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AIBU?

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Original poster

Pre booked flight seats for 2 & 3 y/o's?

585 replies

doghelp123 · 14/04/2019 20:22

Not really AIBU, posting for traffic. Apologies for long post.

We are due to go on holiday in 7 weeks time and we have not paid for pre booked seats, the reason i have not paid is because our DCs are 2 & 3 y/o and the travel agent has advised its a £25 fee per seat, so looking at £100 all in for me, DH and DC's to be together - we have saved a long time to get this holiday and if I'm being honest it seems like a very large amount to be shelling out for seats. Me and DH are not fussed about being seated together obviously, but we would need the DCs to be next to either one of us so we did ask the travel agent if me and DH booked our two seats for the £50 would kids be guaranteed to be next to us but we were told me would need to pay the £25 for each of them as well, I then called jet 2 and they have advised that they would not split young children up from parents even if we had not paid for the seats but I have now been seeing things online stating that the DCs wouldn't necessarily be in the same row as either of us, but they could be put in the row in front or behind.

Can anyone who has flew before with Jet2 advise us? I would really rather not be paying the £100 for seats as IMO it is to much and it seems silly to be paying the money for kids that age if the airlines aren't actually allowed to split us?

So any frequent jet2 flyers, it would be much appreciated if anyone in similar circumstances could advise Grin

OP posts:
notacooldad · 14/04/2019 22:12

Sorry Bibijayne
I x posted with you referencing your post!

SuperSara · 14/04/2019 22:12

I believe EU airlines are not allowed to seat under 10s separate from their parent...

Then you believe wrongly.

BarbieJellyBabyBrain · 14/04/2019 22:13

So no guarantee they'll be next to you, but they should ideally be on the same row, and not more than one row away.

Yes, the problem with this I guess is if you are on an 8 seats to a row plane (2, 4, 2) then 'one row away' could actually be quite far away. As I said, I really think an airline would do everything they could to have at least one adult as close as possible to one child.

Parker231 · 14/04/2019 22:15

@Bibijayne - where is the evidence of this? I can’t find it anywhere.

FatFreda · 14/04/2019 22:17

Also the term being seated together includes aisle seats. Alot of people don't consider 2 aisle seats ( either side of tge aisle) as being together but the CAA and airlines do.
As per several posters quoting CAA guidelines above, you could be sat one row away from your children. If this is unacceptable to you then pay and prebook seats that suit your needs.

Bibijayne · 14/04/2019 22:17

@SuperSara - indeed, sorry that's best practice. I did reference the actual rules imediatly after :)

Bibijayne · 14/04/2019 22:18

@notacooldad

No worries! X-posting happens so easily on fast moving threads!

Justkeeprollingalong · 14/04/2019 22:19

I literally don't understand this; how could a 2 and 3 year old be sat away from a parent? They either wouldn't stay in their seat or would scream the place down.

notacooldad · 14/04/2019 22:21

I literally don't understand this; how could a 2 and 3 year old be sat away from a parent? They either wouldn't stay in their seat or would scream the place down
That why when a parent is booking their flight their booking needs are different to someone flying by themselves. Clearly their need is to book a seat for their child with them.

apacketofcrisps · 14/04/2019 22:30

I’d be major pissed if I booked a seat and got stuck with someone’s screaming child. And I wouldn’t want to move to a lesser seat. So I def wouldn’t be supervising/helping your kid 🤷🏼‍♀️

Milkand2sugarsplease · 14/04/2019 22:31

Not worth the time I'd spend worrying about it between booking the flight and finding out where I'd been allocated. On a short flight now I'd be happier to risk it but not when he was 2/3 and I've paid to book seats for long haul this summer.

Similarly, can't expect that others will move for you given that they will most likely be in the seats they have paid to book in order to sit together.

Cheapest option would be to book 3 and risk one of you not sitting with the family and draw straws over who gets the peaceful flight!!Grin or just fork out the extra 25 to all sit together.

Richmond1972 · 14/04/2019 22:32

i was on a flight to florida (so rammed with families) a few years ago with my parents and brothers. a young boy of around 4 was asked to move from near the emergency exit doors as you had to be over 12 (or whatever the age was) to sit there. yet the airline had randomly seated him there so this made no sense. she had not paid for these seats and had been allocated them. they obviously knew his age when they did this. His mom explained she would need to be with him (long flight and he was only small). The air hostess basically said that if they couldnt find 2 people to swap seats with them they had to get off. The hostess asked around and nobody was forthcoming. Unfortunately most people were with their families of multiple children and had paid for seats. In the end my mom and brother swapped. My brother has a phobia of sitting near the emergency doors and spent the flight terrified! ive always paid for seats with my DC since this.

BarbieJellyBabyBrain · 14/04/2019 22:38

I’d be major pissed if I booked a seat and got stuck with someone’s screaming child. And I wouldn’t want to move to a lesser seat. So I def wouldn’t be supervising/helping your kid

Yes, and the airline would want to avoid this as well, it reflects badly on them.

SinkGirl · 14/04/2019 22:56

I’d be major pissed if I booked a seat and got stuck with someone’s screaming child. And I wouldn’t want to move to a lesser seat. So I def wouldn’t be supervising/helping your kid

Lovely. “Sorry kid, your mum didn’t it couldn’t book a seat next to you, so I won’t be helping you with your oxygen mask”.

Lesser seat? Give me a break. This is Jet 2, not moving from business class to economy. Unless you’ve booked one of the few seats with extra leg room, you’d be moving from one crappy seat to another crappy seat.

Any time you fly there’s a chance this could happen, so whether you want to sit next to someone else’s kid or move to a lesser seat, those may be your options. Suck it up.

SoupDragon · 14/04/2019 23:03

I remember back in the day you'd book your tickets and you'd all be sat together.

I remember "back in the day" you had to get to the airport early to check in and get a choice of seats or be guaranteed to be seated together. Arrive late and your chances were slim.

SoupDragon · 14/04/2019 23:05

Unless you’ve booked one of the few seats with extra leg room, you’d be moving from one crappy seat to another crappy seat.

No. Some people deliberately book an aisle or window seat for a specific reason. Why should they be penalised because some parent thinks they are so special they don't need to pre-book?

EmzyEmile · 14/04/2019 23:06

You need to pay for seats. It's selfish and irresponsible not to. We fly with 2 DC and factor in the cost of booking seats.

Ihatemyseleffordoingthis · 14/04/2019 23:11

You need to book seats - but frankly it is bullshit that the airline are so desperate to squeeze extra money out of passengers that they charge so much for tiny children to have the priviledge of sitting with their parents.

notacooldad · 14/04/2019 23:11

Unless you’ve booked one of the few seats with extra leg room, you’d be moving from one crappy seat to another crappy seat.
That's a bit of a silly statement.
I much prefer having a window seating the front half of the plane on the left hand side. That really isnt a crappy seat to me.
Dp prefers an aisle seat. I really dont like being on the aisle.
_

cabingirl · 14/04/2019 23:12

Book three seats together - that means the children will not have to sit on their own. You and DP can take turns in the hot seat! Then it's only $75 not $100 at least and you can relax a little bit. Plus you might be able to get an extra seat next to you if needed.

Tunnockswafer · 14/04/2019 23:23

I don’t book, not exactly a frequent flyer but I’ve found we are seated together whether on easyJet or jet2. I check in online the second it opens which I think helps - at the least I can see our seat numbers so if there was an issue I’d know in advance.

apacketofcrisps · 14/04/2019 23:25

@sinkgirl

Lovely. “Sorry kid, your mum didn’t it couldn’t book a seat next to you, so I won’t be helping you with your oxygen mask”.

Well, it’s not my responsibility to worry about that is it? If I’ve paid for an aisle seat because I need it and paid for my husband to sit with me then I’m not gonna move. You deal with your children.

Tunnockswafer · 15/04/2019 00:48

Has anyone here ever actually had someone else’s toddler sitting next to them for a flight? I wonder what that experience would be like? Anyway unless you only buy your ticket at the airport the airline knows in advance what seats are booked and how many parents with small children are going to be on board, it’s hardly a surprise

blue25 · 15/04/2019 01:09

Don't inflict your toddlers on other passengers. I would not be happy sitting next to a lone 2 year old! It's not fair on your children or the passengers.

Butterymuffin · 15/04/2019 01:18

Those guidelines are chock full of 'ideally' and 'If possible' that leaves plenty of room for the airline to put kids in a different row. You are definitely taking a chance by not booking. However this:

You could book 3 seats together if one of you doesn't mind having both children

could at least save you £25, and you and your partner could agree to swap seats halfway through the flight to take turns with the kids.

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