online check in 24 hours before isn’t really the point. There may have been a couple of seats left together at this point, but they may have already gone. Most people pay for their seats when they book the holiday, you select them then too. So people will have paid a lot for, and chosen their seats maybe a year or more before the flight. The airline will happily take the money of those willing to pay and won’t reserve seats for families that choose not to pay to sit together.
My husband is tight too, but this would be a non-negotiable for me. We would pay for our seats when we booked the holiday or I wouldn’t go. No way would I want to risk my kids sitting alone.
I hope they can sort something out for you but try not to get your hopes up. Could always get some cash and offer to pay someone to move?
Reimburse them the cost of their reserved seat?
Next time make sure you are booking the holiday with him and pay for your seats when booking.