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!

me too from now on ….as i said upthread i have swapped seats in the past and am still waiting for my reimbursement from the airline 7 months later 🙄 never again

See this is where I can't agree with you. It is precious and weird to scowl at people if the cabin crew ask if you would mind swapping seats, but so many people have posted saying that is exactly what they would do. Not politely saying no, just scowling. I don't think the fact that someone has paid £6 for their seat trumps everything else.

Ear phones, good book or watch something.
I’m afraid there’s not a lot that can be done when parents don’t take responsibility. Of course you could keep pressing the stewards call button if they are really annoying. Then maybe the parents will be forced once in the air to put them on their laps ( no idea if that’s allowed )

£6!!! I wouldn’t give a flying hoot then but that’s definitely not what I paid last time I flew (last month).

There you go, I was wondering how the financial side would be worked out

you’ve had to go through all the hassle of requesting that with no recognition that you moved to accommodate others too entitled to pay their own way.

Never move, that’s the answer. Unless you’re being offered first class of course 😁

What a weird exchange, I'm sure the op's kids are lovely

I doubt most people would scowl. That’s just how the poster sees it.
People just say no then find themselves spending the flight feeling bad for saying no when in actual fact they are perfectly justified for saying no. Why do people do this to others!

If people don’t want to be scowled at or feel they may think people will scowl at them just avoid all the scowling and pay for your seat.
Simples

I’m not talking about the OPs kids.
None of us know OP so how could we.

Well in your scenario i would (if i could) have swapped seats but would assume you would offer me the £6 for my seat out of courtesy would you have ? … on the other hand the seats i have pre booked and paid for in the past were £25 per seat so again assuming you can cover my cost if i can move then all good… the thing is i always choose seats with extra legroom so you would not be allowed to seat a minor in these seats as they are an emergency exit … it is in effect like asking me to give you my hard earned £££ otherwise

its not going to happen again i assure you and the seats were way more than £6 … no idea what that airline is but if they are that cheap i would happily pay to upgrade… i pay way more than that

I fly 12-20 times a year, usually with easyJet or Jet2 and often travel solo. I always pay for a seat. I prefer a window seat to tuck myself away for the duration and as long as I've had a wee before boarding, I generally bother no-one and nobody bothers me throughout the flight.

The amount of times I've been asked to give up my paid-for-seat because a family with about a dozen children were too lazy/tight-fisted/thoughtless to pre-book their seats is astonishing. Said family are now causing mayhem and holding everyone up because they're loudly protesting at being seated scattered around the aircraft.... 'but little Tommy is too young to sit without a parent' and 'poor little Lucy has a temperature and needs her Mummy'.

If I refuse (and if the alternative seat offered to me isn't a window seat, I have, and will continue to do so), the hostile side-eyes I get from other passengers and sometimes the cabin crew is unbelievable.

Please do yourself (and your fellow passengers) a favour and FGS buy those damn seats.

Ps. edited to say that my seat choice is usually £15-25, so not an insignificant amount. And I don't scowl when asked to move, I just politely decline. But that doesn't stop the stink-eye!

I wouldn't pay for seats. Ever. My kids are 10 and 11 and would be more than happy to sit alone and watch a film on a flight and I'd be fine with that too. If the AIRLINE wants me to sit next to my kid then they can put us together. I'm not paying 80 bloody quid for something I dont particularly want. And I don't care if the rest of the plane judges me for that either!

it is fine if you have no need to be seated near your children but i think most people assume the paid for seats cost more due to an admin fee but that is not the case the extra charge is an upgrade fee (for choosing desired seats) … this is why so many people on this thread are not happy to give up their chosen paid for seats… it is really simple … as i said upthread if you went to a theatre and you paid for the seats you wanted (some cost more as they have better perks/view) you wouldn’t dream of asking someone to move … u get what you pay for end of

If you don't pay yo sit together then hope you don't need to ask someone like me to move. I book and pay for my seat with or without my DH. I have been asked several times on flights to move and refuse. If I can pay for our seats together or my preferred seat when travelling alone, then so can everyone else. If you want yo ensure you are sitting at least 2 and 2 you will need to pay.

Thinking about this logically...
If it was a safety requirement that a parent/carer had to sit directly next to their child, in case of oxygen masks etc, there would be a limit if how many children 1 adult could accompany. So on a standard 3-3 sitting configuration that would be 2 children, or 1 child on a 2-2 seating configuration. However, you can accompany as many children as you want. I had a friend who flew alone with 4 under 6s.
Thats why its considered acceptable for a child to be across an aisle... as sometimes its necessary (and why its classified as Next to!)

Anyway... enjoy your holiday OP.

Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if someone has already said this, but I contacted BA's disability support to ask about a sunflower lanyard for my autistic son at Heathrow and the possibility of early boarding, and they waived the charge for our seat selections. Might be worth asking if your airline has a similar policy

You get what you pay for, and to my knowledge there isn't a single airline which says you are guaranteed the seats you pay for. They all say that you can be moved for safety or operational reasons.

We always pay for our seats, I would move if they paid me the price I paid for the seat.

I pay because I want to sit with DH.

well being pedantic now but yes nothing is 100% but the airline would offer to reimburse in these circumstances

Sorry £80 is nothing try £200 plus each way with long haul flights! I always pay and I too have kids. I have severe travel sickness and need the window seat. You would literally have to drag me out of a seat id paid for. If you can’t afford £80 on your holiday you shouldn’t be going. Bet you’d find £80 for an activity or alcohol. It’s a cost you need to pay if you expect your kids seated with you.

I think the problem is where someone has paid extra for a specific seat is being asked to give up their seat for someone else who hasn't booked seats together (whether by design or because it is an emergency flight and the seat allocation has gone) AND the person wanting them to swap does not offer to compensate them for the loss they have incurred in doing so, namely the extra that person paid to have that specific seat.

Because if you have paid £1000 for last minute tickets with an airline which guarantees kids will be sat with parents without payment, even if it needs to be sorted out on the plane, it's not really something which needs to be compensated. Your specific seat is not guaranteed for exactly this type of reason.

wrong… they take your money and hope the cabin crew can sort you out… unfortunately it’s not gonna happen if everybody refuses to move… simple as that and the plane would lose its slot 🤷‍♀️

I've never flown before. Is there a consequence to saying no? Like, does the airline make a note on your records or something that you are being argumentative if the flight attendant asks you to do something and refuse?

Also how do you say no politely? I don't think I would know what to say and would probably cave if asked. I had no idea seat swapping was a thing. It's seems to be a massive deal