Easyjet seat allocations - none left together at check-in

[AliceKeely]

Hi - anyone made my mistake previously and can you advise me? Booked my Easyjet flights ages back and now flying out on Friday but haven't booked in till now. I believe I chose seats, but then they changed the plane type, emailed me to re-select them and I just... kind of.. forgot.

So now there are no seats left together! We are a family of five - three kids, 11, 13, 14 - but none are independent types who want to sit alone for four hours to Greece!

So, I clicked 'randomly allocate seats', as the choice today seemed to be to either pay for seats not together, or to not pay for seats not together.

So we are now placed all over the flight. I did book speedy boarding way back when I booked the flight, but that seems too late a point on Friday to flag it to Easyjet. Should I chase this now by email/phone or go to the bag drop and raise it? (Ironic that I efficiently don't have bags to check....)

The small print says under-12s cannot sit alone anyway, but I wondered if anyone else had been a berk like me and could you tell me what you did or would advise??

Thanks!! DH stressing and acting like it's ruined the whole holiday....

@Meredusoleil

My goodness, what year was that then? I've been flying since I was 6 months old (now nearly 48 years) and never remember a smoking section on the planes!

From memory they were definitely still around on at least some UK registered aircraft up until very roughly the early 1990s.....

I sat next to an 8 year old coming back from St Kitts. I helped her do the things she couldn't and walked her to the loo when she needed it . If they sit to someone like me they'll be fine. You should have booked the seats though

At those ages they can sit of their own. You’ll be so close by, and it’s not like they can go anywhere! I wouldn’t rely on others moving for you.

@Meredusoleil I’m 41 and remember smoking sections - my parents forced my brother and I sit in that area on at least 6 holidays (Greece and Spain). The final trip I was about 11 and db and I got properly stroppy and refused so we sat separately.

Definitely had them in the 90s but only remember them long-haul, didn't travel out of Europe much until late 00s and don't remember seeing them again.

Why did she need walking to the loo? It's just a straight line down the aisle in a closed space. She's not going to get lost or kidnapped.

Tbh they are all at secondary school
Ans assume travel there alone

They will be fine on a plane. You all get on together. Find their seats and once in sky they can come and find you and have a quick chat in the aisle if need be

It's not like toddlers

Model of story. Always book
And attend /reply to emails when read them

I'm 48 and remember my first holidays abroad, would have been about 1985ish and I remember the smoking area. All that split it was a curtain
In the early 90s I was a travel agent and I remember us getting merch from air canard promoting they were the first spoke free airline, tagline was something like a "a fresher way to fly" not long after one by one all airlines stopped

I remember being on one of the first entirely non-smoking transatlantic flights! Early to mid-90s, SFO-FRA. Was noteworthy because all passengers got a red rose, with attached cellophane water reservoir, in honour of the occasion- it actually lasted all the way home, and a couple of days thereafter.

Just DD is really scared of take-off. It's character-building though right? I've held a stranger's hand during take-off before..😆Not sure she's seeing the funny side.....

...yep, just like a proper grown up would!

I flew to America in the smoking section as a student in the early 90s. Smoked my head off because I could then immediately regretted it and felt so ill for the rest of the flight.
Sorry for derailing OP. I'd try to swap to be next to the youngest at least.

Love it

If you can’t change the seats then arrange it so that you and your dh bookend the kids - one of you in the seat furthest forward, the other in the seat furthest back, with the dc scattered in between. That way they can find either one of you if they need to even if the aisle in one direction is blocked by a trolley or something.

make sure they know what they can/can’t do with food when the trolley comes past, and have money etc. load them up with their books/devices and they’ll be fine

Smoking on planes used to be.... horrible for my poor mum who was severely asthmatic and always had to arrive mega early for flights to get the middle of the economy section. Too for forward and you were next to the rear of business and too far back and you were in the economy fug.

... but also great for me as a rebellious teenager. I was definitely smoking on planes in the late 90s.

Yes, I totally appreciate they're old enough and think they'll rise to it, but I don't blame them for feeling nervous. Kids are just different aren't they? 11 yr old chilled, 13 year old hates tale off, 14 year old freaked!
It'll be cool thanks all. And I enjoyed the smoking-in-the-old-days tangent!

Sadly, this is a lesson learned.

EJ open check in 30 days before so we didn't pay for seats but checked in early and we're auto allocated seats together. We were able to check in for our return flight at the same time.

As you are flying so soon now I doubt there are any options.

When we flew back the lady next to us had family all over the plane. Probably a similar thing happened to them.

Hopefully your dh is miserable enough on both way out and return to consider maybe doing the holiday booking! I want my Dh to do more with holiday planning, he’s stepped up from doing absolutely nothing but has a long way to go. So if my Dh wanted to have a go about holiday bookings he would be told he doesn’t have to go but if he does he has to be nice about it and contribute to a fun holiday. If he wants to be a storm cloud you don’t want him there.

You mention no bags to check. You know the cabin bag rules now on size. Only free ones are rucksack size now. Need to pay for cabin suitcase unless part of seat purchase.

She maybe didn’t want to lock the door incase she got stuck. Dd used to freak out about stuff like that at a similar age and I’d have to stand guard outside.

@Meredusoleil

1991, flying to Canaries. Don't remember it after that year though.

I am younger than you and I remember them. I dont remember smoking on a plane though, so they must have stopped them maybe 20 years ago

Last time I flew with my two, who were 12 and 15 at the time, I did pay for us to sit together but on the flight home I spotted an empty row on my way to the loo. They thought I was in the toilet for ages, but actually I was having a delightful time watching the sunset over France 🤣 they will be fine. She might actually be better during take off without you there “knowing” she’s nervous!

on smoking - I went to Mexico with first choice in 2002 and there was no smoking on the planes then BUT I’m sure there were still ashtrays?! Or something that indicated smoking had been allowed n the not too distant past! I flew to Canada in about 88/89 on a jumbo jet and there was definitely smoking then, I remember my uncle sitting separately so he could smoke!

@Meredusoleil
I flew a lot in the 1980s and there was definitely smoking in the back few rows, this continued until at least the early nineties.
”smoking or non”? They used to ask you at the check in counters.
I’m a non smoker and yet got somehow stuck in the smoking section several times