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...

[kali110]

marcopront me neither
Could see op made a genuine error, but the airline have bad customer service? They don't.
The op cocked up and would have charged her admin fees( which they are entitled to do and
Usually do but i'm assuming they haven't) and yet they have bad service?
I don't get it.

[kali110]

seating

[HeyOverHere]

So, the three of you are in a row together, but with two seats on one side of the aisle, and one on the other side?

YABU. Aisle eats are still close together, and your son and and the adjoining parent can easily talk to each other, and even hold hands during takeoff, as no one will be needing to use the aisle.

The reason why I don't want to wait for cabin crew to sort it out is because I don't want to mess other people about and I would never act like an arse!

So you want the cabin crew to handle your mess?

I know crew would try to help to at least sit DH and DC together

No. You booked your seatsstick with them. No one owes it to you to change seats. You picked them out, so you knew about this, and you judged legroom as more important than immediately adjacent seats. Don't use your children to try and make others rearrange the plane around you, especially when you actually have a fine seating situationand the one you chose.

[HeyOverHere]

I forgot to say that I do agree that if you downgrade, they should refund you that difference.

[zad716]

I forgot to say that I do agree that if you downgrade, they should refund you that difference.

It depends on the T&Cs. If its non-refundable then why should they refund? And it may be valid for them to charge extra.

Bear in mind that if the flight is full the airline may have to upgrade 3 people, but to seats that are not directly next to each other.

[Secretmetalfan]

I don't understand this,Thomson have a diagram which lets you choose your seats if you have paid to prebook, so presumably you picked those seats. Obviously children cannot sit on exit rows, so it sounds like the very few seats you could have picked were taken. Personally I would rather sit together than have extra leg room.

[Me2017]

It can be confusing. I never pay extra for seats but I always go on the websites exactly 24 hours before (BA even has a seconds count down on its website for when that 24 hours starts) so that I can get the seats we all need. I usually try to get the 3 boys together - they are teenagers now and they like a 3 of just them and then I try to get the rest of us the row in front. I have no problems sitting entirely on my own now I don't have a small child but I do like an aisle seat so I can get up and down and put my legs into the aisle,

As people say the websites usually have a diagram. I have been caught out before now because I had not realised there was an aisle in the way or something. It can be annoying.

I do remember the flight my daughter went to the staff when we checked in at the air port years ago and asked for a seat away from her family (teenage girls - different needs from 3 year olds)... any seat except one near family. Laughing as I type.

[Angela0413]

We paid for extra legroom months ago when booked holiday were told don't worry off course you will be sat together. The actual seat selection option was opened months after we booked. There are limited number of seats in extra legroom section and the only 3 seats left are 3 aisle seats. Yes, we obviously were not quick enough off the mark to book seats but they won't refund money as they class these 3 aisle seats as sitting together. Obviously if we had known there were not 3 seats together then we wouldn't have upgraded. We were under impression as standard you are allocated seats but you can then go in and swap them if you want different ones.

[Angela0413]

Also just to stress it is 3 separate aisle seats so 3 year old sat next to stranger on one side then an aisle then dad

[crashdoll]

I know you've changed already but the aisles are so narrow, chances are that your little one would have been ok.

[BusyBeez99]

You're inflicting 2x12hr flights on a baby and a 3yr old, and you are inflicting a 3yr old who doesn't like to be strapped in on everyone else. For a holiday. Sure that the honeymooning couples you mention will be delighted - there may even be one next to you and your wriggly baby.

this ^^

never understand why people take babies/toddlers on expensive holidays they will never remember

[herethereandeverywhere]

advice to behave like an arse...is disgusting advice.

I find 3 years olds behave like an arse without any tuition or prompting. It's an in-built feature. How exactly is OP/her husband expected to keep the 3 year old in their seat for take off and landing and soothe them if they are distressed when they are sitting directly in front or behind them? They could shout from their own seat - sounds a bit like arse-like behaviour to me though...

[sparechange]

never understand why people take babies/toddlers on expensive holidays they will never remember

Because the parents will remember them, and still want a nice holiday?

[herethereandeverywhere]

BusyBeez because some people like to enjoy their holidays and Mauritius is their idea of an enjoyable holiday? And it's holiday which their children will also enjoy (relatives took their 3 young kids there and loved it). At least you can get up and walk about in a plane and watch films without getting motion sickness like in a car. Also multiple toilet trips will not add a single additional minute to the projected journey time. Sounds like quite a good idea to me.

[mouldycheesefan]

The notion that you should only
do things that children will remember is bizarre. That surely would mean no holidays, day trips, Christmases, birthdays, fun times until they are of an age that they will remember it. So is Christmas and birthdays cancelled till kids are what, 7?
I take my kids in lots of holidays. Do not care whether they will remember. Do care that I and they enjoy it.
Busybeez , how old are your kids? Did you do nothing with them for the first five years because they wouldn't remember it?

[BowieFan]

So, basically, you had lots of extra criteria, left it too late to get prime seats, and now you're complaining? Yes, YABU.

On family holidays we always pick our seats the moment they open. DS2 has ASD and has to be sat in a window seat and won't sit in an odd numbered row. We know this, so we book early and book seats as soon as they become available, so that we aren't left in a bad situation.

Also, inflicting 2 x 12 hour flights on a baby is inhumane. For both the baby and other passengers.

[BowieFan]

mouldycheesefan

We didn't start doing Christmas and Birthdays properly until they were about 3. Just token gifts. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had a clue.

[m0therofdragons]

You have extra leg room so when dc needs cuddles he can go on dh's lap and sit in his seat for food, take off and landing. If dc wants to sit and watch a film he can sit in his chair. It's a few hours and across the aisle isn't that far at all. It's annoying but not worth stressing over.

[Lickedthespoon]

Whether it's in T's and C's or not, it's unreasonable to expect a child to sit away from their parents for 12 hours. Not a problem for adults being on opposite sides of the aisle. Surely they will sort something!? I definitely agree with Twitter, that will get you some support

[BusyBeez99]

I didn't take my child on a long haul flight at that age no. I didn't take him away abroad til he was 5 so he could appreciate it more. We holidayed in the UK and had some amazing holidays in Cornwall in cottages with days on the beach building sand castles

Guess we all different

[BusyBeez99]

bowiefan i agree but think we are in the minority.

[Georgie2208]

Personally I think Thompson has one of the worst customer services ever from prev experience although mine was for something completely different to this. I told take the downgrade but I would keep up with the complaining. I'd put it all over there twitter page, Facebook page if they have one, I'd also write to them which I did and got a better resolution through this method and keep phoning too. Maybe watchdog? Good luck though either way.

[kali110]

It's still classed as sitting together!
Same as all the other airlines!

[BusyBeez99]

You won't get anywhere complaining. It's in the T and C's and we all tick the box to say we've read it. If it were short haul I would say it would be fine but unsure how you would cope on a long haul flight. Answer is to pay the select your seat option next time and choose your seat ages before. Won't help you this time though but lesson learned I guess.