British Airways Premium Economy vent

[GingerBeverage]

Just venting really, but I've been separated from my 2 year old in the PE cabin for upcoming 7 hour overnight BA flight.
I booked 4 months ago and choosing seats was always listed as significantly extra (c£50 each from memory) so I relied on their family seating policy. I'd already paid to upgrade, it didn't make sense to pay more.
I checked regularly and seats were always chargeable until a week ago I saw they'd been allocated. OK, I'll move them!
Nope. Cabin is fully booked.
Went on chat and was told they can't help, here, follow this link to complain.
Reply via email 5 days later: You shouldn't have used this link, aka shut up and go away.
The specific seats they have given us are next to toilets centre section aisle, centre section middle, and last row next to toilets centre section middle.
So looks like (we are A, toilets are T):
XX AAX XX
TT XAX TT

If we put 2 year old in aisle he will run away. If we put 2 year old in centre he will annoy the stranger next to him. He's going to cry anyway when he sees he's separated from either me or dad. And the two strangers on either side are not going to want to have him clambering over, nor will they want to swap from an aisle (that they probably paid £50 for) to a centre.

And all this will happen next to toilets which will (if he ever sleeps) wake him up.

I've never regretted an upgrade more. If I could go back and choose economy again I'd do it in a flash. There's no amount of extra mm legroom that can compensate for how much I am dreading this experience.

They said to ask to move at the airport but the chances of that helping are slim to zero. I feel sorry for everyone around us.

But they're not seating her "as awkwardly as they can".
They're seating them in the undesirable middle seats (which makes sense, since the aisle and window seats are more valuable, and OP chose not to pay for them) and complying with their policy of seating a child with an adult, and placing the other adult as close as possible, just one row behind, directly behind the other two. That third seat could have been anywhere in the plane - they've made it as close as possible. If they wanted to be awkward, she'd have been seated in a totally different section altogether.

@QuinkWashable

They haven't made the 3rd seat as awkward as possible though; it is directly behind the other 2 seats.

I assumed you meant your DC was sitting entirely on their own! But don't see how it's cause for complaint really if it's beside a parent? If I really wanted to ensure we sat three of us together I would book seats, especially if it was long haul. I think it was a bit silly not to tbh. Having children doesn't entitle us to preferential treatment. I'm sure couples would like to sit together without paying for it too!

Is it just me that thinks that seems perfect? Half the flight on duty each, the other half sitting with headphones on in solitary bliss!

Have you read the thread. One parent is seated next to the child. The other parent is in the row behind. There are no unaccompanied minors in this story, only someone who as another poster up thread commented, expected BA to be able to read their minds and assign them their perfect seats for free.q

Oh dear, Another thread about how you didn’t do the right thing and pay to guarantee your seats, and it is somebody elses fault you f**ked up!

I dont get it-you dont want to pay extra but are annoyed youre not altogether-its up to you to parent your child and not let them clamber or run off

how is upgrading relevant either they could have still seprated you all

I think you should have paid. I know it's annoying, but that's the money you need to spend to get specific things you want.

I still think there maybe a chance someone would swap seats with you. People are generally nice. And many people want peaceful flight, rather than tolerating constantly screaming child.

Whispers

Shhh!!

The toddler isn’t far away from the other parent anyway- they’re immediately behind them. You’re being a bit over dramatic. Start thinking of things you can take to stop them bugging the passenger next to them. Find them a good kid’s film on the inflight entertainment. I’d also suggest booking a kid’s meal too, so you don’t end up disappointed if you don’t get their first choice of meal. (not sure which aircraft you’re on, but on some the row near the toilets is the last to be served and the choice might have run out).

Put the toddler on the aisle seat then the only person they’re next to is you and you can deal with them being an arse.

Good idea @LetitiaLeghorn

I always pay if the seats are important (eg long haul)
My dcs are a bit older now so I will happily not sit with them

YABU to book with BA who's premium economy is shite
YABU to take a 2 year old who can't sit and wants to run off and clamber over people who've spent good money for a better experience (albeit only slightly)

Upgrading wasn’t the problem though. You could have had exactly the same issue in economy. If you want particular seats, you have to book and pay. Your children have an adult with them. Realistically it’s no one’s problem but yours. If you’d paid for the seats and they changed them, then yes, you’d be within your rights to be pissed off.
If I want a specific seat, I make sure I book it. I haven’t flown for years, this isn’t new.

If I was sat next to a toddler I'd absolutely swop with the dad so he could sit there. Maybe someone will Be kind on the day.

Talking about planes - I recently booked the back row with easyJet so that we could avoid Covid as much as possible but when we got on the plane the back row we had booked didn't even exist and they had swapped our plane for a smaller plane not told anybody before hand. we ended up sitting in the middle of the cabin and I still haven't received the refund for the extra money I paid airlines are an absolute joke at the moment. So to be honest if you didn't pay any extra then I really wouldn't expect them to bend over backwards for you sorry. It's not right but it's the way it is.

I flew about a 7.5 hour flight about 8 times when my eldest was 2 on my own and it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was much easier on night flights but I did a couple days as well. I never took the pram up, gave us plenty of time and walked from security to the gate so there was less chance of him napping while waiting for the flight and he got out all his energy. If he was really exhausted there was always buggies or duty free trolleys I could shove him in. Then I got him all changed just before going on and then he had the novelty of uninterrupted ipad time and the meal which killed a good chunk, then he fell asleep with the white noise of the plane.

You may get lucky on the day and whoever is in the seat beside you would rather swap that sit beside a 2yo. But if not then I would definitely put him in the middle seat. The toilets made absolutely zero difference for us, the white noise of the plane blocked out and that wouldn't have woken him. He also had his big kiddie earphones on. The only thing about a middle seat is its difficult for him to stretch out if he does fall asleep so he might end up in your arms. I was always terrified that my son would annoy who we were sat with because he was a very very chatty boy but the majority were lovely. At the end of the day you have to get the flight to get to your destination, so worst comes to worst and he screams the whole way there its x hours of your life and you can half that by swapping out with dh and taking turns walking up and down the aisle.

If he's strapped in on the aisle he won't be able to run about though. You could always see if the third person would swap with whoever is in the middle seat?

I get you are venting OP, it's bloody frustrating and it seems like they do it so if you didn't pay this time, you will definitely pay next time around.

I don't know how the upgrade is relevant as I'm not familiar with it, but the family policy seems to be the same with other airlines too. Two seats together is what they guarantee, the third one you have to pay for. I had to pay for DH to sit next to us but have also flown with DS many times alone (2,5yo) who is by no means an angel trust me, but to my absolute surprise, he wasn't bothering the person sitting next to him, and wasn't overly unruly. He did get antsy from time to time which is normal and he did play peekaboo with the woman behind us but luckily she didn't mind (or hid her annoyance rather well 🤣) and I had some distractions prepared for our 3hr flight.

I wrapped up tiny little surprises / toys for him to open, had plenty of snacks, cartoon and last time I literally didn't shut up for 2 hrs straight. We did some walking up and down the aisle a few times, but generally, he really did surprise me as normally he is so energetic and I was truly dreading it. But other times he also napped for half of the flight so you never know! Just prepare and it should all be ok :) Good luck!

I’m not understanding this you aren’t separated from your 2 year old, they are sat next to a parent. One parent is separated as you didn’t pay for seats together. This is completely your fault, yes it’s annoying paying for seats together but it’s your choice that you made?

It’s a vent post, just a vent. Sorry, I forgot it was MN where everyone’s 2 year olds are perfect angels.

Well, no. I've flown quite a lot with my toddler and she's had fantastic flights and less fantastic flights but I have, at all times, managed to stop her from running away and annoying the person next to us.

There's lots of threads on here about how to amuse toddlers on a plane, probably time to start searching them!

This set up sounds quite good to me, to be honest. One 3.5 hour shift each, and you can each have a glass of wine and a film in peace.

For future reference OP (if you are still reading)... the official definition of 'together' for a parent and child from the CAA includes across an aisle or in front/behind. (Not, as we would normally think, directly next to each other).

If I was sat next to a toddler I'd absolutely swop with the dad so he could sit there. Maybe someone will Be kind on the day.

It's a nice person willing to swap their aisle seat (which they potentially paid for) for a middle seat.

But you do have seats together??

Do you think that every 2 year old travels with two parents sitting on either side of them?

The upgrade isn't the cause of the problem; you may have been in exactly the same position with economy seats on a full flight where others had paid for the luxury of an aisle/window seat.

I regularly travel with a 3 and 5year old, I don't tend to pay for seats but I am fully prepared that DH and I will end up with 1 child each or one of us with both and the other elsewhere

I'm confused by this thread! You are sat with your child, just not your husband. If you want to sit with your child and your husband, you pay. If you don't want to sit near the toilets, you pay. Just line everyone else did.

Or am I missing something? Did you think you were entitled to be sat by a window, with your husband, just because you are travelling with a child?

I get this is a venting post. And it's annoying because if it's that important you have 2 parents next to your child ( not just the one ) tbh you really should have coughed up for it. I suppose you're venting about yourself.

In fairness to BA anyone who's paid for where they sit specifically will have nabbed the spots they want, and the best ones, and they're left divving out what's left.

Tbh someone would probably swap with you. Unless they have a chronic condition so they've paid to be right by the bogs.