Do I REALLY need to pre book seats on the plane?

[StephenKatz]

Flying to Spain in a couple of months, Thomson have told me I now have the option to pre book my seats on the plane. The last time I went it was just allocated from the very beginning (different airline and quite a while ago to be fair!) It's going to cost £28 for the four of us, something I wasn't really anticipating and I kind of resent paying it. But if I don't, would they seriously sit DC away from us? They are 4 and 6.

Whilst I don't really mind having a couple of hours peace from them sipping wine , I fear I'll be one of those people that Mumsnet whinge about! I won't demand rudely that a stranger give up their allocated seat or anything! But I'm trying to decide if it's worth paying, or trusting that they'll sit us together? I don't mind DH and I aren't sat together, as long as we have a child each to look after? AIBU not to pay?

Actually on reflection if betsy is an indication of the type of person in business, I'll stick to economy thanks very much.

Not much incentive for me to book it when there is a 25% chance I will get it for free anyway though..... (Unless I need to sleep - like my flight out of LHR overnight this Sunday, which is business assuming the other passengers don't kick me out for being an oik)

Rookie I think polite but firm. It is a pain in the bum traipsing from one seat to the next and it seems reasonable (to me at least) that the airline makes it worthwhile and keeps you happy. At the very least the crew can bring you plenty of booze!

Nah, rookie, I'm almost always in business or first and I'm lovely! And don't give a damn how much anyone else paid.

Not at all. Its mumsnet that brings it out in me. I find it irritating people boasting about getting upgraded. If you have platinum status that's why you get upgraded not because you move because some mum from surrey didn't pay 28 quid. And you don't get that status unless you fly first or business most of the time. So it's just a load of bollocks really. But you are right, the bitchyness sometimes winds me up beyond what is normal.

Nobody apart from you is bitching Betsy

Eh? Nobody boasted!

And upgrades because of platinum status generally happen at check in or the gate. Upgrades because Beryl is a nervous flyer who needs to sit next to her DH and forgot to book tend to happen after boarding. And as I said in my previous post, the crew usually check my privileges (and perhaps availability) before upgrading me. Maybe they are asking all the superior types in business whether to allow me in...

And why do you care why people are sitting next to you on a flight, whether they've won a competition, eaten beans for a year to save up or their company is paying?

It's a very strange thing to wonder about.

But betsyderek - it's not Mumsnet that is forcing you to object to the sweaty masses being upgraded to your precious business class - it's you.

How deeply unpleasant to thwart one of the pipe dreams of many of us here who could never hope to afford business class flight, just because you can. Are you worried that we'll lower the tone of the place with our nasty plebian voices and smells?

Ironically from the sound of it you don't even pay for your own flights anyway - it's either through work or through some allowance.

They try to put kids with parents but they can't force other passengers to move so you can sit with them.
If they need supervision you should pay for allocated seating.

AVOID Delta and United at all costs, though. The staff are fucking awful - rude, unhelpful, useless.

Have used each . . . once. And now stick to KLM.

There's been the odd comment about greedy airlines... Just to chip in that for the budget airlines in particular, the actual amount of profit they're making on your ticket is usually less than 5p per pound.

So >95% of what you're paying is the cost of equipment, fuel, staff, card/airport fees, taxes, etc. Buy something in a shop and you're looking at more like 50% profit for the company!

I've checked in online on easy jet one month earlier (the day check in opened) and managed to get three seats in a row, I think they are in a row (D, E, F).

"Buy something in a shop and you're looking at more like 50% profit for the company!"

Few shops run at this kind of martin- pppp

Margin! They may make 50% gross profit on items sold but again, have to pay staff, rent, lighting etc from this.

You are right about the minimal profit per economy seat though!

That's at full price, Barefoot. It does vary by shop and with sales, deals, coupons, etc, then yes the profit is less. But usually still more than

I'm saying the same thing as the first paragraph of that blog, aren't i?

Quite possibly - I make no claims to be an accountant! Only thing I can guarantee is the airline figures through industry knowledge. Everything else I had to reference or worked from my own understanding, so I could be mistaken.

We fly once a year from Germany to Boston on Lufthansa. As an Economy passenger, you get one free suitcase, but if you want to sit together (my DC are 6 and 9), you have to pay 25 Euro per seat per leg. Which means for my family an extra 200 Euro. They introduced this fuckery last year.

Given what they charge for the damn ticket, I am livid that they are charging extra for the damn seat. We are trying out their new Economy Plus this summer, as DH is 1.93 m (6'5") and literally has his knees against the seat in front of him in regular Economy. I cannot wait until international law addresses the sardine-packing that goes on in the cabin. I mean, there are laws on the books regarding how much space an animal in the hold needs, but none for people? WTF? Especially because I have a condition that has me at an increased risk for clots (yes, I get a shot of heparin before each long-haul flight - lucky me).

Hate this whole idea, its just a way of conning people out of money

I learnt the hard way. DS was 2 on way out, three on way back. It would have cost £90 to book seats. We were all sat separate. DS Screamed for ages. I sat and cried. It was awful for everyone. The passengers sat with DS held their hands over their ears throughout the terrible wailing. The passengers I sat with were stony faced. I have paid for seats together ever since.

Everyone on that plane will know you gambled and lost and no one will have any sympathy for you if you're split up.

It is never the fault of the people who won't swap their (pre booked) seats so parents can sit with children. It is always the fault of the parent who refused to pay/was too tight to pay/was prepared to gamble on the day. You're contemplating being that parent.

I agree with greathat that it is a con. Before we paid to pre-book seats we never had problems of families being split up. I guess airlines are under pressure to advertise low prices, but then need to boost their profits by charging to pre-book seats.

CAA guidelines work two ways, if the cabin crew try to rearrange to sit you together and you make a fuss they could deplane you.

betsy must be one of those people that deliberately posts passive aggressive statements on Facebook all the time to just try and create an argument - cringeworthy but hilarious at the same time as you watch them humiliate themselves