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’.

We had a flight cancelled last year about a week before flying, so had to transfer to another flight. The flight we took was fully booked (except our two seats) and literally everyone had reserved their seats, so we had to sit in the seats available, so there's no guarantee there will be seats available together. I don't think the passengers who have prepaid to sit together/in a certain location on plane would be too happy if they couldn't have their seat due to others having a toddler and not paying for the seat.

The flight is part of our holiday, so we like being together - for that reason we suck up the cost.

Just pay it. I pay to ensure that I can sit with my elderly parent when we fly. I just count it as part of the ticket price as for me, I don't consider it to be optional, it is a necessity. Hold luggage is an extra.

But the cabin crew will ask someone else to move, thereby ruining someone’s else’s trip for your sake,

That's life unfortunately. Pay up or take the risk. I always pay extra for specific seats, I need to be helped out of my seat and am not about to ask a random person to give me an assist. With that in mind, there's not a cat in hells chance we will move for you. If the disabled have to pay then there's no reason why the able bodied shouldn't.

Agreed. DH and I like to sit together and are happy to pay for the seats. Not our problem if some people are too tight to pay for seats together but still expect others to accommodate them.

The cabin crew can ask but they can’t force if you’ve paid for your seat

We had a flight cancelled as PP and they abandoned all seat reservations. I am disabled and was pushed out of the way at the gate meaning DD2 and I could not get 2 seats together. No one would move - it was horrific tbh. The cabin crew were unconcerned and just repeated "take a seat" on repeat. Eventually I found a spare seat and sat DD in it and strapped her in and asked the young man next to her to swap - he refused - so I said "well good luck with her then I suppose" and shrugged. He had a tantrum but did then move. I have not flown short haul since and will never use Ryan Air again.

Oh, come on.

Forcing a parent to pay for being seated with their child is a scam. The airline would have to place then nearby anyway, would probably seat them next to each other, but is using the unclarity of the situation to force them to fork out for something they don't really want (selecting a specific seat) just to ensure basic safety and minimise chaos on board (seating them together).

I totally accept the seating lottery when traveling as a bunch of adults, but it is obvious this is a different case, because seating a child with adult isn't solely fhe adult's interest, it is a need even for the airline.

I pay £90 each way for an exit row due to my height. But I can't risk waiting for 24 hours before the flight when it's long haul. It sucks but it is what it is

Yes, the experience has become more shit. However, it has also become dramatically cheaper. I'm happy with the current set up where I choose what I want to pay for rather than the old days where I paid 10 times as much for the privilege of being seated together so long as we got to the airport early enough, some crap food and a drink.

You’re wrong. The cabin crew can have you removed from the flight if you refuse to move, even if you paid to reserve a seat. It’s in the T&Cs.

Which is why people should pay for themselves and their kids and not put people in this situation.

It's the airline putting the passengers and crew in this situation. It doesn't have to be this way. It didn't used to be this way.

But everyone has to pay for the seats if they want to sit together. Would it be fair for parents to be exempt, especially if it means people who have paid for their seat being expected to move?

Me and DP fly easyjet a lot
We never book seats and they always make me sit me next to him

Problem with that sort of comment is people look at the airline profit figures in the MSM and go..😳

They then rarely if ever if ever look at the operating costs and the number of passengers carried…if you do that it can look more 🤔

It’s not a great metric but it’s indicative - pick your most loved or most hated LoCo, look at their last set of annual reports and divide profit by number of passengers carried.

Then work out what would likely happen if the airlines were no longer allowed or chose not to charge for seat allocation….

I've paid for a seat and I'm flying on my own. I don't want to risk being in the middle. I booked my kids facing aisle seats when they join me. On the way back we will be three together.
It's also the first time I've had to book us all checked luggage. Normally we fly together and it's one checked bag and three carry ones. But with easyJet I couldn't separate it out - booking the two passengers meant either they both had checked bags or neither. There was an option of buying the tickets then buying the checked bag after, but that was more expensive and it still didn't seem to let me only buy one bag. Plus there was a charge for the carry on if it was bigger than a handbag/small rucksack.
Anyhoo, the easyJet summer prices are not cheap. I don't consider it a 'budget' airline unless you are happy to sit wherever and not have luggage and fly at midnight.

I am not sure it is hard to understand if you have booked for the headline price without extra baggage or seat allocation etc , you are getting a discount. If you want seat allocation pay the supplement . If you want to risk it on the day then don't be surprised if you don't get what you want because others have paid the supplement.

Even if you pay to book seats - there's no absolute guarantee. We've just come back from holiday and on the way out they had completely fucked up the booking, had a 7 year old seated on her own, and others of us with the child sat in front of parents. As we were going as a larger extended family group we shuffled things around among ourselves as best we could. Flight was utterly full so no flexibility from the very apologetic airline staff and it was the same for family groups all over the plane... but people were very congenial, some ad hoc seat swapping was offered (DD1 politely declined as she didn't want to have to sit next to her dad!) and no one chucked strops to demand specific seating.

It's annoying but now you have to pay extra for all sorts of, what used to be, standard stuff when flying.
It is the way it is, nothing we can do about it.
I always pay extra to choose the seats I want for me and family (if travelling together or if it us not a standard available feature on the ticket, it depends on airline and availability).
What truly pisses me off, is some distressed mother who can't sit next to their panicked child and the flight attendant asks me to move. No! Reserve your own preferred seats and pay for them if required. If I paid for mine, I’m not going to give it up for someone taking a chance in order to save a few £.

Basically it is what it is, pay and enjoy your flight.
Or buy a more expensive ticket where choosing a seat is already included in the price.
Same thing really. You have to pay for everything one way or another.
Just don't inconvenience other passengers.

If you’ve paid for your chosen seat that’s part of your contract.
If the cabin crew can find you an equal or better seat then I’m guessing most people would be happy to move. If they wish, but it is up to the cabin crew to sort it out, not up to the passenger to give up their seat.

I have never seen anything to state otherwise.

It is a condition of carriage that you must vacate a seat (booked or otherwise) if instructed to do so by the crew. If you refuse, you risk being off loaded from the aircraft. You would then be entitled to a refund of the (seat) booking price.

I don't bother. I always check on online early and they always seat the five of us together. Just check in online as soon as you can.

The condition of carriage to vacate your seat is not so someone else can sit in it.

Easyjet T&c
10.5 We reserve the right to amend your seat selection, whether before travel or on-board, for operational or safety reasons. Should we need to amend your seat selection, or if we rebook your flight as a result of a delay or cancellation, and are unable to honour that seat selection by providing a seat in the same or higher category that you have purchased, then you will be entitled to a refund of the seat fee.

There is also a clause saying you must obey the captain.

Frustrating, I know, but yes, they can move you, even if you've paid to reserve those seats.