About pre-booking airline seats

[Jollyphonics]

This is a common topic on AIBU - the dilemma of whether or not to pay extra to ensure you can sit with your kids on flights. The general consensus is usually that it's unfair to expect others to move when they've paid extra for specific seats, and that if you want to all sit together you should just pay the fee.

Fair enough - so I've just done my (compulsory) on-line check-in, and chose the option to pay for specific seats. Despite the fact that the check-in only opened a couple of days ago, virtually all the seats appear to be taken, and the only ones available were randomly scattered around the plane.

I just rang Jet2 as this seemed a bit strange, and was told that most of the seats have not actually been taken, but that the airline keeps aside a big chunk of seats precisely in order to sit kids with carers. So although it may appear that we're in 3 different places, we will actually all be seated together.

This is totally at odds with what I've heard on here! So, if anyone gets moved on our flight so that we can sit together, I apologise sincerely. I really did try to sort it out! I'm still sceptical about what will happen on the day though.

Has anyone come across this before? Would you do anything different?

I have a Dr's letter saying I need to sit by DH and being forced to move could cause me problems even if moved together. We would swap seats to accommodate a family if the alternatives were at least as good as the originals and we had been given the chance to say no. We would also assist a child in an emergency.

I would like to see airlines make some of their seats pre-bookable only in blocks of 2,3 and 4 (maybe releasing them individually after a certain period of time). This would help avoid the problem of only single seats being left for passengers who did not book immediately.

Oh come on - there is NO WAY you can be expected to sit away from your small child. That is totally unreasonable, so stand your ground. As I said before, airlines have a duty of care to their customers, and who knows whether the stranger they are expected to sit by is not someone on the sex offenders register, a person with an undiagnosed mental disorder, or anything? There was a case a while ago of a woman (American) who sued an airline because she fell asleep on a night flight (who hasn't?) and woke up to find the man next to her fiddling with her down below. Absolutely disgusting. And unfortunately I don't know what the outcome of the case was - sorry.

SnowyPiglet That was an adult woman. Short of imposing gender apartheid on all flights, and wasting a vertical row of seats between them, you can't 100% guarantee that that will not happen. And even then she might be assaulted by a woman, or a many by a man.

Agreed that a child under about 12 must be as near as possible to one of the adults in the party - but if there are three children and one adult one of them won't be next to the adult no matter what you do.

Ok - I don't mean 'absolutely disgusting' in the context of airlines letting men and women sit together, only that waking up in that sort of situation must have been disgusting, and that someone can think it is acceptable to do that sort of thing.
But airlines do have a duty of care, and I would absolutely refuse to let my small child sit next to a stranger (without me on the other side).

Airlines also have a duty of care to passengers with additional needs who have booked specific seats or need to be with a companion - expecting them to move for families is unacceptable.

If a family with small children don't pre-book seats when they could have done so, don't like where they've been put and others won't move out of their pre-booked seats there is nothing to stop them getting off the plane. OK do it's a nuisance for other passengers being delayed whilst the bags are removed but might make them think before trying it again and doesn't involve the children being left with a stranger.

Taking something of another person that they have paid for (e.g. a specific seat) would be theft in most circumstances and I don't see how this is any different.

If a family have been unable to book seats e.g. having missed a connection or had to change plans at last minute the cabin crew should explain the situation and hopefully other passengers will be more sympathetic. Anyone moving out of a pre-booked seat should be compensated and nobody should be expected to move if it is likely to cause distress to them or a travelling companion.

SnowyPiglet Understood and agreed. I have a happy memory of keeping someone else's 9yo happy on a two hour flight by giving her my book of logic problems and teaching her how while her mother sat reading in the next seat so please don't write off male strangers as obviously and necessarily a danger!