Paying for seat reservations on flights

[MidnightPatrol]

I have just booked a flight and as increasingly seems to be the case, they want me to pay to reserve a seat.

I have a young child so I can’t ’risk it’ on the day, and the trip will be more enjoyable (by which I mean less of a nightmare) if we are seated together in one row (me, DH, DC).

The cost of this? 66 euros.

I just want to ensure I am seated with the other passengers in my booking, specifically my toddler. Feels grating to incur an additional expense for this ‘privilege’.

I just checked in for an easyJet flight. Short internal trip so chanced not paying for seats. Just checked in and we are all sat together.

And keeps the actual fare cheaper for those of us that are happy to be autoallocated seats

I’d be putting that child in their father’s lap!

It used to be the case that if you checked in early you could choose seats together for free - Ryanair certainly didnt allow us to do that. So, even at check in we needed to pay to sit together or they would, very likely, have put us at opposite ends. It perhaps didn't matter as we are adults, but we paid anyway. On the actual flight we sat to an elderly lady whose family were dotted around the plane. Even though we paid, we offered to allow a family member to sit with her - "no dear, she said, you seem very nice and my family are a rabble!"

Yes, we play that game. We live together 24/7- and spend our holidays together 24/7 - so do not pay for allocated seats. Met some really nice people that way, lol.

I sat next to a random 4 year old once.

RyanAir and another budget airline have recently got fined for this in Spain. From my perspective, I'mreally hope they don't have to start start doing bundled fares including seat allocation + cabin luggage + hold luggage as they'll be more expensive and I'll no longer be able to get flights for under a tenner

That's exactly how I see it. I wish they'd show the full cost including seats, hold bags etc then give you the choice to deduct what you don't want.

Then nobody can complain about paying 'extra' for seats. They're actively choosing not to pick for themselves and be seated randomly.

We always paid for seats when travelling with DC. It was part of the holiday cost. When it's just DH and I, we don't bother so it's cheaper.

Don't pay it. They can't separate you from a toddler otherwise they have to look after the child.

Yes they can legally separate you. Again CAA guidelines are literally guidelines and not the law in the UK.

I think this is so true. Show someone a price of £200 and tell them that if they want to select their seat they have to pay another £50 and they feel outraged at having to pay more.

Tell that same person that the price is £250, but if they don’t care about seat selection they can take advantage of a £50 discount suddenly it doesn’t seem so bad.

I can see why airlines have to start with the cheapest and work upwards from there, but in terms of consumer psychology it is absolutely the worst way to do it!

Ryanair will not seat a child under 12 appart from one of the parents as children under 13 need to be accompanied by an adult on a plane.
However, they will charge you £8 or so per flight on top of price and you cannot opt out of it. So you are "forced" to pay seat booking for a child.

Short answer: because airlines want to be able to advertise a lower price. And consumers respond to the « pay per use » price model.

Long answer, with illustration:
In the olden days when I was young the airline would sell for ex 100 seats at £200 (including seat selection, luggage, meal etc).

Nowadays: 100 seats advertised at 100£ with no options. On average people will spend £100 on seat selection/luggage/meals. The revenue for the airline is the same BUT some people who wants to prioritise price will only pay £100 and others who prioritise comfort (or need the options!) will pay up to £300.
You pay the basic price + the options you want/need. The airline earns the same than before.

(prices/numbers made up for the sake of the demonstration)

If I’m wrong please feel free to tell me!

I often see threads complaining about people asking to move seats, and I get it that is annoying and you shouldn’t feel pressured to, but that is precisely why it happens.

No, it happens because people won't pay to sit together but expect others to then accommodate them. I regularly travel solo and always reserve a seat, mainly because I don't want to end up in a middle seat, but have been asked to swap so many times by someone who hasn't wanted to pay for a seat but expects me to move instead.

If you are flying to non UK country they also need to make sure they are in line with local laws. In Europe children under 12 need company of an adult in most countries. This is why Ryanair will charge you £8 on top of adults seat when you buy for a child under 12.

That sounds right to me.

I actually prefer it this way - it means that I can guarantee the things that really matter to me and that I don’t have to pay for things that I don’t care about.

Before selecting a seat existed on aeroplanes Dh and I were about the last to arrive at the airport for a flight (not our fault - we were on a package holiday so we had no control over our arrival time) and so were separated. It wasn’t a big deal - we were two young adults - but it did make me realise that even in those days not everyone gets to sit by their family on flights (when I control airport arrival time we arrive very very very early indeed!) Now I have kids I like knowing that even if our coach is late that we will be in seats 7a-d.

I remember the old days of the scrum for the seats and being stood in a queue at the gate for an eternity so you could get a seat close by each other.

We once got stuck with me behind 4yo DD and DH half way down the plane because we missed the seat allocation on our booking. Completely our fault but thankfully the man next to DD offered to swap with me, probably because DD was crying her eyes out as she tends to be overly dramatic. TBF, I didn't want to listen to her either so I don't blame him for swapping. 😆We always pay to sit as a three but if I'm travelling solo or with friends I don't bother and prefer to save the money.

"I far prefer knowing the headline cost upfront vs constant add-ons. It makes comparing flight costs difficult - price comparison sites are almost unusable now as a result"

No - it really doesn't. You just apply the filters for luggage etc so you're comparing like with like

DH and I tend to go on a city break for our wedding anniversary without ds , last time there was a bit of a delay and we got chatting to a younger couple in the queue, they were aghast that we hadn't paid to sit together, they'd been together 18 months, we told them that's what happens when you hit 15+ years 😁, I'm just happy with any old seat and my book

No - not with ultra low cost airlines like RyanAir and WizzAir, you're auto allocated

And asked 3 times are you sure you don't want to pay to choose your seat😀

I just checked in today for a flight tomorrow. Ds got a aisle seat and I got a middle seat, 5 rows apart.

Except you then you wouldn't know the base 'how low can you go price'!

This Which article explains the various airlines' policy on seating children with/near parents

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/airlines/article/can-airlines-split-children-from-their-parents-and-how-to-sit-together-aec8b7U3liz0#:~:text=British%20Airways%20says%20it%20aims%20to%20seat%20families,by%20an%20adult%20aged%2016%20years%20or%20over.