Paying for seats together on a plane...would you pay?

[louisekkh]

I'm flying on a 5 hour flight in the summer with my boyfriend.
It's my first time abroad in years and I get nervous on the plane.
We are flying with TUI and it will cost £44 to pre book seats together.
Would you pay this ? Or do you think we will get sat together anyway?
I don't know what to do

I tend to travel alone. I would gladly swap into a middle seat except in a row of 5 so families or couples could sit together, but need very little legroom. If no one expects me to help navigate, or darkly warms me not to be sick on anything, it’s first class.

There’s always outraged threads on mn in the summer (or at least, pre covid), where posters have been outraged that airlines don’t put families together, even though they had the option of paying the supplement.

Pay to guarantee the seats.

A five hour flight, yes I'd pay in your circumstances.

Thank you OP for adding another airline I will never use to the list, as I think this practice is awful and should be outlawed.

@PAFMO

I've flown twice in the past week. Both flights absolutely rammed, there would have been no manoeuvre to swap around on either. It depends how important it is to you. I fly a lot and book my seats.

Was just about to say this, I've flown several times recently and all flights have been completely full.

The family ahead of us were separated and tried to swap seats around. Cabin crew said 'it's a full flight, no swapping possible' and shut it down immediately.

We were sat 2 and 2 with two small children

@Nutrigrainygoodness

I would book seats. I'm flying with TUI and to book my seats was free? Unless I wanted leg room. We are going away in June (booked last September) I went to choose our seats on the plane ages ago (maybe January) and it was already more than half booked up. Struggled to find 3 seats together that weren't over the wing.

It is no longer free with Tui - at least not from Gatwick to Greece. I booked a fortnight ago and had to pay for seats.

I just view it as part of my holiday and include it in my pricing when looking for a holiday now.

We book seats, and after seeing various families being split up (always to centre seats in a 3!), we will always include seat bookings.

Definitely pre book the seats. Some CF may then come along and suggest that you move so that their party can sit together but dont budge to accommodate the disorganised cheapskates.

Decide whether it's worth the risk to be separated or if you'd rather pay.

I just see it as part of the cost of flying and pay for it as I'd be much more comfortable sitting next to DH than sitting next to a total
stranger.

However every flight I've been on seems to have someone on it who refuses to pay and then gets snotty when none of the pre-payers want to move for them

So either pay for peace of mind, or don't pay but accept that will quite possibly mean you spend the whole flight apart. Don't refuse to pay then expect other people to move for you - there's honestly no guarantee you'll be seated together.

It's risky not to pay unless you're a single adult with a child under 5, in which case you're probably ok since no one wants to sit next to an unaccompanied small child likely to cause chaos unless actively parented.

Yes I’d pay- tui will have lots of families who have paid, High chance of random seats apart

We always pay, grudgingly.

I pay with the kids but not sure I’d bother if we didn’t have them with us

It is a total rip off but other than business oriented flights where most people are on their own, the majority of people get sucked in and pay. Which means those who don’t pay are more likely to be split up.

Depends on the airline but I don’t think Easyjet deliberately split you up. Ryanair def sometimes do.

If it's important to you then yes you need to pay. Personally, I'd take my chances.

Nope, just got back from a week away with dh and did not pay on Ryanair, saved the cash to add to the holiday budget. You're spending the holiday with him, what's a few hours on a plane when you'll probably have your headphones on or be asleep

I would, as you will likely be allocated the single seats apart. It’s peak time so the plane is likely to be busy. They rely on people not paying so they can give them the random seats left.

@fungibletoken

I think it might have changed and I think the only way to be sure is to pay. We flew with TUI recently as a couple and I set an alarm so we could check in as soon as it was possible to do so. We were allocated seats across the aisle from each other, rather than right next to each other, even though most of the plane was still available to book at that point. We decided not to pay and when we turned up for the flight there were a number of free seats/rows that meant we could have been put together. I've never had that from TUI before - we've always been together without having to pay - so expect it's new. We saw several other couples in the same situation on the way out and back. We were allocated seats together on the way back.

For most airline being across the aisle from each other counts as “together”. Most short haul planes have three seats on each side so a family of four would have one person on the other side of the aisle. Thus as “together” as they can be.

I’m flying with Tui in September with DH and two DC, I can log in to the booking and it shows what seats are already booked and the flight is quite empty so far. I’ll keep an eye on it and if it’s looking very busy I’ll pay, but if not I’ll happily take the risk of being split up.

We pay. My parents didn’t on a flight with TUI to Mexico and spent a 10 hour flight at opposite ends of the plane.. they pay for seats now together.

Pay for peace of mind. I am on another holiday related forum and every year there are complaints about being split up because people didn’t pay and when they check in there are only single seats left.

Yes I'd pay for 5 hours.

I was led to believe that some airlines deliberately seat people apart to encourage people to pay but I don't know if that is true but it wouldn't surprise me.

It is annoying and I can see no reason why seats cannot be allocated / chosen at the time of booking. It's not as though they are working it all out on scraps of paper - or are they? 😮

On most airlines this is possible (if you pay)
No there is no reason to charge . Back in the day this was unheard of.
But the extra money generated by the seat selection helps the airline keep the headline fare “low”. See also baggage and food. Once upon a time baggage and food were included, seat selection wasn’t but you got round that by checking in early.

I always pay for seats, it's worth it to me

Pay if it is important to you.

I don’t book but this is because they legally have to sit children with parents so I know we’ll be together. I do think it’s unfair on people to be made to book for a seat they’ve already purchased!