To not book reserved flight seats for us and the kids?

[LittlePudding1]

Hi, I have a 6 year old and a 3 year old and was under the impression that even if we weren't all sat together together on a plane they would sit me with 1dc and dh with the other but a couple of people have told me they can sit you anywhere. Surely they wouldn't sit a 3 year old away from a parent and next to a random stranger, would they?

I would rather move than have to take responsibility for someone else's child - you inevitably would have to help with the seatbelt or get help if they were sick/needed a wee etc.

What happened with the family chasingsquirrels?

For the OP, it very much depends on the airline. We paid priority boarding for Ryan air coming back from Tenerife, then they boarded the flight stupidly early and as it was a quiet airport there were no departure calls, we ended being at the back of the queue anyway. Thankfully the staff were pleasant and sorted it out for us so all 3 of us were together ( think DH was hoping that they could only find 2 seats together).

I can see why people other than young families want to sit together or have medical conditions which require them to sit together. I'd happily move if it didn't inconvenience me and if I hadn't paid for priority boarding or a specific seat though. A few friends are going to Rome in September and I don't give two hoots where I sit, the chance to be on a flight uninterrupted is sheer bliss to me.

Why take the risk? Just pay the extra for peace of mind.

I should add that in our case, nobody had paid to reserve specific seats - they had paid for priority boarding (this was a few years ago and you weren't able to reserve seats on Ryanair back then). So we weren't asking people to swap seats that they had paid for, we were asking them if we could sit next to our children - the lady who wouldn't move so I could comfort my screaming 2yo was particularly unpleasant but it was the attitude of the airline staff that annoyed and upset me the most. We were last to board the plane because the check-in staff couldn't find our booking on the computer system, which certainly wasn't our fault.

I agree that families should be seated together without having to pay extra - your child, your responsibility. But there is no guarantee of this OP, so I think you will have to pay for specific seats .... Yes, Ryanair will happily seat your 3yo next to a random stranger unfortunately.

So would those saying they wouldn't move for a family be happy to sit next to someone else's toddler?

Sitting with a parent could mean the row in front or across an aisle. Always pays to prebook and not expect people who have paid to sit together to move.

Maybe it should work that if someone who has paid for their seats ends up having to move to accommodate a family, that family should refund them the price of priority boarding. Seems only fair.

No I will not be moved. I pay for this service and I don't see why I should be guilt tripped into moving. And yes this has happened, but I refused point blank. It's not my fault if people don't book, and/or show up at the very, very last minute as happened the last time a call went out to switch seats. The family weren't even appologetic. They were pushy and demanding, and laughing that they were late because of all the shopping they were doing.

"So would those saying they wouldn't move for a family be happy to sit next to someone else's toddler?"

No, not happy, but I wouldn't move, because doing so would be to leave my 14yo ASD DS or my 9yo DD on their own. Why should my DCs be disadvantaged because someone else was either too tight or too stubborn to fork out for reserved seating?

YANBU OP - can't believe the number of people who think you are. Just because some airlines charge extra for you to pick a seat/get on early enough to pick a seat doesn't mean that your payment overrides safety (and common sense!) concerns. Safety for all passengers should always come first, your personal seating preference and the amount an airline chooses to squeeze out of you to give you the impression you can have your preference accommodated comes AFTER.

How many who pay extra to get choice of seats and think that parents who don't should be split up from young children would like to try and calm an extremely distressed toddler once a bit of turbulence occurs? Or try and evacuate a young child if the plane needs to be cleared urgently when the child has no idea who you are, what you're trying to do and only wants their parent? Or try to evacuate your own seat when an anxious parent panicking and trying to find their child is determined to go through you if necessary to do so? Or take responsibility for a child who copiously vomits all over themselves and you? Or just be sat next to a whinging toddler with permanent snot dribbles for four hours? Or can these things never happen on a flight you're on?

Have no sympathy for a family of 23 who want to be seated all together just because but it's basic safety to put any young child in a seat next to their parent and if that means the airline can't honour your seating choice then complain to them and demand your money back (or refuse to pay what is little more than mini extortion), don't expect the parent to join you in paying.

Interesting policy on the part of the airlines.

In the event of an emergency it would get very sticky.

Parents would be trying to get up and down to get to their toddlers.
People sitting next to said toddlers could not be relied on to look after them with oxygen and stuff.
Kids would be absolutely freaking out lights out plane going down or whatever and no-one to look after them. So potentially getting up out of their seats if they could and trying to find parent.

not sure why the airlines think this is a good idea. Something goes wrong, no-one looks after child and as a result child dies, airline is screwed surely?

We are going BA in the summer and have checked and it said they will allocate seats in pairs for people with young children automatically.

Flew ryanair the other day and it was fine, I have to say I would rather sway than be responsible for someone else's child in an emergency / know that if I wasn't arsed then I'd be in the papers for being an utter shit.

I would always pay to reserve seats as the stress otherwise just wouldn't be worth it.

However no way would I sit there puffed up with self righteousness if a TODDLER was going to be on their own. Fuck what the parents should or shouldn't have done, it's just having some basic decency. Unless you yourself have small kids or special circumstances then FFS what does it really matter if you shift seats?

This 'wild horses wouldn't move me' attitude is pretty depressing. This seat's MINE, it's all MIIIIINE!!!!!

Umm I wouldn't bet on it nicetabard for BA.

Last time we flew with them with DS age 5 at the time I couldn't book in online as the place we were staying with didn't have a working computer. We rocked up to the airport only to discover we had 3 separate seats and they wanted to leave it until boarding for the cabin crew to sort out.

DH does a nice line in assertive silence. After five minutes tap tapping, we were assigned two seats together and one separate.

Googlyeyes, I agree. I'd be peed off if I had paid for a seat and a family rocked up and hadn't paid, but when it comes down to it, if I wasn't with DS, then I would swap if they had a child under 8. I would complain to the airline and demand my speedy boarding money back, mind you with Ryanair would probably cost me more to do that than I'd get refunded, if I ever got any money at all, but I wouldn't let a child sit on their own.

One time we didn't pay as we had booked a package holiday with Sovereign and I had assumed since we got non essential fripperies such as airport lounge access they would ensure that we were seated together. Turns out not to be the case, I contacted the airline and they said we would be provided we turned up early enough so we were 3 hrs before flight departure, it was really stressful though and I'd rather just pay the money.

It's more depressing that some parents won't make provision or their own children's needs googly.

I get what you are saying, but I'd have thought an airline would accommodate toddlers anyway.

I think the problem is more relevant to children over four, who would probably cope next to strangers, it just wouldn't be very pleasant for them.

All the tips for flying with babies, toddlers, young children actually suggest getting on the plane last so less time for them to get fidgety and bored before take off. Speedy boarding not the best option in that case. I guess safest thing is to book seats together if you can.

Rikebider I wouldn't mind sitting next to someone else's child, that doesn't mean I'd automatically take responsibility for them though

I think the airlines should ensure all minors are with a parent but I think it's complelety unfair to not pay and expect others to move for you

It also depends on the flight length.

I go to the toilet a lot, for that reason I always try to get an aisle seat. If it was a long-haul flight ( where thankfully United Airlines allocate seats together for free ) I'd be much less willing to vacate my aisle seat for say a middle seat due to some parent's lack of preparation.

Well, quite.

So in the event a 2 yo is next to maytheodds and the oxygen masks come down, the child will not be assisted.

How on earth do the airlines thing that will reflect on them?

theoriginal we do have access to a computer and the site says seats are allocated automatically a week before so maybe they have changed their policy since you travelled.

It seems like people who like a bit of control and reassurance to minimise stress pay to reserve seats, but if there is a risk that someone could then come and take that peace of mind because they have a young child and haven't reserved then it adds the stress back.

As someone who lives a few minutes walk from an international airport but who doesn't fly because I find the whole thing too stressful (yeah, maybe I'm a control freak) I can totally understand the upset this could cause to fellow worriers.

This does play second fiddle to safety concerns but it does make me wonder if there are more people who would fly if they had more reassurance that they would get seats they reserved.

Out of interest, if there is a 2yo sitting away from people it knows, on a long haul flight, who takes it to the toilet, feeds it and so on?

It's a bit extreme to say a child wouldn't be assisted with oxygen just because they are seated next to a stranger!

If I was next to someone else's child I wouldn't be willing to entertain them, and I wouldn't have been prepared to move for them, but if the oxygen masks came down then of course I'd help them, after fitting my own and my children's of course.

There's a big difference between keeping your own seat and refusing to help a child who could suffocate