To expect Easyjet to help me?

[amprev]

We fly on a 4hour 15 min flight on Sat with our two dc's aged 11 and 8. The holiday was a last minute decision, and I booked it last Sat with Tui. I was aware at the time that the flights were actually with Easy jet and not Tui. I wasn't particularly bothered by this either way. Reading through all the booking details in full this evening I learned that it is online only check in for EJ flights so I checked us all in.

Turns out we have been allocated seats randomly all over the plane - there are ten rows separating two of the seats from another two, but no two seats are in the same row. I realise this is because many people have obviously checked in before me. I would pay the extra for seats together if I could but this isn't an option, the plane is just full.

I'm gutted and I know the Dc's will be when I tell them. We are downloading films to an iPad for them and they watch it together using a headphone splitter. This obviously can't happen if we are all separated. I'm not expecting they can magic us all together but do you think they could at least have the dc's together with either me or DH less than 10 rows away from them? My eldest suffers with bad ear pain on flights and I normally have to do some soothing at take off and landing because she gets upset.

Any tips from anyone who has been in this situation? We only booked it so late because we didn't think we would get away this year but decided we would last minute.

I'll ring customer services when they open but I'm expecting them to tell me that I'll just have to persuade someone to move when we board. According to the civil aviation authority, airlines have to take reasonable actions to ensure a child is near to their adult so that it is less disruptive in the event of an evacuation. Not sure what EJ can do if there are no seats though? I realise some people will have paid extra for their preferred seats.

Strawberrisc

14 isn't considered child on a plane. It's up to 12 I believe

We fly with EJ a fair bit. We check in online 30 days in advance and choose our seats but we don't pay. As it's just DH and me, I would gladly swap and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Good luck

Personally I wouldn't want to be separated from my family on the plane. It's a family holiday and the flight is part of it. That's why I only book where can check in and choose seats in advance.

I have flown with Easyjet many times in recent years and not once have I paid to select my seats. We have always been seated together though.

So I wouldn't worry too much - I imagine that some of the allocated seating hasn't been chosen and paid for. Therefore either staff at check-in (although I guess those carrying hand luggage only bypass checkin) or on board should be able to help you out.

If you get chance to speak to EJ customer service then perhaps this is already solved - but don't let it spoil your holiday.

I wouldn’t move for the sick bag business. I would make me less likely to move. The twelve year old is fine on their on and doesn't need you soothing them but just something to suck on. Plentyof 12 year olds fly alone. Someone might move for the 8 year old but at a guess, the plane will be full of famiies who also want to sit together. That’s the problem with Packages

I often travel alone & just take the seat that I'm given so I'd swap-as long as someone would help me move my overhead luggage if necessary (shortarse!).

I rarely pre-pay my seats. I fly regularly with EJ so check in early to get seats together. Lots of people will do the same thing.

I wouldn't want to be sat beside an unaccompanied minor for 4 hours so the likelihood of someone swapping is high I would say. If you don't get it sorted on the phone I would just explain to the gate staff or onboard crew who will sort it for you. If you have an aisle seat you have a good hand!

"I wouldn’t move for the sick bag business."

I'd find that very annoying if someone did that to me.

It might not be your fault that you didn't book seats-but it wouldn't be the passangers either & if they've booked why should they move?

Of course if the crew insisted I move, I would move. And if others are happy to move instead of me... fine. But I regularly fly and book and pay for a particular seat and don't see why I should. There's usually enough 'allocated' seats, not paid for, to allow swaps to happen

I booked a holiday with a travel company, the flights coming back the the UK were with Ryanair. Upon the email with the details I logged on the see which seats were given (as 1 adult and the children get free reserved seats with Ryanair now)

2 adults, 2 children, 1 lap infant.

1 adult & lap infant on 1 row. 1 child (7 years old) about 8 or 9 rows away. Other child (4 years old) about 8 rows from that. The other adult right at the back of the plane...

I had to pay to move them, was quoted one price but upon checking whilst speaking to them, they'd moved one seat... bearing in mind only about 7 or 8 seats at this point had been 'reserved' and this kept happening.. Told all seats together now pay such and such, checked.. only 1 seat been moved.. had to do it for everyone so we were all together in the row we wanted.

7 year old has complex SN's and no way would I inflict my wild 4 year old alone on the strangers sitting next to him for over 3 hours!

Thing is op booking a week before flying,what would you expect? I'd be a bit miffed with EasyJet if they put pressure on other passengers and delayed the flight to move somebody who paid full wack for their ticket in advance to help somebody who booked last minute and paid a large amount less. It's not really fair.

Ooh that's worth remembering about saying you'll need to offload! I get panicky on flights so need to sit with whoever I'm flying with, as we're usually just adults we have often been asked to swap. It's difficult saying no. I can now say, 'ok but if we have to sit separately we will need to offload'.
Makes me feel a bit better!

They’ll move you op.
You will however have to submit to many posts on here from people who think they are morally superior for paying extra on EasyJet/RyanAir to sit together and also hear the song of person who pays to have a special seat on the plane.

It does smack of having your cake and eating it.

Roussette, I agree with you. If I'd booked and paid for specific seats, I'd be hopping mad if they insisted I move. But they do have the right to, annoyingly.

Interestingly, I have never paid for seats on EJ or Ryanair but have always been seated with dh and the kids. But dh and I have just flown long haul with Tui and they deliberately (I reckon) separated us and put repeated pressure on us to pay 💰 to select. We didn't particularly mind being apart so declined.

I should think this happens on all the flights for all the last bookers. Once people are checked in, they're checked in, paid for, or not.

Please don't give off an air of entitlement to seats together. I'd dig my heels in and refuse to move in that instance, whether I'd paid or checked in early to sit where I want. If you were apologetic and explained you'd only booked last week, then I'd consider it, but would expect my reservation fee to be refunded to me if I'd paid for those seats.

Not everyone will have paid to reserve their seat. I fly weekly with EasyJet and have lost count of the number of times this summer I've swapped seats to let people sit together.

I would be incredibly surprised - not least for safety reasons - if the cabin crew didn't insist that at least one parent and one child sat together.

I usually fly on my own and whilst I book seats, I'd move if requested to.

Some would, some wouldn't OP. All the non-movers need to say is "Sorry, I can't", not deliver you a lecture.

There are seriously smug and snitty posters on here.

I was on ryanair recently. We'd been allocated random seats, so when I heard a conversation nearby with a man pointing out he'd really like to sit next to his young dd it was no big deal at all to offer to swap with him so they could be together.

I did hope the cabin crew member involved would give me a free drink for being so helpful, but alas

If you were flying alone, why would it make a difference where you sat?

Just wanted to add to this thread, as I've just checked in for an EJ flight departing Sunday.

Most of the seats weren't available to reserve. There were some premium ones at the front that would have charged me over £20 per seat. We just decided to not reserve seats.

The EJ computer allocated me the 4 seats I would have gone for anyway (had cost not been an option). the only difference is I can't take an extra item of cabin luggage with me.

On return, the EJ computer allocated us two pairs of seats, one pair in front of the other, which does strike me as quite inefficient. Instead of having 3 in one row and the 4th across the aisle, this system of allocation ends up leaving single seats unallocated all over the plane doesn't it?

They need to sit children with the adult up to a certain age.

Last year due to overbooking i got moved to a BA flight from Faro to Gatwick instead of my Faro/Lisbon/Heathrow prebooked option...

They gave us seats where my then 5yo was sitting alone on a row behind me and her 2yo sibling and across from dad.

The cabin crew said that wasn;t allowed and fortunately a lovely 15yo girl moved to let my 5yo sit next to me before the cabin crew even asked around...

I thanked everyone profusely and explained this was happening because of the overbooking in the other flight as we normally wouldn't not check seats...

So I say talk to the crew as soon as you get to the airport... they might move things around or some passengers will be lovely and help

We have just come back from an easy jet flight, we checked in online but you didn't need to - or that was how it looked.

They were moving people around on the plane because not everybody had booked seats. I happily moved so a family could sit together.

I think it's awful to do the sick bag thing or threaten to get off the plane and luggage to be offloaded.

I have sympathy with the OP because she is a late booker and there was no choice of seats, she tried. But those with a massive sense of entitlement who refuse to pay for seats for their family and get on the plane expecting those who have paid to move, is awful.

Before anyone says... but why should we be penalised because we have DCs, why should we have to pay this surcharge, it's not fair. You have to bear in mind, air travel was massively more expensive decades ago when everything was included (seats, meals, luggage etc). So they stripped it down to make flights cheap. You add on the bits you want and that includes paying for seats.

It's nothing to do with being morally superior, it's about making choices and paying for the bits of air travel you want, and discarding the bits you don't.