To be so upset that a woman & her 2 children were given my (pre-booked online for an additional charge) plane seats?

[lalalady1971]

My DP and I flew to Cyprus last year on holidays. I'm a really nervous flyer but I get through it with mental preparation and don't want to let it stop me as we go away every year with my mum & dad, sister & husband and niece/nephew so it's a lovely get-together. (They live in different parts of the country so fly from different airports).

Part of my nerves-beating prep is pre-booking seats so I know exactly where we'll be sitting. I take a bit of time with this and look at the seats layout on the airline website, even down to the position of the window next to the seat so I'm definitely able to sit as calmly as possible without having to sit forward/twist my head backwards to see out (some seats have mainly plastic wall with the window further forward or back). This prob sounds very weird but part of it is extreme claustrophobia and being able to see outside/having a window really helps.

We paid a premium and pre-booked specific seats online, with extra legroom (my DP is 6ft 2) and a window seat with the window in the perfect position. All my mad requirements met so I felt ok! I also feel really self-conscious about my nervousness and sometimes retch a bit if I start feeling particularly anxious, so I like to be "cocooned" and safe in my window seat, hidden from others.

Soooo (sorry for such a long preamble!!), we get on the plane with our boarding passes and seat numbers (check-in acknowledged that we had booked our seats online already) only to find a woman and her 2 children (they looked about 8 & 10) sitting in our seats....with boarding cards with her original seat numbers scribbled out and our seats written on.

The stewardess approached and curtly asked what was the matter. I explained that there seemed to be some mistake as I'd pre-booked these seats. She went off to check and came back saying that someone had presumably gone through the seating plan at the gate and moved us as the woman had not pre-booked seats but needed to be seated with her children and the airline had to allow for that, so she had two new seat numbers for us.

I politely explained that I was a very nervous flyer and had specifically booked these seats (and paid extra for them!) so was there any way she could ask along the rows around if a different 3 people would mind moving as there were lots of gaps further down the plane but she said no, they'd updated the computer system at the gate so there was no way round it. (This made me feel even worse as I immediately thought, oh god it's so they know who's in which seat if the plane crashes and people die!!). At this point the woman in the seat stood up and said "Look, can't you see that I have children?! Obviously we need these seats more than you!", I was a bit taken-aback but said that I'd actually paid for these seats and if she was really that worried why didn't she pre-book seats so that they were guaranteed seats next to each other. She said she didn't need to, why on earth should she pay extra when she had children, the airline had to seat them together anyway. Followed by large amounts of smugness and smirking.

The stewardess then started tutting, saying the captain would go mad if we missed the take-off slot so we just needed to get into our seats. Oh god. Our new seats. It was my worst nightmare. She led us to the two seats halfway down the plane right next to the large exit doors. No window, just a door to my right with multiple emergency signs (and a bloody key in it with a massive red label on it saying "REMOVE AFTER TAKE-OFF" which stayed in for the whole flight!! (I was too mortified to ask anyone if it should really still be in the lock during the flight!). No seats in front of us so I felt massively exposed (and no seat-back for my crash position!!!), just a big gap then the next row. (Couldn't fault the leg-room though!). Plus a weird gap to my right as the two seats were slightly off-set so the window seat behind me had a bit of a half-gap in front of it. Through this gap, every 10 minutes or so, came a small child belonging to the couple sitting behind us. But the gap was a bit tight so the little girl was grabbing onto my arm-rest/arm to haul herself through, stepping on our feet as she came cackling past and grabbing my DP's knee to fling herself round the corner back into her parents' row. After an hour of this I turned to the couple and said "I'm sorry to be a pain but it's actually really annoying, d'you mind stopping her doing this" and they just looked at me (through the 20 mini wine bottles) and said it was keeping her quiet and it was a long flight for a little child so no, they couldn't.

Arghhh!! Dreadful experience. I felt really exposed and really anxious for the whole flight. Just horrible.

On a final note, the stewardess delivered my DP's pre-booked/paid meal to our original seats and the bloody woman took it and ate it!! My DP enquired as to where his meal was and, after 10 mins of him explaining what had happened with the seats (different stewardess!) she said she'd taken his meal to the original seat and it was accepted! She agreed to bring him a meal, but it had to be the vegetarian option now as they'd run out of standard meals...I was sorely tempted to say something to the woman at the baggage travelator thingy at the other end but by that point I was a bit of a wreck and couldn't be arsed with anything other than a large glass of wine!! (And she was still throwing the smug smirks my way so I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of showing I was bothered...)

I emailed Monarch when we got home and received a template email back saying, basically, tough shit, read the small print, we have the right to move you, this woman had children!! Yep, sorry about the meal but it's easily done as meals are allocated to seat numbers, not names and we have the right to change your meal, that's on the small print too.

We had a lovely holiday but we're off again in October to Turkey, again with Monarch (limited airline choice for date/time from our airport) and I'm utterly paranoid that this may happen again. Wonder if I should email Monarch in advance....or am I just over-reacting and being unreasonable??!

(And finaaaaally! I was pretty upset at that woman. I like to think if that were me I'd at least acknowledge the unfairness of the situation and say to the stewardess to be fair she has pre-booked and paid extra for these seats and is a nervous flyer, couldn't you just ask along the rows if anyone else would be happy to change seats? Or AIBU??!)

I'm a pretty confident, happy-go-lucky person in real life, it's just flying that turns me into a nervous wreck....maybe I just need to grow a pair!!

Don't email. Write a letter to Chief Executive copied to Chairman. If you booked through any kind if agency cc to them and also if they are regulated by anyone.

Be specific about wanting a response within 2 weeks and any consequences which you are prepared to follow through (not using them again, going to press) if you don't get a satisfactory response.

I would expect at least a refund of your seat booking money, meals and most importantly an apology. Whilst the small print allows them to move people this should always be done politely and they should
have at least discussed with you.

Be clear about your reasons ie nervous flyer and ask them to outline their policy in this respect.

Good luck.

(I hate flying too so completely sympathise).

I wouldn't threaten to go to the press, that tends to piss people off rather than making them inclined to help.

Agree Monarch treated you badly. Woman who was given your seats sounds horrid, I would have felt awkward and embarrassed if I was her.

Am married to a nervous flier, and remember the cross words and big sulk a few years back when we'd got in the wrong queue and he was worried we'd have to sit at the end of the plane. We found Valium (for him) was great, no loss of control, but made him relax. Hypnotherapy means he now flies unmedicated.

Sorry but not all airlines give a stuff if kids are sat away from parents so it won't work everytime.

I also wonder why airlines don't just allocate seats at time if booking like if you book concert or theatre seats.
I've never understood that.

Stupid fucking cow. I would (and have) demanded to be offloaded when moved because of tossers like her. I hate hate hate assholes like her.

YANBU.

The woman sounds horrible.

Wow what a bitch the mum was. If that had been me i'd at least have sympathised and looked embarrassed!

I have a 2yr old and now that she can't go on my knee i'll be pre-booking our seats together as I couldn't stand the stress of getting on the plane and possibly having to ask people to move etc...

They took your money for that service I think they should refund the seat charge.

If I were you i'd have said "fine move me beside an exit but know this - if there's an emergency i'll be opening the door to get out and wedging it shut behind me"

That is good advice. Find out the name of the chief person at Monarch and write. Keep the letter polite and reasonable but tell him/her why you were unhappy. DH does that every time if normal avenues have failed. He doesn't do it often,but it has got results every single time - well worth a stamp and a bit of time.

It would never, ever occur to me to say "I have children etc..." like that I mean, having children is a pretty common phenomenon I don't understand people who do this!

TBH i've only heard about it on Mnet have yet to come across anyone in RL who acts like this but I hope I don't!

Just wanted to add my voice to others - I hope Monarch sees this thread :

I will not give them my custom after hearing this. Problems can occur, that's fine - but they should hold their hands up, apologise and refund. I fell out with Aer Lingus five years ago when it took a year to get a refund when they abandoned me a hundred miles away from my destination airport at 3am after a six hour delay. I got my money back eventually and have never used them since. Never will either, fuckers. Quite happy to add Monarch to my list.

Suggest you link to this thread, and as many of us who feel for the op add our support. Fed up of big companies shrugging and looking the other way while doing you over...

And I have three year old (so understand travelling with children) and we fly regularly - 8 flights within last year, soon to be ten as we've a trip home coming up.

Finally, OP - I hope next time you fly, you're pleasantly surprised rather than stunned for the wrong reasons...

Interesting.
We are flying with Monarch on Monday with prebooked seats.
Dd is 16, ds 14 and we have booked extra legroom.

Dd has ocd and can freak out on planes...she is already getting nervous.
I shall psych myself up for any imminent seat changing

we've flown with Monarch before and it was ok but obviously every flight is different.

Try writing directly to the CEO of the company. That usually ensures you get something back. People who did this at one company I worked for were guaranteed toget £50 of vouchers even if customer services had been unhelpful.

You do know the exit seat is the safest place right?

Totally unacceptable, if they cannot guarantee the seats tey should Not be a prebook system, imwould write tothe airline and ask for a refund. The woman sounds like a prize cunt in her behaviour. I hope tat you have a better experience next time

It was last year, get over it and if it were that much of an issue you should have not booked to fly with them again.

DH is in the industry. He says that either at check-in or at the gate, when your boarding pass was scanned you should have been notified of the change and had your boarding passes reissued. Under no circumstances should you have found this out on board; under no circumstances should a boarding pass have been amended by hand. Full stop.

He says that the "food assigned to seat" thing is simply not true - it gets printed at the gate with food allocated to the passenger, not the seat.

He suspects that Mrs Entitled was trying it on and the staff were too lazy or negligent to do anything about it.

He is quite happy to help you with your complaint - if this would be of interest please pm me.

On the up side, in spite of your fear and all the goings on, you coped.

Worth mentioning.

First of all, OP, YANBU. I agree with the posters who suggest writing to the company, set out your complaint in key points, including the way that the staff behaved, the meal issue etc, and give them a specific timeframe in which you expect to hear from them, what redress you want, and an assurance that this will not happen again.

Wow, that was rubbish of the airline OP -- imagine if you booked specific theatre tickets and were told 'oh we've put other people in them!' And theatres have the same issue that airlines do in that they need to try to fill every seat for as much money as possible.

I assume you are not going to fly with this airline again, so why not have a go at outing this policy in the media (at least then other people will be informed). The weekend papers have 'travel problem' columns you can write in to -- I think the Saturday Telegraph and Sunday Times both have them. The airline may take more notice of a journalist writing it up and it will be of service to other nervous flyers.

Funny how you are expecting sympathy for your own issues and yet you are quite happy (post at about 6am) to make stupid comments about airline Tourette's and be annoyed by some poor bloke exhibiting tics. Live and let live op.

We flew with Jet2 about a month ago. We prebooked our seats, found Jet 2 really, really helpful and polite and they bent over backwards to help us.

At check-in a family in front of us, 2 adults 3 kids (9-13) (all clad in Boden and Joules, Ralph Lauren trainers on the kids, they were that long I couldn't help but notice), were having the most epic tantrum because they hadn't pre-booked seats and there were no seats together. They supervisor did change people round and sit them together.

At the gate, I was waiting for special assistance, and the mother starts saying if they get on the plane and the people refuse to move she won't sit down until they do, thus causing a delay. In my mind she was lucky to even board the plane.

They were obviously not short of money going by their clothes, the seats were about £5 to book, so why not just do it?

YANBU, btw OP.

I understand that you want a holiday, lalalady1971, but it would be a cold day in hell before I ever gave a company that treated me so badly, my business ever again.

I am a nervous flier and also need a window. I would have struggled with this and would not have been happy. I worry about being moved in this way before each flight.

In all likelihood I would have said wanted to get off flight - which would have delayed them more as they'd need to retrieve bags etc from hold. I would have found it difficult not to follow up after the flight with the utter cunt that was the mother too!

To illustrate the fear I once asked to be moved back to economy after a long haul upgrade left me without a window! The lovely stewardess allowed me to move to a window for take off and landing.

Yes, I must say I wouldn't fly with them again if I were the OP. Especially as it seems they will reserve the right to move you if necessary.

it sounds a disgrace.

presumably they have refunded the extra booking charge for your seats. what is the point of booking online in advance if they are going to change the arrangement. that is not on.

plus the woman with the DC had a cheek. she does not need to be seated with her DC at that age and could sit behind. I would have been furious with her when they were your seats.

monarch should give you a free flight with decent seats. was there no business class they could upgrade you to on that flight.