Should I pay to sit with my 4 year old

paul2louise

We are on holiday in Lanzarote. On Thomas Cook holiday. My husband and I and my 4 yr old son. We didn't prebook our plane seats on outbound flight and when we checked in we were all in separate seats. When we boarded the plane the cabin crew made quite a bit of fuss and a couple sitting together offered to split up so I could sit with my son. I didn't expect to have all 3 of us together but I had hoped I would be sat next to my son. The cabin crew said when we got off "don't expect this to happen on the way home, I think u will need to tak to the rep and get ur seats prebooked". I spoke the rep here in resort and asked him if I could get a seat with my son without paying and he said he couldn't really help us.
I suppose that is what families have to do now

wallbash

You had the option, you chose not to pay, result you had to deprive a couple of sitting next to each other.

I hope you pay next time.

bossymoo

It's a tricky one. I think there are guidelines that prevent children under a certain age from sitting alone, but without prebooking seats you do run the risk of having to sort it at the airport.

You could chance it and arrive early, and request seats together at checkin, however, potentially all other passengers could have paid for specific seats, leaving three for you that are not together. Then someone whose paid for specific seat has to move. Would you reimburse them?

I just bit the bullet and paid. I'm on my own with a 4 and 6yr old and I want the 3 of us together - so I've paid and selected our seats ahead of time, both legs of the journey.

PenguinOfDeath

It's irritated you that much you decide to log onto a public forum whilst on holiday to have a rant.

Whilst booking was there anywhere that said if booking for a child they would guarantee one of the party would have a seat next to them?

paul2louise

PenguinOfDeath wrote: »

It's irritated you that much you decide to log onto a public forum whilst on holiday to have a rant.

Whilst booking was there anywhere that said if booking for a child they would guarantee one of the party would have a seat next to them?

I have wifi in hotel so why not ask the question while on holiday. It hasn't irritated me so much I just thought I would ask. If the airline are happy to separate me then that's their choice. I do t mind sitting across the aisle from him, but 3 rows behind I don't really want. My question was do I have to pay. If the entire flight is in prebooked seats then fair enough.

richardw

No you don't have to pay for one adult to sit with your 4 year old.

PeacefulWaters

wallbash wrote: »

You had the option, you chose not to pay, result you had to deprive a couple of sitting next to each other.

I hope you pay next time.

Next time I'd travel with a competent airline that ensures a four year old is sat with at least one parent without disturbing the arrangements made by others.

simongregson

Even Ryanair manage to sit children with a parent.


I believe that CAA advise that family groups are sat together as sitting family members (particularly children) separately very much hiders safe evacuation of the aircraft as parents will find their children before leaving the aircraft. There are also potential child protection concerns.


I wouldn't pay, stand your ground and make sure at least one parent is sat with the child (at checkin - check the seat numbers and get them to sort it there hopefully). On the aircraft what happens is the cabin crew will move someone else (most reasonable adults would volunteer of course, but the cabin crew have the authority to insist that others move.)


I have to say that it has never happened to us that we have been allocated separated seats on any of the other airlines I have flown on - Ryanair, Easyjet, Thomson, BA - Thomas Cook do seem to be the exception here so I am making a note to avoid booking with them to avoid hassle in the future! Sounds like they are using fear of being separated to get people to cough up extra cash when they would have to move them on the aircraft anyway.

MasterPoo

OP I THINK I get your drift, however the onus is upon YOU to ensure the safety of your child, therefore you should've just paid to ensure you and your 4 year old were sat together without inconveniencing others who opted to pay. When the safety of my children or my comfort is in question, I don't think twice about paying premium prices! (yes I know that at times the principle !!!!es me off, but what are your priorities?)

Lesson learnt I think. I do hope you've paid for your return journey?

PeacefulWaters

Those who are saying the passenger should pay extra to ensure that their four year old is sat with them are talking nonsense.

shaun_from_Africa

But the CAA don't state that children should be seated together with their parents.
What they do say is that infants and young children should ideally be in the same row and not separated by more than one aisle.
If this can't be done that the children should be no more than one row from the responsible adult.

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Those who are saying the passenger should pay extra to ensure that their four year old is sat with them are talking nonsense.

Provided that the seats offered follow the CAA guidelines, then I don't see anything wrong with expecting passengers to pay extra to ensure that they are sat right beside their children.