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?

Should a pre-paid person move, would they have a refund I wonder?

The vast vast majority of people on budget / holiday flights have not paid extra. They have just checked in earlier. Usually online.

Checking in early on a budget flight doesn't mean getting the seat you want. The flight where I was seperated from dd we were the first to check in as we had to wait for the desk to open.

Sadly we were last to the gate as dd got the shits just before the flight was called. So my best plans of a sprint to the gate to be first in the scrum went out the window.

maitaimojito the situation you witnessed is nothing short of bonkers. If the airline knows it won't take off with a two year old separated from their parents, why allow the situation to arise in the first place? If the airline is prepared to allocate children randomly away from their parents because they haven't paid to sit together, they should either also be prepared to take off with that situation or not allow the situation to occcur. Am I missing something??

I've already said, twice, that I'd pay, given the opinions of others on this thread.

I've also already said, twice, that I would never be rude or demand someone give up their seat. I'd rather just pay than be in that situation. My query was would I end up in that situation if I didn't pay, or would they be likely to just automatically sit us parent and child, given their ages.

Easy jet used to have a sensible system. People who had paid for priority boarding first. People with small kids boarded second, then everyone else.

No idea what they do now.

Sorry OP my response and I suspect many others was not directed at you but at others in here saying they wouldn't ever pay

Have a look on Thompson's Facebook page - you have to dig around a bit to find public 'posts to page' - and you will find endless complaints from people who didn't pay to sit together and who were separated at check in.

Although they have to sit you close to your kids it will not necessarily be next to them and you could be in front or behind.

I think Thompson is the worst of all airlines and they seem to actually block seats and prevent you choosing seats together if you do not pay to book them.

Even if I'd paid pre-book fees, in the days before having young DC myself, I'd move for a young child to sit with his or her parents.

I wouldn't let 'but I paid and they didn't' stand in the way of helping someone out. If it didn't greatly affect me, then I would probably see it as an opportunity to not be a stubborn arsehole for the sake of it, simply because it's one of those traits in life that pisses me right off when I witness it in others.

But I'm in the minority on that, so I'd cough up, OP.

I pre-booked and paid for mine, DH's seats with our two children and was asked by another couple and the cabin crew if my DH would move to accommodate them and their child and their baby. She even made the comment about who would want to sit next to a crying baby?! It was actually her attitude that made me refuse to move - as though it was more important for her to sit with her husband and child than it was for us to sit with our children. We had our own reasons as to why we needed to sit with our kids and even though they are older they have their own needs. In fact had she not made that comment my DH may well have considered moving but her comment made us reconsider. If you want definitely want to sit together - pay. £28 isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things!! Or at least be polite when people don't want to move for you because they actually don't have to because they have paid!

'Should a pre-paid person move, would they have a refund I wonder?'

If it's me? No chance. That was a hella flight last year, that Amsterdam-Houston, which is given of 10 hours.

So I had gone without, to do an extra overnight, in Amsterdam, and the budget Ibis, which I can highly recommend, if you are into no frills, and I mean, no frills. But it is a stretch for us.

My parents pay for us to go over, we are that poor, and they can just afford it. They do what they can, to make it comfortable for us, our seats are booked. So no, I will not give up our seats for anyone, no matter what their story. Want to hear mine? Probably not. And who cares? We booked our seats with that in mind and it costs. Even on a short flight, because we have one, too, to get to Amsterdam and back to Glasgow, after a long stopover with no sleep.

Sorry NotMe, I wrongly interpreted them as directed at me.

The pilot did say he didn't know how it had happened and that it shouldn't have been allowed to happen, but as it had there was nothing he could do unless someone volunteered to move. At this point we'd already been sat on the Tarmac for around 20 mins so somebody then decided to forgo their seat.

I presume they save a proportion of seats together to allocate to families at check in but then once it gets towards the last few passengers they run out and tell people they'll have to sort it once they're on the plane. Must be a nightmare for the cabin crew.

I'm going to Orlando with Thomson in May and nearly didn't pre-book seats. However, my sister had flown with them before and had had her party if 3 (her and 2 teenage kids) split 3 ways and said there were lots of complaints with parents with young children. So now I have. I was thinking that I would mind us going 2 and 3, or even 2, 2 and 1 (as not all my children are young) but my sister said that from she could see, even that was not guaranteed.

hmm, interestingly, all the airlines getting arsey about people moving to accomodate the non-prebook family who decided to chance it, never offer to move someone into first class to make space for the cheapo family.

People who have paid extra to book seats have done it for a reason, usually to avoid having to be that family.

On a flight you can guess will be half full and mainly just single or couple travellers (not families), you can get away with not paying - but school holidays to holiday destination is highly likely to be a full flight with people travelling with DCs.

Whothefuckissimon all seating is pre allocated on easy jet now. Has been for years. Check in online. Never ever been not together with friends / family if checked in at same time and fly very frequently

First class or business may well be full too! And many charter holiday flights won't have different classes, I don't think

Please do book seats. Don't be like the silly cow who boarded the plane when we were flying back from Naples. She hadn't booked seats, but had a real shrill, hissy fit when nobody would move from their pre booked seats to accommodate her and her precious one. The cabin crew were brilliant and so patient with her. She eventually ran crying and ranting up the aisle and tried to leave the plane. Cue much consoling from the lovely crew. Anyway the inevitable happened and the take off slot was missed, so a late take off and landing - inconvenient for everyone.
I'm not suggesting for a minute you'll be like this person, OP

I had this difficulty once with my DD who was a 3 year old at the time. Seat allocation was first come first allocated it those days and our bus transfer was late to check in. We were the very last to check in .
The cabin crew eventually persuaded someone to move seats by offering free drinks including alcohol for the flight. But it took while as no one wanted to move. There was no way I was leaving a distressed 3 year old in a seat on the other end of the plane, I would have disembarked and they would have had to remove my luggage from the hold

Airlines do separate adults and children but it's usually not far from the parent. Happened to us after a last minute joint 'need the toilet' from DS and DSS (both 4) led to us being last on the plane

DSS and DS sat together on the opposite side of the aisle and a row back from me near the back of the plane, whilst DH (DP then) sprinted like a greased weasle had to go to the front of the plane.

The boys played 'tranformers' and colouring in the whole flight and I was 'Much Complimented Mummy' by the other passengers at their fantastic behaviour whilst they simultaneously commented about how fast DP had moved to the front

Spain's not far, I'd risk it.

Punk it's highly unlikely that even 20% of the plane had paid for their seats. So they were just been arseholes for not moving. Rather than the stressed woman being a "silly cow"

I flew on a budget airline this week and got asked if I'd move to the extra leg room emergency exit seat because, although the rest of the plane was full, nobody had paid extra to book these roomier seats

I don't book seats now that DS is a teen. And if I get a seat on my own, I'm delighted. Last summer though, I ended up moving out of my peaceful solo seat, and having to sit next to DH and DS because some adult travellers, who also hadn't booked, were making such an enormous fuss about sitting together. FFS.

Last time we flew with BA( return flight no internet access for online checkin) they sat DH and I in an emergency exit row, 3DC (9, 7 and 3) in the row behind us and MIL about 10 rows away. We couldn't swap with a chic dye to emergency exit. By the 3rd person in our row moved so DD2 could it with us, but he was happy with her siblings.

Was more concerned about MIL

The obvious solution is for airlines to only sell fares that include a booked seat where a young child is on the booking. You have to specify when booking whether the seat is for an adult, young adult or child, so this really shouldn't be complex for airlines to implement.

I believe that if the pilot (or member of cabin crew acting on his behalf) asks you to move, you have no choice but to do so. So a booked seat is never guaranteed.

I'm astonished at how many would refuse to move seats; I would never refuse to move if the request was reasonable and I could do so without major inconvenience.

It depends how you are asked, doesn't it? If politely, perhaps; if with a sense of entitlement, forget it.