Paying for seats on flights

[user1471508666]

We are flying to America in October and I assumed as a family of 6 would be seated together. Looking on their extras it says you can pay to reserve seats, does that mean even if we checked in together we wouldn’t be seated together?
Should I pay the extra to ensure we are together?

True. And my post was badly worded; sorry! I was commenting more on the general issue of paying for seats.

unl it’s Ryan air who deliberately seat people apart, most airlines do seat you near each other as long as you check in as soon as it opens but it’s a risk because if everyone else has prebooked seats you’ll be getting what is left!

I book in online as soon as it opens - sometimes 24 hours before and sometimes earlier- and then click the button for seat to be allocated free of charge. Dh and I have always been sat together using this method. However, this is all short haul trips and frankly we don’t care if we are separated.

In fairness whether overbooking is poor practice or not can depend on the route.

The no show rate on some Longhaul routes can be v high, especially business passengers travelling on fully flexible tickets...

It shouldn't be anything like as much of a problem with leisure travellers, and of course EU261 was meant to act as deterent.

I’ve nearly always got to sit next to whoever I’m travelling with but trans Atlantic I did not

They will try to sit you together but not a guarantee. Depends on how many seats available after other passengers have prebooked theirs. Just be aware that they class sitting together as sitting across the aisle from each other, and also sitting infront of/ behind each other.

Every year someone asks this question. If you want to sit together, guaranteed, you have to pay. If there’s a child under 12 they may be seated in the row in front of you or behind. The only way to guarantee you’re sat next to each other is to pay.

This again...

I think this post must be a wind up. Surely nobody is so entitled and selfish to presume they would be seated together when a paid option exists to guarantee that this did not happen. These are profit-making companies, not charities or part of the welfare state.

It's not entitled or selfish at all. It's perfectly reasonable, if you don't fly often, to assume you'll be seated together and that paying means people can choose window seats or extra leg room ones or whatever they want. It doesn’t naturally follow that they will then deliberately split up people who haven't paid so it isnt surprising this is a shock to people new to the game.

It only becomes selfish and entitled if, having known this, someone chooses not to pay, takes the risk, is separated and then expects someone else to move for them.

Not paying for specific seats is a lottery. The prize is getting to sit together without paying.

I've never paid to sit together. On non budget airlines you are usually offered a selection of free seats to choose from. I'm sure I've even been offered the same on some budget airlines too.

Why shouldn’t people pay for what they want? That’s hardly being “shafted.” 🙄

If I don’t need food, WiFi, cargo hold space or a specific seat, why should I sub those who do??

Do you pay more at a restaurant for your sandwich so the person at the next table gets a lower price on their expensive steak?

I don't fly often, but I'm well aware that you need to pay extra to book seats together. It's well known, particularly for budget airlines.

The online booking process includes constant reminders to book optional extras. So there is no way that this can be a shock.

The companies do not deliberately split people up. They need to fill the plane. Priority is given to those who've paid/selected their seats.

The entitlement is believing that you have, or should have, priority because you have kids or are travelling as a group.

The entitlement is believing that you have, or should have, priority because you have kids or are travelling as a group.
Not knowing you won't automatically be seated together isn't assuming you have priority or entitlement. Naivety maybe and not thinking through that if other people have booked lots of seats there won't be enough together. But it's not entitlement.

First time we flew with DC I had read that we might not be automatically say together so I paid to. But if I hadn't read that I wouldn't have put two and two together and realised there might not be room all together. I wouldn't have kicked off or asked anyone else to move because it wouldn't have been entitlement, just lack of seeing the whole picture.

It's just how it works these days, unfortunately.. even for the non-budget airlines. People pay to secure the seats they want; so if you don't do that, you'll be allocated whatever's remaining.

I wouldn't risk it for a party of 6.

I’ve had to give BA almost £600 to ensure I’m sat with dc aged 10 and 15 flying return gal-lhr-lax. I’d be very pissed off if you asked me to move!

I was on a Ryanair flight and it was only half full, they still split me and my friend up because we didn’t pay to sit together. Some airlines do this on purpose

I never understand the argument that it would be too complicated and cost too much for airlines to sit people where they wanted, unless they charge for the privilege.

Am I the only person old enough to remember when you checked in when you arrived at the airport, and they just filled up the plane from front to back in order of arrival, as people checked in?

You got whatever seats you were given, and because they filled up seats in order, you were pretty much always sat together.

If I book theatre tickets, I always get to choose the exact seats. And that doesn’t cost any extra (OK, I know that will be built into the ticket price somewhere, so I’ll rephrase - there is no discounted price available for not choosing a seat and letting the theatre randomly allocate one for you). So if they can do it, so can airlines.

It isn’t difficult. Or expensive. Airlines have just conned people into thinking it is and therefore that they need to pay for it.

Having said that, if I am bothered about sitting my family together, then yes, I pay the extra to choose seats to guarantee that. It’s not fair to expect other passengers to move for you, if they have paid the extra to reserve their seat.

You’ve put this so well @RockaLock. I don’t understand how anyone doesn’t think this is a con!

@RockaLock

I never understand the argument that it would be too complicated and cost too much for airlines to sit people where they wanted, unless they charge for the privilege.

But that's not the argument the airlines use.

They charge for seat choice because it allows them to offer lower basic fares and also still make some profit over the year on the average passenger.

It's all very well harking back to how it was but I can remember (as both a passenger and as an airline employee) how much airfares could be in real terms before the LoCos came along and rewrote pricing structures.

It really bugs me that people are made to feel like they have to pay extra to sit next to their children! Because, of course the parents need to sit next to their children! And, even more importantly, of course nobody else wants to be seated next to someone else's child if the parent is in a different row!!

For what it's worth, I haven't ever flown long haul with my kids, but I never pay extra for seats together, I just check in online as soon as it opens, and we have always automatically been allocated seats together.

Actually my local theatre has a super budget price and your seat is a surprise. I’m too picky for this option but it is out there.

I think it’s great to have two price points - when my husband travels alone (he’s abroad right now helping out as his dad is unwell), we save the money as he doesn’t care. When we fly with the kids, we pay. Super simple in my mind.

United split us up from our daughter when she was 2 - was a flight cancellation so we didn’t have the seats we paid for. EasyJet split us from our kids last year and we couldn’t swap round as we were given exit row seats. So it absolutely will and does happen.

I never pay out of principle, take a book and happy to sit seperately. If I wanted/needed to sit together then I'd pay it.

You won’t necessarily be seated together if you don’t prebook. Having said that we have rarely had an issue leaving it to checkin . Some airlines preallocate seats to your booking so suggest those on checkin. However for six and a long flight do you want to risk it.