To expect to be allocated airline seats next to my kids?

[correllia]

My partner and I are off on holiday to menorca at the end of September with Monarch. They have emailed us to tell us we can check in online now, which saves time at the airport.

So far so good - but to complete the process I have to prebook my seats at the cost of £5 per seat per flight. We are on a tight budget and deliberately haven't bought the seats in advance to save the pennies.

Kiddies are 2 and 4, whilst I don't mind our sitting 2 and 2 apart from each other but looking at the seat plan even this option is fast disappearing! Can the airline force such young children to sit next to strangers?

Am I unreasonable to demand that we sit with them?

PS this is my first post, so please be genttle :-)

Yes they do andrew as you have to say if it's a child between 2 and 16, or an infant on the booking form online.

OP: I feel rather sorry for you! £40 is a lot of money to some people. I would happily move for you, you sound like the kind if person who would ask nicely :)

Ignore starlight's fantastically ignorant reply!

Infant, yes, but not all airlines ask about age above 2.

Even if they do know, if a family books after others have booked and paid for their seats - the rule of first come, first served must apply. That may mean warning the family that they may be split across an aisle or as the case may be. The only exception is the rare case of a flight so empty that for safety reasons people must spread themselves and of course in that case there will be no problem.

It isn't to save money. The prices are the prices. SOme people are additionally buying previledge. Fine if there are seats available for that. Not fine if it means a child has to fly unaccompanied or if it blackmails a family to stump up more money, which being a family means per person stumps up to quite a lot.

The implication that flights are cheap is daft. Compared to what? Compared to what they were before I was old enough to have money to buy flights?- well yes probably. But budget airlines have always existed as long as I have known about budget and their prices are set by the economy and market as it is now.

£40 is a hell of a lot of money to lots of people. It is at least one night of accomodation for the family at the places I usually go to. I resent the implication that I wouldn't notice/miss it. I would.

I do feel entitled to sit with my child. I do not feel entitled to have someone move for whom £40 is not much. But I do expect the airline to have management and policies in place that would not result in such a stand-off.

We have just flown with Monarch to Cyprus and back in the last 2 weeks. It was a very last minute booking so we didn't have time to pre-book seats (not that I would have done anyway). DC's are 5 and 3. For both journeys we were seated 3 and 1. For the outward journey we were checking in exactly 2 hours before the flight but there was a big queue and lots of people in front. Coming back we were one of the first to check in which may well have helped with the seating arrangements.

I agree with others that think this is just another way of making money. I would be pissed off if neither me or my DH were seated with our children and wouldn't neccesarily kick up a fuss but would enquire if something could be done. Why should we have to pay extra to ensure that a child sits with a parent?

Any bookings I've made we need date of birth for all members of the party. Names would mean nothing - I don't have the same last name (or indeed nationality) as my daughter.

It's simple - either follow an airline's policy or put up with the possible consequences. If you want to make a stand don't inconvenience the rest of us that see 20 quid as a tiny tiny part of a four figure sum for our holiday, choose an airline that does not charge.

Or do what we'll do next year and drive.

It's silly to say "It's just £40" or whatever. Budget airlines being budget airlines, the £40 this month will be £60 or £80 or more next time you go on holiday. It's only whenever people make a stand against these silly policies, or when trade bodies force the issue (e.g. payment card charges) than anything changes.

The price should be the price. The price of tickets for a family of four should reasonably include the expectation that said family will want to sit together. Why penalise a family on cost over say a single person, who can sit anywhere.

Would I sound horrible if I said i'd pay to be seated away from the kids?

I would either pay up now, or check in as soon as the desk opens on the day.

Why penalise a single person who has chosen to pay? Why make people pay that don't care? That's hopw the fare works - basic fare, checked-in bags, perebook seats, speedy boarding, food... don't pay for what you don't want.

If you do want it then pay. Why is that so hard?

Again, I think it depends on airline and policy.

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of booking, the airline ticket is just a agreement to get you there and any other 'luxury' like choosing a seat or meal or drinks is just that - an option and not a guarantee.

Airline travel is a misery and making sure that young children have a known relative nearby when they fly is just common sense.

Reading this has reminded me of an incident when DS was just short of two. We went on a short-haul holiday and of course he was not entitled to a seat.

Outbound, no problem, flight only two-thirds full, he got a seat. Inbound, not so good, some spare seats but getting three together was not going to be easy. For the time being we had to accept two seats.

The check-in clerk told us to make ourselves known as we boarded, which we did, and in due course saw one of the cabin crew said ?Now I can fix it for you?. He approached a couple without children, sitting next to two empties, one each side of the aisle, and spoke to them. He got up, we took the three, (I may add that DW took the odd one!) and he took one of ours. Obviously we thanked the couple.

At the end of the flight while waiting for the buggy I asked the attendant how he was so sure they would split. ?I will let you into a trade secret, Sir. They were spotted in the departure lounge. He was trying to read his book ? she was trying to make him talk. We knew he?d jump at the chance to get away from her!?

:o

"That's hopw the fare works - basic fare, checked-in bags, perebook seats, speedy boarding, food... don't pay for what you don't want"

Yes that's how it works. On a similar point, the (thankfully now being addressed) payment card charges are pretty easy to understand as well. Book a flight on a credit card - pay up to £20 for the privilege. Hard to understand - well of course not. A rip-off - yes definitely. It's only because people are so willing to pay these silly charges that the airlines can get away with it. They bank on people having your attitude.

Katiepoes: But it's not about the cost. You say if you want it then pay for it. I think it is a reasonable assumption to expect that a young child is seated with a parent. It is just common sense after all. This "pre-booking" of seats has only been introduced in the last 10 years or so. How did families cope prior to this? I never remember having to sit away from my parents. It's just another way of making money, as is the paying for inflight meals, extra leg-room, etc.

One other thing OP that you might need to factor in when flying with Monarch. We booked through a website and didn't actually know what airline we were flying with. Someone called us a few hours later to confirm the booking and it was then that we were told that the seats only included hand luggage and it was £25 per 20kilos each way. So we ended up having to pay another £150 for our cases. There was no way that I was going to pay any extra for our seats!

One done parent is mostly manageable - the OP and some others are talimg about full families. IOnline checkin is available (apart from Aer Lingus ex Amsterdam useless shower) usually 36/48 hours in adavance for NO charge. Do not just show up and expect crew and passengers to accomdate you and your brood. They most likely will, just don't assume it's your right.

And no I'm not pandering to the airlines - that is their pricing model. In my pre baby days we flew a lot with no checked in bags at stupid hours to insane airports. Would I have appreciated paying a higher base to accomodate people who want the extras? No. Now I want some of the extra so I pay.

The days of all-in with a sweetie at takeoff and a meal are in the past - the days when airlines were heavily sttae funded, losing money and still charged a small fortune to fly you anywhere.

One done? One child. Sheesh.

Definately you WOULD be allocated with seats with your children!

Might be 2 and 2.

I'd be OK with that.

We recently flew with BMI and were unable to pre- check in, we arrived 2.5 hrs before an internal flight to be told that we were all in separate seats - DS is 5. They said we could sort it out at the gate, but DH didn't want to take that chance so spoke to customer services. DS and I got to sit in the front area - no free food though, and DH was in a separate seat further back.

I wouldn't want to rely on the kindness of strangers OP, maybe you could pay for 3 to be together and at least save yourself a fiver each way ( and draw straws as to who gets the luxury lonesome seat)

Have never prebooked seats (always fly in hope I am at one end of plane and family the other ). We are family of 5, normally get a three and 2 (in front) invariably I get the three with 2 children and my husband gets peace and quiet. That said children old enough that being separated would not be too much of an issue (pity the person that gets stuck with my 8 year old). We no longer pay for inflight meals either.

As an aside, if I were seated next to a separated child, why should the airline assume I would be willing to take responsibility and care for the child? (yes I would as I am not horrible but why is that now my responsibility??)

YABU to expect to be sat together without paying, but you will find that the crew will do their utmost to avoid complaints from other passengers being made to sit next to your screaming kids seat you together. Jet2 did this with me, DH and DS2 recently (DS2 is 18).

The debate is becoming sterile.

Unless the requirement to pay an additional charge for reserving a seat is only revealed after the booking has been made then it is surely unrealistic to accept the terms of a commercial transaction and then try to wriggle out of it's requirements.

OP, as you admitted... We are on a tight budget and deliberately haven't bought the seats in advance to save the pennies.

If you don't want to pay the extra then fly with someone else. Or don't fly at all.

We've just endured a 4 hour flight with Ryan Air. We paid for priority boarding to ensure we could each take a child (DCs with ASD).

I sat on one row with DD and DH sat behind with DS.

A family got on last and the plane was full so their 8yo DD was put on the end of my row with her parents split up around the plane.

Now should we have had to split up to allow the other family to sit together?

As CustardCake says, I would be blissfully delighted quite happy to be seated apart from my children. It's the other passengers on the plane who might be a trifle hacked off about it. I assume therefore that, on the basis of "don't pay for what you don't want ... If you do want it then pay" that the other passengers should have a whip-round to pay for us to be seated together?

It's never actually been an issue, of course, because the airlines know that it's in their interest to have a parent around to supervise a child (and, of course, because safety regulations say that they should seat parents and small children together I wonder how many of the "pay extra if you want it" brigade feel that, say, hotels should charge you extra for having a room with a smoke alarm, or near to a fire escape, or where the wiring has been inspected, or if they feel in contrast that adherence to basic legal/regulatory health and safety standards should be included in the basic price). Quite often the family is split but I'm blissfully delighted-- quite happy with that too as the DCs and DH share a surname and I don't, so they are always seated with him and I get some time to myself .

OP isn't talking about full families -- she specifically says "I don't mind our sitting 2 and 2 apart from each other".

I personally NEVER pay these extra charges.

Always seem to get OK seats.

I can't imagine the air crew would have small children sat a way from parents.