To think airline software should not allow a 3 year old to be seated away from their parent?

[Inkstainedmags]

I suppose I'm looking for reassurance as I lie here unable to sleep before a flight. DP, DS (3) and I are due to take a transatlantic flight in the morning. We were unable to select seats when we booked the flight - we suspect because the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircrafts meant the airline didn't know what craft they would be putting us on. Then, when check-in opened, the airline's website wouldn't allow us to proceed because it couldn't cope with dual citizenship and insisted we needed proof of visas for travel to the country we live in.

When we finally managed to try to check in at an airport kiosk, we found that all three of us are seated separately and there was nowhere for two of us to be sat together. No one from the airline was available to speak to.

Surely the airline has to sort this out, right? As much as I'd love the opportunity to spend a 7-hour flight watching movies and reading books like I used to pre-DS, they can't expect a barely 3-year-old to be sat next to a stranger can they?

AIBU to think that with all the amazing things software can do these days, an airline should be able to force a parent and toddler to be sat together and cope with travellers with dual citizenship?

Of course things can go wrong (missed connections etc), but generally speaking I think if you can't afford to pre-book a seat with your DC then you can't afford to fly.

See, this annoys me - those who are single can just not pay for a chosen seat if they can’t afford it.

Got small kids? You can’t afford to fly if you can’t fork out an additional exorbitant fee for every child and an accompanying adult in your party, for something essential.

And all this “I’m not moving when I’ve paid for a seat” is irrelevant in cases like this when seat allocation is not an additional cost so no one has paid for specific seats!

We had this happen once. On check in they allocated 3 random seats. We went with it. My daughter was 4 at the time and I just said to her "no be nice and good and we will see you at the end of the flight" (it was a 1 hour flight only) the row all looked horrified and were more than grateful to swap seats. It's a ridiculous situation that they dont allocate at least 1 parent to sit with the child.

I would of loved a nice hour rest for the flight though 😂

Happened to me - busy Easyjet flight, completely our fault that we were late onto the plane, so I probably felt I shouldn't make a fuss.

Five of us, including a baby, a 3yo and a 5yo. We had one seat at the front (DH plus baby), one half way down (me) and two together near the back (DS and DD1). No-one moved, or offered to move; the plane was pretty much taxiing off as we sat down.

DH had his hands full with the baby, so I spent much of the flight sitting on the floor in the aisle next to DS/DD1. To be fair, they were good as gold.

At one point, DD1 (3) said she needed a wee, and I couldn't get to her because of the drinks trolley, so a very kind lady in a nearby seat took her.

I was furious afterwards, and very surprised that the airline hadn't intervened, but, as I said, I'd brought it on myself, and didn't want to "make a fuss".

I’m another who really needs the aisle seat. I have also switched seats for another aisle. Sometimes there needs to be a 3 way swap of seats to get a parent and child together.

I’m afraid I’m one that wouldn’t swop. I have GAD I would find it very difficult to swop seats having got a certain seat into my head. I need an aisle seat so I don’t feel trapped in.

Seeing as you couldn't pay to pick your seats at first I'd assume the same for most of the passengers so they'll probably be happy to move. I think the issue is usually when the family refuse to pay then expect others who have paid to move.

Under the current model, you can have £30 quid to Alicante OR decent customer service, but not both

If you’re single (or don’t need to sit with your companion, or don’t need a specific seat for medical reasons) you can, if not each seat has to cost you double because you have to sit next to each other. It’s awful really. Doesn’t affect me as like I say the thought of taking my twins on a flight is enough to put me off holidays for at least the next few years, but it’s exttemely unfair.

I fly alone with my small toddlers multiple times a year. This happens, and the airline almost always fixes it for you - if they do not, believe me, the stranger seated beside a lone toddler will be MORE than happy to switch seats with you.

if not each seat has to cost you double because you have to sit next to each other

How do you mean each seat costs you double?

Yes this is a unique situation - usually prenium economy seats come with pre booking included - this isnt a case where she refused to pay extra it should have already been included but it did not let her. (Looking at Westjet fleet it may well be a 737 max issue or a software glitch)

Then she could not get it to move because of Visas.

Given the fact it is 2 and 2 the chances are the people sitting by one of them is a solo traveller and happy to move and it should be relatively easy to sort on the day

the stranger seated beside a lone toddler will be MORE than happy to switch seats with you.

Indeed, I do wonder how many of the "I would never move, I'd just ignore them" posters have actually been seated next to an unrelated toddler for 7 hours.

Well in that example if the seat costs £30 and reserving a seat costs £30 (as an example, seems about what it costs), a married childfree couple could travel for £60 if they didn’t care about sitting next to each other. They have that option.

A parent with a toddler would have to pay £120 altogether to ensure they can sit together and not piss off other passengers and make sure they can take care of their child

And then people say “if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford to travel”.

*Well in that example if the seat costs £30 and reserving a seat costs £30 (as an example, seems about what it costs), a married childfree couple could travel for £60 if they didn’t care about sitting next to each other. They have that option.

A parent with a toddler would have to pay £120 altogether to ensure they can sit together and not piss off other passengers and make sure they can take care of their child

And then people say “if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford to travel”*

Ah I see.

IME seat prices are very much airline dependent - I've just checked back on our flights from February this year and reserving a seat cost £8pp each way. So added £32 to the booking in total.

Did the OP ever report back whether they got sorted in the end?

We once had 2 babies who cannot be in one row on laps due to limited extra oxygen masks so dd1 (5) and dtd1 sat with me and dtd2 sat with dh behind us. There was one spare seat on the plane and without us asking the cabin crew moved the passenger next to dh so we could have a spare seat between as as neither parent had a spare hand.

The journey back they'd mixed up and we had an extra row between dh and I - really weren't bothered to be honest. Airline was amazing and upgraded us to business class. I was terrified twins would scream and the people who'd paid for business class would complain but all went smoothly.

My experience is airlines generally sort things and most other passengers are reasonably sensible, unlike mn where no one moves because everyone has an issue that's far more pressing. Real life doesn't seem to be like this ime.

See, this annoys me - those who are single can just not pay for a chosen seat if they can’t afford it.

Indeed. So why do you think everyone should pay more to subsidise you and others who want to pick where to sit?

@drspouse I wouldn’t be upset if someone refused to switch but I can only imagine they’d be back within a few hours announcing a change of heart. And my children are good little fliers; plenty certainly aren’t!

Once when the airline shuffled people to put my then 3 year old beside me the passenger who got moved started to raise a fuss until she noticed her potential travel companion.

I've swapped for a child before.
I wouldn't be happy for dd sit on her own on a plane and I wouldn't expect it of someone else's.

Indeed. So why do you think everyone should pay more to subsidise you and others who want to pick where to sit?

🤦‍♀️

As I’ve said multiple times, I’ve never flown with my kids and will be avoiding it for as long as possible. So I don’t expect anything from anyone and am actively avoiding inconveniencing other people by not flying.

If I do have to travel with them, I don’t WANT to pick where to sit - I’ll have to, because you can’t leave twin toddlers with autism and other disabilities sitting alone when they can’t communicate, can’t understand language or gesture, can’t feed themselves unless it’s dry food and certainly can’t manage plane food packaging, are in nappies, would be dangerous in an emergency, would need to be held in place during take off and landing.

It’s got bugger all to do with expecting others to do anything, and everything to do with the fact that it’s not an “optional extra” or “nice to have” thing if you have small children / disabled children.

. So I don’t expect anything from anyone

Except that you want it to be "free" for you to choose seats. But it won't be free because the airlines will just increase everyone's costs to make up for the lost income. So yes, you do want others to pay for your convenience.

No. I don’t want it to be free for me because I have no intention of flying with them. I believe it should be free for disabled people of all ages who need a carer with them, and parents of very small children, to sit next to the person they are caring for because anything else is a) dangerous and b) a massive pain in the arse for everyone on the flight.

There’s already guidance that states that children under a certain age need to be sat with a parent / carer, so it would save everyone a lot of stress (including those who are paying for their seats so that their ideal seat allocation isn’t spoiled by being sat next to a random crying toddler separated from their parents) if they sorted this shit out in advance.

It’s not an optional extra when it’s a requirement. This is not paying for an optional extra, it’s a safety issue, and airlines shouldn’t be able to charge for those.

What next, paying for life jackets if you want one? Are you annoyed that you have to subsidise the presence of more expensive inflatable cots even when you don’t have an infant?

I would much rather sit next to a toddler than a stag or hen party. Much better juice than beer all over me so for that reason i'd stick with the toddler

We choose to have kids, that comes with extra costs!

Westjet will not insist on other passengers moving. They tend to be packed services and will often just regurgitate the terms and conditions of seat booking at you. What you should do is have one adult in your party sit in dd seat and all the kids with the other adult.