To not pay to choose seats but expect to sit together?

[Peachpicklepie]

I'll be flying with easyjet on a short flight (just over an hour) soon. It will be me, my toddler (2 years 4 months) and my baby (four months). Baby will be on my lap. According to the website they will sit children near an accompanying adult - surely in the case of a two year old this means next to?! I really don't want to spend another £20 on choosing seats if it's unnecessary.

Just pay the money. It's not worth the stress.

I never pay and they always sit the kids next to me.

I’d probably just pay the money but realistically they can’t not sit them with you at that age 🙈

You should be fine, I was never separated from my child, and have flown with easy jet several times. Just check in as soon as possible (usually 1 month in advance).

It would be a safeguarding risk to NOT put you together, surely.

I would call them and ask if their policy allows them to place a 2 year old away from their guardian. I suspect not. Let us know what they say!

For most airlines "next to" is considered to be the seat directly in front or behind, or across the aisle.

I wouldn't risk it with kids and I also wouldn't be impressed if I'd paid to choose seats and we had to move because a parent hadn't bothered to do the same

For the airlines, ‘next to’ could be across the aisle, or in the equivalent seat in the row in front or behind. So they absolutely could be seated other than next to you.

I think £20 is a small price to pay to be sure of your very small child’s safety and comfort.

If you don't chose a seat, does that mean you get what's left? There might not be two adjoining seats remaining? I guess they would juggle it around as you child is so young, but them someone who has paid to chose won't get their choice?

£20 is £5 per hour - its money well spent for peace of mind, and I have read anecdotally that they can sit your toddler next to a stranger. Near to and next to are very different.

‘Next to’ could mean across the aisle or the seat in front or behind depending on the airline. I wouldn’t risk it.

Do whatever you want.
But if I'm next to you and your kid is behind you, I'm not moving. Because I paid my tenner.

Check out MoneySavingExpert if you want to risk it. Apparently for most airlines the chance of you being seated together (assuming earlyish checkin when there's still plenty of seats) is very high.

We're flying Jet2 soon and have paid, and I'm feeling a bit pissed off about it but hey ho.

Not Ryanair though.

I wouldn’t move for you either.

I've spent way too much money over the years paying for seats together, my last 5 flights I haven't bothered and have been put together, admittedly not EasyJet but Jet2, Ryan Air and Air France

God not this again! Isn’t it worth £20 to save your thumb from multiple Facebook when in fact you aren’t sat together and you think this is very unfair/ appalling.

I’ve not travelled with easyJet recently but if you want the seats guaranteed pay the money. Or ask yourself if everyone else pays to reserve with their group, and there are only 2/3 seats in various differ areas of the plane left, who are you expecting to move when they’ve paid for it?

YABU because what they will do is ask someone who has paid for their preferred seat to move/swap and that’s not fair on the person who has paid.

If I remember correctly then close to does not necessarily mean next to. You could be next to each other but across the aisle, or you could be one behind the other.

Just do what everyone else does who wants to sit together and pay to choose your seats.

Every summer there's threads on here along the lines of "we didn't want to pay to choose our seats but we were really annoyed the operator didn't put us next to each other / split our family into two groups"

My last holiday flight was delayed because a family hadn’t got seats together. Don’t be that dickhead.

Cheeky to expect it tbh. Other people pay for the luxury of sitting where they want. You want your kid right next to you, so you pay.

When we flew with Ryanair they say my children under 12 with me. No need to pay in my opinion.

They can’t separate you however they can have you sat next to each other, across the aisle and even behind each other.

But Op are you expecting that they move the person sitting next to you who pad for the booking??and place toddler next to you?? what if the passenger refuse to move?

pay for the seats, flight with small children is stressful as it it, don't add extra stress to it, not worth it.

Suppose it depends how many people have paid for seats on your flight because obviously they are not going to be happy to move and rightly so. For the sake of £20 it's not worth the hassle of relying upon everyone else to accommodate you.

Could be over the aisle, behind you, in front of you. If you’re fine with that, go for it. If you expect someone to swap, yabu

If you don't want to risk your 2yr old being seated not directly next to you, pay the £20. If you don't mind your 2yr old being seated behind, in front, across the idea, don't pay it. Easy. I'd pay it because I wouldn't want the stress.