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

benjus

zagfles wrote: »

No you would not, for reasons I explained in my PP. Did you even read it properly or were you still in rant mode?

In reality many airlines already have this policy which MSE are campaigning for, eg Easyjet, who according to the article will guarantee parents are sat with children. Yet they still have an optional charge to select your seats, it is not included in the ticket price. So no-one is forced to pay it.

I don't have any other modes

I can see something like Ryanair's 2-tier system where you pay a lower fee to choose a seat or a higher fee to choose a "premium" seat replaced with a system where everyone pays the lower fare and chooses where they sit and you just pay extra if you want a "premium" seat.

Maybe I'm wrong...

zagfles

benjus wrote: »

I don't have any other modes

I can see something like Ryanair's 2-tier system where you pay a lower fee to choose a seat or a higher fee to choose a "premium" seat replaced with a system where everyone pays the lower fare and chooses where they sit and you just pay extra if you want a "premium" seat.

Maybe I'm wrong...

You are. You're confusing a guarantee that a child will be sat with a parent for safety reasons (and which should also apply to anyone with special needs), with the ability to select your seat. They are completely different things.

The former means basic safety is catered for. The latter means you can chosse a window seat/aisle seat, you can choose to sit at the front of the plane, you can choose an extra legroom seat, you can choose to sit next to a travel companion who you don't need to sit next to for safety reasons.

Easyjet do this already. You have to pay if you want to select your seat (any seat). But children are guaranteed to be sat with parents. It works. It's nothing like the credit card charge issue.

rih2010

Our daughter is seven. This year my missus and I have return flights booked with WizzAir and Ryanair for our hols and on none of the four flights have I pre-booked seats.
In our experience, we have checked-in on-line on the day it opens - usually around 30 days before the flight - and we have always been allocated three seats together. I can't see this year being any different.
We haven't been let down yet and I'd like to think that, if the worst happens, some kind-hearted person would be sympathetic to our cause and move to allow two of us to sit together.

globalds

rih2010 wrote: »

Our daughter is seven. This year my missus and I have return flights booked with WizzAir and Ryanair for our hols and on none of the four flights have I pre-booked seats.
In our experience, we have checked-in on-line on the day it opens - usually around 30 days before the flight - and we have always been allocated three seats together. I can't see this year being any different.
We haven't been let down yet and I'd like to think that, if the worst happens, some kind-hearted person would be sympathetic to our cause and move to allow two of us to sit together.

so what if ?
You were sat apart & If no one felt sympathetic ?

zagfles

rih2010 wrote: »

Our daughter is seven. This year my missus and I have return flights booked with WizzAir and Ryanair for our hols and on none of the four flights have I pre-booked seats.
In our experience, we have checked-in on-line on the day it opens - usually around 30 days before the flight - and we have always been allocated three seats together. I can't see this year being any different.
We haven't been let down yet and I'd like to think that, if the worst happens, some kind-hearted person would be sympathetic to our cause and move to allow two of us to sit together.

I would (and have done).

But you're very unlikely to have a problem in the first place. Worst case would be one of you with your daughter and the other somewhere else. But even that's unlikely. Ignore all the scare stories.

Andy_50

MSE the likely outcome of this campaign is that prices will rise if you suceed AKA when people complained about the delta between female/male car insurance premiums for young drivers. Brussels agreed this was discriminatory and the EU Gender Directive came in to force raisng premiums for female drivers.

Its called life choices, if you don't want to pay it take a chance (chances are that you'll get 2 x 2)seats together, pay for a premium airline or don't go, I pay more for a train ticket to London in the South East and might not even get a seat!

Yes and I have 2 kids who like many other kids on plane flights are on their iPods/phones/electonic devices ignoring any parent.

martinpcraven

Airlines are looking for ANY way in which to charge their customer for anything other than oxygen. Easy and Ryan started the rend and even the big ones like Virgin Atlantic are now charging to 'pre-allocate your seat (up to 72 hrs before departure if you are a Flying Club Member). This is under the auspices that their customers "want to have this privilege". Scratch the "hype" and you can smell the "bull****" lurking beneath!

We shouldn't be surprised that Stealth Taxing is here to stay as it enables companies to hike prices in the name of "freedom of choice"

Mr_and_Mrs_Perky

We have booked to go on holiday in October and have been charged an extra £95 (£19 per person) so that we can sit together. As we are flying at 11pm on the return flight, I felt that I had no option but to pay the extra so that I can be there for my kids and try and settle them as they haven't flown much and my youngest daughter has autism.

Very unfair but I thought this was the norm when flying with tour operators. If I had known it wasn't I would have went else where! but too late now as it's fully paid (apart from the added fee for the allocated seats)


Mrs Perky xx

Pollycat

Mr_and_Mrs_Perky wrote: »

We have booked to go on holiday in October and have been charged an extra £95 (£19 per person) so that we can sit together. As we are flying at 11pm on the return flight, I felt that I had no option but to pay the extra so that I can be there for my kids and try and settle them as they haven't flown much and my youngest daughter has autism.

Very unfair but I thought this was the norm when flying with tour operators. If I had known it wasn't I would have went else where! but too late now as it's fully paid (apart from the added fee for the allocated seats)


Mrs Perky xx

How did you book your holiday?

When I've booked online, the option to pay for seats together or to choose your own seat has always been very clear on the websites I've used.

If you booked in a travel agent or over the phone, you should have been made aware that choosing to sit together is a chargeable option and it's entirely your choice whether to pay this or not.

mb356

This issue is wider than just a charge for family's to sit together. Airlines are hiding charges and preying on peoples perceived uncertainty that they will not be able to sit together.

We flew to Florida in February with BA who charged £30 to book an inside seat and £33 for outside seats - each way! For the 3 of us that was a total extra charge of £180/£198! There is no cost to the airline to allow people to book seats (on-line), in fact it saves them time/money. This is just a cynical attempt to make their headline flight price look cheap by adding this charge on after you have booked.

My analogy would be if you order something over the internet and after you have paid for it you get the option - "if you want to be certain that we bother to put it in the post or wrap it properly you will have to pay an additional £10"!

MSE should be pushing to get this charge outlawed. Everybody should be able to select seats for free after they have booked and paid for their flight. The airline should then follow the CAA guidelines to try to sit children and parents together if there is an issue for the late bookings.