Seat allocation....

Kaz2904

Hello there, this might be a really idiotic question but here goes! I've only flown a couple of times and was never the person responsible for making arrangements. Twice was for hen nights so a large group so we were split up.
Next year we're going on a family holiday to Florida. 9 of us are going DH & I with our 2 kids (10 & 8) BIL & SIL and their 2 kids (11 & 6/7) and MIL.

Looking at the booking, we can pay an extra fee to be seated together but surely there's no need for that? Really as long as each child has an adult with them, that's all that's needed. I also saw in the T&C's that they can actually change your pre booked and paid for seats anyway without refunding so not a great deal of point in doing it.
There is only 1 in the group who could do with extra space and that's DH as he's 6'3" but he'll need to sit with one of the kids so will just have to manage the same as the kids have to manage when sitting behind him in the car !

What I'm really asking then I guess is, would they expect to split us up to the extent where any of the children would be expected to sit alone?
If they were to sit the kids alone, who is responsible for them? My 2 have never flown before and I don't know how they'll react. I can imagine DS having an accident rather than asking anyone to let him out to use the toilet because he's so shy . Whoever sits next to DD will have either 10 hours of rabbiting or 10 hours of silence so don't really envy them either .

richardw

Your alone and the airline's alone may be different things.
The airline may regard being split by the aisle as being together, and also one sat behind the other in adjacent rows as being together.

interstellaflyer

Hi, not sure what airline you are using but if it's Thomas Cook or Thomson then you can pay in advance to choose the seats you want, this usually done online and from around 12 weeks before departure, People confuse this with just sitting together which it most certainly isn't, I wouldn't pay for just sitting together however I always pay to choose our seats because we prefer to sit at the front of the aircraft.

materialgirl

Hi

When you check-in, the person who checks you in should be able to make sure that there is an adult next to a child, but Ive been on flights where they've split 2 people travelling together up (even though they checked in together).
What I would suggest, is speak to the person checking you in, or wait until they give you your boarding passes, sit down (work out who wants to sit next to who ) and have a look at the seat allocations, and if you think theres something wrong, go speak to the customer service desk.

I'm the world worst flier and they put me on a window seat, so when i realised, i went to the customer service desk & they were more than happy to give me an aisle seat (so i didnt have to look out the window!)

Hope this helps.

Kaz2904

Ok, another stupid question then....
Why does it matter where you sit on the plane? (I'm not saying you're wrong btw, I'm just curious!)

ETA: WRT the being alone.... as long as each child has a parent close enough to hold their hand should the plane fall from the sky, that's close enough for me. So separated by an aisle would be ok I would think.

My concern is that a friend of mine had to really fight to be bale to sit with her 12 year old asthmatic daughter on a flight. The husband and 17 year old son were happy enough to sit alone but the 12 year old needed a parent with her. Surely that's reasonable?

madcal87

Aisle seats = more leg room as can stretch in the aisles !
Window = nice view, and something to lean against and sleep!
Back of plane = slightly increased noise from engines.
Over Wings = some people say a smoother ride.

moneypooh

The only problem you could face is if most passengers reserve seats in advance. Then you'll be expected to 'fill the gaps'; this could mean you are all in a row in the aisle, as window seats are the most sort after.
This happened to friends of mine this summer and the check-in desk or customer services couldn't do anything about it as the other passengers had pre-paid, and 'in a row' was considered together.

Kaz2904

Sorry, not sure I understand this. By in a row do you mean one behind the other? Or do you mean scattered singly with people sitting between you? That could be annoying for people with a parent and child having a conversation across them for 9 hours, I'd just budge up one so people could sit together.
I don't even know how big these planes are, how many rows? I always think they're like a bus but a bit wider with an extra row of 3 seats in the middle row but I think they have lots and lots more seats than that don't they. I'm a bit naive really aren't I ?

RichandJ

Kaz2904 wrote: »

Ok, another stupid question then....
Why does it matter where you sit on the plane? (I'm not saying you're wrong btw, I'm just curious!)

ETA: WRT the being alone.... as long as each child has a parent close enough to hold their hand should the plane fall from the sky, that's close enough for me. So separated by an aisle would be ok I would think.

My concern is that a friend of mine had to really fight to be bale to sit with her 12 year old asthmatic daughter on a flight. The husband and 17 year old son were happy enough to sit alone but the 12 year old needed a parent with her. Surely that's reasonable?

Flying TATL in a middle seat for 6/7+ hours should be no-one's idea of fun.

Kaz2904

RichandJ wrote: »

Flying TATL in a middle seat for 6/7+ hours should be no-one's idea of fun.

What's that?

RichandJ

Trans ATLantic.

A middle seat in a row of three means:

a) you can't really see out of the window (not such a downer on a TATL admittedly)

b) you don't have the extra legroom being in an aisle can give

c) you always have to disturb someone if you want to get out

d) if your row companions are a bit on the large side you may end up with no armrest and 'overflow' into your seat space

to name just a few issues.