Online Check In - seats together with children

[madmare77]

I'm going on holiday next week. Thomson package holiday with DH, DS (12) and DD (9). Online check in opened today. Logged on at 6.30am and could not check in. I left it until after 9am and still not able to check in.
I called Thompson to query and was told they only allow 70% on people to check in online (God knows what time they got up to do this!).
I told the lady I was concerned as I had children (especially my 9 year old) could I pay to pre book seats and was told no. I'm concerned as it's a 4.5 hour flight and I don't want my kids sat next to any Tom, Dick or Harry.
Are there any airline industry people who can tell me if they will try to seat us together or are we screwed?
Thanks

That's mean madmare. Why should Shots have to endure that because the child's parents can't be arsed to pay for a seat for their child? It's as little as £6.99 on an Easyjet flight and when I book my flights, I add that in, why can't others?

I agree with Shots, it wouldn't be my problem either. I would be pleasant enough to a child sat next to me but I'm buggered if I'm taking them to the loo or reading them stories!

Can't you see that the airlines are cashing in on this? They are not offering 'discounts' to those who don't care where they sit, they are charging extra to those who NEED to sit either together or in a certain type of seat

No, they're not. Airline travel is far far cheaper than it used to be but there is choice to add prebooked seats. They aren't cashing in, they are giving choice. I pay for that choice even though my DCs are older. I paid for it when they were little - through the extortionate ticket price

Also I do feel for people who have to sit next to kids who may need a drink, snack, bathroom visit etc.
Would you want to be in that position?

I couldn't care less, honestly. I've been sat next to an air sick child and I certainly did not volunteer to help. I'm dealing with my kids, you deal with yours.

If it means so much to you, why not just book seats in the first place? I seriously cannot understand that.

Shame on anyone who is too tight arsed to ensure that their child is sitting next to a trusted adult during a flight.

Also I do feel for people who have to sit next to kids who may need a drink, snack, bathroom visit etc. Would you want to be in that position?

No but I'd ignore them. I'm quite happy listening to my music, reading my Kindle or chatting to DH.

We have this issue for a forthcoming flight. Booked flying from Gatwick and pre booked seats but the airline changed our flight so we are now leaving from London City and we lost our seats and they said we can't select any until check-in now. Really hoping we get logged in ok and can get seats together or at least 1 adult and 2 kids or 2 and 2.

Agree - it's the airlines who need to sort this, not passengers.

We are going with Thomson in July, I always pay to select the seat at the time of booking. I chose our seats in the middle of April when website opened up for it and we have to check in online at the end of June. Thomson state that if using the Select a Seat service, you have to check in online, so that might account for the people in the 70% that have already done so. We are lucky, our plane both ways has the 2, 4, 2 configuration so me and DH can sit together, just us 2, bliss! and no, I wouldnt move, why should I? we paid to choose our seats

Can't you see that the airlines are cashing in on this?

Of course they're not. If you want hold luggage, a meal and your choice of seat, then you have to expect to pay for it. Airlines know that a lot of people don't care where they sit, don't want a meal and don't need hold luggage, and therefore they can charge those people a lot less money for their flight than those who do need/want those things.

As for people saying passengers are hard-hearted for letting small children sit alone - really? I would think the parents are far more hard-hearted for putting their children in that situation in the first place. If you are flying with a small child, or with someone who needs to sit near you for whatever reason, then you need to pay for it, not expect other passengers to move and give up THEIR pre-booked seats to accommodate you.

I flew recently with air France - their policy is that children have to sit next to one of the adults on the booking. We didn't book seats as we were happy to be sat anywhere, including being split as a family so long as there was an adult with each child (which is what happened). This should be compulsory for all airlines. As I said before, this isn't about paying or not; it is about the safety of everyone on the plane.

Airline travel is far far cheaper than it used to be but there is choice to add prebooked seats. They aren't cashing in, they are giving choice.

Its not a choice though is it? Its a necessity for anyone with small children or a disability.

And yes flights are cheaper these days, but this is not because you are not issued seats at booking, or don't check in a suitcase! Do you seriously think that's the reason? They are cheaper because air travel is far more common and widespread with advances in the industry and competition which allows for budget flying.

So these charges - aimed directly at families and disabled people or people with specific mental or physical needs - are extras.

Shame on anyone who is too tight arsed to ensure that their child is sitting next to a trusted adult during a flight.

Exactly. It's YOUR responsibility as a parent to make sure your child is looked after, not the other passengers or the cabin crew.

Well the airline and the cabin crew will have the last say on this. I'll wait and see what happens.

Of course it is about cashing in; they are in a cutthroat business and are after any advantage/profit they can get. Everything about their operation is about 'cashing in'.

OP, just to confirm. Do you really think it's ok for people who have paid to sit together for personal reasons to be made to move for you and your child?

Somebody tried to pull this crap on me once. Was travelling with DD and friends. I needed to sit with another adult plus my child. Thankfully friend went apeshit on my behalf because I was too upset by the mother's attitude to argue my case. Rely on goodwill all you like, but people don't have to give it to you.

Its not a choice though is it? Its a necessity for anyone with small children or a disability

Well.... it wasn't a choice then when it was included in the cost of the hugely expensive ticket back in the day. Then I paid for it through the ticket price. Now I pay for it seperately. Very few take pot luck and not pay for it, and I have no sympathy for those who need to sit next to their children or someone else but choose to just hope for the best.

As I said before on Easyjet it's as cheap as £6.99.

I seriously do believe that, yes. (flights are cheaper for many reasons, one of them being the split out of extra services. It costs a fortune to pay for ground staff for hold luggage and by eliminating a lot of that, the ticket will be cheaper for instance)

Taken from an airline study...
"Flyers hate fees. But we might learn to love them if we thought of them as savings.
It’s true that baggage fees reached a record high last year, a ten-fold increase from the average fee in 2005. But that’s an optional fee that can be avoided if passengers pack light and use carry-on luggage. Overall, the optional fees help keep the cost of a basic ticket as cheap as possible, and simply provide various options for different levels of service, which benefits fliers overall and provides savings for those travelers who elect to avoid them."

But who would seriously not pay £6.99 for a child's seat? It mystifies me. I wouldn't travel if I couldn't afford to add that on to a £150/£200 ticket.

It's not 6.99 though is it? Usually its more than that, and its both ways, and its for a minimum of 2, and more if you have more children etc. You could be looking at a hundred quid just to be able to sit together.

Of course airlines are out to make money, but a lot of people WILL fly for weekend breaks when it costs £50pp return, but not when they're forced to pay say, £150pp return to cover the cost of things they don't need (lots of weekend breaks can be done on hand luggage, and nobody needs a meal on a 2hr flight to Europe).

If you want to travel abroad with small children, then it's your responsibility to make sure those children are sat with you and looked after. It's not fair on your children if you don't pay and risk them being sat away from you, and next to a complete stranger who is well within their rights to a) refuse to move and b) ignore your child completely.

I can see how carrying hold luggage costs the airline money. It has weight and needs to be handled by ground staff, which will incurr a charge. Similarly, food and drink costs, although the profit on this must be huge.

However, I cannot see how there is a cost to an airline derived from who sits where, and how this is handled, beyond safety and loading/balance concerns. The airline has to have some sort of seat allocation system whether it chooses where people sit, or gives passengers the option. It just feels a little like bribery - pay us a little extra or we'll split your party up.

If you go back to the days before budget airlines, I would be surprised if you got a choice of where you sat. They would have probably just filled up each section as passengers checked in at the airport seeing as there would have been no such thing as online check in. Or perhaps if you got there early, you may have been able to choose.

Overall, the optional fees help keep the cost of a basic ticket as cheap as possible, and simply provide various options for different levels of service, which benefits fliers overall and provides savings for those travelers who elect to avoid them."

Yes, for people without children or disabilities.

And it isn't just an extra £6.99. On our last flight I paid for seats (as travelling with 4 children)so for 5 of us at a cost of £8 per seat, each way. So thats £80 on top of the flights. It didn't feel like an 'optional' extra.

As for posters who are travelling with other adults and say they wouldn't move if they saw a small child was seperated from a parent because it was just 'tough'. Really? I mean Really? Do these types of people actually exist.

Gaelic I didn't say anyone needed to be made to move. Often kind people don't mind moving if it helps someone out.
I would like to go back to the days where you get to the airport and check in. First come first served. I'm always early so I don't miss my flight. Plus all this checking in at home and printing your boarding cards doesn't make the queue any shorter. On a package holiday everyone has luggage to drop off.

I wouldn't move for a small child. I pre-book my seat for a reason.

Shots here's hoping you get the child from hell next to you on your next flight. Maybe with air sickness and a thirst for knowledge. Fingers crossed

If it's not Shots' child with air sickness and a thirst for knowledge next to her, I don't think this is much of an issue - not her problem! Headphones in, book in hand - not up to her to deal with the vomiting or the questions, is it?

As long as I can get to her quickly in an emergency

OP, can I ask what kind of an emergency you're thinking of because the reality is you would not be standing up, you'd be strapped into your seat. You would not be allowed to move around the cabin and if you tried to you'd jeopardise the safety of those around you. And of course all of that really only applies to an emergency where the flight deck crew can do something to try and remedy the situation. It doesn't apply to a catastrophic emergency where then game would be over very quickly for all concerned.

Fire on board where we would evacuate or oxygen masks needed to be put on. Listening to most people on here they would trample the kids in the selfish rush to get off.