£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

I didn't book seats together

If they want to separate you let them go ahead

You can sit and read or do a puzzle whilst sipping a glass of wine.

Let other sit next to your dc and suffer the 101 questions or the vomiting

Of course it is against aviation rules as in the even of an evacuation your dc would try to get to you the parents rather than leave the plane.

Strange that BA won't let dc fly alone and want minors accompanying, yet they can sit alone on a flight?

I doubt the truth in that Harold...

They don't sit 3 year olds away from a parent / guardian.

marypoppins read the posts. IT DOES HAPPEN

I still can't believe this is still a theme on MN!

It's not as if countless forums etc haven't covered this already.

No. I will not move for you to sit right next to your child if you have not paid and prebooked and if I have paid and prebooked. Do I care? No. Am I heartless selfish bitch for not moving?! Probably!

Pay up or risk being separated.

I have travelled 2 -3 times a year for the last 20 years with a family of 3 up to 8 and I have never paid to sit together. Never.

And we have only once not all sat together. And we had to sit in 2's in consecutive

I pay to sit with DD and DS even though they're almost grown up because I hate flying and it gives me panic attacks

No way would I be moving because some entitled parent who was too tight to pay the required fee thought I morally should.

Morally they should, you know, pay the bloody money

Rows (posted too soon)

Pay up. You wouldn't expect people who had booked a table on a train to move so that you could all sit together . . . or perhaps you would, I've come across that.

Once the airlines started charging for a reserved seat people who had paid were going to start saying I've paid, you haven't, your children, your problem.

Mary and Johnny they being the airline sit them in front or behind not miles away from the parent.

Also what are flight attendants employed to do?? I highly doubt they'd separate a tiny baby though. Also a screaming toddler probably makes more sense to sit with parent rather than inflict on someone who isn't the kid's parent.

The thing I don't like? If parent hasn't booked (with baby/toddler etc) but expects me to move. err ok then??!!

Expects me to move if I've prebooked I mean... Ahem...

The headline price of the tickets is the price for people who do not care how/where they sit.

You care, so that price is nor appropriate for you.

Pay the £100 and get sat together.

If a charter flight to a family holiday destination at half term is mostly filled up with people who have paid to sit together, there will obviously be lots of seats in ones and twos scattered around the plane.

It is right and proper that the families who want to save a bit of money get these seats and don't sit together.

You don't want to be that family? Fine. Pay the extra.

I'ld say "sure! I'll move for you, the extra for this seat was ££" and blank stare at them with my hands out for the money.

'You can sit and read or do a puzzle whilst sipping a glass of wine.

Let other sit next to your dc and suffer grin the 101 questions or the vomiting'

Nah, dearie, I'd be in my drug induced sleep with my airplane blanket on me. Your kid, your problem. They'd be ringing the bell for the air steward because plenty of us take our diazepam, down a bottle of wine, put on noise cancelling headphones and become oblivious.

I suspect £100 is not that much as a proportion of the overall cost of your holiday OP.

Our flight had one spare seat and the flight attendant was faffing around moving the guy next to dh but we didn't realise why until the attendant smiled at dh and said the seat was spare so we could use it for our dtds. Another couple near us had asked as dad was a doctor (he announced this to everyone for some reason). They had 2 adults, a 15yo and one 15mo. We had 2 22mo and a 4 yo. They were most put out we got the spare seat but we didn't ask. We once spent a flight with dd1 on our laps so her new airport friend could sit and play with her. Her single mum was the other end of the plane and thought it was bliss. It was fine. People get far too stressed about this stuff.

As an add on to my post above.

My nieces that was sat alone were five and seven.

' You wouldn't expect people who had booked a table on a train to move so that you could all sit together . . . or perhaps you would, I've come across that.'

Oh, Andrew, you know it is! About to book my window table seat on the Glasgow Central to Euston train. I've never done that journey once that someone hasn't been sat in my fucking seat. And had to get out of it.

I never paid extra for sitting together.
And in all those years of European and transatlantic flights they have never put DC separately from parents.
With five of you you would not sit together anyway there would be two across the aisle.
100 pounds for me would be unnecessary expense, amounting for an airport parking for the duration.

I have never paid extra to book a seat and have always been sat next to my DH. Every single time.

It's highly unlikely you would get five seperate seats so your youngest could sit with a parent so it depends on how bothered you are by it. We have never paid but then I'm not bothered if I'm separated from DH as he just sleeps anyway and grizzles if he's disturbed

expanscot I guess if your drugged up then you won't realise if the dc vomits all over you

I must say, despite saying I'd be reluctant to move if I had paid for a seat, I often travel alone and don't book a particular seat so would be open to moving. My main criteria, being tall, is an aisle seat so my knees are not jammed in hard against the seat in front of me, not fun for the person in front of me either I'm sure. I'm on a Jet2 flight to Faro tomorrow if any needs me to move!

It's highly unlikely you would get five seperate seats

11 of us got seperated. Dotted through out plane. I ended up with the kids on an 11 hour flight while every fucker else snoozed !

It's like an insurance you just take your chance or pay it

'expanscot I guess if your drugged up then you won't realise if the dc vomits all over you grin'

Nope, I won't and I'll also be covered in two or three airplane blankets with my legs tucked up and my head all the way at the window so, nope, really don't give a shit about your kid you were too tight to pay to sit next to . The air steward knows where to find you, though, so you can get up and look after your kid.