pre-booking seats

Pollycat

richardw wrote: »

It's not the same as an option for food and luggage though.

Children should be sat with an adult for safety's sake. It's a good and very sensible practice for all on board an aircraft. Additional revenues should not be a priority in lieu of safety. I've been on a flight where children were not sat safely, I volunteered to swap and they were all very grateful that I did. The cabin crew were relieved that I did because it made their job easier. Put the price of food and drink up and sit the children safely.

Then CAA should enforce that children must be sat with parents.

Airlines will be aware of whether passengers are adults or children on booking so could easily allocate families 'seats together' before releasing the rest of the seats to those people who wish to pay to sit together.

I don't see why anyone who doesn't wish to pay to sit together should have to financially subsidise families by having a premium put on chargeable extras (e.g. food) or drink or any part of the ticket price.

ferf1223

Pollycat wrote: »

I don't see why anyone who doesn't wish to pay to sit together should have to financially subsidise families by having a premium put on chargeable extras (e.g. food) or drink or any part of the ticket price.

I agree - though I don't think that travelling with children should mean that you get something for free that people not travelling with children have to pay for. And parents should not expect other passengers to accommodate them if the parents chose not to pre-book seats to save money...the parents have just enough of a chance to pre-book as passengers travelling without children...and have just as much option to choose not to pre-book and take their chances.

Pollycat

ferf1223 wrote: »

I agree - though I don't think that travelling with children should mean that you get something for free that people not travelling with children have to pay for. And parents should not expect other passengers to accommodate them if the parents chose not to pre-book seats to save money...the parents have just enough of a chance to pre-book as passengers travelling without children...and have just as much option to choose not to pre-book and take their chances.

Neither do I.

But I'd much prefer that scenario to having to pay extra on my ticket price or on the drinks I might buy on board as some other posters have suggested.

I've said it before - if parents want to ensure their children are not split up from them, they should pay to enable that.
Exactly the same as other people travelling without children have to do if they don't want to be seated apart for whatever reason.

Saint_Chris

The last easyjet flight we was on was a nightmare.


We always pay to sit together, because I'm not comfortable with the taking off and landing. We always choose a aisle and centre seat, don't want to be near the window.


When we got on the window seat was empty for ages...until


a family of about 10 arrived late, and they were spread out and about around where we was sat, well grandmother, stood in the middle of the aisle, bawling and shouting, about where the kids were sat. And trying to stuff luggage into the already crammed over head lockers.


then kicked off with the air hostess about people moving seats so that the kids could sit together .


I said to hubby I'm not moving, and put my head down, when along came the air hostess and said to my husband and others, would you mind moving please sir, I just said no I'm sorry we have paid for these seats as I'm not very good at flying. But again us and others around us was asked to move to accommodate this family.
Again you could see heads sinking lower, and the grandmother spouting more and more rubbish out and getting louder and louder, calling people for not moving for the kids.
In the end a old man and woman moved and sat in separate seats, no where near each other.


it was uncomfortable and made an awful scene.


I ended up with a little girl 7 sat next to us at the window and she was lovely, she had her little back pack with her sweets colouring book etc in it. I ended up chatting to her for most of the flight.


But I object when I have paid for something to be asked to move and sit separate, I paid for this privelage, because I'm not good at take off and landing, and grip hubbys hand tight, so no I do not want to move to accommodate, people who have not paid for this privelage.

Pollycat

Saint_Chris wrote: »

The last easyjet flight we was on was a nightmare.

We always pay to sit together, because I'm not comfortable with the taking off and landing. We always choose a aisle and centre seat, don't want to be near the window.

When we got on the window seat was empty for ages...until

a family of about 10 arrived late, and they were spread out and about around where we was sat, well grandmother, stood in the middle of the aisle, bawling and shouting, about where the kids were sat. And trying to stuff luggage into the already crammed over head lockers.

then kicked off with the air hostess about people moving seats so that the kids could sit together .

I said to hubby I'm not moving, and put my head down, when along came the air hostess and said to my husband and others, would you mind moving please sir, I just said no I'm sorry we have paid for these seats as I'm not very good at flying. But again us and others around us was asked to move to accommodate this family.
Again you could see heads sinking lower, and the grandmother spouting more and more rubbish out and getting louder and louder, calling people for not moving for the kids.
In the end a old man and woman moved and sat in separate seats, no where near each other.

it was uncomfortable and made an awful scene.

I ended up with a little girl 7 sat next to us at the window and she was lovely, she had her little back pack with her sweets colouring book etc in it. I ended up chatting to her for most of the flight.

But I object when I have paid for something to be asked to move and sit separate, I paid for this privelage, because I'm not good at take off and landing, and grip hubbys hand tight, so no I do not want to move to accommodate, people who have not paid for this privelage.

If I'd paid to pre-book my seats, I would say I wasn't willing to move seats and that they should approach people who hadn't paid to pre-book to change seats before asking people who had paid.
I would point out calmly that I had had the foresight to pre-book my seats and that I just couldn't see why I was being asked to move simply because somebody else didn't.

If they said I had to, I would tell them that I wanted an immediate refund of the amount we'd paid to pre-book seats or alternatively, the people who hadn't bothered to pre-book seats and probably turned up at the airport so late that their party couldn't be seated together should pay me what I'd paid before they got my seats.

I appreciate that cabin crew could threaten to have me removed from the plane (I would obviously capitulate before it got to that) but I would make it damn hard for that party of 10 to have my paid-for seat.

It's beyond the bounds of stupidity to not pre-book seats or turn up at the airport early to check-in when you have such a large party.

Smacks of 'I'm more important than you regardless of what you've paid'.
I really dislike people with that attitude.

PolishBigSpender

If some grandmother was mouthing off like that, I'd tell her to sit down and shut up without any hesitation. I wouldn't "sink my head lower" or ignore the situation, but rather make it clear that she was holding the flight up.


I have absolutely no patience for pond life with a sense of entitlement.

maman

Saint_Chris wrote: »

The last easyjet flight we was on was a nightmare.


We always pay to sit together, because I'm not comfortable with the taking off and landing. We always choose a aisle and centre seat, don't want to be near the window.


When we got on the window seat was empty for ages...until


a family of about 10 arrived late, and they were spread out

Strangely enough, I had a similar experience on a recent easyjet flight. What happened with us was that they didn't ask to sit together AFAIK but instead spent the whole flight up and down like yo-yos. The grandfather seemed to be standing in he aisle, getting in everybody's way most of the flight while he trotted back and forth to where some of the family were sitting or the son/DIL walked back and forth talking to him. Other times they let the child stand up and wave and shout to family in various rows behind.


Don't you just love flying?:rotfl:

PolishBigSpender

Happened to me on a flight once too.


A firm "sit down, shut up and stop bothering everyone" soon put a stop to such behaviour. The benefit of speaking several foreign languages is that you can choose the most frightening one to issue commands. German is very effective, I find.