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!

If I'm on your flight I will have paid for my seat selection. I will not move for you unless you offer me a seat as good as the one I have.

Take your chances.

I've noticed that airlines often cover themselves by saying 'you may be asked to change seats to accommodate other passengers' needs' but I wonder if that applies to those who have paid for their own seat? It really shouldn't and of course if they do move someone who has paid, they'll have to refund them the seat cost which is not only a pain for the passenger but extra admin work for the airline.

All this, because someone is too cheap to pay a few extra quid for their own children.

I think £80 to reserve seats is good. I have just paid £38 each for me and my DH to fly from Gatwick to Barcelona but they are the extra leg room seats as my DH is tall and has a problem with his leg. If you don’t want to book your seats, check in online as soon as you can

If you can't afford £20 per seat to ensure that an autistic small child is seated next to a parent, you can't afford the holiday.

I'd move so a child can sit next to their parent because that would be an airline error. I would not move however for a large group of multiple adults and children who want to all be together. This happened on a flight last year and the poor flight attendants were pulling their hair out trying to sort it in a very tight turnaround time. It was like their genuine plan was to just make everyone else move when they got on the plane. They were towards the end of boarding and most people were settled and ready to go. unbelievably entitled, bor maybe had no idea how it all worked.

@Worriedmotheroftwo - I have only read your posts on here, so apologies if I am repeating what others have said - but it is my understanding that, when airlines say they will seat parents 'with' children, that can mean in the row ahead or behind, or across the aisle from their parent. If your kids would be OK with that, then it might be worth the risk, not to book specific seats.

Personally, I would say that, although it is a lot, £80 might be worth it for the peace of mind of knowing you have seats together - but I appreciate it is a large wodge of cash.

For reference when people give info that's what it is. For further reference it's a comparison. Fur even further reference calling people silly for polite comments is a tad out of order

i have not flown with wizz air but i regularly don’t pay for seats on easyJet and check in a soon as it becomes available and we always sit together.

airlines have to seat children ( age dependent ) near an adult . Not next to them though.
So you children could be across from you or in front by a row or two.
People who have booked their seats will obviously have priority as long as you can be nearish to your children but don’t assume you will take priority over them. If you want to be sure that you get a seat next to your kids you need to pay.

I wouldn’t leave it too long to book either.

Everyone works hard to pay for a holiday, you are not alone in that OP but if you feel your children won’t cope with potentially sitting next to a stranger then you should pay the extra for their sake and for your sanity (and other passengers and crew)
Not a risk I’d be willing to take.

Meh. I'd roll the dice and risk it. Just check in as soon as you can.

@Worriedmotheroftwo
given the age of your children and the fact one is autistic why take the risk.
You need to book the seats
You can’t expect others who have paid for their seats to move for you if you don’t
Thats not a risk I would take

We have these threads every year.

Unless you have been living under a rock, surely people know by now that if you use a low cost airline (or any airline for that matter) that all you get is a random seat and nothing else.

If you want to sit next to someone, have hold luggage want a meal and/or a drink or extra legroom you pay extra.

I can’t believe how many grown ass adults pay to be sat with their partners on a short haul flight.
I like the excitement of not paying and seeing what happens 😜

We never ever pay as our children are over 18 and we don’t care where we sit on a short haul flight. Without exception we have always ended up either all together or 2 + 3 and we fly Ryan Air a lot.

However if he needs are not great as @PyongyangKipperbang s child then why mention the autism at all. ie if it’s not going to affect their additional need to be next to a parent which it seems is the suggestion ( ? )

Pyong is making a related comparison based on an additional need. It is relevant

I have always booked seats when travelling with our kids they are 15 and 13 now and I stay pay to sit beside them, I would never not!

No I couldn’t stand it. There’s nothing worse than being squashed in between randoms.

We’ve decided to risk it for our next holiday because we objected to paying extra on top of the thousands that we were already paying for the holiday. My DC will be 15 and 16 though and we genuinely don’t mind if we all get separated, and will just treat it as a bonus if we’re together. I’m interested to see what actually happens!

You are the one who identified one child has autism so there is obviously relevance in noting this?

On another note, we always paid for seats because we know where we want to sit and no, we have never moved for anyone, nor felt any need to feel like we should. You have an easy solution yet you're willing to chance the safety of two young children who could legitimately be sat next to anyone!

I think the best way to view is it is that you are picking individual items from a menu rather than opting for a set meal. There is no "discount" but no "extras" either, you are simply paying for the elements of the trip you want, and not for those you don't. Reserving specific seats is something some people want and others don't. Yes it's a marketing ploy, but airlines are profit making businesses not charities so what do people expect? As long as they are not breaking the relevant laws, which of course they are very careful not to do, it's just the way of the world. Nobody really expects to pay £29.99 for a flight that is advertised "from" that price do they? If they didn't charge for booking seats no doubt the base price would increase to compensate for that anyway.
I'm old enough to remember the days before the low cost airlines and when this model first came out I think most people (certainly everyone I knew) viewed it as a positive thing that you didn't have to pay for things you didn't want. I remember travelling with the likes of Swissair and Air France in the 80s when even short haul I got an ample checked luggage allowance, a meal on a plate with metal cutlery etc all included. All very nice but also very expensive. Since the advent of the budget airlines the real cost of air travel has fallen dramatically (lots of data found easily online for anyone who doubts that.) Given the choice of 80s scheduled airline services at the equivalent 2025 price and the budget airline model at their current prices, I reckon most people would still opt for Easyjet, Ryanair etc. Moan as we do about those airlines, we want cheap and even after you've booked seats and paid for luggage they are still relatively inexpensive. That's why most airlines have followed suit to some degree - they can't compete otherwise as the old model is not actually what most customers want. Or rather it's not what we want to pay for.

She means don't be the person who lets others pay (literally) for their deliberate eff-ups. If someone pays to select a seat they shouldn't be forced to give up because some cheeky fuckers try to use their kids as leverage to dodge that fee. Meanwhile the person forced to give up their seat is not getting what they paid for.

if i paid for my seat would you cheeky people honestly ask me to move when you decided… no i think that’s far too much money im going to wing it and hope for the best🤷‍♀️really come on u cannot be serious … pay your way and stop expecting organised people to pay on the off chance you can’t get what you want … this thread is absolutely ridiculous

Agree!
Let’s not forget it’s not just a case of sitting next to your friend or by a window either that is important.
Some of us actually look at other aspects

Not near the toilets for example
Or even the safest seats on a plane. Yes I am obsessed enough to look at the physics and likelihood of survival in the event of a crash. I know exactly which seats to book on different types of planes from a safety perspective.

I pay for safety, comfort and reassurance that my family are by me.

It isn't risky at all, no way I would pay £80. The wizz air website even says "During the check-in process, an adult and the child(ren) will automatically be assigned seats next to each other. Please note that the entire family might not be seated together, as the child will be seated next to one of the adults.".
So you will most likely get 1 random seat, and then 3 seats together. The adults can then swap halfway? Sounds ideal tbh.
Some of the responses on this thread are baffling.