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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

438 replies

StephenKatz · 03/03/2016 16:05

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 Wink , 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?

OP posts:
GiraffeHouse · 04/03/2016 11:28

Don't pay. It's a total con. I never do and we've never had a problem.

JacquesHammer · 04/03/2016 11:29

The thing is, all the posters saying people are "arseholes" for refusing to move - how do you figure that?

I want a service, I pay for it. If I pay for it I want to use that service. Why should I pay for something, then not use the service because others haven't bothered. If they want to take the risk that's their perogative, I'm not going to fix it for them though if it goes wrong.

I always pay to pre-book seats whether travelling with DD or with an all adult party. Neither would I move for someone who hadn't bothered

Buzzardbird · 04/03/2016 11:32

I agree with you Misti, must be quite draining on the 'Pension Pot', all those delays?

In all my years in the field of sales training 'selling using fear' was always considered to be the lowest form of selling.

BitOutOfPractice · 04/03/2016 11:35

Jacques the chances of the people that are asked to move having paid are slim - very few people do. It's a really short flight. So not moving for a parent to sit with their child when they haven't paid extra themselves and it's not exactly an inconvenience is rather arseholian imho

If you've paid extra, fair enough. But most people haven't

BitOutOfPractice · 04/03/2016 11:37

Moneysavingexpert has been campaigning about this issue

MyKingdomForBrie · 04/03/2016 11:37

You probably will get seated together, probably at the expense of someone who has paid to book a seat. I'm terrified of flying but have been asked to move away from dh and to sit on my own to make room for people's kids when they haven't pre booked. I moved of course because I'm polite but I was really upset. I pre booked, they didn't, because they bloody knew they would get prioritised. It's selfish and it pissed me off .

BitOutOfPractice · 04/03/2016 11:40

rookiemere I agree a long-haul flight is completely different but 1.5 hours to malaga or 35 minutes to Amsterdam - not so much of a hassle to move is it?

Have a wonderful time when you go.

BitOutOfPractice · 04/03/2016 11:41

I agree, the cabin staff should not be asking people who have pre-booked to move but the vast majority of people on the vast majority of flights haven't

Bellasima20 · 04/03/2016 11:41

kingdom next time totally stand your ground. Why be polite to others that have shown zero consideration for the rest of the plane and you have as much if not more of a need/reason to sit in your chosen seat, then a family do to sit with their kids. Only difference, you ensured you pre booked to get this. Wish people would have more courage to stand up for themselves.

Mistigri · 04/03/2016 11:44

Ultimately I believe that the pilot has the right to require passengers to change seats, or to delegate the cabin staff to do so on his behalf. If the pilot says move, you move, or you risk being removed from the plane yourself.

JacquesHammer · 04/03/2016 11:48

BitOutofPractice

I'm in two minds - if the people have "taken their chance" as much as the parents with kids and have got the seats they require then it really is churlish to expect people to move to accomodate someone else's kids. A situation that could easily have been avoided.

That's the thing about taking the risk though - it might not work. And if you take the risk and it doesn't you shouldn't expect other people to be inconvenienced to sort out the mess

BitOutOfPractice · 04/03/2016 11:53

Yeah but if it's a minor inconvenience, why wouldn't you? I agree, if you've paid or if it's a long haul flight and they're trying to send you to a crap seat, I'd balk at moving. Otherwise I would.

MyKingdomForBrie · 04/03/2016 11:54

I guess I feel my fear of flying is less legitimate that their kids need to sit by a parent. It is an irrational fear after all (not that that makes it any less bloody horrible!)
I also move because I feel sorry for the hostesses and because I just want to get the flight off the ground - delays make my anxiety 10x worse.

YoungGirlGrowingOld · 04/03/2016 11:58

This thread has further convinced me that being cabin crew is a job I could never, ever do!

I would hate to have to sort out crap like this! And it happens even on the better airlines when seat reservation is FREE! Grr.

BitOutOfPractice · 04/03/2016 11:58

MyKingdom I don't think you should have had to move. It's not an irrational fear. And it is very real to you. You had paid for a specific seat, you should have kept it and someone who hadn't paid should have moved Thanks

JacquesHammer · 04/03/2016 11:59

Maybe it wouldn't be a minor inconvenience though? I'm not a great flyer so I always book, even if I hadn't I wouldn't want to move out of a seat I'm comfortable with.

You could also turn that around and say "if you want to be guaranteed a seat, why wouldn't you pay"? Using the OP's figures (and noting the OP has said she's going to pay) but £28 to save pissing other people off, having peace of mine and generally not being an entitled douche is pretty good value.

MyKingdomForBrie · 04/03/2016 12:17

Thanks bit maybe I'll try and be tougher next time!

haggisaggis · 04/03/2016 12:18

We're flying to the US this year with BA and have prebooked seats at a cost of £40 each per flight so total £ 320! I do think it's a money making exercise - have always flown United before where you can pick your own seat when you book at no extra charge. This time we felt obliged to prebook as if it's a full flight and every one else has paid you could end up sitting apart (ok my ds are teens, but we still want to all sit together for the flight).

LogicalThinking · 04/03/2016 12:19

I was sat next to a 7yr old whose mum was 3 rows back and dad on the other side of the plane. There was no way I was moving as I had paid to sit next to my child.
You can take the risk and it depends on the particular flight. You will probably be ok, but you might not.
I think you are right to pay and not have the stress of it not working out well for you OP.

Branleuse · 04/03/2016 12:26

when i have flown with ryanair or easyjet, i checked us all in at the same time on the same booking, as soon as check-in opened, and all seats have always been together.

Maybe its different at peak times or more popular destinations?

Treats · 04/03/2016 12:35

The thing is, I'm fine with not paying, and taking the risk that we don't sit together (we only take short flights, so we're only talking about a short period of time). It's not worth the extra expense to me, so why should I pay it.

If we end up not sitting together, I would gracefully accept it and not kick up a fuss - I won't be THAT parent. But my 3-year old could end up between somebody who's paid for a window seat and someone who's paid to sit next to the aisle. Is that really fair on those people?? I would be less than impressed to find that I'd paid money to babysit someone else's toddler.

As long as I can choose not to pay to prebook, then I will take that option. Which seems like an unacceptable imposition on other passengers. So, either the pre-booking option shouldn't be optional for parents flying with children (in which case, just build it into the cost of a child's ticket) or there should be no charge for pre-booking.

The marginal cost to the airline of reserving seats for people who want to sit in a particular seat is nowhere near £28. They've chosen to impose these charges themselves purely as extra revenue. They need to take responsibility for the issues that it causes.

Bumshkawahwah · 04/03/2016 12:43

As haggisaggis says - if I were to pre-book all my seats with BA, flying return from my home on Asia to the UK, for me and my two kids, it would cost me over £400 extra (it's about £60 pp for the long haul section then £20-something for the short-haul flight. Times two ways, times three people). Luckily BA say on their website that they will do their best to sit families together and what actually happens is that they allocate our seats 48 hours before check-in.

Our flights normally cost around £2400 for the three of us... An extra £400 to prebook our seats is just too much, I think. Actually, at that price, I'm not sure how many people actually do pre-book.

Blu · 04/03/2016 12:44

I never do.

We get to check in smartly, or check in online as soon as it opens, and have always been allocated seats together. or 3 and one the other side of the aisle, for example.

I just took DS to a popular holiday destination on the first day of half term, decided that if we weren't together, at his secondary school age, it would be fine for the duration of a flight to be not sitting together. But we had good seats, together.

Mistigri · 04/03/2016 12:46

You simply can't leave a 2 or 3 year old unattended and it shouldn't be possible for airlines to allocate children this young seats apart from their parents.

On my last but one flight (alone) I was in the same row as an Italian family who were all sitting together. Their toddler was good as gold but had an absolute meltdown (due to ear pain) during landing. He was too old to sit on a lap, he had to be restrained in his seat. It would have been completely unacceptable, and unsafe, for the airline to have seated this child alone.

I agree with treats - the cost of allocating seats to bookings which include a child under (say) 8 would be minimal. If airlines choose not to do this, any resulting delay or inconvenience to other passengers is their responsibility.

keely79 · 04/03/2016 12:47

Think depends on the airline. Looking at the Virgin website, they say that each child under 12 will be sat with at least one adult from the group. So no need to prebook on that basis for child reasons.