Unable to book seats together on EasyJet

[SairAngela]

Hi there,

we are due to fly in a few days with easyJet. Family of 4 with a 3yo and 6yo.

when I checked in online there were no seats left together. So currently we are all sat in various different rows. With the kids completely on their own and many rows between us all.

I know I should have checked in as soon as check in opens, but I work 2/3 jobs, the kids have been sick and it’s been crazy.

when I did try and check in early all the seats were gone.

I called easy jet and they said we will have to speak to cabin crew on the day.

does anyone have experience of this? What are the chances that ppl will swap? I’m not expecting all 4 of us to be together, just one child with an adult each. Which is what we have on the flight back.

no judgment or unpleasant comments please. I’m stressed and annoyed enough as it is.

@SairAngela try to ignore the more goady posts.

There's a big difference between sitting in the same seat line behind each other (eg A24/A25/A26 etc) or across aisles (C24/D24/E24 etc).

Being seated together doesn't always mean 'together' - so in front or behind and not separated by more than one row is my understanding (but please any cabin crew on here advise if different). So it might not be 'together' but it's not properly apart iyswim.

There are rules in place for travelling with young children.

It's not entitled to want to ensure that you're in a reasonable proximity to them so you can manage the unpredictabilities of parenthood. I would 100% move if I could. My eldest is autistic and would not have coped at all if he couldn't see me from his seat (I didn't travel abroad with him until he was 10, for this reason). Airline booking systems don't always allow for early seat booking.

So many reasons why this is an issue for you and not one because you're 'entitled'.

I'd love to see how the person who called you entitled would coped sitting next to a scared and anxious 3 y/o for the entire journey!

Being politely asked to move seats is hardly having your holiday disrupted and someone's got to be last to check in. The system knows who's booked and should make sure seats are available for children to sit with a parent.

I had the exact same thing a couple of years ago. I hadn't flown with easyjet with children before at the time. We were also dotted all over the plane. My children were older than yours. I went to easyjet desk at the airport before check in and they sorted it without any hassle. They were able to find seats that had not shown as available on the seating plan.

They won't have your children alone and separated from you. It might not end up as a perfect solution but I'm sure it'll be one you'll be comfortable with.

Good luck!

Someone will bite your hand off for a row 1 seat so that's half your problem solved.

Don't panic - in a plane of that many people someone else will swap then just get them a drink when the trolley comes by.

It may also be worth mentioning it when you do bag drop / check in at the airport as they might be able to help.

Enjoy your holiday!

@amprev really helpful tip thank you. Will mention it as soon as we arrive at the airport. Many thanks

Thank you

So you're happy to be in loco parentis in this scenario then, yes?

According to the CAA:

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. This is because the speed of an emergency evacuation may be affected by adults trying to reach their children.

You may well have paid for, and prefer, a window seat. That can be refunded in order to ensure legal requirements are met.

Not 'entitled' just a sensible way to manage lots of people travelling in a tin can in the sky that temporarily defies gravity.

@LemonWaterSugar thank you, very reassuring

CandyLeBonBon is right, as the CAA information provided states, it is a safety requirement to seat young children close to an adult responsible for them, this isn't optional so please try not to worry. Perhaps bring it to Easyjet's attention though so it can maybe be sorted ahead of time

Absolutely will do, thank you

It feels like a gap in the Easyjet holiday booking process. People with DCs under a certain age should either be guaranteed seats together or given the option to pay at time of booking for it - even Ryanair manages to only charge a nominal fee for this.

Hope you get it sorted out OP.

I agree. My error wasn’t unwillingness to pay, it was being too late to check in.

I don't currently have a 3 year old but I did 25 and 22 years ago.

I'd suggest OP if it does get to the stage of having to speak to people to ask them to move - and fingers crossed it sounds like it won't- you try to make them aware that this was not your choice and you would have paid to sit together if you could.

As I say in our scenario- two adults and two teens - we'd be happy enough to be split particularly for good aisle seats, but not for a family who think so it's their god given right to sit together and aren't grateful to the folks moving.

Also likelihood is that some people won't turn up for the flight, so get there early for any cancellations.

Have you actually checked in? The algorithm reserves some seats for families ime. So for examplen are away now and when we flew a few days ago it was the same, busy flight, odd seats all.obe rthe place. We don't bother booking seats anymore as kids ar eolder and we don't care about sitting together. But when I checked in, on both legs, it allocated us 3 seats together even though there were none shown in the bookable seats.

I guess it maybe falls down though if it's a super busy half term flight. Our flight was full though.

I booked an Easyjet holiday and paid for my seats at time of booking.
For 5 of us.
The option came up to pay for seats together when I booked.
I checked in this morning as we go in a few weeks time and my pre booked prepaid seats are all there on my boarding passes.

This come up all the time. I do not understand why people don't pay for seats when they book. Not when check in opens, at the point of booking, when you can see all of the available seats, don't you think 'ooh, might be a good idea' so we can all sit together.

Get to the airport in time to go to the check in desk when it opens.

They won’t let a 3 and 6 yo sit separately and they will sort it out.

@RubertRoo Easyjet holidays 100% let you prebook and prepay for seats at time of booking.
I booked in August and selected and paid for my seats the day I booked.
It cost an additional £80 total but I just include that as part of the holiday and security that we are sitting together.

Oh that's extra annoying they won't allow me then. It just says has to be 30 days before the flight. I want to pay to prebook!

I paid for seats before all of this though …
That’s just your email with check in details etc
I selected seats as part of the booking process before I paid for the holiday

Booking seats is different to checking in - only check in is from 30 days before flight.

@RubertRoo You should be able to amend the booking now to prepay for seats or add extra bags. In some cases booking one allows the other foc.