MSE News: Scrap 'family tax' that pushes parents to pay to sit next to kids

PepperT

Martin - you're missing Virgin Atlantic from the very tippety top of your table - they want £25 per person (each way) for a transatlantic flight. That's a 5% premium on the already expensive ticket price.
To all of the nay-sayers out there, imagine that you're booking a romantic night at the theatre and just after you've clicked 'buy-it-now' you get asked if you'd like to pay extra to ensure that you sit next to your date!! It doesn't happen - why - because quite simply you select your seats at the time of booking and you expect to get those seats as part of your ticket purchase.

callum9999

PepperT wrote: »

Martin - you're missing Virgin Atlantic from the very tippety top of your table - they want £25 per person (each way) for a transatlantic flight. That's a 5% premium on the already expensive ticket price.
To all of the nay-sayers out there, imagine that you're booking a romantic night at the theatre and just after you've clicked 'buy-it-now' you get asked if you'd like to pay extra to ensure that you sit next to your date!! It doesn't happen - why - because quite simply you select your seats at the time of booking and you expect to get those seats as part of your ticket purchase.

Theatres however are terrible at transporting you across the Atlantic.

rih2010

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

If you've not prebooked seats with Ryanair you can't check in until 7 days prior.

I don't see why any kind-hearted person who paid to choose their seat should move just because you didn't think it was your responsibility to ensure you're sat with your family. Maybe if you paid them what they'd paid they would think more kindly of you?

My kindness doesn't extend that far I'm afraid. If I've paid to choose where to sit and who with, I'm not moving for someone that couldn't be bothered to do the same.

You're correct. Ryanair is seven days and probably was when we flew with them last October. We still got three seats together on full flights to and from Majorca in the half term holidays. This year we will check in as soon as it opens on-line again. If it doesn't work out then in future maybe I'll consider pre-booking seats. Until then I'll continue.

I'd like to think that the booking system would recognise children in each travelling party and factor that in when planning who sits where so they are always sat next to at least one adult from the same party. (Wouldn't really work for school trips though!)

shaun_from_Africa

PepperT wrote: »

Martin - you're missing Virgin Atlantic from the very tippety top of your table - they want £25 per person (each way) for a transatlantic flight. That's a 5% premium on the already expensive ticket price

Expensive?
I'm flying to Orlando on the 1st June with Virgin and my return fare is £529. That's roughly £30 per flying hour and includes meals, drinks and a checked baggage allowance. How much per hour is the theatre once you include food and drink?
If you wanted to fly across the atlantic in the 50s or 60s, in relative terms it would have been many times more expensive and long haul air travel was generally restricted to the wealthy or business travellers.
A relative of mine is off to New York in November and this flight is costing them £403 return (Iceland Air).

Natbag

For those single or child-free people moaning that they'll be penalised if this fee gets added to the ticket price, please don't forget that on the flip side, you're probably able to holiday during school term time and so already benefit from far cheaper air fares that are only available on selected dates (unless you work in education, then you have my sympathies). Parents of school-age children are already penalised either by the airline in the way of much higher ticket prices for having to fly in the school holidays/peak time, or by their local authority in the way of a hefty fine if they travel during school term time.
I won't pay for allocated seating. Affording four flights in the school holidays is already very expensive and adding extras such as allocated seating, checked-in baggage and on-board meals for us all just puts it out of reach. When travelling with the kids, we've always been seated/able to sit together, or at least one child with one parent and the other pair close by, and when travelling as a couple and we'd been split up, we have just either moved to spare seats or asked politely if a single traveller will swap and it's never been a problem. Even if we couldn't be seated together, it's just a few hours of your holiday/life, it's not the end of the world - read a book and enjoy the break lol!

Natbag

Oh and for those whining about the possibility of getting sat next to a stray child, it's economy seating - a tiny space, packed with as many seats as will fit. The chances are you will be sat next to or very close to someone who annoys you. The only solution is to either buy and reserve tickets for the whole row/section, or take a private jet lol. Everyone has the same aim - to go on a nice, enjoyable, affordable holiday, just relax, and make the best of it.

gettingtheresometime

All I have to say is that my hubby has never read MSE let alone this thread!!!

We're going on a fly/cruise later in the year. Friday he had a phone call asking if we would move FLIGHT as a family of 4 for some reason wanted to fly together but 2 were on one flight and the other 2 were on our flight.

He agreed and when I asked what they were offering as an incentive he said all he wanted to know was what it meant in terms of time wise (turns out our new flight is only 15 mins later than our original one) .....could have at least asked for an upgrade!

Mike-H_3

Thomson asking me to pay £114 to 'select' seats or I risk my family being sat anywhere on the plane.


This is a stealth charge on families. I understand singles and couples may not care where they sit or would prefer to pay for extra leg room. Parents do not want their children sat next to strangers.


Thomson (TUI) claim it is a 'cost' not included in the holiday price. Absolute rubbish. The customer logs in, the customer 'selects seat, the customer then has to pay for this. The only cost to TUI is developing a website to manage this.


This is nothing more than a large company making more profit under the guise of providing an extra service.

leylandsunaddict

Mike-H wrote: »

Thomson asking me to pay £114 to 'select' seats or I risk my family being sat anywhere on the plane.


This is a stealth charge on families. I understand singles and couples may not care where they sit or would prefer to pay for extra leg room. Parents do not want their children sat next to strangers.


Thomson (TUI) claim it is a 'cost' not included in the holiday price. Absolute rubbish. The customer logs in, the customer 'selects seat, the customer then has to pay for this. The only cost to TUI is developing a website to manage this.


This is nothing more than a large company making more profit under the guise of providing an extra service.

It's not a stealth charge on families. It's a choice and anyone that wants to be sat with someone else has to pay it. It's not just familes. Nervous flyers, tall people that need specific seats, elderly people that may need help etc etc.

The cost isn't included. It's an optional extra. If they included it in the price everyone would have to pay for it whether they wanted that service or not. For those that choose to book package holidays they get luggage included but flight only on charters and budgets you pay for luggage. It's a choice. Al a carte pricing helps to keep the base price down. Novel concept, but companies are in business to make money. Keeping the base price down and allowing people to add what they want is fair all around.

You knew about it when you booked, so if it's so wrong, why did you book with them? If you don't like it, in future book with an airline that doesn't charge, but that will rule out Thomas Cook, Monarch, Jet2, Ryanair, Easyjet, BA and Virgin for starters.

Why do people with kids always think it's about them! :mad:

stoneman

999pez wrote: »

As a parent of 2 teenaged kids, if I had booked a budget flight, I think it's fair enough to pay to sit together. I think with budget airlines you have to expect to pay for everything extra - it's how they keep the basic prices so low.
However, I'm a bit concerned about comments on here about BA. We've paid nearly £4000 for 4 tickets on BA to Orlando in August at rip off school holiday prices. I'd be disappointed if we have to pay extra to sit together.

So now there is a "rip off" price for parents who have kids in school as well. Holiday time is peak to Orlando for that reason, the kids are out of school. So ticket prices will be naturally higher as demand is greater. I fly to places in the summer that aren't frequented by families and don't see much change in fares because demand remains steady.
And I am afraid yes, you will have to pay to make sure you sit together unless you have status (apart from 24 hours before departure when you can choose your seats for free). This is because BA value their more frequent fliers by giving them first dabs at seats. Even in Clubworld where a ticket can cost upwards of £2.5K if you were not at least Silver you would be asked to pay, as much as £80 one way if you wanted to sit on the upper deck.

PS: BA are not the only airline who fly to MCO