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

madmare77 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

Your bitterness says an awful lot about your shitty attitude.
All because I said I'd not mind a complete stranger's child because their parent had fucked up? Wow.

If you had come to this thread by saying "arse, I have really messed up and didn't prebook seats. I'd like to sort this out by asking people nicely when we board, what would be a good token of appreciation for their trouble of moving to accommodate us", I think you'd have got very different responses.

But you don't seem to think that is how the world ought to revolve around you and your precious angel. Not much any of us can do about that, so good luck and have a lovely holiday.

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

But can you imagine how galling it is, knowing you have paid for your own seat, being asked to move for someone who hasn't?

As I said earlier, this happened 2 weeks ago. I particularly wanted an aisle back row seat as I needed to leg it out the airport quickly and I knew they opened the back door at this airport so I could be one of the first off. I was asked if I would move to the middle of a row halfway up the plane because someone was juggling seats with someone, I didn't ask why but they didn't like where they were sat and hadn't paid, and I suppose it was obvious I was on my own, dunno.

I actually think £80 for 5 people for two flights is good value to be exactly where you want to be. If I couldn't afford that on top of the flights... £8 each, I wouldn't be going in the first place.

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

Well obviously they do because they have posted here. Me for one. Why the hell should I? I paid to book my seat and expecting me to move just because you were too stingy and neglectful to ensure that your child will be seated next to a trusted adult is the height of entitlement.

I completely agree with Shots. Parents are responsible for their children on planes, trains and buses, not me. Any child would get extremely short shrift from me if they started whinging or whining next to me, just because their parents couldn't be bothered to pay to sit with them. If they can't behave without you, guarantee they can travel with you and don't inconvenience the rest of us who have paid for the service we expect to receive.

It's like paying for a meal onboard that someone who is hungry decides they want, but they aren't prepared to buy it.

If you pay to pre book your standard seats with Thomson , 90 days before you can choose your seat number
If you book extra leg room or extra space seats you can choose the seat number straight away
Thomas Cook and Jet2 allow you pick seat numbers straight away

Airlines do define next to each other as the row in front / behind and across

It's very short flight. They'll shuffle people around when you get on

We're flying with monarch in July & the two youngest (ds & dn) have already been allocated a seat with one of the adults in the group. The rest of us will sit wherever. I'd have thought the norm would be to allocate children to an adult in the group when making the initial booking?

When you work out the cost of your holiday, you work out the cost of the flights, including the seat booking. You don't book a holiday and moan that you've got a big family and so you have to pay more for tickets and you get fined more for taking 3 kids out of school during termtime rather than just one. Oh wait! You just did

No shots I came on here to ask if anyone with experience in the airline industry for their opinion on the matter. However I seem to have the opinions of everyone else.
You were harsh in your comments to me and so I retaliated. I know I should have pre booked but I didn't so I'm just asking for those in the know to give me advice.
I wish I hadn't now as i'm more stressed now than I was at 6.30 this morning!

I like to think I'm a "kind person" OP.

A kind person with a medical condition that means I need certain seats. So I pay for them.

You might get kind people with no specific needs like mine. You might not. If that's a gamble you want to take, you go for it.

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.

If the children's own parents didn't care enough to ensure their children were sitting by them, why should any other people? That's what I don't understand. If you care about your children being beside you in case of an emergency/for fear of predators, why would you not pay the extra? You've already forked out for flights/accommodation/fines to take the child/ren out of school- why would you suddenly start skimping in this area?

Medical condition trumps child with no medical condition when the adult worn the medical condition has paid, in my book.

With.

It's very short flight. They'll shuffle people around when you get on

Don't bet on it.

The thing is.... I could not live with the uncertainty. When my lot were younger I would've done everything in my power to ensure that they were with me in whatever circumstances. Because I can be a bit of a worrier. I would not sleep the night before if I thought I was relying on the kindness of strangers to ensure my kids could be with me. Strangers that have paid for a service too. I am a meticulous planner (it can be a problem at times! with holidays, I used to try to cover every eventuality and this would have been one I would have ensured I paid for so I knew that I wouldn't have a problem.

Threads like this come up with monotonous regularity and I understand it less each time it does.

Not as though this is new news OP.

You also don't help your dad by stating that other passengers wouldn't help your DC in the event of a fire. more likely parents with kids would rush ahead of non parents or those without kids

I like you, Francis. You always speak sense

Thing is my 9 year olds would be fine not sitting right next to me on a short flight but if I had anxiety and wanted to be sure to sit by them I would prebook seats.
We're flying long haul with Virgin and it actually worked out cheaper to upgrade to premium economy than to pay the £50 each seat booking charge.

We fell foul of this the first time we encountered it, fortunately we were flying as a couple, not with my SEN, very disabled daughter, and I can cope being seated apart from my OH. I didn't see/register that paying extra for allocated seating when booking was necessary to ensure you were together, I assumed it was just to secure preferences as to where you sit, like front or back of aircraft, window or aisle, - that sort of thing. I didn't give it enough thought. having flown so many times before this was a thing.

Mea culpa, obviously, but I'm not an idiot generally so I can see other people getting it wrong and not just being too tight to cough up.

We had a different problem once in the past which was nobody's fault but very unfortunate, we always books seats where my daughter can be flanked by us as we have to prevent her kicking the seat in front and she will reach for other people's drinks and knock them over, this was a transatlantic flight and she had a special adaptation for her seat, it turned out it was pre-fixed on the aircraft and for some reason we couldn't sit as planned so she had me on one side and a very unlucky random man on the other side. He wasn't at all nasty about it, poor thing, but I had a nightmare flight guarding him and fielding my daughter's flying limbs.

It must be a nightmare for cabin crew though compared to when people didn't pay for particular seats because people won't move if they've pre booked particular seats

It all sounds like the seven circles of hell

Well Thank you OP..I have spoke to travel agent who has got us now seats allocated.. Free of charge because there were no chargable seats.. My DS does have SN so despite been 10, flies well if something upsets the apple cart no one else would be able to deal with him.

So if you want to be able to help your child you'll have to pay sit beside them

So if for some reason the parents haven't paid for seats together then the kids can just fuck off and die, I guess?

Tell you what, I'd trample you and your non-seat moving ass to get to my child in an emergency, I wouldn't even blink,