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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Per booked seats £££££

45 replies

Loveagoodbargain · 13/01/2013 15:18

AIBU to think that the new aviation law is a joke? My travel agent told me that the aviation law states that a child must sit next to an adult on a flight but it does not have to be the adult with whom they are travelling.So my children could end up sitting next to ANYBODY on a flight unless we stump up £60 to pre book the seats together. If this is true it is the world gone mad and greedy travel companies are squeezing more money out of people going on holiday. Is this law for real...?

OP posts:

gordyslovesheep · 13/01/2013 15:20

I would pay NOT to sit next to my 3 ...

CheCazzo · 13/01/2013 15:22

@ gordy

Imagine being the person who finds themself sat next to a stranger's child on an overnight flight. Think they'd be happy?

By the way OP - I don't know about this - do you have a link to the story?

Isityouorme · 13/01/2013 15:23

I thought an adult travelling with a child has to be seated with that adult, though this could mean across an aisle. Check with the airline direct or their policy on seating families.

Gigondas · 13/01/2013 15:24

I think Isit is right- you may be across the aisle or your family may be split across rows but sadly I don't think you get gordys fantasy .

gordyslovesheep · 13/01/2013 15:36

I never pre book because they seriously would NEVER sit any of my 3 away from me - can you imagine! One always has to sit across the isle and that is bad enough

I dream of flying without constant fights, niggles, wriggling, poking, moaning etc etc

RafflesWay · 13/01/2013 15:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fuckadoodlepoopoo · 13/01/2013 15:48

Bloody hell is that true?!

KingPhilsWench · 13/01/2013 16:08

In the summer we went to Majorca, jet2 kindly sat my 21/2 year old away from me. Despite on booking forms asking for a nominated adult in charge. Luckily they sat her with my mother, we had to swop seats on the plane before take off ( to the stewardesses annoyance ) my child's not the quite type, she won't sit still for two minutes and I wouldn't wish her on anybody - especially a random stranger. I can just about entertain her on a 4hour max flight. I won't pay to pre book seats this year, I'm 100% certain if they separate us this time the adult beside her will happily agree to switch seats!

3littlefrogs · 13/01/2013 16:11

This happened to us on a longhaul flight. The adult who was lucky enough to have my (4 yr old) dd seated next to him was more than happy to swap with me.

ifancyashandy · 13/01/2013 16:36

Mostly I'd swap seats to accommodate if they did split young children up from their parents. However, not if I've also had to pay and have chosen a specific seat for a specific reason (I have long legs and long haul can be very uncomfortable - especially if flying over night).

I'd pre pay to be on safe side if I were you.

ProudAS · 13/01/2013 16:46

Never mind children and parents - airlines are not required to sit conjoined twins together!

PickledInAPearTree · 13/01/2013 16:48

Get speedy boarding instead?

Though I've been on flights and they've asked people to switch around. People normally oblige target than sit next to a random toddler.

ShellyBoobs · 13/01/2013 17:25

I won't pay to pre book seats this year, I'm 100% certain if they separate us this time the adult beside her will happily agree to switch seats!

So, someone else who has paid to book a particular seat will have to waste that money by swapping with you?

SquinkiesRule · 13/01/2013 17:29

This happened once to us. Flying London to Manchester so very short flight. Ds was 3 and sat behind me with a very nice young man. We all had isle seats, only just made the flight connection so no choice. Ds had a blast, they guy talked to him and helped him open his snack I could hear everything they said, and Dh was across the isle from him.

SassySask · 13/01/2013 17:31

Is this economy class?
If so, that is shocking! But you should definitely pay just in case you can't swap with anyone. Don't be one of those parents who think everyone else on the plane should accommodate you.

BrandonFlowersHoHoHo · 13/01/2013 17:35

Oh God, my first time last summer on a Ryanair flight was utter chaos because of families being split up. I didnt know you didn't get a seat number flying with them unless you paid a tenner each. A family boarded and there was only seats all split up. The dad was shouting at the staff and we nearly missed our slot. Never again. Sorry a bit unrelated to the OP but I've been put off flying for life after flying with Ryanair.

TidyDancer · 13/01/2013 17:38

The majority of flights I have been on, there have only been a few people that have bothered paying to reserve seats. If you're not willing to pay, just get there ridiculously early to ensure you are high up in the queue.

CloudsAndTrees · 13/01/2013 17:51

Aviation law is concerned with passenger safety, not young children and how they are going to be kept entertained.

I'd do a bit of research on the airline you are using. Depending on the age if your children, the majority of airlines will ask passengers to swop to allow children to be with parents, if they even seat you apart when you check in.

Whether you pay or not depends on what sort of flight and what sort of holiday you are doing. If you are likely to be on a flight with lots of other families, it might be worth paying the money, as if enough others have then the only seat that will be left will be singles or two together.

gingergaskell · 13/01/2013 17:59

Not sure if this is still the case, but when I lived in HK there were a number of threads on an expat forum about seating your children in a different CLASS from you {on long haul flights}!!

Most airlines WOULD allow it. IE parents put themselves in business or first class and their children in economy. This was possible from 5 years of age.....
To be fair most seemed to do it with their helper {IE an adult} in economy class with their children if they were younger, but still!

So Gordy, if that is still the case you are in luck!

fuckadoodlepoopoo · 13/01/2013 18:49

Aviation law is concerned with passenger safety, not young children and how they are going to be kept entertained.

Isn't it the best interests of child safety for a child to be sat with who they are travelling?! Rather than some random person!

What happens in an emergency otherwise? You would be relying on a stranger to make sure your child was strapped in and to get their oxygen mask on! Im sure in most cases the stranger would be great but there are reasons that we don't leave our kids and their safety up to any stranger we meet in the street.

From my experience some people on flights get rather drunk. Would i choose to leave my child in the care of a drunk person? No. But if they are not sitting with me then i can't physically care for them so the best they have is drunk person.

What if the stranger says cunt every other word? Pretty sure that the babysitters i use don't say cunt but apparently its unreasonable to expect to have choice over whether or not random person on plane that is forced to have my child sitting next to them is someone i know, trust and know not to be pissed, say cunt a lot or worse.

I've never heard of a child being molested on a plane but it could easily happen, i should know. It can happen in the same room as carers so why not on a plane? It can happen anywhere and in a matter of seconds. Kids aren't even allowed to sit on Santas lap anymore which i think is really over the top considering that the parent is right there with them, but we are supposed to leave our kids on the other side of a plane with someone who the only knowledge we have of them is that they own a passport. All so that it doesn't inconvenience the airlines.

13Iggis · 13/01/2013 18:56

I would not agree to look after someone else's child, sat next to me, in the event of an accident. (Obviously if it happened I would, wouldn't leave them on the plane, but I mean I would refuse to take that responsibility - which is what effectively they are asking if they seat a child next to you and away from its parents.
Op there was a really long (and heated!) thread on this topic on mumsnet in the past, might be worth searching for it as lots of people's experiences on it.

CloudsAndTrees · 13/01/2013 21:49

In reality, it's in the best interests of everyone's safety for parents to be sitting near their children. In the event of an evacuation, parents going in the wrong direction to find their children isn't going to help anyone.

These things are open to so many variations of circumstances though, mainly the age of the child. I wouldn't want to be seated next to someone else's 3yo, and would refuse to take responsibility for them or move if I'd paid to sit somewhere particular. And if I'd paid more or got to the airport extra early so that I could sit next to my DH on a flight, I definitely wouldn't move for the sake of a 7yo who could read or play on their iPod.

If you are worried enough about who is going to be seated next to your child, then it's up to you to pay the charge.

maisiejoe123 · 14/01/2013 15:14

Forget about children! I have seen some adults kicking off when they cannot sit next to each other (but dont want to pay to guarantee it!). Last year I was on a 4 hour flight and a couple got on late. They couldnt next to each other. The woman burst into tears and the man started shouting and saying the plane wouldnt go anywhere until they could sit together.

Someone eventually stood up and said they were delaying the flight with all of this marklarky and they eventually sat down but honestly, flights have never been this cheap and consequently some people still expect all of the perks and extras they had with flights costing 2-3 times as much.

MinesaBottle · 14/01/2013 15:30

God, I'd happily sit apart from my DH, last time we were on a long flight he was really grumpy. Give me a child to sit next to anytime!

floatyjosmum · 14/01/2013 15:40

thing is if you risk not paying and your dc is sat next to another adult that person may not be willing to swap if they are sat next to their own dc also!

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