thinking I should have been seated next to my three-year-old on this flight?

[nappyrat]

Cheap (orange) airline. Normally v good when travelling with kids - speedy boarding, say they'll sit you with kid/s etc.

Flew out recently & they said a 'technical error' had mistakenly sat me in a different row(!!) to my 3 year old. They fixed it on board (after much grumbling by several passengers about not moving from seats they've paid extra to book to sit together (fair enough!)). But fixed, fairly stress free.

Return flight today, I was sat across the aisle from DS. Their handling agent told me that this is considered 'sat together'?! Erm...really?! Anyway, handling agent refused to seat us together. Cue quite a bit of 'discussing' with them why this was not on IMO. No budging. Decided to leave it & ask the flight crew when we boarded. Who eventually sorted it - v kind older couple agreed to move seats.

Before I let loose with said orange airline's customer services, AIBU to think that sorting across the aisle from a 3 yr old is not appropriate?! DS was wailing, I had to bend across aisle to comfort, there were good chunks of time during boarding when I couldn't see DS because ppl stood in between us in aisle. Just bloody stressful quite frankly. And not what I'd expect from this - or to be bloody honest - any - airline.

Opinions please mumsnet!

That quite takes the biscuit - if you question any of the extremes of capitalism then you must be a communist? I was making the point that's it seems a little ridiculous to blindly pay an extra grand for the so called luxury of sitting next to your own child. And if you don't do so you are "cheap".

We have flown as a family of eight on multiple occasions and have never once paid to pre-book a seat, but have booked seats when the online check-in opens. We have always managed to sit at least in pairs so that everyone can accompany a child.

I disagree with the OP that sitting across the aisle is necessarily a problem though.

I am so pleased Ryanair are now making parents pay to be seated with their kids. I hope the other airlines follow suit and posts like this end

I am so pleased to never fly Ryanair who were charging disabled passengers extra until a court told them they couldn't get away with it.

Didn't Ryanair suggest that they were going to charge people to use the toilet on flights too? What about those with continence issues, overactive bladders? Surely this would go under disability discrimination.

A great way for 'posts like this' to end would be for airlines to seat all young children next to at least one of their parents. This is why I will never fly a budget airline.

'Perhaps their parents were not aware of this farce that young children can be seated away from their parents unless the parents pay for seating. Whatever reason, why would you happily sit and watch a child be upset?'

No, I wouldn't be happy, but I wouldn't move, either. I book and pay for a particular seat for a reason, because that's where my needs are best met on a flight. The story of every other passenger on the flight is just that - their story. I'm there to get from point A to point B with the least amount of hassle to myself, not guess at other people's situations or accommodate them out of hand just because.

Don't see how that makes a person vile if they don't want to move from a seat they chose and paid for.

'This is why I will never fly a budget airline.'

Good for you! I chose to fly them because they are usually cheapest for where I want to go, even with paying for a seat, and I'm on a budget.

expat what you are saying is that your needs come before others, and you sitting down in a seat that 'suits your needs' comes before the welfare of a child. That doesn't make you a nice person, and I make no apologies for saying that.

Or, a seat she paid for

There are other people who have needs apart from children.

That quite takes the biscuit - if you question any of the extremes of capitalism then you must be a communist?

Not at all - however if you sneeringly refer to people paying for seat reservations as "good little capitalists" you can hardly complain if you're called out on it for what it was, rather than a revisionist version of it that tries to suggest it was an intellectually rigorous examination of the nature of capitalism in relation to airline seating.

This is why I will never fly a budget airline.
Unfortunately they are the only ones going to/from the places I want to go (or need to for work). On the whole I don't mind them.

Can't be bothered to link but Ryan Air short video on the reasoning behind seating with children is very good and their marketing manager explains this very well.

I hadn't watched this til now just heard of their new policy but by doing this they're making it fairer for the number of customers who don't fly with DC (he points this point out and says there are more customers who don't fly with DC but they're being very kind not charging parents with DC to book and reserve seats).

But I bet the parents with DC will complain again.

honking from this thread and in life in general it seems if you have DC these days your needs automatically trump those of a non DC person.

Disgusting.

Agree SuperFly even down to saying they should seat families together... But only meaning families with children present. As though families of adults just don't count.

This may have been said already, but I need to sit next to my 2.5 yo because otherwise he takes his seatbelt off and tries to roam the plane freely when the fasten seatbelt sign is on. It's hard enough trying to stop him doing this when seated beside him (involved lots of wrestling and loud screaming the last time - sorry anyone flying from Corfu to Edinburgh in June!). I would never have managed it from across the aisle, and nor would I have been able to prevent him helping himself to trolley items when it was stopped between us. It is definitely a safety issue.

Didn't Ryanair suggest that they were going to charge people to use the toilet on flights too? What about those with continence issues, overactive bladders? Surely this would go under disability discrimination.

It was a joke.

I pay for seats anyway, but I can see why people would assume sat with child means sat next to child. I think its quite ridiculous to expect a (for example) 2 year old to be sat away from their parent. I think Ryanair have the right idea also...no room for confusion now.

Rattusn lol vile
Maybe other people on this thread would be concentrating on other things when flying than someone elses child?
I would be concentrating on remaining calm during flying and nothingelse!

Rattusn yes if i have paid ( will always pay) my needs do come first before someone i do not or i do not fly. This does not make me a bad person.
I live everyday with a chronic disability so yes, i wouldn't move seats for someone who
Hadn't bothered.

livelife yes you can check in online 24 hours before the flight leaves which I always do. But you can pre book your seats from when you purchase your ticket, so there is still the concern that unless you pay an extortionate amount of money the seats that are left at check-in won't be together. They definitely try to sit you together if they can but its not guaranteed.

...and on the comments of being held to ransom. I call trying to get an extra 95 pounds per person each way just so I can sit with my children being held to ransom. A reasonable charge of ten quid is fair enough, but a thousand pounds for 5 people to sit together is ridiculous.

'expat what you are saying is that your needs come before others, and you sitting down in a seat that 'suits your needs' comes before the welfare of a child. That doesn't make you a nice person, and I make no apologies for saying that.'

No, that's saying that I take responsibility for my needs and those of my children because that's what someone who isn't an entitled arsehole who expects the world to revolve around them and their progeny and for everyone else to pander to their desires does. When I'm in a situation that's beyond my control, then I still don't expect others to pander to me and my progeny first because people who do this are self-absorbed twats.

You seem to think it's everyone else's responsibility to take care of other people's children. I think that makes a person an arrogant, entitled, self-centred twat and I don't really give a flying fuck if others think that people should bend over backwards just because they have kids or those people aren't nice. They're entitled to their opinion just as I'm entitled to mine that suc persons are fuckwits.

LOL, anyone remember Rattusn TheCatsMeow on that thread where a person was asked to give up their window seat, that they'd paid £100 to sit in, for a child who the parent claimed was a first time flyer and wanted to look out the window? And she went on and on about £100 was well worth 'a child's joy'. I kept asking her to send me £100 then, and I'd spend it (and send receipts) on an outing with my kids, for their joy, of course, since she cared so much.

Oddly she namechanged left MN.

I remember that thread, expat. Hilarious!

Rattusn did it ever occur to you that the non-moving adults refused because they wanted to sit next to their own kids? I also note you making zero reference to adults with disabilities who need certain seats and maybe a carer to help them.

Oh yes "spoiled a child's joy" I remember it well. What a twonk.

Now I come to think of it, are all "spoiling a child's joy" by buying tickets for a journey that the child's family would like to make but can't afford to?

Perhaps there should be a surcharge on every ticket to create a fund to pay for those families to fly. But imagine the bunfight when they all wanted the window