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

[ProudAS]

I don't think it would hurt to make some of the seats only bookable in blocks of 2,3 and 4 (possibly releasing them singly when others are full or an hour before check in closes ). This would help avoid single ones being left.

I also think that passengers should have the option to book seats together but let the airline decide where those seats will be e.g. rather than a couple and a threesome booking the same row and leaving a single seat the airline could sit the party of three opposite another party of three and the couple in a row with a family of four.

[Snowflakes1122]

We have paid the extra to all sit together with our kids.
If someone comes along wanting one of us to move and split us up in the process, they can get lost.
Either pay up, or put up with what your given.

[blaeberry]

I think anyone under 12 should have to be seated next to an adult from their party. You could decide not to choose where to sit but the airlines shouldn't be able to split children from an adult.

[cleaty]

If I pay to book a seat, I want to choose where I am sitting.

[MargotsDevil]

TBH I think you're BU to start yet another thread on this

That aside - none of the budget airlines I've flown with recently have actually had completely unallocated seating (as in Ryanair days of old) - even Ryanair allocate seats when you check in online now. And they do allocate seats together where possible; I checked into flights recently where we were seated as a group of 3 with no problem - I didn't pay to do so and the flight was completely full in both directions.

As many PPs have said - this is a choice. If I have chosen to pay for specific seats (and I sometimes do, depending on circumstances) then I would point blank refuse to move to accommodate someone who had chosen not to pay. If I'd taken the random allocation then I'd probably be more inclined to help out. I also hate the attitude that having a child trumps the rights of others to travel in a way that suits them - your child having to sit in front/behind you because you have chosen not to pay the extra is not the problem of the adult who may have anxiety/phobia of flying/another diagnosis which means that they need to sit in the seat they have paid for. And yes, I know that many PPs have said they pay - but there's always one!

[PovertyPain]

I'm genuinely curious.
I have a couple of questions for those that say people are selfish for not moving to accommodate those that have children but don't book seats.

Do you think that the person that they are being asked to accommodate should refund them for the cost of the booking?
If it's a couple that can be moved, but still wish to sit together and can be accommodated, should you, since you're asking them to move, pay for both of their seat booking costs? Keeping in mind that they may have given up, what they consider, good seats and be moved to a less preferred seat.

[LeaLeander]

People saying "it doesn't cost the airline anything to let you choose a seat" and "it's a scam" are not thinking it through.

If you are a family of three and want to sit together, you likely are taking up a window, aisle and middle seat.

The airline can sell the window and aisle seat to people who prize those locations, for $50 or more. Putting the people who can't be bothered to pay more in the middle seats. So yes, seating you next to one another without charging for that could very well cost the airline revenue.

I love a la carte pricing. I travel light with generally a small underseat bag for three or four days, don't eat aloft, don't need wi-fi. Why should someone like me pay the same price as someone who carries aboard heavy luggage (weight is the major variable in the cost of operating the plane), expects a meal, wants to use the internet, etc? On the other hand I do care where I am seated and generally want a wine or beer mid-flight and am happy to pay out of pocket for those amenities. Let's all pay for what we wish to use and stop expecting others to subsidize us.

To truly be fair airlines should charge by the pound. Weigh the passenger and baggage and set the fare accordingly. I'm a very petite woman who carries little aboard and cost a lot less for the airline to transport than, say, an 180-lb mum with a 25-pound lap child, buggy, baggage, diaper bag and the like.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Now then, charging heavier passengers more. I can imagine the threads on here that subject would generate .

[LeaLeander]

I believe in the early days of aviation passengers and their luggage were weighted.

This is from an article on the Smithsonian Air&Space site:

Passengers using England’s Croydon Aerodrome in the mid-1930s had to step on scales with their bags in hand, recalls Frank Anderson, chairman of the Croydon Airport Society. “The snag was that if you were very large, you would pay more not only for your baggage but for yourself,” he says. “Some of the booking clerks were discreet when announcing the weight, especially with the ladies.”


Read more: www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/then-amp-now-a-weighty-matter-46320857/#KCB5B0FKyYvaU3Av.99
Save 47% when you subscribe to Air & Space magazine bit.ly/NaSX4X
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[BarbaraofSeville]

But charging per passenger weight does put charges for excess baggage in perspective, doesn't it?

A 14 stone person pays the same as a 7 stone person, but if that 7 stone person has a bit of extra luggage, they get stung for huge charges on the wrong airline.

It's the inconsistency in airline rules I particularly like. My hand baggage was once about a kilo over Thomas Cook's pitiful 6 kilo carry on allowance. I took my phone, kindle and purse out of my bag and put them in my coat pockets. All was well and I went along my way, stopping at the bench around the corner to put them back in my carry on bag. Makes no sense whatsoever.

[Andrewofgg]

If there is to be a right not to be separated from your under-12 how will that work if others have already booked seats and there is nowhere left with enough adjacent seats? Who is to decide who must move?

I can see the single passenger being the one who gets pissed on and it won't do.

[Diamogs]

Lea as someone of a more, ahem, hefty disposition, I may chose to be offended by your comment

[LeaLeander]

Exactly. Why should a 180-lb woman toting a baby and lots of luggage pay, say, $1 per pound for her flight while I, whose total body/baggage weight is half that, pay $2 a pound for the exact same service? Or worse, why should I, a 105-lb woman, pay $$$ to check a 30-lb bag when the 180-pounder gets aboard with no extra charge?

If air carriers charge per pound (I believe Samoa Airlines is trying this) people will be a lot more judicious about what they bring aboard and lighter passengers will no longer be subsidizing heavier ones. We all need to pull our own weight, so to speak.

[BlueMoonRising]

Airlines don't charge people to sit together. Some charge for allocated seating.

They will happily seat people together if there are seats available at the point you go to check in.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Good point Andrew.

Air travel is one of those areas where those who book well in advance and check in well in advance get the best deals and their preferred choice of seats leaving those who aren't at the front of the queue for whatever reason picking up the dregs and paying more for it.

And it's not just a matter of being organised. People have to travel at short notice for all sorts of reasons.

And if someone who booked late on is travelling with children, they may find that all is left are single seats dotted all over the plane and they couldn't have seats together even if they did pay for them

[BarbaraofSeville]

^Airlines don't charge people to sit together. Some charge for allocated seating.

They will happily seat people together if there are seats available at the point you go to check in.^

In practice many do charge people to sit together. UK 'budget' airlines (Ryanair, Monarch, Jet2 for example). You have to check in online or pay a fortune at the airport.

If you check in online they give you the option of choosing your own seats for a fee, or them choosing for you, for free. If you let them choose for you, they will almost certainly give you seats that are not together, even if there are seats that are together available on the seating plan that you can see.

[janeycam27]

This is the CAA advice

[phoenix1973]

It's disgusting.
When you book a holiday you should be entitled to a seat. If you get to the airport check in nice and early you should be able to get seats together - without fail where young children are concerned. I don't want to look after other peoples kids on a flight and I would be anxious as would my child if she had to sit with strangers. I can imagine the strangers wouldn't be too delighted either (and my child is well behaved).
It's a form of extortion, raising your fears, so you pay to book the seats together.
If NOBODY booked the seats and arrived at check in on time, then you would get seats together and nobody would bat an eyelid.
Except the holiday company, who wouldn't cream any extra profit from you. Greedy bastards.
Just another form of "insurance" which just preys upon peoples understandable fears.
No, I don't pay.

[phoenix1973]

Oh, and the people we travelled with had booked, pre-paid seats but still were told "sorry, those seats don't exist on this plane".
So don't believe too much!

[LeaLeander]

When you book a holiday you are entitled to a seat. But in this day and age you may no longer automatically get the seat of your choice without paying for it.

I love the option to pay more to sit in a certain section or area of the plane. If others want to decline the fee and take their chances at check-in, they are free to do so. It's not a scam or rip-off at all.

[MargotsDevil]

Barbara I genuinely disagree. In the last year I've been on 10 separate flights with a mixture of family/partner/friends for various reasons - sometimes as a couple, sometimes as a 3. On only 2 of those flights (an outward and return pair) did I look to pay for specific seats as I was travelling with an elderly relative who required airport assistance; in that instance the airline allocated our seats at time of booking and waived the fee. The other flights were all with airlines who charge for "seat selection" and on every occasion we accepted the seats allocated free of charge at check in. On no flight was any of my party seated away from the others. This includes Ryanair and Easyjet flights, and the Ryanair flights in particular were completely full.

[expatinscotland]

'When you book a holiday you should be entitled to a seat.'

And you are. You buy a seat. If you chose a budget carrier, you may need to pay additional cost if you chose/wish to sit next to a particular individual.

Extortion? Fear? You get what you pay for! You want a cheap flight, that's what it's going to be - pay to sit together, pay to check in a bag, pay for any refreshments.

Don't pay? Fine. But don't expect people who have to move so you can sit with someone, because as you see here, a lot of people won't.

[exLtEveDallas]

If NOBODY booked the seats and arrived at check in on time, then you would get seats together and nobody would bat an eyelid

Impossible. If everyone arrives at check in on time who gets to go first? Who gets to go last? If everyone except you arrives 3 hours before and queues up, and you arrive 2 hours before would you be happy? If everyone in the queue is in family groups of 3, but the plane is 2-4-2 who gets the single seat? Our flight this year is a 3-3 configuration - what if everyone else is in a family of 4?

[blindsider]

If I was sat next to an unaccompanied 7 year old I would be off like a scalded cat if someone offered to swap places so they could sit next to their child!!

I wouldn't pay.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Your experience is different to mine Margots. Within the last year I have been seated separately from DP by Ryanair, Monarch and Jet2. In all cases we could have sat together if we had paid.

Getting to the airport early doesn't guarantee anything phoenix. Jet2 allow passengers to check in 28 days in advance, so some people will be checked in before others have even booked their flights.