Long haul flight - splitting family up!!!

[jenkel]

Has anybody every been split up from there family on a long haul flight. Flying to oz next week with Singapore Airlines and just rang to confirm that we have a bassinet, which we have guaranteed. However, they said that they coudlnt guarantee that we will be all sat togther, me, dh, dd1 7 month, dd2 26 months. I'm hoping that they are just covering themselves just in case. Has anybody been or no of a family split on a flight. One of the reasons I ask is that I am bf the 7 month old and would not like to do that in such close proximity with a stranger. I asked the person I spoke to what I could do to avoid that and they said they could curtain off an area or wait for it, I could do it in the toilets!!!!, which of course is a absurb suggestion. I'm not a prude and dont need to be 'curtained off' just dont want to be sitting right on top of somebody whilist feeding a baby. Just wondered with the chance of this happening is

Really I think in this instance you have no choice and the airline can't really do that much in terms of giving you somewhere else - space is so limited and so expensive that it would not be possible to allow you to have empty seats next to you or around you - with BA you can check in on line and guarantee your seats can you not do that with Singapore Air??

You could always ask if you could sit in the bit where the cabin crew usually do as long as it is not during the time that they serve meals etc..?

they've probably overbooked the flight and are covering themselves.

If I was in your shoes, I would check in extra early - in fact, phone back and ask exactly what time they are planning to open the desks so that you can practically be the first there.

I have missed out on a bassinet and had someone sat next to me (not my dh) but I kicked up such a fuss on the plane that they moved loads of people around!

In some boeing planes there is an area with two seats that can be curtained without problems (actually, sometimes the stewaresses sleep in it) so it shouldn't be a lot of problem. To be honest, even if the airline give you separate seats other passengers will be quick to volunteer so you can travel togethe, or to be honest, to save them from flying next to a child for so many hours but... who cares, use that to your advantage. To be honest I always greet fellow passengers as I board the plane with an advance appology in the likes of "I'm sorry in advance, he has not been able to sleep last night and he will show it soon" and if there's a single empty seat available in the plain the person at your side will gladly move and leave you with more space

I don't understand why they can't guarantee you will be together - surely technically you are only taking up three seats (as the 7 month is an on your lap job) and doesn't tha bassinett hang off the bulk head usually?

Thanks for getting back to me, I dont want an extra seat, I just want to sit next to DH and dd2, I just want to sit in a row, wherever, but next to each other not split up all over the plane.

Yes that what I mean, and your husband can move to the empty seat , I think that if you arrive early enough to the check in you won't have any problem.

I've travelled before with DH and DD ( when bfing ) and we weren't booked beside each other, but the person beside me was more than happy to swap. They don't often like the idea of sitting beside an infant for such a long flight! I'm sure that if you don't get seats together, someone will switch seats. Have a good flight!

ok, thanks for your advice Chandra, sounds like your a seasoned traveller and everybody else who has contributed, think of me next friday, I'm dreading it....

It will be fine Jenkel, in all ocassions I have been surprised of how nice other passengers can be. I even got a bunch of volunteers to hold DS so I can have my dinner. There are many threads in the travel topic with very good advice to make your life easier during the trip, including the time difference, etc

foxinsocks in particular gives very good advice - check in very very early. Singapore are, IMO and I have flown to OZ with kids 3 times, the best! They will try their best.

Here is my top tip - let DH do the checking in, you stay in the background and smile sweetly. I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but I got my knickers in a twist about getting ther right seats when we first flew to Oz with ds1 then 5 months and it was evident that my anxiety wasn't going down too well with the check-in crew. DH told me to shove over and he was much calmer than me and got a note put on our tickets that we needed to be together and sure enough by the time we were at the boarding gate we were told that we would all be together. Of course you may be calmenss personified but this is jut my experience.

And on another occasion the cabin crew and two separate sets of passengers came and told us they would swap our two middle centre aisle seats for three seats at the bulkhead. People can be very nice.

And as far as BF goes next to a stranger, don't worry, air passengers are so concerned about their personal space no one will stare.

As I always chip in on these kinds of threads -Singapoer Airlines are FANTASTIC and you will all be OK. HTH

I've only had one problem with another passenger, some arsey cow who wouldn't shut her window shade on the other side of the cabin and the light was shining right in DS1's eyes and he was howling disturbing the rest of the passengers who were trying to sleep.. The cabin crew had asked her to shut the window becasue it was keeping my baby awake but she had other ideas. So I went and sat next to her with screaming babe in arms and asked he if she could possibly use the overhead light to illuminate her novel. She foolishly told me she only had a few pages to go and prefered the natural light. So I held wailing DS1 right next to her earhole and told her we would wait. She shut the shade PDQ after that I can tell you.

This is just to illustrate that everyone on the flight wishes your baby a quiet peaceful flight, for their own comfort if nothing else, and you, as the mother can do anything in your power to make it happen.

I hope it doesn't happen to you Jenkel, but a friend flying from Brisbane to London with Singapore Airlines with her three children (aged 5, 3, 1) was given two seats at the bulkhead and two more a number of rows back and on the other aisle. The two elderly ladies sitting next to her on the bulkhead row refused to move, even to let her be on the same aisle as her children. Her 5 and 3 year olds had to sit by themselves and to check on them she had to walk all the way round. When I flew with Singapore to Oz my DD threw up repeatedly, and the staff simply looked at us trying to mop it up and off us, and walked away. Can't say we've had the best experiences with them. But I do think it depends on which crew you get, rather than the airline. Sorry. that's not much help is it. I guess I would say be prepared for the worst and you will probably be pleasantly surprised.

thanks suzywong for your advice, you made me laugh about checking in, as you can probably tell I'm not the calmest of people, so getting dh to check in is probably a good idea

Hi Jenkel,

It sounds to me like SIA have a lot of requests for bassinets on the flight. You will definitely get the two seats that face onto the bassinet, but maybe the third seat will be just across the aisle or in the row behind. That isn't necessarily a bad thing as you and your dh may be able to take turns to have a little sleep on your own in the third seat.
HTH Lorien

We have been spilt int he past, but found as soon as the stranger sitting next to us realised they would have to endure being next to a child for the trip, they gladly swapped around so we could all be together

Only good things to say about Singapore Airlines and flying. They couldn't do enough for us. The best seats to get in this situation would be the side bulkhead as there are 3 seats together.
Try to get a seat in front of the wing as well as they are quieter and feel the turbulence less.

thanks chuffed, I'm hoping for 3 side bulkhead seats, so fingers crossed

just that if the flight is full of babies the couples with one child they can put 2 sets in the middle 4 so I would think that would be the scenario where you wouldn't sit together.

oh just thought of something, when your dh checks that they have allocated the right seats if they don't just say well when I phoned the customer service line they said we were all booked together.

The reason they can't promise that you'll be sitting together is because the basinets only fit onto the space in front of the bulkhead. So if there are 2 (or 3) babies on the flight who have all requested bassinets, they have to sit those mums and babies in the bulkhead row. (so in practice you would probably be breastfeeding next to another mum) This happened to us, where there were 4 seats, me dh, plus baby, another mum plus baby and then a tall man who had requested bulkhead for the leg room. Fortunately the flight was full, the man took one look at 2 small babies and moved seats, and then they found 2 free seats together for the other mum. If the flight is full however, you can be stuffed. Bulkhead seats are often requested by tall people, and they are often reluctant to move. The babies always have priority for the bassinets, but the rest of the family doesn't.

As others have said, if you check in early you stand more chance of getting your seat. If it looks dodgy, opt for Dh in the seats across the aisle, so you are affectively together (although, sometimes the seats across from bulkhead are emergency exit seats with lots of leg room, so also popular)

We have flown lots with ds, on different airlines, and mostly they bent over backwards to make th mums and babies comfortable, we always seem to end up with a spare seat between us etc. I think if the babies are happy, the rest of the flight is happy, as no-one wants to sit next to a crying baby!

Hope that Helps

PS, if you can't get seats together, get you dh to remain at check-in and FUSS firmly but consistently until a manager appears and you get what you want. (stay calm, but be VERY persistant) they hate people making a fuss at check-in desks.

errr...that should have read, fortunately the flight WASN'T very full!!

Jenkel - YES! this happens to us frequently, and it's relaly strange, in my opinion, since the airline sees that there are three people, including one small child - how hard is it to block seats? Sometimes we get help before boarding in reassigning seats, but just as often it's "there's nothing we can do - check once you're on board" in which case, we're in the awkward position of having to negotiate seat moves. Not always successfully ... I do try to call the airline in advance to request seat assignments and also to ensure that they know it's a family travelling together (sometimes the reservations are not "linked" in their system). Some airlines not only will reserve your seats at the time of booking, but also let you reserve them yourself on their internet site. In any event, it happens to us pretty often on short and long haul flights, and is very very frustrating!