AIBU to think that a 3 year old sitting on own on 12 hour flight is not ok??

[Angela0413]

Having absolutely nightmare with Thomson airline as they apparently state in t&cs (in teeny tiny writing of course) that they class seats across the aisle or behind each other as "sitting together. So on a 12 hour flight myself (with 9 month baby on lap), husband, just turned 3 year old are on 3 aisle seats!! Need to be able to cuddle 3 year old as a nervous flier and God forbid if there was an emergency. Trying to speak to customer service is like banging head against brick wall - they just keep stating "it's in t&cs". We paid £360 for extra leg room and pre selected seats and this is what we get? AIBU? Eventually they said they might be able to move us t to standard seats so we can sit together but will not refund the £360...

Thanks for support on holidays! Me thinks a little jealousy here from some ... We've never had bad flight with the kids. Just need to be prepared with snacks, toys etc. And yes my (then 2 year old absolutely loved dolphins on last hols and talks about them now). He is incredibly social and incredibly adaptable which is partly down to travelling

You don't why people don't travel with children?

It's because they are not all the same as yours! That's why.

They are all different and good and bad at different things.

I can never understand why people don't travel with children.

A few ideas for you OP...

Do you really think most people here can afford to go to Mauritius with their children?

My children would not sit still for more than about an hour, even if I gave them an iPad and a DVD player.

It's too hot for them.

We'd have to hire a car and four safe, good quality car seats if we wanted to go anywhere. How many cars are there like that for hire in Mauritius?

Are there many restaurants in Mauritius that serve chicken nuggets for my autistic eldest?

You can't relax around a pool with four children - three of whom can't swim yet.

My children would rather go to Haven holidays, given the choice.

Select a seat for Thomson opens 90 days before your return flight. I always mark the day in my calendar and select my seats on that day (we always book extra legroom too and have always been together even though there are usually only 9 such seats). Why did you not select them 90 days before when you booked them you would have been left with the odd ones after all the couples had booked theirs. They even send you an email saying select a seat is now open for your flight.

The OP missed the email and left it 'a couple of weeks' before booking her seats. As she eventually confessed in teeny tiny writing in her post this morning.

But somehow this is Thomson's fault and not hers. Go figure.

Twitter and Facebook. Absolutely. It's very unreasonable of them.

Why is it unreasonable time? The OP forgot to book her seats and when she went to book them, pairs of seats were all gone.

Most people with half a brain book seats the second seats are available - same fi you are booking the seat free of charge 24 hours before the flight - you sit there counting down the minutes. If you don't then it's tough cheese and you will learn your lesson for next time.

Somie people might swap. Many of us swap on planes to help families sit together (and avoid being next to a child).

Take it to Twitter. Companies usually respond and resolve issues when they're in the public domain!

We fly ba or virgin normally and choose our seats months out, no extra charge

You haven't flown very recently then... Both charge and have done for over a year.

Surprised at you making such an elementary mistake, then, OP, what with you travelling so excessively and all...

extensively, sorry, autocorrect.

Ahh thanks Lynda - missed that update.

Sorry then OP - this is a problem of your making. You let everyone else take their pick of extra legroom seating and now you have to mop up what is left over. Thomson even have an APP that counts down the days to your holiday so you know how long you have until you have to select your seat.

As far as I was aware, children cannot sit in extra leg room seats. We had this issue with Thomson, we bought extra leg room, and my 3 yr old wasn't allowed to be seated in it!

They can pickled as long as it's not emergency exit seats. Some planes have "economy plus" or "world traveller" sections where the seats all have a bit more leg room, without being emergency exit seats. Sounds like that's what the OP booked.

As an aside, we had an awesome holiday in Mauritius with our 18 month old - she had a lovely time on the flight due to constant parent entertainment to keep her happy and quiet!

OP - my top tip for the flight, take a proper pillow with you, ideally a V shaped BF pillow, as it really helps make it comfier for the baby to sleep on your lap.

We fly ba or virgin normally and choose our seats months out, no extra charge....You haven't flown very recently then... Both charge and have done for over a year.

I can book without paying with BA or Virgin as can many others. I have flown recently and have about 20 pending flights- all seats booked and no payment made for any of them.

AlbertaDewdrop That's great to hear you had a good time, we can't wait! I was thinking of taking a pillow as its a night flight so baby can sleep comfortably on me but wasn't sure if it would be too much of a palarva to carry.

Anyways thanks for those with helpful comments - I have downgraded and booked 3 seats together. They did try to charge me another £360 plus admin fees but that's another thread .... i understand it was our fault for not reading t& a in first place and then not being quick enough but have to say I am pretty disappointed with level of customer service from Thomson. Definitely put me off travelling with them in future

It is bit of a palaver to carry the pillow (you can stuff it down in the bottom of a carry on bag though) but it's really worth it, so much comfier and the baby will sleep better. I took ridiculous amounts of carry on but we did need it - our 18 month old only slept for 4 hours out of a 12 hour night flight so the rest of the time was spent keeping her entertained, exhausting! Luckily she slept most of the day we arrived so we could snooze too.

I have to be honest I'm not sure I'd do it now we have 2 kids ... not until the littlest is 3 anyway ... but I'm sure you will survive the flight and love it once you are there.

I am not sure what the bad customer service is. They told you they were applying the terms and conditions that are on their website and they use the same definition of "next to" that all airlines use. This definition is also discussed every month on Mumsnet.

What did you want them to do?

I've flown six different airlines in the last 12 months and I've booked extra legroom with a baby or toddler each time so that's rubbish.

Op you'll be disappointed with a lot of other carriers then as they all adopt the same 'seatting together' rule

And I've flown with both Ba and Virgin in the last few months and neither let you choose seats without paying extra.

If you're flying with them that much maybe you're a higher tier customer so can pre book. Most of us plebs can't.