to want all of my dcs to sit with me on a long haul flight.....

[posieparker]

Flying to HK, 12 hours, with my dcs....7,6, 2 and 7mths alone. BA want the two older dcs to sit accross an aisle from me as another booking may require the basinette that the dcs will sit in front of. I have phoned customer relations but can't get anywhere. It means that one of the older dcs will be sat next to a stranger and behind, potentially, a basinette....which really get in the way.
Anyone got any tips how to improve my situation, we're only flying cattle class but we do this once a year and my parents at least three times.
Or does anyone know the number to get further with BA?

But why does the CAA say that if necessary it's acceptable for children to be seated one aisle away or one row behind their parents?

I meant: at least 2 basinets. And also: they can't move the kids away if you are in a normal row on a pre-booked seat, but it is true that you can choose to loose that privilege by booking bulkhead in wich case it means sharing the row with someone else that has booked those seats. Most crewmembers would try to make everybody as comfortable and happy as possible though as it also makes their jobs easier!

i wish I'd known that last summer Sllepless.We were in the queue to board a flight home from the canaries when DS2 decided to throw up.We were pulled out of the line for him to be examined by airport doctor , who evennntually decided he was fit to fly .By then everyone else had checked in and we were allocated 6 seperate seats all over the cabin on a night flight.We had a 3 yo girl, a 6 yr old girl , a vomiting child and another DS aged 12 who has a phobia of flying and none of them sat next to DH or myself.

You are all very brave to fly with kids. We have troule seating our 3 in the car so god knows what we would do. When I last flew I sat across the aisle from my Dad and felt very grown up by mself. If you fly a lot then your 7 and 6 yr old might enjoy a bit of extra freedom. I understand how you feel tho. I would want them all around me so i knew they were safe.

Sleepless, that's interesting and I wonder how ot applies to Ryanair?

This is why they should have a separate soundproof cabin for all parents and children! I find it astonishing that you feel you and your children who haven't paid full fare should get priority over adults who have paid the full fare. If you want the space guaranteed you need to pay for it i.e pay for a seat for your infant then you coulld all be seated together. Same goes for those complaining about ryanair, if you don't like it don't pay a tenner for your flights.

Londonone, I would never choose to fly Ryanair but unfortunately they are the only option on a number of routes. In additon, it doesn't matter how much you pay for your flights if CAA safety advice is being ignored.

They will be fine. I was travelling as an unaccompanied minor at the age of 8 and did okay. Although i think BA are atrocious and their customer service is the worst in the industry but good luck. try 0800 123 111 to speak to someone about it.

PS YANBU - if you are flying as a solo parent you should want to sit with your offspring. I am surprised they are letting you travel alone with 2 under 3 years old though. My friend was unable to do so as BA stated that they needed one adult in charge of each minor and wouldn't allow her to book a flight. She had to travel with another airline.

talbot - I would agree but I suspect the same people bleating about CAA safety advice are the same people who would be more than happy to sit in exit row seats with their children.

Well I certainly wouldn't.

I am flying ryan air and also booked with virgin for next year and have requestd bulkhead seats , not becauseof bassinet more for ds sn ,and must admit have flown ryan air before and they been very good including travel with 2dc and they mad epoint sitting us togethr

Well then IME you are in the minority! In the dim and distant past I was a travel agent specialising in booking LH flights and in my experience EVERYBODY is extremely selfish when it comes to seat assignments and rightly so in my book. We all pay for the seats (kids of course pay less) we are all going to be uncomfortable so why not look out for number one.

Kids don't pay less on Ryanair, they pay full fare. As it's against the law for children to sit in exit row seats, I'm not sure how that's relevant.

Everyone pays less on Ryanair! Just because it's against regulations doesn't stop people with kids or broken legs demanding exit row seats! My point is that people are selfish when it comes to flying as evidenced by this thread!

Most people on this thread are saying the OP is selfish.

Er yes, that's my point. She is the one flying and she's being selfish!

Yes - she is selfish but I think the majority of people on here have made it abundantly clear that do not and would not behave like that when they fly (i.e. putting a 7 year old in a seat with a bassinette potentially meaning someone else has to endure a 12 hour flight with a baby on their lap). I do a 23 hour trip every year on my own with my three and I would never do this.

You see Talbot the fact you do a 23 hour journey with thre children and only one adult could easily be construed as selfish, some poor bugger is going to be sitting near you and your tribe and I certainly can't imagine that improving their journey!

Well I do apologise for that of course. It is indeed selfish of me to want to occassionally see my brother who is dying of cancer and give my children the chance to get to know him. And of course it is even more selfish of me not to have a husband to accompany me. Sorry everybody.

No it is you prioritising yourself and your needs above those of other people, we all do it.

I think it's very wrong that you're trying to block a bassinet seat that another family needs.

Last time we flew to Singapore (13 hour flight), we were told no bassinet. We were totally aghast that we were going to face 13 hours with a large baby in our laps.

In the end they fitted us in in exactly the seats you're trying to take (despite not actually needing them). Wife and I sat behind the bassinet, with dd (almost 1) in the bassinet) with my son (6) sat directly behind us, next to a 25-year-old woman who he nattered to for a while before playing the in-seat Nintendo and then going to sleep.

If your family has unreasonable demands that cannot be accommodated then you should reconsider your flying arrangements.

God I give up - to suggest that me, by the sheer act of daring to board a plane with my three kids is akin to insisting that one of said kids takes a seat with a bassinette meaning that someone else may have to hold a baby on their lap for 12 hours is patently absurd. I'm not prioritising my needs above those of others, I'm making a plane journey.

I think a separate thread about the Ryanair situation, which is quite different, would be better, because it's confusing trying to conflate the two.

Posie,
While I agree that it would be selfish for you to deprive others of a bassinette, here are a couple of pointers:

1. Bassinettes are NOT guarenteed. You need to be there in plenty of time to get one if the aircraft is full.
2. There is a very good chance that the other bassinettes won't be in use (they can fit up to 7 - but I've only seen this once) - but this may not be known until you actually board

So I would suggest once you get to check in, find out if all the bassinettes are in use, and if they are not, your seats should be able to be re-arranged.