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?

If selecting seats was included as a "free" option, prices in general would rise, as others have said.

And you'd just be "competing" with your fellow passengers in another way, as the first people to buy tickets would select the windows and aisles so a family buying a bit later might still find no seats together.

How come this Necer happens at the theatre or in a restaurant?
If you book for 4 you get four seats together. Why can the airlines just do this as they sell the seats?

The theatre applies differential pricing to seats, ledkr. The airline is doing the same through a different mechanism.

And the theatre is always the theatre - a plane configuration can change.

This thread makes me glad we bought a camper.
We all sit together and can stop and start as we please, watch tv eat proper food.
I used to fly two or three times a year. Don't miss it one bit.

What I don't understand is why if anyone didn't get suitable seats that they would wait until they were on the plane before pointing it out.

If I didn't/couldn't get seats allocated in advance (or maybe I did but the plane was almost full) and the ones I had were not suitable I'd complain at check in, not when I got on the plane. Mentioning that the children get travel sick for example may help....

The proem is Zad that many pax check in online these days (in which case they have no choice). Even check-in agents would just advise sorting it out after boarding so it really is left to the poor old cabin crew - who i am sure wish wholeheartedly the airline would just flipping key people reserve for free!!

Many, many theatres do not allow you to book seats that leave a single seat by itself. It isn't a free for all - they manage the allocation to some extent.

But then on weekday scheduled flights many passengers are business and are travelling alone.

Not flown Thomson recently, but Lufthansa forces us to buy more expensive seats lately. Cheaper tickets do not let you choose seats and even ground staff cannot change automatic allocation. DS (7) was always sit far away from me. Other passengers though always took pity on crying DS and let us sit together. Now we know their system we rather pay a lot more than see him so anxious.

As you suggest, Blu, far fewer people go to the theatre alone than fly alone and the systems are adjusted accordingly.

To be more like a theatre, where tickets are priced for attractiveness of the seat location, the airline could charge,say, £500 for window seats, £450 for middle seats and £550 for aisle seats (or whatever pricing booking stats show as plausible).

The issue with that is if the plane configuration changes, as often happens, many refunds would be required. It also might incentivise solo travellers to take middle seats, exacerbating the "no seats for families together" problem!

Airlines also use seat selection to reward loyalty eg Bronze frequent flyers on BA can choose seats seven days out, presumably higher tiers have even longer to choose. Like priority boarding, it's a cost effective frequent flyer perk.

A couple of years ago we flew to Hong Kong with ds, then just over 2. We didn't have to pay to book seats, I don't think we were given the option, but I contacted the airline to try to get the bulkhead seats so we'd get more room with ds and the airline booked them for us both ways. The trouble was they booked 2 seats in the middle and 1 (ds's seat) across the aisle. I think they thought he was younger than he was and would need the bassinet, which could only be fixed on the side, not middle, rows. Of course that would have meant a random stranger would need to look after him! We didn't realise until we boarded as the seat letters were oddly numbered so had to ask someone to swap with us. Luckily they agreed.
What annoys me is that they don't tell you the cost until you've booked so you can't factor it into your budget. I expected it on low cost airlines but we flew BA last summer and the charge for booking seats was horrendous. When shopping for flight prices we didn't take it into account. Luckily BA do pre-allocate seats a bit layer by before check in opens if you are travelling with a child, you just get what they give you, which is fine with me.

Zad if you travel with hand luggage only as I usually do, you don't have any interaction with staff from the airline until you're at the gate and the staff there are usually incredibly rude very busy

We had this issue when my daughter was 3. We could not book the seats as we had booked with Thompson and it was a thomas cook flight. We tried for weeks visited the travel agent and it would not let us so we were reasurred that they would sort it at the airport. The way out we had no problems however on the return they sat all of us rows apart. We were 4th in the queue so it was not as if they had got rid of all the seats the lady on check in said she could not reprint the tickets but they would sort it on the plane. When we got on the stewardess said they could not sort it unless someone swapped. The stewardess said if she sat alone for take off she could then come and sit on my lap.... My daughter broke her heart and became really upset. The elderly couple sat next to her didn't speak to her or try to comfort her. The stewardess asked everyone on the plane If someone would swap however no one would. The couple sat next to me mentioned they had not booked their seats but we're glad to be sat together as he was a nervous flyer and said to my face they didn't see why they should move. He was a grown man for gods sake! Eventually one kind man said he would move. I offered to pay his booking fee but he said don't worry love I will sort it with the airline as it's disgusting that they would charge parents to seat them next to their toddlers.
I complained to thomas cook and they really didn't want to know at all. It's a law that needs to be changed as there are safety considerations. At least one parent should be allowed a space next to their child and there should not be a charge.
Legally if a child is over 18m old they can seat them alone.

zad when it happened to us, we tried to sort it out at check in and with the boarding staff - we got told that we would have to sort it out with the cabin crew. So it is not that people are just leaving it till they get on the plane, that is how the system works.

Only - this is exactly what happened to us too.

No I don't pay for seating and have never had any trouble! check in early and if the kids are old enough to sit on their own then it's not a problem as mina are now. I am sorry but I also think it's a money grabbing exercise from the airlines

Coming back from a holiday in the canaries with 4 children 12, 10 (with broken arm) 6 and 4 yr old all dotted all over the cabin and this was a night flight. DS had broken his arm earlier in the day and still in a lot of discomfort- we only just caught the flight and so were one of the last to check in.

Maydancer was yours a thomas cook too? We were in the canaries too
Lanzarote

Blu, that's understandable. Deciding to move is a completely personal decision and of course people can say no. I don't mind mid-row and I feel more sorry for the people who sitting either side of me and have to move when I need the toilet etc. However, I accept that I'm probably not normal.

Expatinscotland, I feel incredibly sad that you have to pay to sit together. I think that the additional charges disproportionately affect young families and families with health/medical considerations. For many families holidays are precious and money is finite so it's unfair to pay out extra. I wonder what the proportion of single people who purchase allocated seating is when compared to families and where the airline makes it's money.

I also wonder how the profit margins of airlines have changed over time and how the allocated seating charge has affected this, e.g. has it evened out reduced fare prices or provided an additional method of gaining revenue?

It's dangerous for a young child to sit without their parents on an aeroplane. They might undo their seat belt and in the advent of any issues with the flight would need adult assistance to put on an oxygen mask or life jacket and evacuate the plane.

Therefore the cost of them sitting next to an accompanying adult should be included in their ticket price. Otherwise it becomes a compulsory extra charge which isn't advertised as such.

I've heard a few horror stories about separating children and parents. I always pay - cannot be doing with the stress of what if! and imagine of there was an accident and you are basically relying on a stranger to save your child

Holiday companies allready treat families badly by hiking up prices to obscene levels in school holidays it really does upset me that this charge also targets families specifically too. When you pay over £2000 for a holiday you should have your seat in the package.
I can totally understand it with budget airlines such as easyjet as their costs have allready been reduced. But for a package holiday it's just money grabbing pure and simple.

Lots of things become more expensive when you have kids though - you can't wait for the last minute half price tickets to the theatre or whatever because you need to plan.

It's much better to think of it as a discount for not caring where you sit or who you are next to, just as it's better to think of off peak holiday prices as discounted from their true cost in order to sell idle inventory,

Ha - x post with dizzy.

I'd love if people paid to be seated together - I'm a seriously nervous flyer and one flight last year ended up sitting beside two kids, with their mum in the aisle seat behind. I asked her if she wanted to sit beside them and she said no, she was grand (kids were maybe 5 and 8).

So for the take-off I had to pretend everything was fine because I didnt want to freak out the kids by panicking like I normally would, and then the two started murdering each other over a doll. I was never so thankful in my life to have Frozen downloaded on the iPad, so I gave it to the two kids and had murderous thoughts towards the mother who was too busy quaffing G&Ts to look after her darling offspring