Would you pay for reserving a seat in advance?

[chefspark]

Hi There,

I've booked a return flight with Emirates from London to Brisbane. We are a family of 4 and emirates want to charge about £25 per person per leg to reserve a specific seat in advance, so that's £25 x 4 people x 4 legs!

An extra £400 on the total trip is a lot of money. We can reserve seats for free 48 hours before the flight and I was wondering if there were any other families out there who had been faced with this dilemma??

My kids are aged 5 and 7 and we obviously don't want to run the risk of having them sit in seats away from us but I was wondering if most people reserve their seats when checking in online rather than paying for the privileged in advance?

Cheers

RandomUsernameHere It’s nothing to do with anyone’s experience, yours or mine.

It’s from the UK Civil Aviation Authority:
Young children and infants who are accompanied by adults should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult. Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from accompanying adults.

www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/On-board/Seating-allocation/

Exactly, it's highly unlikely that it will not be possible!
OP has made her decision now anyway.

RandomUsernameHere It’s really not unlikely. You only have to look at the countless posts and threads on this site of people complaining they’re not sat next to each other to see that.

Customers paying for their seats should always be prioritised over those (whether families or otherwise) who choose not to do so.

I wouldn't bother paying. When I booked for SA this year klm wanted me to pay. I held my nerve and they allocated us seats together when online check in opened. And I could still change those seats to a position I preferred.

Never paid . Always sat together, as PP said. Check in early on line. Must have done 30 odd flights like this . Saved a fortune.

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 Safetly comes first, not payment.
Airlines have to be able get clear everyone out in 90 seconds in the event of a crash to prevent anyone living from dying from smoke inhalation. That won’t work with parents trying to get back for their children. Airlines will tell people to move if they won’t offer.
Charging people who have booked together extra to sit together is some feat from the airlines and passengers defend it. It’s an absolute joke.

Well it's not just sitting together for us as it's grim sitting right near a toilet when you get queues in the aisles and constant opening and closing the door when you are trying to sleep. As with everything it's about different priorities for people as to whether it's worth paying.

'WhatToDoAboutThis2017 Safetly comes first, not payment.
Airlines have to be able get clear everyone out in 90 seconds in the event of a crash to prevent anyone living from dying from smoke inhalation. That won’t work with parents trying to get back for their children. Airlines will tell people to move if they won’t offer. '

You will NOT be allowed to get back to your children in the event of a crash. So if you're so concerned about safety, you need to book to sit with your kids. Airlines can ask others to move, but if no one offers they can make provision for you and your child on another flight. Your rights don't override any other passenger's.

No don't bother. Just check in online when it opens up, you'll be fine

Mind you, paying for a seat doesn't necessarily guarantee you get that seat either. Airlines can still move you to another seat if someone else comes along with a greater need (though they should refund you the money)

It’s a tough one and I’ve had 20 years experience flying with DC, as they were/are experienced travellers once they hit teens I didn’t pay to book, now they don’t even necessarily sit in the same cabin as me.

Since the charges came in I have always paid to book my seat, I need an aisle for my frequent toilet breaks and to settle my nerves and prefer the front of the plane. I will only book a flight if I can book my seat.

If my DC were young I would be paying the extra to guarantee they sit with me.

I am not going to leave it to chance

Shopgirl1 And if you read the link I posted, sitting one row in front or behind counting as “next to” qualifies with their safety policy.

You care so much about safety then you book to sit next to your kids, else you’re leaving it in their hands.

I have been asked to move twice now on flights due to families not booking seats together. Both times I refused because I had booked and paid for my seat. The airline could do nothing and the family stayed where they were put because nobody else would move either.

If you want to guarantee a seat next to your children, you’ll have to pay.
CAA rules say that on flight departing from the UK, and on airlines registered in the UK, children under 12 must sit next to an accompanying adult.
(Bear in mind that it could be in any adjacent seat: in front, behind, across an aisle.)

In a crash a parent would do their utmost to get to their child, regardless of what they might be allowed to do, in a burning aircraft obeying the rules won’t be a parent seperated from their child’s priority. That’s why that rule exists. Next to can mean behind, in front of etc, but not hugely seperated in the cabin.
In no other industry is it acceptable to seperate a young child from their minder and leave them unattended.

In my view families booking together should be automatically allocated seats together and airlines are laughing all the way to the bank in the current set up.

I think it’s pretty awful to not move so a distressed young child can sit with their parent. I would always move in this situation, regardless of whether I had paid or not.

CAA rules do not say children must be next to adults. They say 'The seating of children close by their parents or guardians should be the aim of airline seat allocation procedures'

I think it’s pretty awful to not move so a distressed young child can sit with their parent.

I think it’s pretty awful that the parents don’t care enough about their distressed child to guarantee sitting next to them.

Instead they’d rather be cheeky fuckers and try and offset the guilt and cost onto them.

'In a crash a parent would do their utmost to get to their child, regardless of what they might be allowed to do, in a burning aircraft obeying the rules won’t be a parent seperated from their child’s priority. '

Yes, and to do so they were face passengers who will happily punch their lights out if they get in the way of exit. If I'm in a burning craft with my kids, NO ONE is going in the opposite direction is going to get very far with that with me.

'I think it’s pretty awful to not move so a distressed young child can sit with their parent.'

I think it's pretty awful to be so entitled and cheeky and cheap that you expect other people to give up seats they paid for to enable your snowflake. Your child is your responsibility, no one else's.

No, it's a dreadful waste of money. Airline staff don't split young children from their parents just to spite them, it's in their interests to keep children happy and quiet. At worst you'll be sat in pairs.

It’s not the children’s fault though, pretty heartless really.

I think it’s pretty awful to not move so a distressed young child can sit with their parent. I would always move in this situation, regardless of whether I had paid or not.

And what if the adult had a good reason for choosing the seat they’ve paid for? A medical condition that required an aisle seat for easy access to the loo or a fear of flying that meant they needed the support of their partner? What if adults being split up are a honeymoon couple or have any one of a thousand other reasons they want to sit together.

You might be happy to move Shop but it’s not fair to assume that everyone would be.

Correct - it's the airlines' fault for passing one of their roles (seat allocation) over to the customers and charging them for the privilege.

Seriously expat, you would “punch their lights out” rather than let them by to try and save their child’s life?

It’s not the children’s fault though, pretty heartless really.

Nope, not heartless at all.

In my view families booking together should be automatically allocated seats together and airlines are laughing all the way to the bank in the current set up.

In every airline I've flown with recently, adults are automatically seated by their kids even without pre-booking.

I don't like the hidden / extra fees set up that is becoming more and more common either, though I guess it helps keep the base fare down which can be helpful, particularly for families travelling as a group (eg only paying for 2 checked bags rather than the ticket including the price of checked bags for all four passengers)