Pre-booking Thomas Cook Seats on Package Holiday

needaholiday

We have just returned from Ibiza and for the first time ever didn't pay to sit together. We were three families of four and checked in 2 hrs prior to flight. First family had 4 seats together but other family and ourselves could only get two lots of two seats together per family which wasn't too bad.
On our return all 3 families were lucky and got seats together but other friends of ours on same flight (another family of 4) had 3 seats at front of plane and one at the back as they checked in just after us. Think i will pay next year for peace of mind.

interstellaflyer

C_Mababejive wrote: »

This pre booking seats is a load of old tosh and yet another revenue stream for airlines. I dont blame them. They know that many Brits are paranoid and insecure. Dont bother with it. Just check in as normal.

Good grief, the way some people react you would think that this is forced on you with a hard sell, far from it, a small paragraph within your paperwork is all you get, you have the choice to take it or not, it's not rammed down your throat, there can be many valid reasons why people would want to pay so they can choose their seats and this is the point, it's an add on so you can choose the seats you prefer, not specificaly sitting together, I don't see this as being a scam, rip off or a load of old tosh especialy if like me you have a preference for where you sit in the aircraft.

picnmix

We always pay the extra 15 quid as we have 2 little one's and I'd rahter know we were all sat together, like another poster I prefer to be near the front of the plane (not sure why) so am happy to pay the money.

jhe

we always prebook so we can choose our seats on plane, a few years back never used to prebook i just used to be early at check in and always got seats together including one flight we were given seats directly opposite the toilet with hard back seats that wouldnt recline,luckily we were only short haul,worst flight i have been on!spent the full time wanting to be sick. the stench was terrible! so for the sake of a few pound i always prebook now

C_Mababejive

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Good grief, the way some people react you would think that this is forced on you with a hard sell, far from it, a small paragraph within your paperwork is all you get, you have the choice to take it or not, it's not rammed down your throat, there can be many valid reasons why people would want to pay so they can choose their seats and this is the point, it's an add on so you can choose the seats you prefer, not specificaly sitting together, I don't see this as being a scam, rip off or a load of old tosh especialy if like me you have a preference for where you sit in the aircraft.

I agree.I dont care where i sit as long as I'm on the plane. Its an opportunity to chat to someone new. As long as i am not sat to someone elses screaming brats or some fat bloke who takes up my space I'm quite happy.

claire16c

I would never pay for this unless I was on my own with a young child.

Of course its a money maker, otherwise they wouldnt charge for it. Plenty of longhaul carriers let you do this for free.

silvercar

It is less likely but I've still seen it that older children/teens have been separated from their parents particularly on busy flights.

The parents probably booked it like that.

crashgoddess

ive never paid for seats and we ( 2 adults and 2 kids) have always sat together, i think they do always try to sit you together if you have children

ferf1223

it's really simple:

1) pay for seats if you want to be reasonably certain you will be sat together
2) don't pay for seats if you don't care or are willing to take the risk
3) fly with an airline that doesn't levy a separate charge to pre-select your seats

if you choose 2, live with what you get and don't expect those who chose 1 (or those who chose 2 and checked in earlier and got lucky) to move to accomodate you and don't complain if you don't get the seats that you want/get split up...kids are not a valid reason to complain if you had the option to choose 1 like everyone else.

For some it's worth paying the extra, for others its not. It's not a mandatory fee, so there's no 'rip off'...sure, it's a moneymaker for the airline...but everyone has the option to decide if it's worth the cost or not - like almost everything in life. We have never paid to pre-book seats because we don't fly with airlines that charge for the honour...if we did (if that day ever comes)...we would pay, because it's worth it to us to not have the annoyance of potentially being split up (couple, no kids).

audbod38

I used thomas cook for my holiday this year, i didnt prebook seats with them ,but i was still able to use the your seat your choice feature on the website and it only cost me £10 pp return.