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.

If no one moves then get off the plane.

Don’t be ridiculous. The children are old enough to be seated by themselves even if it is not ideal.

If it was me I would get off the plane. My daughter would probably panic and just as the plane was taking off get out her seat and try to find me. My son would scream hysterically. If people are that attached to their seats I'm sure they won't mind waiting for us to get off the plane.

This isn’t you and the OP has clearly stated that she knows her children will be fine. Getting off the plane would be ridiculous.

DP and I were ‘sat together’ but we both had aisle seats adjacent to one another, that was sitting together to EasyJet ...

That's sitting together on most airlines, and many couples choose to sit that way so they both get an aisle seat.

There's no way I would attempt it, especially after reading some of the responses here. You never know who your child might end up sitting next to.

@cheesefield - I'm the same

@jarhead123

Do you have an emergency toilet card? I would show that if asked to move. I wouldn't particularly love to explain my choice of seat or be argued with about not wanting to move on a busy flight with 30 people listening in.

Anyone happy to get off the plane over not sitting together I'd happy wait for them to unload you given the hassle your kids would probably cause on the journey if they can't behave themselves.

The only time we have missed booking seats together, because you could only check in 7 days before which was the day we travelled so a bit hectic, we had been assigned weird seats.

Dd (11) was sat at the back of the plane. Dh and I together across the aisle from each other with ds (18 months) on my lap. DH (brave little soldier) offered to sit at the back. I offered too, we had a bit of a debate over who got to sit away from ds the devil child had to sit alone. DH finally won.

When we got on the plane, dds seat was an extra legroom seat. After takeoff the couple sat on the same row as me were very happy for her dh to have the extra lef room seat, his wife on the aisle and me, dd and ds on the window and middle seat.

Dh actually had a full row to himself. Which he didn't volunteer until 3 hours into a 4.5 hour flight. And then only because the lovely cabin crew came and told me ds might be more comfortable sleeping at the side of daddy as daddy had a full row to himself, and if mummy wasnt driving perhaps daddy should buy her a drink too. .

Ds had screamed for an hour before passing out. Dh was on the shitlist for that little stunt.

So try not to worry. Am sure at least the girls will be able to sit together, or at least nearer to you.

Generally speaking most people will swap around.

Zommum, How old are your children? If they're the ages of the OP's, then you have an issue I think.

Urubu

I have never waved sickbags and wipes passive-aggressively in anybodies face. The only time I ever was in the situation that I had to bring it up I asked politely and was met with eye-rolling and sarcastic "Oh really??". I would have prefered that it wouldn't have been necessary at all but dd was 4 (had only turned 4 three weeks before as well) and had just lost her grandfather. I couldn't just leave her there on her own holding her own sickbag. Although I would have been quite amused if the eye-rolling woman in the seat next to her would have found out during descend into Schiphol that I wasn't lying after all.

They are younger. They might be ok, but could also annoy the everyone around them. My biggest concern is if there is an emergency and they have to get off the plane quickly. Can you imagine a panicking parent trying to get to their child? It's likely that the child would be hurt or left. Can you imagine trying to get to the exit but having someone trying to go the opposite way to get to their child?
I'm so glad it doesn't work like this where I'm from. You only check in 24 hours before the flight, and they do move people to accommodate families.

Would you not just let them sit alone? I would totally understand if it were a 2 and 4 year old. But 8 and 11 ?? I have both age kids and would just leave them in whatever seats there were in and check on them regularly.
Unless they need you to be with them / have anxiety issues I wouldn't stress and would praise them for their independence.
My 8 year old would happily read, chat to his poor neighbour and use my card to enjoy lots of snacks from the trolley !!

Not just budget airlines.... flying Aeroflot across Russia, a 9 hour flight, in the days before online check-in became standard, I realised as we got on the plane (as I called back to ask DH the seat numbers, we hadn't looked at the boarding cards until then) that we were all sat separately, several rows apart. DCs were 20 months (twins in nappies), 3 (unreliable bladder control and liable to air sickness) and 7. Air hostesses refused to help. Just pointed wordlessly to the seats. I asked if the non English speaking middle aged man sat in the seat next to 20 mo DTD would be feeding her, taking her to the toilet, changing her nappy and letting her sleep with her head on his lap. "What do you want me to do?" she said. Ffs. People were eventually asked to move but one lady (flying alone) refused. God knows why because she was then stuck next to one of our very young DCs and the 7yo had to sit on her own, but at least she was in the row in front of one of us.

Omg! I am sooooo booking Ryan air or easy jet reading these posts. The thought of a flight not having to deal with my two ASC, ADHD, OCD and one with Tourette's children sounds like the perfect start to the holiday. Yes! Rest assured I will not be asking anyone to move they are 13 so well over the age to sit with parents and I respect anyone who has paid extra for bookings right to sit where they paid for.
Not EJ or RA
Years ago 13 to be precise we travelled to Canada with our premie 7 month old twins they were tiny about the size of a 3 month old and developmentally delayed but passes fit to travel and we got promised sky cots... well they never materialised. And we also used an early online booking system we got two middle row seats together on it. Arrived got split up as only 3 oxygen masks for the 2 seats and that is against the law so all that prep a waste of time.
So anyway pre bookers I haven't decided were we will go but look forward to sharing with one of my twins they are amazing and fab I am sure you will enjoy them ❤️👍

@calpop is correct - if you book last minute (especially on a flight that is almost at capacity) you will have paid a lot more than the people who booked way in advance, not less.

You can test this by going to Google Flights, selecting a flight on a date far in advance and then select the option to track the price (don't do this if you get annoyed by lots of emails as you will get an email every time the price changes) :) On or near the date of the flight, click on the price history and you will see the price graph which goes up and down but towards the date of the flight it will almost always curve steeply upwards.

Lol planetclom.
Why would anyone want to sit next next to someone else's child 😂.
Let them spend the flight listening to my daughter talk or sing, she will probably watch a movie and not plug the head phones in and have it turned up so loud you can hear it over your music. She will be up and down the entire flight bumping you. Did you pack an extra set of clothes for yourself? Because you may get thrown up on, or have a drink spilled on you. I also suggest not putting any bags on the floor, because she will drop her drink bottle, and it will go everywhere. And at the end of the flight, when you are annoyed, wet, have a headache and glare at me who is relaxed after sleeping uninterrupted the entire flight, you chose this.

Yeah, the bloke sat beside my two was muttering under his breath as he got in and out of his seat all flight. I hadn't asked him to swap but I did feel him not offering was being punished at least by my dc's weak bladder if nothing else. They didn't throw up though and there were only a couple of squabbles so he got away quite lightly.

If it is any consolation OP, you reminded me that I hadn't pre-booked our seats for our holiday in September.

Done now, thanks!

Good luck.

I don't think everyone will have paid a reservation supplement for their seat though will they?

I never pay for a seat reservation- even if I'm travelling with other people. It really doesn't bother me if I'm not beside my nearest and dearest. I'd be very happy to swap and let you sit beside your 8 year old.

I was on an easyJet flight earlier this week and they asked a couple to swap with an older couple who were in the exit row for take off and landing.

It's a requirement that you need to be physically able to sit in exit row seats in case you have to open the emergency exit. When I travelled to my holiday home it was a location that is generally most popular with elderly tourists, and every single flight I was moved to the exit row, and often got the whole row to myself, as I was one of the few younger people on the flight. Now that I have DS I don't get that anymore.

Never understood people who will happily use their children as a pawn for their passive aggression. If there was a reason my child needed to be by me, I wouldn’t put them in that situation in the first place. I care more about thrir well being thatn scoring points against strangers because they won’t pander to your whim. Some parents seriously need to take a look at their priorities.

My point above is aimed at people who find it amusing to leave their child with a stranger to teach the stranger a lesson, not people who accidentally or otherwise end up in this situation but are still adult enough to understand their family isn’t centre of the universe.

I can't imagine anyone randomly choosing to leave their dc with a stranger as a passive aggressive move for them having annoyed you It's never going to happen on a plane with allocated seats. Maybe you could do it at a cinema if they jumped the popcorn line in front of you.

Buy a few disposable sick bags and some baby wipes, if people don't want to move just hand the baby wipes to the person next to the child, and give your child the sick bags and say please at least try to get most of it in the bag this time. Then say sorry they get very air sick. I guarantee you they will swap with you.
If you pulled that crap with mr I'd toss them into your child's lap, put in my earplugs, don my eye mask, ignore your child and sleep. Any goodwill that might have urged me to help would be out the window.