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!

no consequence so don’t worry… u would just politely decline… unless u were offered 1st class 😜

Maybe airlines should charge the full cost of everything included - allocated seat, luggage and meal and then when you get to check out you can choose to deduct what you don’t want. That way customers are accepting that they don’t require that service and can’t make demands on the plane.

Starting at the basic low price seems to make some customers feel like they’re being ripped out for some reason.

this is a good idea that has already been suggested up thread but the low cost airlines are doing it the opposite way around to draw the customers in then instead of people adding extras/upgrades they feel conned… it’s a marketing ploy that is causing havoc on MN today 🤣🤣🤣

Hmm sometimes you don't have a choice even if you've paid. Sometimes they have to move people about for weight distribution, or because someone who's in the emergency exit seats can't operate the doors. That's non-negotiable.

Then I have to ask the question why an airline would request payment for a seat? Contractually if you have paid for a seat, it is your seat. You cannot be made to vacate it. If the airline wants to compel swapping to facilitate their child and adult policy, they need to make all seats free. It is entitled to think that just because you have a child, don't pay to be sat together that it is perfectly OK and expected that someone else who has paid to be seated should give up their seat free and gratis. It is that level of entitlement people get quite rightly on my opinion upset about. If people paid the person being asked to swap their £8 quid or £80 quid per the OP, that they paid to pick a seat, you will find people switching far more readily. I work too hard for my money to give up £80 of my hard earned money for free for a complete stranger who didn't want to pay (excepting emergency flight scenarios) but expects me to pay for the luxury of their family getting to sit together at the expense of my own family.

Because it's a way for the airline to make more money? Show me the contract which says it's your seat and you cannot be made to vacate it.

Show me the contract where it is says I have to move for another passenger and not only not get the enjoyment of the seat I have paid for but also not get reimbursed for having that service?

It's either relevant he's autistic or it's not

You mentioned it

You just say no. That’s it.
There’s no black book with your name inscribed on it in case you dare to travel again.
You paid for the seat anyone else wanting it obviously didn’t. You are in the right not them

Literally every single airline website says your seat isn't guaranteed. For example BA: "Sometimes we may need to change your seat, even after you have boarded the aircraft. Whilst we try to prevent this, it might be unavoidable for a number of reasons including a change of aircraft due to operational, safety or security reasons, so we cannot guarantee seating."

The Civil Aviation Authority website states "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."
Which means that if airlines DONT offer free seats together for families they are effectively charging families MORE than other passengers who have the choice to sit together or not. This is pretty discriminatory and is going to end in the sort of situation where other passengers who might have already paid to choose their seats being asked (unfairly) to move.
Id argue it's not the fault of the family though. It's the CAA who are putting the requirement there / or the airline who are trying to cash in on this requirement. Like I said in a PP I wouldnt be bothered whether or not I'm sitting with my kids. They wouldn't care either. So why should we have to pay more? I do accept it shouldn't be the responsibility of other passengers. It should be the airline who automatically allocated seats for kids with their parents. Like they always used to do.

The clue is in the last part of that
‘ Change of aircraft due to operational, safety or security reasons ‘

Sitting next to your kid doesn’t come within any of that…..Obviously.

Unless your kid is a security risk of course

This!

And the CAA rules say children under 12 should be sat with an adult for safety reasons

We are flying for the first time with our kids later this year, they will be 17 and 18 and yet we have paid £106 to select our seats as our 17 year old wanted to be sat together, DH and DS weren’t bothered but you couldn’t seem to only pre-book 2 seats.

if you want to sit together then pay to book. The saving us for those who don’t want to pre-book. Personally I think pre-booking should be included and you can opt to choose random seats and then save money. Perhaps the different mind set would stop people who need or want to sit together expecting others to change their seats to sit together.

There are lots of options though

Same row but not next to
Infront, behind, diagonally across.

Basically next to a stranger where there’s a spare seat near the parent in the opinion of the cabin crew.

Lots of adults often chose window or aisle seat but rarely a middle seat unless they want to be next to someone. So often there’s random middle seats free.

Some airlines do allow you to chose your own seat at no extra cost.

This has been mentioned before but certainly AFAIK the UK CAA doesn't issue rules on this, just guidelines...and in the.context of all this "Should" does not mean "must"..it's a recommendation not a requirement.

TBH and IMO the CAA have always been a bit backwards in coming forwards on this, the airlines have been bit more proactive with their internal procedures, possibly their lawyers have had a think about it

Personally I would suck it up and pay the £80 to avoid the stress on the day.
Many people will refuse to move if asked and it's not worth the stress of the likely confrontation if you aren't able to sit together.

Your child only needs to be seated near you so behind, in front, across an aisle. If you're happy with this, don't book. If you expect them to be right next to you then book.

FWIW this is a straight C&P, so the exact wording, from the UK CAA guidance (so not rules) on seating allocations:

"Carriers should aim to seat children under 12 in the same row, or no more than one row or aisle away, from their accompanying adult and make all reasonable efforts to seat a disabled person or person with reduced mobility with the person accompanying them. Most airlines have processes in place to ensure this happens, but we recommend you contact the airline to confirm their seating policies."

And the use of the "should" word means the above is a recommendation.

How old are the kids?

I've read recently of a woman who didn't pay and was separated from her 4 year old as sat together could be behind, in front of just on the same row. Also as others have said why shouldn't you pay. Factor it in as your holiday costs and suck it up. Quite frankly it's selfish to expect others to fit in with your requirements.

Someone told me once that certainly on Jet2 if you pre-book food as a group then they have to sit you together.

Maybe it should be compulsory to select a seat, instead of an option. Then no-one could cause a fuss about not being seated with their family as they had chosen their own seats?