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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not pay for seats?

188 replies

benetint · 05/04/2015 19:56

We've booked to go to Spain tomorrow with Dh, Ds (2) and Dd (5) to see my Dad.

Monarch charge £8 per seat to book in advance, which on top of the cost of the trip is a bit much for us. (£72 extra both ways)

Do you think there's any way we could be separated from each other if we don't buy allocated seats? Or would monarch not let that happen? Do they give priority to young children? As long as one of us is with dd and one is with ds I'll be happy.

Or do you think I'm being right risking it

OP posts:
SoupDreggon · 06/04/2015 15:03

BA: How to Choose your Seat

Pipbin · 06/04/2015 15:23

soup I've flown BA long haul 6 times in past two years and never been given the option to pay for seats

I've got a BA flight booked for the summer and i've been given the option to pay £10 now or chose seats when I book in online 24 hours in advance. As it's only a short flight, I shan't bother.

However, in the past I have paid to book seats on other carriers as DH is 6ft4 and he needs the leg room. And no, I wouldn't swap seats.

Andrewofgg · 06/04/2015 15:35

They cannot separate children altogether from parents but 2 + 2 is within the rules. Just decide which of you would take which and have whatever you need for that one with you.

RonaldMcDonald · 06/04/2015 15:36

OP I wouldn't pay.
I never do. I arrive at airport with children and am seated, with children
They've always been v pleasant

EveDallas · 06/04/2015 15:51

They can Andrew, there is no 'rule' only official CAA 'guidelines' and even they are washy washy "should be", "ideally" and "should not be" rather than MUST not etc:

Children, accompanied by adults, should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult. In wide-bodied aircraft, children and accompanying adults should not be separated by more than one aisle. Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from their accompanying adult

Plus 'seated together' means in a row in front or behind or across an aisle, not directly next to.

IMO It's just not worth the risk if sitting with your child is imperative to you.

RonaldMcDonald · 06/04/2015 15:52

caa guidelines

RonaldMcDonald · 06/04/2015 15:54

IME they follow CAA guidelines very closely indeed. It makes sense to be aware of them in case you need them
Often the website is aware you are travelling with children and there are easy options available
I will never pay, utter waste

Nightingalemumoftwo · 06/04/2015 15:55
  1. they can seat kids away from their parents (but they will try to avoid that)
  2. £72 each way is a lot of money
  3. risk it.
Coconutty · 06/04/2015 15:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RonaldMcDonald · 06/04/2015 16:10

It is a question of safety apparently coco
Who will administer oxygen or fit the mask to a young child etc in an emergency if separated from their parents
cAa guidelines are not really just guidelines......

Pipbin · 06/04/2015 16:17

Who will administer oxygen or fit the mask to a young child etc in an emergency if separated from their parents

Who wouldn't?

RonaldMcDonald · 06/04/2015 16:20

The point being if there is an emergency you are responsible for yourself
Oxygen getting off a plane and comforting children are the responsibility of the parent and without the parent being present will cause more trouble than enough
This is why the CAA guidelines are adhered to pretty strictly - it makes sense and is safer for everyone not just the parents or children

ProudAS · 06/04/2015 16:24

I have a doctor's letter stating that I need to sit by DH due to Aspergers and anxiety. Despite this we don't just turn up and hope that someone will move for us and expect the same level of consideration when we have pre-booked.

We will move together if the alternative seats are at least as good as the ones we paid for and we are asked politely and given the chance to say no.

Given the choice between being separated from DH and babysitting DC whose parents didn't pre-book I would choose the latter although annoying ones may just get gagged, tied up, sent to find parents as soon as the seatbelt sign gets turned off.

EveDallas · 06/04/2015 16:28

But Ronald, even the guidlines dont specify seated directly next to - so even if the airline sticks rigidly to them, the child can be seated away from the parent.

And considering that posters on this thread have had it happen to them and have seen it happen to others, it's not exactly reassuring.

But it's moot. Some posters wouldnt mind being seperated from their kids - as long as they then don't kick off about it, that's fine, that's their choice. All OP had to decide (yesterday) was whether it was worth taking that 'risk' - she decided not to.

6Musiclover · 06/04/2015 16:32

I have taken more flights over the years than I've had hot dinners. I have seen numerous families sitting sepretaly. I have been asked to move about four times (I think) over the years to accomadate families.

These flights were Ryanair, and flybe . On all occasions I said no. Nothing dramatic happened. The plane took off on time. The only dramatics came from the idiots who were either not organised enough to check in early to get seats together, or be prepared to pay to sit beside their children.
Tough shit..

Coconutty · 06/04/2015 16:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

shewept · 06/04/2015 16:42

When we fly to the US, I always do the majority of looking after the kids. Why? Because by the time we land dh will have been up at least 16 hours and will have to drive and find our accommodation in the dark. We always stop off for food for the apartment too, so by the time we have got to the apartment, he has been up around 20 hours.

I would prefer he got some sleep on the plane. Rather than drive absolutely knackered whilst trying to get used to driving on the other side of the road again. If I was driving, he would do what I do. That's why I 'put up with it'. Safety.

Simple fact is budget airlines are budget because they strip everything out. If you want the extras, you pay for them.

Shakey1500 · 06/04/2015 17:03

Ye Gads. It seemed to work perfectly fine before such a ridiculous "optional extra" (read- another way to make more money).

And it's really against those who perhaps really can't afford the extra £72 which, let's face, it could be a days spending money.

All this "I've paid the extra so bugger orf" is very sad Sad

Hissy · 06/04/2015 17:22

I've travelled with ds all over Europe, Middle East and the U.S. - I managed perfectly safely...

Long haul is slightly different, but there's no barrier to parents sharing childen and travel. If it works for one to one role and the other to do the other, fine. The flight I was talking about last year was short haul; Portugal, the kind of distance I'd go out and back in a day when consulting.

He was just being a lazy and entitled twit.

Many women I know have Dh that seat themselves away from mum and kids and think it's their right to be left in peace. I would be Hmm at that.

EveDallas · 06/04/2015 17:22

But then I suppose back then we didn't have budget airlines/flights either shakey

Plus I don't think £64 on top of flight cost is that much tbh, if my finances were that tight I wouldn't be going abroad at all because (for eg) if you can't afford £8 per seat then you aren't going to be able to afford £200 for a broken arm (what it cost me on a long weekend in Amsterdam many moons ago). Going anywhere outside UK is going to cost for any emergency medical treatment so if £64 would break your bank, you really shouldn't go.

StillLostAtTheStation · 06/04/2015 17:23

Indeed it did work perfectly fine in the early days of Easyjet when no body could book a seat. You just got on and the plane filled up.

GreenPetal94 · 06/04/2015 18:14

I have travelled a lot with two 2 years apart and never paid for seats. If you don't pay but check in online normally at least two are together for one adult and youngest child. Now my kids are older they just do sit separately. Sometimes people offer to swap. Sometimes people making charming conversation with your kids.

The only time I paid for seats was transatlantic.

EeyorePigletAndPoohToo · 06/04/2015 18:37

We pre-booked with BA several years ago when DS2 was a baby and DS 1 was a toddler. DS1 has special needs. In spite of pre-booking, DH was moved several rows away and I was left with a baby on my lap and a toddler with special needs all by myself. Weirdly, DS had been moved for a childless middle-aged couple who didn't appear to have any particular needs (although obviously they might have done.) Anyway we begged and pleaded with BA and they managed to sort it out, and childless middle-aged couple moved very graciously. But that was when we had taken the trouble to pre-book!

TheFairyCaravan · 06/04/2015 18:38

I do think it's a rip off that we need to prebook seats to guarentee that you can sit with you family, but I do it any way.

DH and I are going away in 2 weeks, we know our seat numbers there and back and I'm not moving for anyone!

PurpleHebe1 · 06/04/2015 19:00

Depends how old DCs are and cost.

We flew to the US last summer with BA and decided as a family not to pay close to £300 return to choose seats for myself, DH and two teen DCs, as it would pay for a number of meals out/treats.

Was a bit worried when the 24 prior online check-in was unavailable for our flight for some reason. We were automatically allocated seats together on packed flights both times, three in the middle block and one across the aisle next to the window and middle seats that side.

So probably not prime seats if you wanted a window seat but we were perfectly happy, especially as one was a night flight so nothing to see. Teens were happy to watch films and we took full advantage of the extra dinner funds! If children had been younger than about 12, don't think I would have risked it but it seems with BA anyway, you do seem to be seated together.

However, I did pay £72 return the previous year to Europe so we could sit together as it wasn't too much, we were all tired and had a long onward ferry journey. £300 was just too much.

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