Thomas Cook Package Holiday

Pollycat

maman wrote: »

Thanks for that. So OP would have known that if he didn't pay for a reservation when he booked then he'd have seats allocated but that would be whatever's left 24 hours before departure.

So he got his 5 allocated seats but is furious because they aren't 5 seats all together!

He'll know what to do next time. Reserve seats early and get exactly what you want.

Yes, the OP would have known that he could book seats at the time of booking.
It's very clear.
You can buy a bundle (extra luggage, choose seats, in-flight meals) or just opt for 'choose seats'.

He opted not to pay:

radoslaff wrote: »

For some people here it's not a problem to pay £50-60 more per direction after they've already paid for a package holiday and probably these people are supposed to go to a "rich men forum".

I've just done a dummy booking for a random destination in September and it's surprising how many seats are already booked.

radoslaff wrote: »

I think I've read about this referred as a "family tax" paid to the airlines or something like that and Martin Lewis has been fighting it. I'm not only moaning and I'm going to make a big fuss out of it. And if more people start to confront being ripped off just because they have children, this could eventually come to an end. Only time will show.

It's not a 'family tax'.
Lots of people without children opt to pay extra to choose their seats.
The advantage of travelling with children and choosing not to pay for seats together is that the airline will do their best to seat you sensibly with what available seats are left.
A couple who've not paid may find themselves sat at opposite ends of the plane.

holidaysforme

No big deal. Just swap the seats around, otherwise you need to pay to ensure you all sit together.

maman

Pollycat wrote: »

I've just done a dummy booking for a random destination in September and it's surprising how many seats are already booked.

Thanks for confirming that. It doesn't surprise me. I booked seats in October for a June flight.:)


OP might see it as a 'family tax' but, if anything, families are being given preferential treatment over adult groups because there's an expectation on the airline to put the care of OP's children as a priority. Even if he chooses to leave it to chance rather than pay.

Pollycat

This is what CAA says:

Families, children and infants

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. 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.

http://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/on-board/seating-allocation/

Thomas Cook have been pretty silly by not seating one adult in row 3 with two of the children and the other adult in row 38 with the other child.
I wonder if this was computer generated and the fact that 3 out of 5 passengers were children not recognised.

However, it really is very simply sorted out.

And I really do doubt that TC T&Cs state that you must sit in the seat allocated to you - regardless of what the OP thinks.

meer53

Coming back from Turkey 3 weeks ago, my daughter and i and another couple ended up with 6 seats between us so we all moved and had 3 seats per couple. None of us ended up in our allocated seats.

Pollycat

meer53 wrote: »

Coming back from Turkey 3 weeks ago, my daughter and i and another couple ended up with 6 seats between us so we all moved and had 3 seats per couple. None of us ended up in our allocated seats.

Yes, well, according to the OP, that's against the t&C's...:whistle:

maman

meer53 wrote: »

Coming back from Turkey 3 weeks ago, my daughter and i and another couple ended up with 6 seats between us so we all moved and had 3 seats per couple. None of us ended up in our allocated seats.

My experience is that they check boarding cards when you get on. But I think that's more for a final check that you're on the right flight. Telling you where to find your seat is just a courtesy and to get things organised . I've only ever known cabin crew to get involved if someone's in the wrong seat or occasionally to assist if someone's asked if they can move.

Pollycat

My OH is generally lead passenger and if flying short haul we ask for window/middle seat at check-in, so he is always allocated the window seat.
But I always sit in the window seat - thereby 'breaking the rules' according to the OP.

Has cabin crew ever asked to see our boarding passes once we're sat in our seats?
Of course not.

peachyprice

maman wrote: »

My experience is that they check boarding cards when you get on. But I think that's more for a final check that you're on the right flight. Telling you where to find your seat is just a courtesy and to get things organised . I've only ever known cabin crew to get involved if someone's in the wrong seat or occasionally to assist if someone's asked if they can move.

The only flights I have ever been on where you can't change seats without asking and can be told to go back to your booked seat are the short haul Flybe flights on Dash 8 propeller planes I regularly take, that's because they're so tiny that changing seats can upset the balance (although swapping with another passenger would be fine). I don't think Thomas Cook have any of those

Tigsteroonie

I think I understand the point of posting this - why would TC decide to group 3 children together, then 2 adults together but in a different location? Surely TC when allocating the seats would think - group of five - 1 adult & 2 children, 1 adult & 1 child. It's the way that TC have split the group that's nonsensical, not the fact that they did.