easy jet with a 2 year old

[gingernutlover]

i am considering going to france with dd this summer using easy jet (mum and her partner have villa there)

i would be travelling with them and not worried about the flight but am concenred about whether to buy speedy boarding or not

last year when we went dd was under 2 (this year she will be nearly 3) and we were boarded first because she was still an "infant"

what happens if you have a youn g toddler like this, she will have her own seat and I am pretty sure no one will want to sit with the toddler and she would refuse to sit without me anyway i think but is there any provision made for me getting 2 seats together?

have visions of being sat at different ends of the plane and people refusing to move

we took the dcs away with ryan air [same difference i suppose?] last year and buying advnace boarding was the best decision we made

ok at the uk end but would have had to fight at the other to get thrvugh the crowds.

i find flying/travelling quite stressful anyway so i would have found relying on other people's good nature a step too far [stress bunny emoticon]

lol okay,i have a friend who flew ryanair to ireland too and had this problem, a stewardess had to intervene.

and whilst i would like to think people will not want to sit with an unaccompanied toddler you just never know, some people can be very unreasonable especially if they dont have children of their own. The speedy boarding is only 7.50 a person per way and looks like whole cost is going to be about £300 anyway as i have to go in school hols cos i am a teacher so I am guesing the extra 30 on top might be worth it

what concerns me is that becuase speedy boarding is so cheap everyone might buy it then i really will be in trouble

anyone who has flown with easy jet

pay for the speedy boarding

just looked it is £27

well worth it i think

I have refused to pay extra for speedy boarding or whatever it is called. There are 7 of us going via Easyjet this summer and we didn't see this speedy boarding thing at all when we booked. Will cost our party well over £100 more to add it now. We will take our chances - let's face it, the chances of DD being sat away from either me or DH is highly unlikely and I can't imagine not getting anyone to swap - esp if 6y DD decided that she wasn't happy about it!

hmmm thanks yeah this is kind of what i was thinking, if i had the choice of sitting next to a screaming 3 year old or moving my seat i think i would just move. The flight is only an hour anyway

but having said this, my friend had to get the stewardess to make someone move on ryanair and they were really nasty about it, swore at her and everything.

Just wonder if it is worth the extra money really as buying speedy boarding still does not guarantee that we sit together, especially if eveyone else on the flight has bought it - it just mean we are some of the first to sprint on!

And if it's a bus to the plane speedy boarding just means you get on the bus first - and off the bus last!

Very true Lanarsea - oh, fngers crossed that is what happens on our flight

We just flew Easyjet and didn't pay speedy boarding. In the uk flying out they didn't call anyone with children first - it was just speedy people then normal bods. Returning from Spain they called the speedies first, then passengers with children, so I guess it depends on the individual airport to exactly what happens.

We were told by another passenger that even if we'd have not paid for speedy boarding, if we'd have asked at check in for them to circle the 'priority boarding' bit on the boarding pass they would have done that as we had a 2 yo. Don't know how true that is but we didn't have any issues getting sat with dd (which is a bit of a shame really as I was planning on a quiet G&T at the back while dh sat with a wriggly toddler at the front!)

we went to portugal recently and paid for Speedy Boarding but it was a bit of a waste of money-

on the way out, we were a bit late getting to the gate anyway- but had no problem getting seats together near the back of the plane.

and on the way back the plane was half empty. It was a bit of a joke anyway -the speedy boarders got to go at the front of the bus to the plane, others were at the back. We ended up stuck in the middle and were almost the last ones off the flaming bus anyway. So, money not well spent IMO!

think it's different though, travelling with a 2 year old to travelling with a 6 year old

Not flown with Easy Jet but think their Speedy Boarding policy is a con. If too many people pay the extra, it makes little or no difference to boarding as far as I can see.

Anyway, EasyJet policy does not allow unaccompanied children under the age of 14.

So if they try to split you up from a 2 year old they are breaking their own policy. Politely point that out and I don't see how they will have a choice but to sit you together.

I just think it is a con.

I will remember what SaintGeorge says about the unsupervised children - great point.

I think that peopke are even more likely to move to let you sit next to a 2yo - or that the cabin crew would do something about it for you. If only the two of you especially I don't think you need to pay out.

But surely by unaccompanied they just mean accompanied on the plane ?

It does mean that but you can argue that you cannot reasonably be expected to take responsibility if they sit you at the other end of the aircraft. They have dug a big hole for themselves in their own policy, take advantage of it.

Taking DD(5) and DS(2) on my own to Belfast in July. Refused to pay extra and am hoping they get a seat together and I get one at the other end of the plane

I can't imagine anyone in their right mind thinking it would be okay for a young child (and by that I would mean anyone who is not an obvious teenager) to sit unaccompanied from a parent. If the child kicks up a fuss - and let's face it most 2yo would at the prospect - I would imagine some adult would move!

We are off to the Czech Republic so it will be most likely lots of adults - also not weekend so less chance of stag parties - so am presuming at least a handful of those adults will be willing to accomodate a parent and child to sit beside one another.

right well all things considered I am not going to bother with the speedy boarding, i will ask at check in to be priority boarders and see what they say (as she will not actually be 3 yet, so i can make a big thing about her being a 2 year old which just sounds so young!) - it sounds like it can be a total waste of money and to be hoenst i know dd would kick up immediatly if she even thought we werent going to sit together so problem solved really, I will just say "hands up who wants to sit next to the crying toddler" and someone will move I am sure.

thanks for all the advice

have been several times with DS on ryanair and easyjet. have never purchased advanced boarding and never had problems getting a seat with DS.

right, have done it - havent booked speedy boarding, finger s crossed