that airlines charge you extra to sit together!?!?

[Dollygirl2008]

I mean, after a totally shitty year, I have scraped the money together to take my DC away for a weeks holiday to Menorca- possible the last foreign holiday we will have for a long time. And now, the sodding, well reputable tour operator want more money for us to sit together!?!? I mean, do pepper early do this!? Are they really going to split us up (DC is 7)??

Interested in others views or experience, thanks

The cynic in me is now starting to think that some parents may encourage their DCs to become upset if they are sat separately from their parents to the extent that the person sat next to the upset child will be begging a parent to swap with them so they don't have to spend the flight consoling an unknown child.

Blimey notonyurjellybellynelly , you really do have a chip on your shoulder and clearly don't actually read the posts properly - you simply take the negative and turn it into a rant and attack. At NO POINT in any of the posts have I taken a shot at other parents or people that choose to pay the extra, nor have I judged those that decide not to. My original post was simply asking for others experience of whether they were split up on arrival, or whether it really is advisable to pre-book.

After reading all the posts, it seems very simple - if you want to be guaranteed to sit together, then pay. If not, then you take a gamble and now I realise that airlines really do split families up if the latter, I will not be taking the chance.

As for holier than though, hahaha you really don't have a clue!!!!

When my kids were younger I would have paid to sit together as its not worth the worry and hassle beforehand. Now they are older I don't mind if we are split and they probably would like to be away from me haha! I don't think that someone who had paid for a particular seat should move why should they when they have paid for it.

No one on this thread has said they expect anyone to move so they can sit with their children, because they probably know they'd get flamed! Perhaps they think it, I have no idea. However, instead of saying that, they are directing their anger at the airlines for allowing them to not pay and not necessarily be sat with their children!

If you are travelling with someone who is vulnerable then you take all possible steps yourself to ensure their safety. Young children are not the only vulnerable travellers so if we are going to have free sitting together for them, we need to give it for everyone else who is vulnerable too.

Do you feel annoyed that your ticket price includes a contribution to the cost of a wheelchair lift for those who need it? Or that your taxes go towards paying for schools? There are members of society who are more vulnerable and need protection and it is sad when this is not recognised. It is not about the parents; it is about protecting small children regardless of their parents actions. Children should be automatically placed next to a parent. If the parents then want to pay to choose where those seats should be that is a different matter. Equally disabled people should be automatically sat next to a carer.

blaeberry Who decides who had to move to allow for it and in what criteria?

expatinscotland I'd be very surprised if the arm I had chanced bit me in the arse!

Blimey notonyurjellybellynelly , you really do have a chip on your shoulder and clearly don't actually read the posts properly - you simply take the negative and turn it into a rant and attack. At NO POINT in any of the posts have I taken a shot at other parents or people that choose to pay the extra, nor have I judged those that decide not to. My original post was simply asking for others experience of whether they were split up on arrival, or whether it really is advisable to pre-book

I think it's you who needs to go back and re-read a few posts.

You took a well aimed shot at people who can afford to travel business but then put their children in economy. And you did it under the guise of 'call me old fashioned'

Do you feel annoyed that your ticket price includes a contribution to the cost of a wheelchair lift for those who need it? Or that your taxes go towards paying for schools?

Neither of those things are the same at all.

No one on this thread has said they expect anyone to move so they can sit with their children

Not outright, no, but it is very clear that some of them would.

BarbaraofSeville oh yes one person has already insinuted it!
They could try it with me all they liked but i wouldn't be moving.
I guarantee that if my partner was moved they'd be begging to swap with him as i'd be worse than any child
Plus it's very easy to ignore child, earphones in, done.

Wheelchair lifts are hardly comparable. I certainly don't need to be told about vulnerable members of society with having a child who will always cognitively be a young child.

We bought two folding walking sticks which convert into seats to use in art galleries etc in Madrid. On the way home we were Waiting in the long Easyjet queue to board, wirh allocated seats at the back and I was using the contraption as a walking stick and leaning on it.

Easyjet person spotted me, took us to the front of the queue and found us seats to wait on, changed our boarding passes to seats at the front of the plane and boarded us before everyone else. We were amazed but grateful and have sworn never to fly without the sticks.

Even when going skiing.

I live in France and travel back and forth to the UK quite a lot with my three children (ages 3, 10, 12). Usually on Ryanair, sometimes Easyjet. I have never paid extra for allocated seats and when I do the check-in online 24 hours before they always put us in four seats in a row - usually A, B, C, D. We've never been split up. I'm happy to chance it rather than pay extra.

I am a divorced mum of DS aged 9, and when he goes away with his dad and family, I take the opportunity to go away on my own. On two occasions I have booked and paid for a seat on an airline and on both occasions I have been asked to move by airline staff on behalf of parents who presumably refused to spend money to pre-book seats. It made me really cross - on my two precious child-free weeks a year I'm having my travel plans dictated by other parents. When I go away with my son, I always pre-book seats, partly because I can't cope with the stress of the seat bun fight but also because I don't want to put anyone else in the position I've been put in before. Controversial, maybe, but I think if you have kids, you have to stomach the associated costs, and this includes booking seats together. It shouldn't have to be other people who are expected to accommodate you and your need to balance the books. Oh, and I wasn't offered champagne and chocolates - I think I was just expected to feel that a good deed was payment enough. Which, as an exhausted single mum on a much-needed break, it wasn't.

If I paid extra for a particular seat, there is no way in hell I would be moving to accommodate some entitled person who didn't bother to book seats together with their sprog.

Not unless the airline offered me an upgrade to first.

Nor would I be entertaining/looking after any sprog who did beside me for the journey, beyond the simple courtesy I would extend to anyone of helping them with a stiff table/armrest/seat belt.

We've never been split up. I'm happy to chance it rather than pay extra.

Absolutely fine. So long as you don't expect anyone else to move to accommodate you if the da arrives that you haven't all been seated together.

But the point is people shouldn' t have to move - the airline simply allocates two seats together for any vulnerable passengers at the booking stage rather than the check in stage when there is a chance there might not be any left. The only impact on other passengers would be a very slight reduction in choice if choosing seats late. They don't even need to allocate specific seats at that stage - it would be quite easy to program the computer to keep a certain number of two seats next to each other reserved for these passengers somewhere on the plane.

We talk about 6 year olds but two year olds also need their own seat and it is ridiculous to suggest they could cope on their own. It is easy to criticise the parents but they are irrelevant; children are not some precious piece of baggage they are vulnerable people in their own right.

On one of the occasions I've mentioned, the child, who was probably about 12, was crying that they weren't able to sit next to their mum so I would have been vilified if I'd refused to swap seats. The thing is, if you know your child can't deal with being separated from you like this, surely that's even more reason to pre-book seats? I know my son would find it really stressful so I don't take that chance. On both occasions when I was travelling alone I paid extra for a nice quiet window seat and on both occasions ended up in an aisle seat by the toilet. And with no champagne and chocolates

There's an FAA bill underway in the States which will make it a requirement that parents sit with children at no extra charge so I'm sure Europe will follow suit quickly.

Until then, yes pay the extra.

We always fly Delta because they let you pick your seats with no extra charge.

I had 4 children under 5 and every time we went on a plane we never paid the extra. In fact, when pushed, I said that my husband and I would enjoy the trip much more if they sat my infants far away.....we were always put together!
On the one occasion where it was not done at check- in, a stewardess asked / told other passengers to move when we boarded, as it is a clear safety issue with toddlers.
No need to pay, in my view.

Wrinkle when other passengers are asked to move it creates resentment as seen here. This wouldn't happen if the airline automatically seated vulnerable passengers with carers. Resentment should be aimed at the airline.

It shouldn't cost anything to put people who booked together seated together provided the seats are available - that would cost the airline nothing and simply be courteous (that's always good for business and being good for business is a nice little earner). But Michael O'Leary of Ryan Air is such an abrasive, money grasping sod that I get the impression that he has a finely honed contempt for his -sheep- passengers that he's prepared to loose a few bob to watch them suffer.

However, I'd like to praise and applaud Flybe for their excellent, kindly service (thus proving the point that being courtious is good for business). I happen to have MS and need help to get through airports and onto planes, easyjet and Flybe are good at looking after you on the plane, airports take charge of you on the ground, and believe me Bristol airport is dire, they could learn a lot from the French. However, this time I had to pickup my mobility scooter from Manchester and fly it home to Paris. I booked a low cost flight with Flybe as I do like them. €53 for the flight was very reasonable, but I found that my quite large mobility scooter was taken free of charge! Many airlines do this, but Flybe did it with great care and a lot of kindness. You must ask in advance because of the space these scooters take in the hold, but what a liberation to be able to go on holiday with it! And free of charge... Well, what can you say? They really can't make a cent on that sort of booking and when you get such friendly service too life really becomes worthwhile again. Bravo Flybe... I LIKE YOU A LOT!

I recall the days when common sense prevailed and people booking together were assumed to be traveling together and therefore seated together. We traveled as a family of 6 in the 90s and were always seated together. People are all saying basically, 'suck it up that is the way it is', but be that as it may maybe it should not be 'just the way it is'. Aside from the fact that it is just another way to get money out of you as a society we should expect parents and children to be seated together and it is an absolute disgrace that airlines think it is acceptable to seat children as young as 3 next to complete strangers.

In those days, of common sense, MissSeventies - you paid more for your airline ticket, and got the seat allocation, baggage etc, included - even if you didn't care where you sat, and didn't need a bag in the hold.

Airlines now often use a different model of charging, where these things are 'extras' - so there is a low, basic price for the fare, and if you don't care where you sit, and don't want hold baggage, you can get a very cheap price for your journey, but if you want to choose your seat or have hold baggage, you choose to pay extra for this.

The two different charging models mean you are not comparing like with like.

'On one of the occasions I've mentioned, the child, who was probably about 12, was crying that they weren't able to sit next to their mum so I would have been vilified if I'd refused to swap seats. '

So what? You're never going to see those people again. You don't owe them anything. I wouldn't have moved.

And next time, book in the emergency exit row. They can't put under 16s in those.