Not selecting seats on plane... risky?

[Worriedmotheroftwo]

Flying with Wizzair. 2 parents 2 children. Not selected seats. Selecting seats for all 4 of us would cost us £80 total. Their policy is to seat a parents with a child...

We will obviously try to check in and get seats sorted at first opportunity. Happy to be split up as long as each of our children is with one of us. But what if the plane is full of people who have booked seats though and there's not 2 pairs of seats available for us? Would we not get to go on the flight?

On one hand, £80 is a lot of extra money. On the other hand, I don't want us to not get on the flight at all!

We haven't travelled much with children so not sure how risky this is. Would welcome opinions. Many thanks!

£80 for no reason?

The extra £80 is to reserve seats next to each other, as opposed to paying for a seat within a ticket price that could be positioned anywhere within a plane/coach/train.
Yes it can be seen as a con but if you want to be certain of being seated next to each other incorporate the cost as part of the holiday.

Some airlines state DC of a certain age will be placed near to a parent/carer but this could be a row behind.

If you're willing to accept that you could be placed separately and take it fine, but if you're expecting someone else to pay for your families seats by way of causing a fuss at not being placed together and expecting a paying person to give up their seat then that's just CFery from the get go.

6 and 4. Pay the £80.

I would NOT move seats, not for anyone, if I've paid for it. I choose an aisle seat.. I'm staying in my aisle seat.
I do not care if families or couples are split up.

Sure don’t pay but then also don’t go and ask for seats together when the policy is to pay. And don’t ask people to move. Don’t be difficult and don’t expect to sit together.

@Worriedmotheroftwoif your son is autistic and requires airport assistance call the airline and one companion will be assigned a seat to accompany him. Perhaps they would let you pay for the remaining two in your party.

As an aside I agree that we include the cost of booking seats together in the overall pricing when we are going away and I would not be offering to give up something I have paid for to someone who hasn’t.

Just think of it as part of the ticket price. Less stress for you and for everyone else on your flight .

But it's not. It becomes the problem of everyone who HAS booked their seat. And a lot of people, me included, won't move.

Noticeably, practically none of these people who hope other passengers will "be kind" ever mention offering to reimburse what they've paid for their seat, and having insisted that £80 is "a lot of money for us" it seems certain OP wouldn't either

No wonder so many of us absolutely refuse to move ...

Nor should be expected or made to.

I think I’ve moved in the past, not wanting to make a fuss or seem unkind, but nowadays? No, I agree with you. Been travelling with my kids for 20 years and on every single flight we paid the booking fee to ensure each child was with a parent. They are young adults now, but I still wouldn’t give up the seat - upcoming holiday it’s £36ish per seat. So £150 in total that my DH has slogged at work to earn. Giving up one of our seats is tantamount to standing by whilst DH is being mugged - unless the airline reimburses you. Which they never do.

But it's not. It becomes the problem of everyone who HAS booked their seat. And a lot of people, me included, won't move.

I agree but what will happen is that Crew will say that they need to be seated or the plane will miss its slot so someone who has probably paid for a seat will have to move or the flight will end up being delayed, especially if the CF has hold luggage
Not paying for seats and then expecting them to be together is like playing chicken with other passengers and thats why it pisses me off.

I totally understand paying for selecting specific seats like row and position. But you don't want a specific seat, you just want your children to be seated next to either of the parents

In what world is that not wanting a specific seat when the position is exactly what it involves, @Isometimeswonder?

You might want to believe it's "totally different" because that's what suits, but it won't get you anywhere with the airlines or all those who've experienced this kind of entitlement once too often

I don't know if this has been posted OP but bear in mind seated together could be separated by and aisle or in front or behind you- both are considered acceptable for airlines. They won't ask people to move in those situations.

Just find a way to pay the £80. I was asked to move seats once so a child could sit with their parent, it was a flat NO from me, and also from quite a few other people. It’s just embarrassing for all concerned, causes delays, and makes you look cheap. I have just paid £100 to ensure me and DH sit together (he is a very nervous flyer) for our upcoming holiday, money we can ill afford, however would rather fork out than face asking someone to move for us, its just cheeky.

Typical of MN to see it as a child tax. It’s not. The same ‘tax’ is levied on everyone who wants to sit next to their travel companion, not just parents.

No, they just assume someone will move for them because they demand it.

My default answer to this request is 'no' - and I have been on the receiving end of it several times, particularly when flying alone. I book the seat I require for health reasons, for which strangers on a plane don't require an explanation. I've also had to explain to one rather rude and persistent woman that 'no' meant precisely that: not an invitation to open a negotiation.

If everyone responded in the negative the CFs would stop asking.

We couldn't get our booked flight home from holiday because our eldest child became ill on the day of travel and we were hoiked out of line on boarding and told we had to seethe airport Dr and get a fit to fly certificate.It was half term week and The only other flight we could get was a night flight which was otherwise fully booked. We were given the leftover seats which were dotted all over the cabin. The children were 2,5,8 and the sick one nearly 12. I strappedtbe small onesin and checked in on everyone regularly. eEveryone was asleep shortly after being airborne so it worked out ok. But do not think airlines won't separate you from your kids, even a 2 year old and a child who is ill. They may not be supposed to do it, but I'm here to tell you this happened to me

@taybert
The booking of seats started off so that people could pay extra for a bit more room or a window but the fact that it exists means you now have to pay extra to ensure your small child isn’t on the other side of the plane to you.

I preferred just showing up early at the airport to get a good seat.
However, surely this would still result in the same thing of odd seats being left, for the people arriving at the airport later? Then the same people would expect others to move for them.

I still remember the long haul flight (12+ hours), I was so excited about the trip as didn't travel much, where I was asked to move from my lovely window seat, to a random inner aisle one, so someone who'd arrived late could sit next to their child. Actually, I don't even know if it was a child, the staff just said "so he can sit next to his son"! Wish I'd had the balls back then to say "no".

We fly Wizzair at least 6-8-10 times a year. We probably flew 30 times with them by now. I have 6yo twins. They are either seated next to me (if we’re without dh), or (if we are with dh), one is with me and one is with dh, and on this case our two pairs are normally seated in different rows, but sometimes (rarely) across the aisle. Once (without dh) they put one twin on the seat in front of me, but a chat (online) with their agent sorted it, they put us all trogether, I didn’t even need to make a paid phone call. Wizzair otherwise have relatively expensive seats. We flew Easyjet to a destination and back a year or two ago and Easyjet doesn’t guarantee that they put children together with adults, but their seats were way cheaper than Wizzair’s, so in this case we paid for the seats. So, in short, Wizzair puts children with adults automatically, but if you still want to choose, it’s relatively expensive. Whereas Easyjet doesn’t guarantee children seated with adults, but does not charge much either. From my experience.

Exactly this.

We pay to sit together but our kids are a bit older. If there were a culture of reimbursing people who've paid and who then kindly swap, I'd be happy to consider it. But I'd feel an absolute mug paying my £80 and swapping for someone who hasn't.

OP have a look at their adjustments for disabled people. I don't know about Whizz but they may be able to guarantee you a carer seat near your disabled child. Worth checking whether that might actually mean next to, rather than in a row behind etc.

A child cannot be seated next to an emergency exit.

Ah, to add l, I normally try to check in 24 hours in advance on the dot, but sometimes it is 1-2-3 hours later and we are still seated together. I think the system pre assigns children’s seats regardless of whether you’re paying or not.

Well if you are happy for him to be seated on his own - you know him best

Just an example.

As a child, I was hospitalised on holiday. I was discharged 2.5hrs before our flight home... holiday company aware, they had a taxi for us for the hour trip to the airport. Except of course, everyone had checked in by then, but us. (We actually missed check in, they had made an exception). There were just 4 random seats on the plane. A single traveller swapped so my mum was next to me.

So yes children were separated in the "olden days" as well.