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.

Think of it as part of the cycle of life. When you're a young person/student you haven't got much cash, you travel light and can crash anywhere - you get a bargain fare because you don't need the extras. You choose to have a family - you pay for allocated seating to make your life and travel
easier. Your kids leave home and you want to travel - you're flexible and can grab a bargain again. What goes around comes around.

Clearly not.

If I book with my family I expect allocated seats together. I might not like where they are, in which case I can pay to move, but I should have seats together. BA always did this anyway if you had kids under 12 so has never been an issue for me but I think it is stupid to deliberately allocate kids away from their parents as a money-making ploy.

And yes, I would happily pay an extra £10 for a flight if it meant this nonsense didn't go on.
I think they should make it clear that in a family booking, children under X years will be sat next to an adult from the same booking in the same row as each other, then any other requirements beyond that is up to the family (eg if families want to choose 4 or 5 seats together then that's for them to book or if they want to plan out which children are with which adult etc)

If customers preferred the higher prices and not this palaver then the first airline that did it wouldn’t have found it gained market share and other airlines wouldn’t have adopted it to compete

So there may be some saying they’d prefer the old system on here but not enough to stop the sector changing markedly

People are extremely price sensitive when it comes to flights especially with price comparison site ls - airlines try to get to the top of the search results by undercutting

This!

I'm sure people are quite capable of understanding and calculating base fares plus optional extras they may or may not want.

If I want to choose a particular seat (sometimes I do and sometimes I don't) I have the option of paying accordingly. All in fares including seat choices penalise solo travellers and raise prices for those who don't want optional extras.

I don't want to pay more to subsidise families and groups.

Absolutely. And anyone who causes havoc on a plane by refusing to sit in their assigned seats should be removed and possibly banned from flying (if they cause significant disruption).

Sitting with your travelling companions is not an optional extra if any of them are too young or otherwise too vulnerable to sit alone.

And given how outrageously expensive the "optional extras" now are and the fact that these prices aren't shown alongside the air fares on sites such as Skyscanner, it is now pretty much impossible to tell what the damage is going to be until you're halfway through making your booking, because the final price bears absolutely no resemblance to what was advertised and shown against other airlines.

By the way, you subsidise children and old people all the time in one way or another.

And yes, I would happily pay an extra £10 for a flight if it meant this nonsense didn't go on.

Of course you would, because you're already paying extra to sit next to your child. You'd still be paying extra, but for something you feel is better.

I am less happy about paying an extra £10 for a flight, because I like the option of not paying to book my seat. I don't particularly want to pay extra because other people object to paying to sit next to their own children.

We flew with Easyjet 3 weeks ago. Lots of empty seats so kids (primary age) were at the back playing with their devices and their dad had the row in front to himself. He was told he had to sit at with the kids as they 'weren't allowed to sit alone' even though he was immediately in front of them. So I don't think this is strictly true on easyjet. We have never been split up that way (same aisle yes but not different rows to the kids) over years of flying with easyjet although we do make sure we check in as early as possible.

But this may be at the inconvenience of other passengers who will be ,over and split up, despite paying up front. And they are never compensated for this, from what I've seen.

Why would that person look after your child?
Most people put headphones in and focus on their own thing.
If there was assistance needed they'd just call cabin crew to come.

I am not advocating inconveniencing others and I think my point has been misinterpreted (not a fan of the sob story parents who say people won’t switch for their family to sit together when they haven’t paid for seats altogether) however airlines have a duty of care to ensure a minor is with an adult if unable to care for themselves and not require assistance from the airline staff. For example family of four 2 adults, 2 children would be situated with 1 adult and 1 child sat together, it is also a safety requirement so the parent can assist the child with their life jacket and oxygen in case of an emergency.

@NoDought There is no legislation that requires this. The CAA guidance is just guidance and says that “next to” can be in front, behind or across the aisle.

This is constantly represented as the law on these threads but it’s not true.

Yeah but I'd move for the 2 year old who would be so distressed away from their mummy. Cmon, be human!

I understand that and would properly feel guilt tripped into moving.

But it comes to something when a random stranger cares more for the toddler's feelings and distress than their own parents do!

Seems fair enough.

I have no probably with people waiting to check in and risking it.
It's just an expectation that others will move from their own prepaid seats I take issue with.

For all of you saying, "It's only £20!", it's not. It's per person, which is a lot if you are travelling as a family.

It depends where you're going and who with.

Of the flights I've booked recently the cheapest has been £3.99 short haul to £49.99 long haul. I had to draw the line at extra leg room at £99.99 each though.

I said ‘duty of care’ not legislation.

I flew with Tui a few years ago - long haul. Very expensive holiday where i'd paid around 4k for me and adult dd. Think it was £80 per person each way to choose a seat early.

So I waited until it was free pick your seat day and sure enough we were opposite ends of the plane on a massive Dreamliner. But there was an empty seat next to me. But was still £80 to move her into that seat. Thankfully dd has complex medical needs so they moved her next to me free of charge, I had to email them a diagnosis letter.

I don't know how yu got on OP, but I've never booked seats for me and the kids and we've always sat together (I've travelled with them a lot on my own). Now they are a bit older I reckon it's a bit more risky, but then againn DD thinks it's exciting to be sat "on her own", so...

How about if you are beside an “unaccompanied” 2 year old? Might not be so fun?

Lots of opinions on this post lol!

So legally the airline has to seat a child under 13 with an adult. "With" can mean next to, infront, behind or across from the aisle. All the posts about you taking someone elses paid for seat isn't your problem and its up to the airline to manage the seating and allow space for families. It wouldnt be your fault at all if they failed at this.

Ive flown several times with DD, shes 11 now and we have always been sat next to each other even on flights that are completely full. Obviously your partner would likely be sat far away from you though.

I think in your case for the sake of £20 I would just pay it because i have been worried in the past that we wouldnt be next to each other but reserving seats was so expensive. But if you really can't afford it, i think you are pretty safe.

Yep, me too. I've never not had seats together and never paid to do so.

This.

For the love of all things good, do not be one of those CF’ers who expects the plane staff and other passengers to solve YOUR problem if your toddler is seated across the aisle/in front/behind you. This means paying the extra fee.