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

[doghelp123]

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

"All this money grabbing, bare bones bullshit really pisses me off."

It's been driven by the consumer who wants cheap flights. You pay for a seat, and for anything extra like a specified seat you pay more. Maybe flights should be advertised at a higher price then discounted for those who don't care where they sit?

I am also hard hearted.

Just returned from a work trip siting in the window seat which i head chosen. Next a PA father with a son of about 8.

Dad kept saying loudly “ No son, you can’t sit in the window seat, that’s the lady’s seat, you have to sit here in the middle “.

“ Yes son, I know you are squashed and can’t move your legs. And its so sad you can’t see the mountains . But you can’t sit at the window”.

Sadly I had my headphones on so didn't hear a word. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself suggested that he swap seats with his mother who was in the window seat behind me.

I don't think that's hard hearted of you Imogen :D Dad was being a CF. They were sat together, that's all you can expect! I hope you enjoyed your window seat :)

Some posters on here sound as if they’d have been elbowing toddlers out of the way as they raced to the lifeboats on the titanic.
Is there no middle ground to be had? Small children are a liability in a dangerous situation, and everyone is safer is they are with a parent. Other passengers are safer if parents are heading straight for the exit instead of fighting to get back to a different row where their dc are sitting. People with restricted mobility can’t sit in front of an exit. Disabled people get assistance to get on the plane. All these things don’t add to money for the airline but add to safety and basic human decency.

I was presuming that yes, ChristmasMouse. And no, OBVIOUSLY as someone advocating for parent and child to sit together I would not expect another parent/child combo to be split. Are you high?

Exactly Tunnock :)

Parent and small child sitting together is not a luxury that should need to be paid for. The onus here is on the airline being grabby.

I was presuming that yes, ChristmasMouse. And no, OBVIOUSLY as someone advocating for parent and child to sit together I would not expect another parent/child combo to be split. Are you high?

Charming.

I book seats together and hope they seat us in the same row. Always pre-booked if I want seats.

Really selfish of parents (yes I am one) to assume they as a family have a right to be seated together even if they haven't pre-booked seats for DC.

Strangely enough last time we flew we had a bit of bother over people having our seats or not - we'd checked in, pre-booked them etc but had some people who thought they had our seats - and DD who wasn't yet 4 then - almost 4 - didn't seem that fussed about if she was separated from us - she wasn't!

I book a specific aisle seat near the toilets as I have IBS and take medication for anxiety and panic attacks.

I specially pay extra for this, and always book my seat immediately when I book flights.

I would not move from my seat I had paid for to accommodate someone who had not paid to pre-book a specific seat.

Yep, I'm with Tunnocks. And as I said it's in the interest of the airline to seat young children with their adult wherever possible. I agree that its not really a 'luxury' on anyone's part.

Also, I can't imagine anyone, in the midst of an emergency which requires oxygen masks, point blank refusing to help the small child next to them purely in order to make a point about their parents not paying for a prebooked seat!

Yep, I'm with Tunnocks. And as I said it's in the interest of the airline to seat young children with their adult wherever possible
You would have thought that but this model of paying for everything including childrens seats has been around long enough for them to decide it works for them.

MardAsSnails - maybe I'm being PA here - but I'd have elbowed the girlfriend back or had a go at her - no way would I allow some disgruntled passenger who haven't got their way when not pre-booking to get away with 'spilling' drinks on me etc. Who on earth do they think they are?

Sadly I have to be - unless I fly alone - more measured around my DD.

You really cannot look at seat booking as an 'extra cost'.

Most all airlines now charge for checked luggage (even longhaul) and seat choice. So you need to know that the cost of your ticket is anywhere from £10 to £100 more than the base price depending on seating and luggage needs. Obviously when you have children, you cannot just take your chances with seating. I hate the new pricing system, it is absolutely gouging the passengers for previously free services, but it is what it is for now.

BarbieJellyBabyBrain - why is it in the interests of the airline to seat young children with their adult whenever possible? What can't the airline staff do that the parent can do?

I fly fairly regularly to SW France with DD and DH - have done since she's a baby - have rarely been separated but one time we were - my fault - she had just turned 3 but it was only a 2 hour flight. Me and DH were sat in front she was sat in the row behind, but she did get a window seat (we didn't). We explained situation to airhostess and they couldn't have been more helpful. Luckily we'd had lunch etc before we flew so it was case of her watching inflight TV video/film etc and I could lean over to help her with anything else she needed and she called to me if she needed toilet.

I really fail to see what other DC unless they have special needs or are very young - why they need to be right next to mum and dad? It's nice if it happens.

You definitely need to book and pay for seats if you want to guarantee where to sit.

We have booked a Ryanair flight this summer. It was Ryanair for £60 each, or £800 each with the alternate airline. So we have paid for all the extras like extra leg room in Row 1, so I know we have more space and can get off first. Priority check in etc. These extras are around £100 total for the two of us, return flights. But still cheaper than flying with a different airline.
The flight It at a crappy time at 5am, so I have paid to know I can have a better chance of stretching out in these seats and going back to sleep. I always book window and middle for dh and I , as the aisle seats you are more likely to get people knock into you walking past.

Why should we then have to move after paying £100, because someone with small children won't pay the £100? Its unlikely we will be refunded, or even so requires us to call, and email after wasting time etc, because another family couldn't be bothered.

If I have not paid and have not chosen my seat for whatever reason, then I would happily move for those needed.

I don’t pay for my seats on easyJet I just reserve my seats the minute check-in opens but with jet2 I do cause when you look at the plan lots of others do and even if you went on when check-in opens you might not find seats together. In fact one year I left it and had to book seats that were separate, I booked my dd in an extra legroom seat though which she wasn’t able to sit in so they moved us all together.
Jet2 is only £19 (£9.50) to book normal seats return as well so your travel agent is taking a cut.....at least it was when I booked last week....

BarbieJellyBabyBrain - why is it in the interests of the airline to seat young children with their adult whenever possible? What can't the airline staff do that the parent can do?

For safety reasons, so that a child isn't distressed and crying, so that parents aren't getting up every 5 seconds and leaning over other passengers and generally getting in the way in order to sort their child out, so that passengers around said distressed child aren't getting pissed off - these things reflect badly on the airline and are also a pain in the arse and the airline would avoid if possible. The airline relies on parents wanting to avoid this first in order to get money from prebooked seats.

Some 20 years ago we were on our way back from Spain with our three yr old. The smaller plane was massively delayed but they then sent a massive plane to combine flights. We got on and got comfy. Lots of faffing from passengers, until a flight attendant came over to ask whether we'd swap seats with another family so they could sit together.
Confused faces from us and I said "so we move and don't sit together so another family can sit together?" There was an embarrassed yes from her. I was really proud I said no to her, and to not ask us again (bit of a people pleaser back then.)

I hate the new pricing system, it is absolutely gouging the passengers for previously free services, but it is what it is for now
Personally I love it. I am paying for what I need. If I'm flying by myself I can have a really cheap break. If I take someone that needs to be near me I pay for that and it is still cheaper than using some of the other airlines.
Due to the 'pay for what you need' policies I have been able to travel on a monthly basis for years to European cities often a lot cheaper ( often more than 2/3rds)than it would cost me to go from my home town in the NW to London. ( but that's a thread for another time.

If I am paying a base rate of approx £30 return. To Germany, France, Spain , Portugal, Norway or Brussels I'm not going to complain about a few more quid if someone one needs to. Sit with me.

I know not everyone will be able to get these flights due to children being at school but I've been with my friends mand their grandchildren who are below school age to Spain and got good price even when we have factored in seat costs.

Everything is much easier if you just see it as part of the airfare. They charge it separately so they can advertise the flights as cheaper than they really are. Same with the baggage cost being added afterward.

You just have to remember your flight to Barcelona is not really £35 return per person. It is actually about £85 each. (£35 + £25 to book a seat +£25 to take a suitcase).

You just have to remember your flight to Barcelona is not really £35 return per person. It is actually about £85 each. (£35 + £25 to book a seat +£25 to take a suitcase).
But the beauty of it it can be £35.
Me and my friend don't need to sit together so no extra fee.
We don't need a suitcase. With Ryan air we go non priority so can't take a hard case cabin bag but can take a soft small sports bag. I can get a weeks worth of clothes in their especially if I use a vac bag so no extra baggage charge.
On the same flight as me sometimes my friend pays for a case so the ticket price is different but we have paid for what we want and need.

My next flight is to Belgium which I have done many times and I have paid £28 return and the Slovakia. In June for £37 return.

I wouldn't risk it but YANBU .The airline need to change their policy. RA did it last year.

I hate the new pricing system, it is absolutely gouging the passengers for previously free services

There were never any free services. The cost of all of them were included in the price. Now, in order to keep the price down, they have been stripped out allowing you to pay for them if you want them rather than making you pay for them regardless. You pay for the flight only now and add only the extras that you want.

What an absolute con!! I was just debating this with dh. we prob wouldn't need this as ours are 8 and 14 now BUT he's made the point that if your child is in the row in front and we're all seated for take off etc you can't actually see them. He said could you as the staff whether the person sat next to a child was a paedophile or not? I think that's a good point as the child would be out of the parents eyeline

You just have to remember your flight to Barcelona is not really £35 return per person.

Your flight to Barcelona is exactly that. If you want to add extras, that is your choice but the flight is £35. There is no way you could ever have flown for that price (or the equivalent) in the days before stripped back budget airlines.