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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

542 replies

Dollygirl2008 · 26/04/2016 23:20

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

OP posts:
Trills · 30/04/2016 11:34

All reserved seats and no knickers...

Baggiegirl · 30/04/2016 11:35

I'm a very nervous flier so always book seats so I know I'll be next to my husband. So sorry I'm not moving for anyone. Luckily we have enough "fancy" money to fly a few times a year. Every flight we've done recently there's always been "that" family. Last on the plane, at least 5 in the group and guess what not sitting together. I really believe the attitude is why should we pay to prebook seats, we've got kids so they've got to put us together

BadLad · 30/04/2016 11:50

Supporting them would make anyone a nervous wreck.

Or have I misinterpreted your username?

Baggiegirl · 30/04/2016 12:20

You've got it right Badlad. I'm a glutton for punishment lol!

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 30/04/2016 13:12

I have M&S knickers, reserved seats and fancy money.

Frankly, I don't know what I am doing, hobnobbing with you lot on here - isn't there a fancier, more swanky website that special folks like me could belong to? WinkGrin

Trills · 30/04/2016 13:14

Yesterday at work something had the letters s/t/d/g in it and I wanted to say "Oh that's nearly..."

I stopped myself because I realised that SDTG is not a THING.

Whathaveilost · 30/04/2016 13:34

Just interested, for those who agree with the current system, do you also agree with this for long haul, where the price is much higher

I haven't got a problem. We are just booking our flights to Sydney for NY.
DH wants extra legroom . I'm not bothered about us all sitting together but DH would like us to so in total we are looking at paying an extra £1,400 over the base rate.
If I was going by myself I wouldn't be bothered where I sit or about extra room so it would have been cheaper for me. We are picking and choosing what suits our needs best for this journey. When I go to Germany next month I will be paying the base rate ( check in in advance, don't care where I sit, just having a handbag, pay by debit etc )

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 30/04/2016 14:22

Grin Trills!

budgiegirl · 30/04/2016 16:19

DH wants extra legroom . I'm not bothered about us all sitting together but DH would like us to so in total we are looking at paying an extra £1,400 over the base rate

But IMHO. that's a small upgrade, as you are all getting seats with extra legroom. It's not really the same thing as a parent sitting with a child.

PunkrockerGirl · 30/04/2016 20:16

I'm just off to book seats so I can sit next to dh because I'm a nervous flier. Using my hard earned fancy money which I've worked extra shifts to get

Any chocolate covered, seat kicking child would soon wish they weren't sat next to me. My children are adults, they were never allowed to annoy other people on public transport, so don't think for one minute that I'll put up with yours annoying me or spoiling my flight. I have headphones, diazepam and will quite willingly turn my back on any child who ends up next to me because the parents are too tight to pay to sit next to their dc. They can cry, kick and whinge all they like Before I nod off, I'll get the cabin crew to refer them to their tight fistedparents. After that I won't give one rat's arse what happens to them.

OnlyHereForTheCamping · 30/04/2016 20:26

Thanks this thread reminded me to check in for flight at the end of May. Me and dd sitting together without laying out any extra money

budgiegirl · 30/04/2016 20:29

My children are adults, they were never allowed to annoy other people on public transport, so don't think for one minute that I'll put up with yours annoying me or spoiling my flight

But what if the parents couldn't get seats with their child because, due to the airlines policy of allowing people to choose their seats, there are only individual seats left when they booked? And no-one will move seats because they've paid extra for them.

expatinscotland · 30/04/2016 20:32

'But what if the parents couldn't get seats with their child because, due to the airlines policy of allowing people to choose their seats, there are only individual seats left when they booked?'

Then you don't press the final button. You find another flight. Life's a bitch. We don't always get what we want first time round.

budgiegirl · 30/04/2016 20:40

Life's a bitch. We don't always get what we want first time round

And that includes passengers who are happy to benefit from low fares. Like I said upthread. it's a risk you take when you book a flight with an airline with this policy. You really can't complain about sitting next to an unaccompanied child if you believe it's ok to have a policy where parents have to pay to sit with their child. Because , you know, life's a bitch.

expatinscotland · 30/04/2016 20:47

'And that includes passengers who are happy to benefit from low fares.'

Yep, and so many of us have said that's fine with us. We want the low fares. We want the ability to pay extra for a seat of our choice and if we get an unaccompanied child next to us, so what, it still doesn't mean we're going to take over the parenting role for that kid because it's not anyone else's lookout by the parents'. No one's complained about that. Hmm

Roussette · 30/04/2016 21:02

But what if the parents couldn't get seats with their child because, due to the airlines policy of allowing people to choose their seats, there are only individual seats left when they booked? And no-one will move seats because they've paid extra for them.
Oh don't be pathetic. Book in advance. Choose your seats. Pay for them.

I don't book flights that don't suit me - either timewise, seat wise, arrival time wise, or whatever. What makes you so different because you 've had kids? You cannot benefit from £19.99 flights to some european city (which will be less than two train stops out of London - and far cheaper) without paying a price somewhere.

An no, I won't be moving unless there is a very good reason. I have moved before but not for families who can't be arsed to pay the minimal fee to sit together.

PunkrockerGirl · 30/04/2016 21:27

budgie ffs get a grip. If you want to sit by your children, pay and book seats next to them. Don't be the woman who on our flight home last year boarded the plane and expected people to move to accommodate her family because she hadn't booked and expected everyone else to move because 'I have small children, what am I supposed to do'
What you're supposed to do, you stupid woman is to pay, if sitting beside your dc is so important to you. What you don't do is rampage up the aisle screaming like a banshee and cause the plane to miss its take off slot. Confused

budgiegirl · 30/04/2016 22:09

budgie ffs get a grip. If you want to sit by your children, pay and book seats next to them

You are misunderstanding me. I agree that as it stands now, if you want to be guaranteed to sit with your kids, you need to pay for it. That doesn't mean I agree with it, I thinks it's a ridiculous policy.

I have never paid, I've been lucky and we've always sat together. I'm willing to take the risk now my kids are a bit older ( I don't remember there being this option when my kids were smaller, we were automatically allocated seats, or boarded first). I would never ask anyone else to move. But I still don't agree with it. Clearly some airlines agree with me, such as BA, who do sit smaller children with parents. And some don't, that's fair enough. It doesn't mean I should 'get a grip, or I'm 'pathetic' just because I disagree with your point of view!

ImNotThatGirl · 30/04/2016 22:59

"I think anyone who needs special assistance, and can prove it, should be allowed to sit with a family member or carer free of charge. I don't think they should be able to choose where they sit, just that they will be allocated seats together."

I'm afraid you haven't thought this through. People who need special assistance have varied needs. What about those of us who want to pay so we can have exactly what we want? I am physically disabled, I don't necessarily need to be sat next to a carer but I need to be near the toilet and need to be in the aisle. My friend's son has global developmental delay and other SN and copes better at the front of the airplane. My best friend has severe anxiety and her parents moved abroad, when she goes away, she needs to a window seat. We all factor the cost of seats into our holiday, it's not rocket science. It's expensive to go abroad; that's why we don't go often.

MidniteScribbler · 01/05/2016 01:05

The one thing that this thread has taught me is that there are some people who are just far too stupid to be allowed on a plane.

Out2pasture · 01/05/2016 01:18

well Air Canada has just changed their policy (regarding children and parents paying additional fees to sit together) today due to public criticism.
it was purely a money grab.

Andrewofgg · 01/05/2016 02:49

Yes, good for Air Canada if you like: but if the parent-traveller books at short notice and there are no two-togethers left I hope the computer says so and leaves the punter to decide what to do - travel in separate seats or not take that flight at all. It would be outrageous to allow them to split other people for their convenience.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 01/05/2016 06:14

"Clearly some airlines agree with me, such as BA, who do sit smaller children with parents."

Budgie, go back and read my posts (I'm not suggesting you already should have, just that you should now). They don't always do this, as my experience at the end of March this year shows. I had to pay £120 extra to sit in the same row as my 3yo and 8yo from Sydney to London, as they'd been seated in the row IN FRONT of me - apparently this still counts as "together" in some idiot's person's mind Hmm and I couldn't just move myself, as there was someone else seated in the aisle seat of their row. Fucking ridiculous. NEITHER of them were seated with an adult, they were together, I was separated.

I got lucky on the way back, and we had all been seated in the same row.

budgiegirl · 01/05/2016 07:56

I had to pay £120 extra to sit in the same row as my 3yo and 8yo from Sydney to London, as they'd been seated in the row IN FRONT of me

Did you call BA to ask them to reallocate your seats? I would hope they would do this if there were seats available ( although who knows , as I still maintain this is a money grabbing exercise )

and I couldn't just move myself, as there was someone else seated in the aisle seat of their row.

If airlines didn't have the policy of choosing your own seat, there wouldn't have been this problem. Or it would have been easy to reallocate seats as you would not be asking someone to give up a seat they've paid extra for.

Look, I understand why airlines do this to raise money and keep the base fare low. I also understand why some people like it. But, IMO, it just causes too many problems. I really don't think it's unreasonable to expect to sit next to your child on a flight, without an extra cost for this.

Roussette · 01/05/2016 08:02

Well... for as many people there are who don't agree with having to buy a seat, there are those who much prefer it, with or without children. They want to know exactly where they are sitting before they get on, they don't want to be at the airport over 4 hours in advance to check in, or with all unallocated, queue at the departure gate for hours before their plane has even touched down for the return journey, they want to relax.