Vent, Tui, Thomsons.

knightstyle

So we have now got our boarding passes but had to pay extra to sit together! The plane is only about 1/3 full but we had to pay £10 each per flight to sit next to each other.
What a rip off, I will avoid this company in future.
Is this now the norm for holiday flights?

theonlywayisup

Lots of airlines charge for seat selection.

Either factor it into the cost of the holiday or take the lottery and sit where they tell you.

richardw

They need the extra revenue stream.

nomoneytoday

Either pay the £ or take a chance where you sit..


On a 1/3 filled plane you could probably move after take off, but if it's full you'd be separated.

PeacefulWaters

richardw wrote: »

They need the extra revenue stream.

"need" - might be a tad absolute that statement.

knightstyle wrote: »

So we have now got our boarding passes but had to pay extra to sit together! The plane is only about 1/3 full but we had to pay £10 each per flight to sit next to each other.
What a rip off, I will avoid this company in future.
Is this now the norm for holiday flights?

Yes. And for most other airlines including BA.

Nick_C

knightstyle wrote: »

So we have now got our boarding passes but had to pay extra to sit together! The plane is only about 1/3 full but we had to pay £10 each per flight to sit next to each other.
What a rip off, I will avoid this company in future.
Is this now the norm for holiday flights?

Did they allocate seats that were not together? That's unusual. TUI normally seat you together where they can. Although together may be either side of an aisle.

BA also normally seat you together where they can.

AFAIK, it is only Ryaniar who make a point of splitting you up if you don't cough up for the seat selection fee.

Pollycat

knightstyle wrote: »

So we have now got our boarding passes but had to pay extra to sit together! The plane is only about 1/3 full but we had to pay £10 each per flight to sit next to each other.
What a rip off, I will avoid this company in future.
Is this now the norm for holiday flights?

Perhaps you'd be better checking what other airlines do about sitting together before cutting your nose off to spite your face.
Or you might be limiting yourself to more expensive airlines or travelling by bus.

Caz3121

Becoming more and more common these days, you will find fewer airlines give free seat selection
I tend to compare the total price to include baggage and seats when comparing carriers (I get free seat selection on some airlines due to status but that can sometimes work out more expensive that buying a base fare elsewhere and adding a seat)

NoodleDoodleMan

I challenged a flight operator to justify the policy of charging extra for a block of unallocated (normal grade) seats when booking for a larger party, especially with kids.

This was escalated direct to the managing director - cut to the chase - we got these seats together without additional payment.

It worked again about a year later for another holiday, same procedure.

There is no justification of course - there is absolutely no reason why seats not already allocated at the time of a booking can't be reserved by that customer.

The time honoured "first come, first served" - except the airline can't screw punters for more money.

bagand96

AFAIK, it is only Ryaniar who make a point of splitting you up if you don't cough up for the seat selection fee.

Jet2 certainly did it, not sure of they do still.

Only on their flight only bookings though, they are a little nicer to their Jet2Holidays customers, and will try and persuade you to pay, but will allocate you together if available.

zagfles

Nick_C wrote: »

Did they allocate seats that were not together? That's unusual. TUI normally seat you together where they can. Although together may be either side of an aisle.

BA also normally seat you together where they can.

AFAIK, it is only Ryaniar who make a point of splitting you up if you don't cough up for the seat selection fee.

Yes we were sat together on Thomson without paying extra. The fee is for seat selection, eg if you particularly want to sit in a certain area of the plane. They'll usually put you together even if you don't pay. Ryanair seem to be the only ones that won't try to sit you together if you don't select seats.

Also no airline will guarantee you'll get the seats you selected even if you paid. There's always a clause in the T&C's saying they can move you.