AIBU to offer cash to other passengers for their seats on flight

[Blewitagain]

I am going on holiday and have discovered I haven't pre booked seats on our flights. I'm traveling with two children. This was an oversight. I can get two seats which would leave eldest sat alone.

Would it be weird to take cash to compensate anyone willing to move seat? No one might be willing to move but I'm hoping.

I once travelled last minute in an emergency and no one was willing to move seats.

Would you put your two kids sitting together and you sit alone? They might be company for one another, rather than one sitting by themselves.

And if the third person sitting beside them, sees you sitting elsewhere, they might offer to swap, particularly if they were a solo traveller and you were sitting further up the plane.

You're not odd for that, of course, but it doesn't mean everyone would be comfortable refusing the request and they might agree at the expense of their own comfort. They wouldn't know that you'd happily take no for an answer and feel very put on the spot. Some people can get so entitled and arsey if they don't get what they want, which would lead to a nasty flight, especially if someone is nervous, so they might just say 'ok'. I think flying is quite a high stress situation for a lot of people. This seems to include your son, so I'm sure you understand.

Oh, I dunno, I think it's worth a try. MN gets a bit sanctimonious about this (I bet partly because we all want to distinguish ourselves from 'entitled parents'), but I imagine there are a number of passengers who have either opted for random allocation or have just clicked on a reasonably random seat.

Yes, your two seats might be next to someone autistic or who is with the group across the aisle or who otherwise has some particular affinity with the seat beside yours - or they might be someone who honestly doesn't give a shit.

I'd give up my seat in this situation simply if you asked me politely. I'd be delighted to have the bonus cash!

What's wrong with sitting next to a child? DS flew unaccompanied long haul at 9, he just read and watched films.

I wouldn’t mind being asked but as someone who would have already paid for their seats I’d say no. (I have a child with autism so always pre select seats).

There’s been a lot of these threads recently where people haven’t paid to select their seats and are then surprised they’re not in seats they’d like. Every time I’ve booked a fight it’s been really clear you need to pay for seats if you want specific ones- why aren’t people seeing the same things I am? (And this is with several different airlines, most recently Tui on Saturday when I booked a holiday for June 2023)!

I can't believe airlines have found a way to charge people to sit together, it's obscene. With a train you book your seats and they're automatically put together. Planes seating people in randomly allocated seating is just a con to invent a new charge for customers, and then we all start fighting with each other about being cheap. It's the airlines who are twats!

I'd move, as long as it wasn't to some horror seat in the back without taking the money though

It would depend if you asked nicely or in an entitled manner though

You sound nice and I am sure someone will swap with you. You can ask crew to ask for you

Good luck

You are basing this on a sample size of one. I can assure you you would not be wanting to sit next to my unaccompanied 12 year old on a flight, or maybe you’d be fine about it and I could have a nice break

That's another sample size of one. I'd assume if a child had additional needs that meant they would disturb other passengers then they would not be flying unaccompanied.

How do you know he just read and watched films @Svara ? You said he was unaccompanied

I'd rather pay a tenner for my seat than pay several hundred pounds to fly to Europe with loads of unnecessary "included" costs, which was the norm before budget airlines came into being.

That’s what he said he did lol

He told me of course, and I know my child. He had a well meaning woman move next to him and talk to him and he was annoyed about that as he was happy alone!

If I wasn’t travelling with my dc I would gladly give up my seat (no payment required!) for a family with children to sit together.

Hopefully someone will be kind enough to offer op! Have a lovely holiday.

@Svara yes my child is also a sample size of one but then there is a whole range of children inbetween they don’t all fit neatly into one box or the other so you saying all 9 year olds are fine based on your child and me saying all 12 year olds aren’t fine based on my child is meaningless it has to be based on each individual child who parents will know best, which I’m assuming is reason why op is nervous about her child sitting alone

My kids are 3 and 4 and when we booked with Ryanair we refused to pay for allocated seating. The lead passenger (me) was put with both of them. My partner was elsewhere despite being on the same booking, arseholes. Anyway, point is your airline may automatically put children with the lead passenger.

there is an arsehole here but they don't work for the airline

Good luck with it OP, but really - how many years do people have to moan about this before people get it.

Why? If they've paid for that seat why should they give it up for someone who hasn't bothered/forgotten to pre book? Fair enough if they're just in a random seat but if they've paid they should get their money back.

I've just had to pay an extra £300 to select seats together for the four flights involved in our trip - me and DS (12) and DS (7)

Thankfully had about £160 of Avios but it still sticks in my craw on top of the cost of the flights - about £3.5k economy!

Lol, of course he did @Svara I bet that 'well meaning woman' staggered off the plane reeking of gin
Joking apart I hope you get it sorted@Blewitagain

Try it OP, it’s a much better idea than expecting people to move without offering the money back that they’ve paid. I’m always amazed that people think it’s irrelevant that others have paid for their allocated seats and should move anyway. Hopefully this will become normal amongst people that haven’t pre booked and still want seats together.

I would imagine the cabin crew would shut this down pretty quickly. They’ll think you’re dealing! (Or buying)

orangeisthenewpuce

Anyone who takes the money to move is a tight arsed skinflint imo
🤣🤣🤣🤣

You can ask; cash would show you're serious. Alone, I probably would swap for a middle or aisle as I only book middle or preferably aisle seats. Together, I would prefer to stay with my partner but don't mind not being with friends. You'd have more luck getting me to move if it meant not being sat with your smaller child tbh-but never for a window. I don't like seeing sky.

I once pressed something by mistake and ended up with an auto allocated window seat on EasyJet. The on-board staff found me a vacant row to move to once we were all on. I did ask nicely and they could see my nerves. Still no idea what I pressed wrong or why- was trying to select!

We don't pay these days since DS is older, so I'd likely move if asked but always prefer an aisle seat, so I'd be reluctant to move to middle or window unless it was a short flight.

I like your idea of offering to reimburse seat cost. I wouldn't take it but it shows you're not one of those entitled people who expect their whole clan to be seated together for free at the expense of other passengers.

@MrsToothyBitch I have no issues with sky, I just hate sitting still and go to the toilet a lot .