To Thank Thomas Cook for clarifying the matter of paying to sit beside your children

[Groovee]

I flew Thomas Cook today to Florida. I paid extra for seats together and got to choose where we were sitting.

We decided to go on last because we had seats and there were near the cabin door. When I got settled a family were not happy that they had 5 single seats. The cabin crew were quite adamant that they could not ask customers who have paid to choose their seats to move.

So last weeks thread is solved

You'll be barging people out of the way, thereby hindering their evacuation of a burning plane, right after you've left them dealing with the drinks/dropped toys/incessant chatting that has come from your child?

Well then it would be more sensible for the airline to sit you next to your children, which is the first choice outlined by the CAA, in the interests of everyones safety, wouldn't it. Lets face it, the airlines know how many adults and children are flying when you book your tickets. Theres nothing to stop them setting aside those seats in accordance with CAA guidelines. Its an absolute con and they rely on peoples fear that they will be sat miles away from their children in order to get vast sums of money out of them, for something that should incur no extra cost.

Why would I pay for that privilage when I don't need to.

The CAA don't specify that a child needs to be sat right beside the adult they're travelling with therefore you do need to pay for the 'privilege' if you want to be sure of sitting beside them.

Its surprises me that people are so gleeful about having to pay a fortune to sit with their travelling companions. It costs the airlines nothing to provide this 'service' and they are blatantly taking the piss.

No one is arguing that Brian. I think that we are all in agreement that the airlines should seat families together, no matter what.

But they don't and they don't have to

Until they do, then it has to be the responsibility of the parent to do what is right. If you have a child that could look after itself, then you may not feel the need to pay for designated seat, but if your child can't, then surely it is up to you to make sure you do whatever you have to - even if that includes paying- to be with them.

Yes, absolutely, the airlines are bastards and are in the wrong. But they don't care. They are a business. They are going to make money however they can. They don't care about your child, that's why you need to.

What stops airlines from putting all the people on each booking seated together? How is it more efficient to split up groups that have boarded together (like families)?

Therefore it must be used as yet another reason to get extra money out of travellers?

It costs the airlines nothing to provide this 'service' and they are blatantly taking the piss.

Yes, absolutely, the airlines are bastards and are in the wrong.

FFS. They're running a business! If they're currently making £1000 per flight from people paying for extras then the alternative they have is to put prices up across the board.

I actually wish they would, then people would see what a bargain they're getting compared to the price of scheduled flights with premium carriers where the seat choice, food and extra baggage is included.

You have a choice with the budget carriers: either pay for the service you want or don't have it.

If you want 'cheap', do what you need to do have 'cheap'. If you want a different service from the business then pay for it.

It's not rocket science is it?

Its an absolute con and they rely on peoples fear that they will be sat miles away from their children in order to get vast sums of money out of them, for something that should incur no extra cost.

You're missing the point that the airline will make their money somehow, and if they don't make their money this way, they will make it another way. This is a fair enough way of doing it, although I do think it would be better if they gave a discount to anyone who didn't mind where they sat, and let everyone else pay a going rate.

This is all very well but on some flights they will nto allow all of their seats to be prebooked, meaning some people on flights have no choice but to miss out,.

We flew with VA to Vegas. DD was 8y at the time, and there was no way she would have been fine on an 11 hour flight, sat without a parent. It's a very long time after all. However, when we tried to reserve our seats, incidently at no extra cost anyway, we couldn't. It said there were none available. We could for the return flight, but not the flight out.

So we called VA as we were concerned. They stated, on 2 or 3 different calls, that they only release a %age of seats, for pre booking, and not all. And, the prebooked seats are not guaranteed in any case. We were told to let the check in staff know on arrival that we needed 3 seats together and it would be sorted, and it was. No idea if anyone else had to be moved to accommodate this.

VA also told us that there was no way they would have a child, in this case an 8y, sat without a parent.

Re the no guarantee of prebooked seat - again I have personal experience of this. We flew to New York with friends - 4 adults, 3 children aged 3-7y. We had prebooked 7 seats together, in a row, across the plane. However, when we checked in we had been moved. We were still near by, but with 3 in the middle of one row, 2 on left in row behind, and then another 2 in row behind them. So not same configuration at all. They also would not allow 3 children sit together with no adult, so because they changed our config of seats, we had to split the children too. I assume we'd been moved to accommodate other people needing to sit together.

heidihole
"I think you misunderstood my comment."
actually I didn't misunderstand. How is is thomas cooks' fault that a parent didn't reserve the seats?

"If I had a 2 year old and they were seated miles away I'd be upset."
then reserve the seats.

You're missing the point clouds that what they are doing is completely against the CAA rules. Airlines are NOT allowed to sit your child miles away from you. In light of this, its obviously not a fair enough way of doing it as its not a choice anyway.

Brian, they ARE. It's not law yet. An American Senator is trying to make it Law - but right now it ISN'T.

The C&P you did - look at it again. It's full of 'should be' 'ideally' and 'should not be'. Not 'HAS' to be. Sorry.

ShellyBoobs. It's not just budget or bargin airline that do this. The reason I always pre-book and pre-pay for selected seating is after a horrendous flight to Cuba with a premier airline that separated DH and I. It was the longest and hardest 12 hours of my life (I'm a crap flier) and I said I'd never risk it again.

This may be the case LT, but its not going to bode well for individual airlines if a catastrophe is made even worse because airlines have ignored the guidelines and not made safety a priority when the CAA investigate the carnage.

We had the opposite problem with virgin. We wanted a window so I tried at online checkin to change our 3 assigned centre seats to 2 window and 1 accross the aisle. Plenty of room but the computer would not allow me to split the party so we had to stay put.

So much entitlement here. It's a parent's responsibility to look after their children, and that doesn't stop just because you are on a plane. If it costs more to book a block of seats than individual ones, then that's what you do. Don't leave it to chance/luck/other people moving seats, just to save you a few quid.
Flying is a luxury and like all luxuries you get what you pay for.

I have never flown with my children so knew absolutely nothing about this. I hope this is all made very clear when booking. I would be absolutely devastated to be separated from my children, firstly because they are so young (why would anyone else want to be sat next to my preschooler/toddler), secondly I want to enjoy the experience with them. It is totally my responsibility to look after them but would I know this when booking. I've always chosen seats when booking a flight before, does that not happen anymore? I probably sound really naive.
However I am a very excited flier so would probably be at the airport 4 hours early clutching my ticket anyway.

It will be very clear, blondefriend- they want the money!

The occasional times I've Travelled on the train you have to pay to book seats and I've never heard any problems about that don't see why it's different on a plane it's a business of course they want to make money. The rest are first come first served so you have the choice.

I am utterly staggered at am these threads. airlines operated for decades with the policy that their staff use their judgement about where to seat people at check in. this is how it should have stayed. what kind of people think it is acceptable to seat scared children away from ther parents. and what kind if idiots would rather be on a flight sitting next to someone else's un monitored child just because some people on the plane have paid to say where they want to sit (utterly pointless unless you are an adult and can sit in the over 16 extra legroom seats - these are the only ones you should be able to request)

money making greed on the part if the airlines which will surely come back and bite them in the not too distant future. I have recently pre booked my seats with Thomas cook - not that I paid 75 quid for the priveledge I simply asked them to throw it in as part of my booking. I noticed that the whole plane was virtually fully booked with 2 sets in every row of three. so I had one choice of 2 rows for my family. so no choice at all and no point paying (not that I am bothered). but they will continue selling this option at booking until the last seat is sold. what happens when people pay and there is no more choice left? and what about all the couple who have paid to choose where to sit in a row of three but will still get all te random kids from parties that have not laid sitting next to them? pointless and stupid.

'what kind of people think it is acceptable to seat scared children away from ther parents.'

That'll be the parents who think that they are vair special witha huge sense of entitlement.

If you add up all the extras then sometimes the non-budget airlines, with normal allocated seating, work out the same or cheaper.
If I fly a budget airline then I never pay for any extras because they are just designed to rip you off. If there were no seats left I would just ask politely if someone cold move. I am sure they would prefer that than have a small crying child next to them, spoiling their trip - perhaps threatening to vomit into their lap!!!

The paedophile argument is bizarre. Yes, most child abusers are known to the child. But that doesn't mean we should not be concerned about abuse carried out by strangers. Transport situations are common scenarios for abuse by strangers. Bus companies have lists of people who are banned from their services and premises for this very reason. I reported a known paedophile when I saw him in a bus station, as I knew he had been in prison for abusing children who he attacked on public transport. The people in the bus company went through a list of offenders they had when I made the report.

I don't know what the purpose is of going on about paedophile hysteria. There are many predatory paedophiles and they aren't all on an island somewhere. They're just walking around in society.

Trains are different because open tickets are sold and you can just turn up and make a decision if you want to squeeze on a train and hope there is a spare seat or stand in the aisle. On a plane, they know exactly who is getting on and that there is a seat for each person, and that very specific procedures must be followed with breathing masks, evacuation etc. They have to make safety decisions that don't apply on trains.

It doesn't maytterbif you've paid for your seats or not. If cabin crew require you to move for safety reasons then you move. Failure to comply with a request made by cabin crew in he basis of safety is an offence and you can be prosecuted. Fwiw, many moons ago. People had to moved on a flight so I could sit with my three year old. I'd paid for priority boarding but by the time I got to the foot of the plane and taken the baby out of the push chair and folded it up (all while the ground crew looked on) the masses has trampled past me and there were no seats together. Safety is the airlines responsibility. It's not an optional extra.

" There are many predatory paedophiles and they aren't all on an island somewhere. They're just walking around in society."

Statistically, it is far more likely to be Uncle Dave than it is to be the weirdo on the bus. I know that's a bit unsavoury for most people to accept but it's true. Over focusing on stranger danger does no favours for being aware of who you (the wider 'you') leave your children with.