£100 to sit together?

[sunchild77]

Kids first family holiday abroad... BA want £100 to sit us all together.. Kids first flight they are 4, 9 and 11yrs plus us mum and dad.
Would the airline really sit us all separately? Is paying out really a big waste of money?
Plus Im terrified of flying as it is... I need DH nearby!!
Thoughts please? thanks x

What do you mean "what's infectious vomiting"? It's any tummy bug, obviously!

Then I've travelled home from a holiday with infectious vomiting - shitting actually. I imagine I am not alone.

Are you not aware that a tummy bug that's an inconvenience to you could kill someone else?

We cancelled a holiday due to DS1 coming down with a tummy bug 48 hours before. He was still vomiting on the morning of the flight, and ended up in hospital with dehydration. It didnt occur to us to travel to the airport.

Had it have been the other end of the holiday, I'd have travelled back with DS2 and DH would have stayed with DS1. No way would we have put him on a plane.

I am. I could have had that infection on the bus, on the tube, in the lift, in the office...I imagine I got it while someone ill was preparing food or the food was stored badly. There was no way I was going to miss my flight. I think most people would do the same unless they were unable to board the flight.

I don't agree with you that asking someone to swap seats is freeloading or expecting the kindness of strangers. It's a request that the other person is free to grant, turn down or sell. I've been asked to swap seats. Sometimes I've done it, sometimes I haven't.

so they can make an extra buck

If they didn't charge for seats, the price for everyone would go up. Airlines run of ultra low profit margins as it is. By charging separately for seats, in the same way as hold luggage and meals, etc., they're giving passengers a choice. People who are bothered will pay, people who aren't can benefit from a lower price.

The fact families willingly pay up surely keeps them charging. I'd be mighty hacked off if I ever sat next to an unaccompanied child under 13 but could quite understand families choosing not to pay out. Why should airlines get away with effectively enforcing other people's kids on passangers so they can make an extra buck.

It's a game of chicken 2StripedSocks. I understand why people blink first if they have vulnerable family members. I have done. But I wouldn't condemn people for not playing and trying to negotiate on the day so long as they accepted my decision to stay in my seat if I wanted to.

I would pay too. On a recent flight a rather demanding lady was near ignored by the air crew when she asked to sit with her four year old. The crew did little to help, the lady was cross and took matters into her own hands, standing at the front of the plane, child on her hip,loudly announcing that she needed someone to move so that she could sit with her daughter. No one offered and this resulted in a very indignant lady accusing us all of not helping her and of letting her four year old down. All very embarrassing for everyone. Lots of 'heads down, don't catch her eye'.

I didn't offer to move. I hate flying, I had paid for a seat next to my partner for that reason and wouldn't give that up.

I think airlines charge for seats as eg some want window or aisle or seating together I don't give a stuff personally especially on a short haul flight

Where it's gone wrong obviously is more families fly abroad with of course young kids etc. Some of these children as we know can be politely speaking "demanding" on a flight (even their parents would say that).

Cue easyjet etc having strops from families wanting to sit together and splitting up eg a couple (no kids). Everyone gets annoyed so airline charges.

I don't necessarily think it's right to charge but then like motherofdragons I don't care where I sit or being split up, if prefer not to be split up but not the end of the world. And airlines are a business and there to has to be some way of making a profit.

But why should passengers who have paid £500 for a seat be sat next to an unaccompanied 6 year old who will spill,wriggle,need the loo etc just because the tight arse airline wanted to get an extra £20.

I agree. I've never been seated next to an unaccompanied child. Does this happen often? I've been seated next to an unaccompanied single man on a flight from London to LA. I'd have probably taken the kid.

We fly long haul a couple of times a year and always go with virgin. We pay an extra £25 per person each way for me, husband and son who is 6. It's worth it to us to ensure we are all together. Plus if we are quick and book as soon as they are released we manage to get upstairs on the jumbos where it's loads quieter, just economy though!

As I've said before the US airlines mostly don't charge and it's being made law soon that they have to sit parents with kids without extra charges.

We normally fly delta and they let everyone choose their seats at time of booking. Don't see why Europe can't do the same:

BummyMummy7 And the family that's too big for adjacent seats? One adult with five kids is perfectly possible. What are the airlines going to be required to do?

Off-topic but I once did a transatlantic flight next to a projectile vomiting woman. She was "cleared to fly" by phone by a doctor. Fuck knows how they decide what is causing the sickness. I remember cursing the doctor and retching at the smell for 11 fucking hours while begging the crew to move me. I felt sorry for her but it's hard to stay magnanimous when breathing in puke particles in a confined space.

Just build it into the cost of your holiday

I don't know!

There was an amendment to the faa bill brought in a few months ago:

With the transition to new airline policies offering premium seats and boarding options for a fee, families across the country are facing anxiety-inducing challenges and choices. Parents are forced to pay additional fees when checking in to their flight just to ensure they can sit next to their small children on the plane. In many cases, parents must disrupt the boarding process to ask willing passengers to change their seats, despite the fact that these good Samaritans may have already paid additional fees for seats themselves.
Bennet's amendment would make several changes to ensure a smoother traveling experience for families and pregnant women. The measure would establish new rules for security screening, boarding procedures, and family seating arrangements. It would ensure airlines have policies that allow family members to sit next to their children on a flight at no additional cost and expressly require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to allow parents to accompany their children throughout the airport screening process to ensure they are never physically separated. It would also require airlines to accommodate pregnant women during the pre-boarding process.

Washington, DC - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet has secured language in the final FAA Reauthorization bill unveiled today that will assist traveling families. This language incorporates a portion of his LIFT Act amendment to ensure young children can sit with their parents on flights. Bennet secured the LIFT Act as an amendment to the FAA bill when the Senate considered the legislation in April.
"Traveling through a busy airport can be a tough task, let alone when you have young children with you," Bennet said. "Separating kids from their parents on a plane is not safe and often leaves families at the mercy of other passengers who must decide whether to trade seats. These changes are commonsense steps to improve the traveling experience for families and their fellow passengers."

Anyway my point is I think Europe should follow suit and all this 'that's just the way it is' is bollocks.

Having said that after shelling out a ton for my upcoming flights to make sure we sit together I will move for nobody.

And fly delta from now on not poxy Virgin.

Separating kids from their parents on a plane is not safe and often leaves families at the mercy of other passengers who must decide whether to trade seats

They are at the mercy of no one. They could pay like others have to.

What about nervous flyers that need to sit next to partners or those that have certain disabilities that need extra help etc etc etc.

The measure would establish new rules for security screening, boarding procedures, and family seating arrangements.

What new rules exactly for security screening?

Imo everyone should go through the same process.

Some parents book their children into economy while they fly business class.

Yeah my parents did.

Well this was taken from the new faa bill and the guy that wrote the amendments so argue it with the US law makers lol.