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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think they will not seat the dc away from me

263 replies

inmyshoos · 04/03/2015 13:16

Flying on easy jet uk flight. Myself and dd1 (6)and dd2(8). Big treat for us. Goung to visit friends. Managed to get flights cgeap enough for it to be possible. Do i really need to pay the extra money to ensure we get seats together. Been a long time since we flew but have never had to do this before.

Aibu to think it is just another way to squeeze more money from you??!

OP posts:

Marmite27 · 04/03/2015 13:31

On our 9 hour flight home from Mexico there was a 6 year old sat 20 rows from her parent.

Every one the asked to move said no as they had paid to reserve. There was nothing the flight staff could do.

They didn't ask us as we were by the emergency exit and you have to be a certain age to sit there.

Original poster

inmyshoos · 04/03/2015 13:31

I wouldn't ever expect anyone with a pre booked seat to move for me or my dc. However i can see at booking that very few seats are atm pre booked. If no one pre booked then the chances are we'd all be together which is why I asked the question!

OP posts:

Oriunda · 04/03/2015 13:31

They won't deliberately seat you apart, unless you choose to check in late or it's a very busy flight eg half term etc. We fly with Ryanair and when it's checkin time, they've always allocated us 3 seats together. They take into consideration the number of people on the booking. When we recently flew back with MIL, she was on a separate booking reference and was seated right at the front of the plane (we were at the back) whilst we were at the back.

Brandysnapper · 04/03/2015 13:32

Summerhouse I don't think that's the case anymore. My last easyjet flight certainly had the seats on the boarding pass. And you will get your (printable) boarding pass as soon as you check in, it's not like you find out at the airport.
Back when it was done in the bus situation, families with young children would get on second (after people with speedy boarding passes).

Brandysnapper · 04/03/2015 13:33

Oriunda - smart planning!

Shesparkles · 04/03/2015 13:33

No need OP, no need.
You said its a long time since you flew, I fly a lot using Easyjet, Ryanair, Jet2 etc, and shared my experience

Original poster

inmyshoos · 04/03/2015 13:35

shesparkles no you weren't rude or offensive. Your post just made me laugh at the suggestion of free childcare thrown in as an extra on my budget flight

OP posts:

SummerHouse · 04/03/2015 13:35

Its a bit of a risk though. I totally agree money grabbing tactic. But I would pay it. Can you offset it by only taking hand luggage? And all take a dump in the toilet. Take that easyjet.

youarekiddingme · 04/03/2015 13:36

I've had this recently. I have a flight booked as part of a holiday package. Request on booking is for low floor due to DS asd. I get it's a request.

Ring me and offer me to pay for seats to sit together. I dexline as its 1 AD and 1 child. No, booking is for 2 ad. Well that's because that's how they work it price wise but booking clearly states a child.

Told we may be sat separately. I suggested they passed on the disability bit to the airport/ airline and asked them to make an informed choice. I suggested in the interests of not pissing off other passengers the air
One would probably find it ben rival to make a sensible decision!

I'll let you know in Augeat if they did!

Original poster

inmyshoos · 04/03/2015 13:36

Ok you've lost me now shesparkles no need for what?

OP posts:

Floralnomad · 04/03/2015 13:36

yes they are trying to get extra money from you but they have to make the money somewhere and as you said the seats are cheap to begin with . Personally I wouldn't take the risk of not sitting together so I would pay - equally if I were on a flight and I'd paid for my chosen seat I would not move to accommodate someone who had taken the risk .

MaidOfStars · 04/03/2015 13:37

I wouldn't ever expect anyone with a pre booked seat to move for me or my dc

What about those who have checked in promptly and selected specific seats (they've taken the gamble and won)? Essentially, after check in, everyone is in a pre-booked seat and while not everyone has paid for it, they may have selected specific seats based on their preferences.

Would you want them to move?

ThisIsOurBlanket · 04/03/2015 13:37

I would just try and check in early to try to ensure seats together.

I wouldn't personally mind if my children weren't sitting next to me anyway - it's not as if they can go anywhere on a plane. I wouldn't expect someone else to move so that we could.

My DC often sit apart from me on buses or trains - sometimes through choice, sometimes because there aren't seats together. I wouldn't expect the person who is sitting next to them to "look after them". Why would they need looking after, they just need to sit there.

sqibble · 04/03/2015 13:37

If you need to sit together, I would pay for the seat reservation myself. The last flight we were on was full and nobody would move to accommodate others. The staff moved a family who'd sat in our reserved seats.

SummerHouse · 04/03/2015 13:38

P.s. it was a Ryanair flight where my family of 4 were all split up. Most peaceful flight I have ever had.

SoupDragon · 04/03/2015 13:39

Aibu to think it is just another way to squeeze more money from you??!

YABU. Why do you think the fares are so cheap? It's because they have stripped everything out of the price and offer them as optional extras.

As others have said, yes they will split you up if no one will move. If you want to remove that possibility you need to pay.

OttiliaVonBCup · 04/03/2015 13:40

If don't care enough where the DCs will be sitting to be arsed to pay, then why should someone else be arsed about it?

Your DCs, your problem.

TheOddity · 04/03/2015 13:40

Some people on here have obviously not flown lately via ryanair and easyjet. It is all allocated now. The only difference instead of a first come first served physical queue onto the plane, it is first come first served on the online check in, so you just need to get checking in the minute online check in opens to ensure you're allocated together. At that point if you see you're not together, you can pay for the allocated seats. Simples.

Shesparkles · 04/03/2015 13:40

Ok you've lost me now shesparkles no need for what?

Apologies, I read a tone into your post that in retrospect, clearly wasn't there about the babysitting comment

Friends?

FiveLittlePeas · 04/03/2015 13:41

dON'T PAY EXTRA. dO YOUr online check in as early as possible. Easy jet gives you seats and they will be together if you check in early. We always do, and there's 5 of us.

FiveLittlePeas · 04/03/2015 13:42

I meant "Easyjet gives you seats with your check in/boarding passes".

MaidOfStars · 04/03/2015 13:43

so you just need to get checking in the minute online check in opens to ensure you're allocated together. At that point if you see you're not together, you can pay for the allocated seats

Ah, that's interesting. I don't regularly use Easyjet etc. So when you check in online, it puts you in the first free spaces (which may or may not be in a row/to your preference), but then gives you an option to pay for other currently unallocated seats that might be more to your preference?

EveDallas · 04/03/2015 13:44

ThisIsOurBlanket, for me, the reason that I have to sit next to my child and DH is because I am a nervous (near phobic) flyer. If we are going to crash (and yes, I think about this every time), then I want my DD to die in my arms with her mum telling her how much she loves her, not sitting next to a stranger. I know I sound like a loon now, but thats where my brain takes me every time we fly.

It's why I always pre-book, why I wouldn't move if asked to and tbh why I wouldn't board if we were seated apart.

MaidOfStars · 04/03/2015 13:44

(Anytime I've checked in online with no seats reserved, it's given me the option of whichever unallocated seats I want to pick).

Theas18 · 04/03/2015 13:44

At 6 and 8 I wouldn't be expecting them to sit us together, but you do get allocated seats so early check in should work.

At 6-8 mine would be independent enough to do a short haul flight sat apart from me, but I'm not sure the people sitting next to them might not prefer to swap after being talked to death about ponies or something, and got in and out for the toilet multiple times !

Good luck what ever you go for

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