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!

I agree about the parents bearing responsibility, but there's nothing that can be done about individuals' willingness to pay - the only way to avoid this is for the airlines to change their system, either by offering adjacent seats at no extra cost or introducing a mandatory booking fee for travellers with children under a certain age.

An accident will happen, then the airlines will change the system ... and suddenly everyone in 'high places' will be asking why the accident was allowed to happen in the first place.

We’ve just booked a holiday with Tui and they wanted £15 each to pick our seats we have a 2 & 7 year old however despite the airline saying they will be sat with one of us adults we forked out the extra so then if one of us needs a wee or falls asleep (late return flight) the other is there to take care of them. To me it is just peace of mind knowing we’re all together and it will make it easier.

Yes, I agree with the idea of a mandatory booking fee for adults travelling with young children. Or just increase the cost of all flights and do away with the seat booking fees altogether, like it always used to be.

Kids are required to be near parents though and the advice is always to help children before yourself.

Really?

On every airline I've been on, which is quite a few, the safety announcement always tells you to secure your own mask before attending to others.

Agreed.

It’s not just low cost airlines though, the bigger carriers are doing the same.

But then the majority of passengers who don't really care where they sit are subsidising the minority who do, as well as parents who are too cheap to pay the extra and think everyone else should accommodate them and their little darlings.

We fly easyJet a lot. I don't pay for seats together. I check in exactly 30 days before to the minute and we've always been sat together. DC are 7 and 5.

Perhaps the best thing to do is as some other airlines do and just up the cost for everyone to allow for the privilege of choosing your own seat.

That way everyone gets to sit next to their own and everyone can take care of and have responsibility for their own.
As you say….one day someone could indeed get killed in the mayhem of an emergency and if parents can’t be forced to take responsibility and book their seats perhaps it has to be an automatic requirement.

But people like having the flexibility to chose their seats, which is why people pay it. Its a constant circle. Single travellers don't want to be stuck wherever. Groups want to sit together. Some people like aisle seats, others like window seats. The front of the plane is better than the back. People like being away from the toilets. Nervous fliers or disabled passengers want to be with their companion.

Then obviously, parents want to be next to children, which just gets swept up amongst the people who do want particular seats.

Oh ok
Ive never flown with anyone that has charged.

Actually from a safety point of view the front of the plane is more dangerous. ie in a crash you have a higher chance of death ….. first class eh….why bother

People just think of the quick exit from the airport, not the extremely unlikely crash scenario.

Agreed @IcedPurple …..If you are sitting next to them but that’s not the situation I am referring to.
If you are diagonally across, behind etc then you can’t do that with a mask. So it’s theirs first then your own.

I need to check in with Easyjet this week. (I paid for my seat out but not back) Just wondering if it is 30 days from the flight time or 30 days from midnight that day? Thank you

@IAmNotASheep

If you are sitting next to them but that’s not the situation I am referring to.
If you are diagonally across, behind etc then you can’t do that with a mask. So it’s theirs first then your own.

Serious slightly off thread but: do not even think of doing it like that, the airline advice is as it is for good reason.

If the cabin depressurises to ambient pressure at high level (typical cruising altitudes, especially on some long haul types ) your time of what is known as "useful conciousness" might only be a large handful of seconds..exactly how much varies but you can't assume you will have enough time to clamber/stretch over seats, mess around with another individuals mask and then have time to sort your own out.

Hence the procedure is that you must protect yourself first by getting a mask on before aiding anybody else.

Frankly if you’re flying on a plane that is not abiding by CAA regulations then you have bigger problems than not sitting together.

Which specific CAA regulations do you mean?

Wizz Air's policy about sitting a child with a parent only applies (in practice) to babies and children under 2. That's who they prioritise and if you're unlucky enough to be on a flight full of babies and toddlers older children won't be considered. They do, however, try to sit children with other children and their mothers.

this is not true… the advice is to always put your own mask on before helping others even children…someone hasn’t been listening to the cabin crew safety guidelines 🤣

yep, that’s me, I pay the most money as I prefer to sit at the front 2nd row and numerous times I’ve been asked to swap ,one time to the end of the plane .Nope, not happening

This is what Ryanair does - minor mandatory seat cost for one person and they are guaranteed to sit beside their DC ( up to 4 DC)if under 12.
I certainly am no Ryanair fan, but it does seem a very sensible way of handling it. Airline makes a small amount and DP has peace of mind that their DCs will actually be beside them without having to move any other passengers from their seats.

The following might be of interest, the notes below the table are relevant, quite a few of the current generation of long haul aircraft cruise at 40,000 or slightly higher, short haul tend to cruise at maybe 35,000 plus.

https://skybrary.aero/articles/time-useful-consciousness

I get that but the masks don’t stretch that far though.

so do the stewards check on kids or is it whoever is sitting next to them. I’d definitely help out a kid next to me but others may be too stressed to think of it. Very worrying for a parent

I have 🥱 but as we always sit with our kids I was thinking how you deal with a kid if you haven’t booked a seat right next to them.
I’ve even googled the length of the mask 🤣🤣