To not pay for seats?

[benetint]

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

Reading this has reminded me of an incident when DS was just short of two. We went on a short-haul holiday and of course he was not entitled to a seat.

Outbound, no problem, flight only two-thirds full, he got a seat. Inbound, not so good, some spare seats but getting three together was not going to be easy. For the time being we had to accept two seats.

The check-in clerk told us to make ourselves known as we boarded, which we did, and in due course one of the cabin crew said “Now I can fix it for you”. He approached a couple without children, sitting next to two empties, one each side of the aisle, and spoke to them. The bloke got up, we took the three, (I may add that DW took the odd one!) and he took one of ours. Obviously we thanked the couple.

At the end of the flight while waiting for the buggy I asked the attendant how he was so sure they would split. “I will let you into a trade secret, Sir. They were spotted in the departure lounge. He was trying to read his book – she was trying to make him talk. We knew he’d jump at the chance to get away from her!”

I'd pay just for the peace of mind. We've paid £16 each but we've chosen our seats in advance and know where we will be sitting. My parents got seated nowhere near each other when they risked it, but I think part of your holiday is the excitement on the plane. Is it possible to risk it and then pay for a seat change if you're not sat with the children at the airport?

Jacks Not if other people have paid and chosen.

You want to sit together, pay it.

I'll never do it and I travel alone with 3
It is entirely up to yourself but I advise turning up as check in opens and seeing how it goes
I feels like robbery to have to pay to sit beside your family and I am not party to it
A large number of people have no idea that they can get away without paying for a seat now. I think we have fallen into this without thinking.

I think as someone said upthread, if you want to risk it fine.
As long as you are not the arse that creates a fuss when you can't sit together, expect other people to move and end up delaying the flight.

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

Why should someone who has paid for something be forced to give it up for someone who hasn't paid?

I feels like robbery to have to pay to sit beside your family

You aren't paying to sit beside your family! you are paying to guarantee it.

Is it possible to risk it and then pay for a seat change if you're not sat with the children at the airport?

The fee allows you to choose your seat in advance. If you aren't allocated seats together at check in, it's because there aren't any seats left together, just like in Olden Times when you had to arrive at the airport really early in order to guarantee seats together.

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

Not as sad as "I have bred and thus am more important than you"

I wouldn't move for anyone when iv paid for my seats. I struggle getting up and down even though i look very young and healthy so need help from my dp.
Im also extremely anxious so i would not be seperated from my partner. I don't make a good flier as it is! I certainly wouldn't move for someone who hadn't even paid. I like the fact ypu can pay extra for your seats. Extra leg room and to sit where you want.
If you want to risk it, fine but don't expect someone to move for you, or complain if noone does.

The small print says even if you pay for your allocation you're not guaranteed that seat. I'd risk it. Who's going to want to sit next to an unattended child?

Most airlines these days offer online check in, and charge extra to check in at the airport, so you are throwing money away by not checking in online.

With some you can check in weeks before the flight (eg jet2.com 28 days in advance). If you check in then, let them select your seats, and you will get seats together without charge.

It's an utter fucking rip off to pay extra to choose your seat and I refuse to pay it. It's nothing to do with whether or not you can afford the flight, it's just refusing to waste money by paying for unnecessary 'extras' that they try and persuade you that you need. It's amazing how much money you save by not unthinkingly taking every added extra that you are offered, not just on budget airlines.

I wouldn't expect anyone to move to accommodate my party on the flight though.

I find it sad (in response) because it's creating a divide as illustrated in this thread.

On phone so can't quote replies to my post but-

To say "if you can't afford the seat booking fee you perhaps shouldn't be having the holiday" is really patronising. The £72 and upward is a lot of money for some. It is an optional extra.

As I said, I wouldn't expect anyone who has paid to move.

Is it not the case that even paying doesn't even guarantee the seat?? Or have I read that wrong?

I certainly don't think those that have spawned are more important than those that have paid. My point is that I find it sad that a divide has been created by airlines squeezing every last drop. Though I think I used a poor choice of words.

Shakey, I wasn't being patronising. Just logical. If a person cannot afford £64 to sit their family together, how is the same person going to afford any emergency medical treatment? Is it a sensible thing to do, to travel overseas away from the NHS and 'free' treatment if £64 is 'a lot of money'?

A person can either afford overseas travel or they can't. If I couldnt then I wouldn't go. The same as if I couldnt afford to pay to sit next to my child then I wouldn't go. The whole journey is an 'optional extra' if it's a holiday isn't it?

But we don't know that (example) family hasn't already set aside adequate funds for medical expenses. There are plenty of families that have carefully budgeted. It may be a factor.

alpaca she was outraged because I'd been upgraded. And they couldn't upgrade her. I'm pretty sure her words were "but we deserve the upgrade...."

I'll only move if I can have same or better seats.

Op I hope everything was/is ok for you on the plane.

A person can either afford overseas travel or they can't

It's not that black and white. Plenty of people can afford things if they forgo some or all of the optional extras, paying for seats being one of them.

A poster up thread mentioned that they chose not to pay Three Hundred Pounds for their choice of seats and spend that money on treats and eating out while away instead.

It's a fact of life these days that big companies are constantly trying to upsell, offering a range of extras, some that are wanted and needed by the customer, but some you could have a perfectly nice experience without.

It surprises me that so many people on here argue that you should unthinkingly take every added extra offered when buying goods and services and it will take the pleasure away from the experience if you don't. It's probably due to a lot of people being much better off than average or else they have more money than sense.

.I don't think a single poster on this thread argued that you should unthinkingly take every optional extra. That's a strawman argument.

If a person doesn't want to take the risk of being seated away from their travelling companions, and makes the personal choice to pay for 'seated together' that isn't 'unthinkingly taking every optional extra', that is thinking about the choice, making it and paying for that choice.

Not thinking about it, or thinking about it but choosing not to select seats (then complaining when you are seperated) is acting unthinkingly.

We do all get why they charge for extras like this right? To get the lowest headline rate.
Let's say No Frills Airline has tickets to Spain for £100. Bargain! Book those! You can fly at that price if you don't pay £20 to reserve your seat and £80 to check in some baggage.
Expensive Airline has tickets to Spain for £200 but that includes reserved seats and baggage checked in.
On the surface the No Frills airline is cheaper but really they cost the same unless you forgo the extras.

They are not extras that you are being forced to pay. They are services that you are oppting out of by buying a cheap ticket.

It's a funny thing, but SFAIK nobody seriously expects people who have reserved seats on a train to move so that e.g. a family can sit together at a table, do they? Why are flights different?

I know that Virgin Trains leave two carriages unreserved for the last minute travellers, and at Euston the tables in those carriages are always taken by fit and able-bodied people without children because they can get there first when the platform is announced. That's life.

There's no guarantee you will sit together as a family but one adult will be seated with each child. There has to be an adult with each child for safety reasons.

I wouldn't book!

I see seat cost as part of the flight cost unless travelling solo on a short flight. I don't see it as an extra cost. I do think the airlines where you can pay to choose your seat or they choose one for you and tell you where it is before you pay have the right answer though. That way everyone has seats sorted before getting to the airport. If you don't like your allocated seats you pay for ones together

Exactly Pipbin. I think a lot of people on this thread are missing this point. I have never traveled on a budget airline that requires paying for pre-booked seats so I can't add the wisdom of experience.

We flew with Jet2 last year and didn't have any of this malarky. They also provide a little more legroom than some airlines I have flown with. Their flight attendants are friendly and helpful as well. I would definitely fly with them again.

I don't think East Midland trains do that Andrew.

The choice between No Frills and Full Service airlines is a bit of moot point for those of us in the north of England who holiday in Europe as more or less all our flights are on the no frills carriers as far as I can tell, so drinks, baggage, airport check in etc all have to be paid for separately.

BA etc only seem to operate on domestic flights or long haul.

My point is that I find it sad that a divide has been created by airlines squeezing every last drop

Or you could argue that by stripping all the options out of the price, more people can afford to fly provided they don't whinge about not getting those options

There has to be an adult with each child for safety reasons.

It has to be an adult. Not necessarily a parent.