Pre-booking your plane seats

Awaythelads

I m wondering if anyone else has come across this issue. We are travelling to Egypt in the 3rd week of February (4 Adults, 1 child aged two and a half and 1 infant one and a half). We received a email from the company asking if we wanted to book our seats under the banner heading 'Ensure you stay together & select your seats now'.

Great we thought, book our seats (pay the extra) and we will be able to all sit together, this will help with the 2 children, as we can move them around between us, keep them entertained and everyone, the chidren, us and other passengers have a more relaxed trip.

Then came the issue, it seems that you have a limited number of seats (already selected) in which the infant can sit, this right away means that we seat selection we can have is reduced, but no major problem; wrong, you also cannot book 5 seats in a row because you will leave a window seat or a spare seat in the middle of the row for another passenger (not fair to the other passenger, according to the airline), so there is no way that we can 'Ensure you stay together' as claimed.

We were told that we would have to have 3 passengers in one row and 2 in another. So where is the fairness in that. What I dont understand is that we have paid over £4000 and are will to pay for the seat selection, to remain together, then what is the problem with the passenger who does not want to pay the extra, having to use the additional seat in the row.

If nothing else surely this advertising is misleading ' Ensure that you stay together & select your flight seat now'

I have contacted both the company shop (which sold us the holiday) their online support staff and have simply been told 'thats the rules'.

Has anyone else come across this issue before, and if so have you managed to overcome it.

Thanks

tanith

Whats wrong with having 3 people in one row and the other 2 behind or in front? Surely you will be more 'together' like that than sitting in a straight line? I can't see any issue to be honest.

jpsartre

Awaythelads wrote: »

We were told that we would have to have 3 passengers in one row and 2 in another. So where is the fairness in that. What I dont understand is that we have paid over £4000 and are will to pay for the seat selection, to remain together, then what is the problem with the passenger who does not want to pay the extra, having to use the additional seat in the row.

It's a lose-lose situation for the airline. If this is primarily a holiday flight, the number of single travellers will be low so the airline is trying to ensure that as many as possible will be seated with at least one travel companion. In doing so, it limits the options for parties of 5 travellers. If they did it differently you'd have someone else on here complaining that they only had single seats to pick from.

Rogerandwendy

There is no hardship sitting 3 and 2 surely!
Get a grip

peachyprice

Sorry, I don't understand your problem, 3 in one row, 2 in the one directly behind/infront. What's wrong with that?

steve1500

From the CAA




The seating of children close by their parents or guardians should be the aim of airline seat allocation procedures for family groups and large parties of children.


Young children and infants who are accompanied by adults, should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult. Children and accompanying adults should not be separated by more than one aisle. Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from accompanying adults. This is because the speed of an emergency evacuation may be affected by adults trying to reach their children.


Whenever a number of infants and children are travelling together the airline should make every effort to ensure that they can be readily supervised by the responsible accompanying adults

InsideInsurance

Are you on a charter or schedule flight? Have you tried phoning them rather than just using their website?