Flight seating help!

[ohbigdaddio]

I don't fly often so please bear with me if this is a silly question!

We have left it too late to choose where we sit on the plane (for an extra fee) and l am now panicking. Does this mean DH and I will be sitting apart? I am scared of flying and the thought of not being next to him is making me worried.

Does anyone know how it works? As I say, I don't fly much so am unsure.

Thanks!

What airline and what type of ticket?

If you will be able to pick your seats when check in opens then I’d make sure to check in promptly, as soon as it opens, but I suspect you will be fine getting seats together.

If you have a no-frills type ticket that assigns you a seat at random and you cannot change it then yes it’s possible you will be sat apart. Some airlines ‘encourage’ passengers to pay for premium seating by assigning all middle seats even when it’s not a full flight (Ryanair I’m looking at you). Others will usually try to sit groups together although that can mean across the aisle/in the row in front etc.

If you’re happy with paying for seats you could call the airline to see if you can do this over the phone? Otherwise if you are sat apart you could just ask someone on the day if they wouldn’t mind switching, if I’m flying solo I never mind as long as someone asks politely.

Thanks for your reply TroubledLichen it's Thomas Cook Airlines.

It is a no frills ticket I think - to choose your seats is extra. Will try calling the airline.

If it's Easyjet, they allocate you seats together when you check in, which you can do about a month in advance.

Definitely try to resolve this with the airline rather than asking people to move. I always pay to reserve my seat in advance (travel lots with work) and yet I so often get asked to swap, it's quite annoying as people get shirty when I say no. A polite request with no follow-up questions is ok of course.

If you do, as a last resort, want to ask people to move then you need to offer the better seat. E.g. you need to offer the person swapping either an aisle or a window (never the middle), and always give the person whichever seat is closest to the front of the plane.

If you get allocated two separate middle seats I wouldn't try to get people to swap - no one wants to swap to sit in a middle with unknown people on either side, esp if they've paid to reserve their seats in advance.

Just looked up their seating policy and TC do say they do their best to allocate seats together (although no guarantees and together can mean across the aisle/row in front). So that sounds pretty positive!

support.thomascook.com/Your-Flights/Seating/1134029052/What-happens-if-I-decide-not-to-pay-for-pre-booked-seats.htm

Thanks so much everyone. I wouldn't ask people to move, I'd rather suffer in silence, ha ha!

I've been on a BA Fear of flying course and can tolerate a flight, I would 'enjoy' it more if sitting with DH but if we can't I'll have to suck it up and act brave even though I'll be stressing inside!

These days if you don't pay up early to book seats together you will be seated randomly throughout the plane. It's a way they make money.
I think the only exception would be if you had small children and even then they would split the adults.
When I flew in March I went online on the first day check in opened and couldn't get seats together - couldn't even if I paid extra. DH and DS19 and I were sat as far apart as it was possible to get. DS incidentally was sat next to a woman who was scared and he chatted to her to help calm her down .

These days if you don't pay up early to book seats together you will be seated randomly throughout the plane. It's a way they make money

Not all airlines do that, and in reality I think it's only Ryanair. We usually fly Jet2 and have never paid for seats and are together 90% of the time. If we're not together, it's usually because we're checking in very late and there's simply no pairs of seats left (Jet2 sell seats over a year in advance and allow check in from 28 days and we often book only a few days/weeks in advance).

OP, what do you mean by 'you've left it too late' and what happens if you try to check in? I would check in online as early as possible and see what they offer you. Or is there an option to pay for seats together? Good luck!

BarbaraofSevillle It was Jet2 I flew with and couldn't get two seats together 28 days before flight. Never had that problem with them before but this year was different.
Perhaps TC is different though if you check in as early as possible and pay extra.

Not familiar with TC's procedures but most airlines allow you to choose/move when booking in.

I rather enjoy a flight on my own though, make sure you have a good book or a programme on an iPad that you really want to watch & are looking forward to.

Ryanair do seem to deliberately assign seats apart if you don't pay to sit together as I've had it happen to me before (also not massively keen on flying). Hopefully Thomas cook will be a bit more reasonable. Good luck!

When are you flying?
I flew with TC recently and didn't pay for seat allocation at time of booking but they later phoned me (few weeks after booking) and made me an offer that if I did over the phone, I'd get it half price! So I did!