I effed up our holiday

[poppysgalore]

Flying out tomorrow on easyJet - family of five - first time on easyJet- had no idea we had to book our seats in advance. Just logged in and seen there's only random single seats left. Except for two rows that are near the fire exits so can't be allocated to under 16s. I'm gutted ! What do we do now , my youngest is 7 and the flight is 6 hours long. How could I be so stupid and not know this.

Good for you, but that doesn't negate the legitimate reasons others have for their preferences, be it the view, proximity to the front of the plane, claustrophobia, ability to get to the toilet quickly or just liking one side of the plane better than the other.

Everyone has the same opportunity to book early, select seats and pay if need be.

Would you though if you’d paid for yours and the person asking you to move hadn’t? I always pay to be next to my children, if someone then asked me to move I wouldn’t and I’d probably say ‘because I’ve paid for this seat’ as an explanation. I just don’t get it, every time you book a budget airline there’s always a section before check out asking if you want to book seats. Take your chance but frankly it’s daft to expect you’ll get lucky each time.

Sorry OP but yes with EasyJet I always make a note on my calendar to check in and book seats min it opens - as others have said depends on other passengers moving and work multiple
seats more difficult - make sure kids have iPads / books etc and can walk and check on them. Flight last week mother and daughter separated and best they managed was mum six rows behind, daughter was a bit upset at first but settled quickly, it won’t spoil your holiday

I actually wouldn't mind being asked if I would be willing to swap by someone, as long as they graciously and unquestioningly then accept my no and move on. That's not pressure. Pressure is when they then try to argue it and make you the bad guy.

It seems in this instance it was a genuine mistake. Just saying that there may be others who havent pre paid/ booked their seats and would be willing to move, I would, as its not right for young children to be seated away from their parents.

I know the OP hasn’t come back on this and is hopefully enjoying her family holiday.

But I will never understand the mentality of people who refuse to pay for their family to sit together, but then ask others who have paid to swap seats.

It doesn’t matter that some think the airlines are having a wheeze asking people to pay for seats. It’s just how it is and has been for ages. Menu pricing.

If you can afford flights for a holiday you can afford to pay for seats. If not pot luck. But don’t expect others who have paid to subsidise your wants that you have chosen to not pay for irrespective of the age of your children.

It’s also baffling the argument that some parents put forward of the safety, comfort, reassurance necessary for them all to be together and taken into account. Yes sure I agree. That’s exactly why you can pay to do exactly this.
But if you don’t value this financially, why on earth would you expect others to accommodate your seat desires that you have chosen to not prioritise when they have and paid for this service.

You haven’t ruined the holiday! Everyone does this once. This happened to us when our flight was cancelled and we all had to fly on standby for the next one. It was absolutely fine. Other people had to look after my children who were 5 and 7 at the time. It was quite relaxing in fact. I’m amazed that the airlines allow it though. I don’t know who would be responsible for putting oxygen masks on or getting them off the plane in an emergency.

I don't think many people would think twice about saving themselves before some random child sitting next to them. Survival instinct is strong. You're lucky if the people next to your children actually looked after them.

OP, l hope you had a good flight which turned out to be stress free. It’s easy to miss things and different carriers have different rules, so don’t beat yourself up. For example BA will only let you check in 24 hours before the flight.

Many of us live in a world of email overload and spam. For future trips, why not create an email account solely for travel bookings which both of you have access too? You can then both cross check the situation. The responsibility should not be left to just one person if you are a couple.

Enjoy your holiday. x

If you can afford flights for a holiday you can afford to pay for seats. If not pot luck. But don’t expect others who have paid to subsidise your wants that you have chosen to not pay for irrespective of the age of your children.

Exactly right @friendlycat

They tell you on the planes to do your own mask before you help the person next to you, why wouldn't you?

You've got around 60 seconds at certain altitudes,, why risk passing out first and being of no help because you've spent that time helping everyone else. Takes seconds to get your own mask on, then you can help without risking yourself

The details about checking in with easyjet are literally on the confirmation email they send you and any subsequent emails following that.

It sounds like the OP booked it and never bothered reading anything else so all her own doing and then suddenly the post is filled with people which can't see any wrong in making someone move who paid extra for a service they refused to but want the benefit of the service

@YellowphantGrey

They tell you on the planes to do your own mask before you help the person next to you, why wouldn't you?
You've got around 60 seconds at certain altitudes,, why risk passing out first

Going off at a tangent but for general info and as a bit of a health warning: If the cabin depressurizes to ambient external pressure at typical airliner cruising altitude 60 seconds useful consciousness is the absolute maximum you might have, it can be a heck of lot less.

At the high cruising levels you see on some types, especially some Long Haul aircraft, the time available can be down at around 15 seconds…depends on circumstances and the individual.

That is why, as you rightly say, the advice is always to get your own mask on first before assisting anybody else.

Hard to imagine this now, but back in the early 90s, before online was even a thing, I misread the 24 hour clock and we were the last to check in for a flight back from Florida. DH and our older children were dotted round the plane, our 10 year old DS and I ended up together - bang in the middle of the smoking section. 😂 A few hours of sitting in that stinky blue fug and we both ended up with eye infections. I’ve been very careful around flight times and check ins since then!

I know the details are on the confirmation. The OP made a mistake.

l did not suggest other people should move, l tried to offer a few (hopefully) kind words and make a suggestion for the future. So why quote me?

For the record, l always select my seat when l book (travel regularly for work) and don’t expect to be asked to move.

Because you said the emails are easy to overlook with the checking in details on and to set up a folder so I was letting you know that with the airline she used, they tell you on the booking confirmation email and all subsequent emails and the reason it wasn't taken any notice of is because OP deleted them all without reading.

I quote you because I was responding to you, exactly the same way you've quoted and responded to me. It's how forums work.

I also never said that you said other people should move, I said other people on this thread, which if you read back, you will also see the same.

Honestly not sure why you're so confrontational about this?! Are you ok?

Ooh, a little bit of passive-aggresiveness, just when the thread was becoming tedious....

Hope the flight went OP!

Did you book a package holiday with easyJet, I'm sure the flight stuff doesn't come up on initial booking.

Very well thank you!

PS: l understand fully about how forums work and about how the aviation industry works. I also understand how people (myself included, very much so) make errors. To quote my late mother “we don’t tell people off for making mistakes”. But l did not suggest that people should swap seats for the OP’s family.

The OP got it wrong, she accepts that, but a little kindness to her along the way does no harm, especially when she is handling things she’s not used to.

@StarlightLady oh this is mumsnet, no such thing as kindness around here ! It's where all the people who wouldn't dare say such things face to face come out of the woodwork!

Anyway omg hello everyone ! 🤣

@poppysgalore weve made this mistake before first time we flew together. Managed to swap both ways so one of us adults could sit with our DC with staff at the airport check in.

My theory was that no adult is going to want to sit next to someone else’s noisy/excited/distressed kids anyway and if they do refuse to swap it’s on them! Good luck entertaining my child for 6 hours!!

Good luck entertaining your child for 6 hours?!

Why on earth do you think someone sat next to your child wants to even interact with them, nevermind entertain them?!

The mind boggles sometimes with people's sense of entitlement

I was being tongue in cheek. Implying that someone is unlikely to want to sit next to someone else’s child any more than I would want to sit separately to my child. Good grief! It’s too early on a Sunday to already be looking for ways to be offended by strangers online 🙄

weve made this mistake before first time we flew together

I would not call it making a mistake. I would call it deliberately opting out of seat selection at least three times