Airline Seat Reservations

nulladave

Hi All,

My family and I are travelling with Tui in August and I'm wondering whether I can 'hack' the seat reservation process. It's £12 per person per flight, so an additional £96 on top for the 4 of us. Tui state that they will always seat children with at least one parent in the same row, or not more than one row in front or behind.

So, I'm wondering if I can book two adult seats in a particular part of the plane where there is no option other than to seat my children next to me or my partner.

On the picture, Rows 7 & 9 are fully booked, but row 8 has 4 spare seats (8C-8F). If I booked one adult in seat 8C and one in 8D, will the booking system realise that there are two child seats required and automatically block out seats 8E & 8F? There are no seats in the row in front or behind or in the same row, so it should; based on their booking policy, block out the other two seats. But is the Tui booking system that intuitive?



Please note, this is just an idea. I won't be taking the risk of not sitting with my kids for the sake of £50, I'm just wondering if anyone has tried this before and if so, what was the outcome? Chances are, I will wait until check-in opens to book the seats for free, but will be keeping an close eye on the bookings and if the seats appear to be filling up, I'll reserve them in advance.

Thanks

TELLIT01

I suspect that if you try to book a seat the system will require you to book seats for all passengers.  How old are the children as the seating with a parent requirement is age dependent.

nulladave

TELLIT01 said:

I suspect that if you try to book a seat the system will require you to book seats for all passengers.  How old are the children as the seating with a parent requirement is age dependent.

I've checked this and gone right through to payment and the website hasn't flagged an issue.

They are both under 10. The age limit is 12 with Tui.

la531983

I suspect it wouldnt be that clever, and then what would happen is someone would come along, legitimately book seats 8E and 8F, which could then lead to an uncomfortable standoff on the plane where people who have paid for seats are being asked to move. I certainly wouldnt, its not my problem if you decided to try and game the system and it failed. Nor are your children my problem either.

So in conclusion, I wouldnt try, could lead to issues further down the line.

Westin

nulladave said:

TELLIT01 said:

I suspect that if you try to book a seat the system will require you to book seats for all passengers.  How old are the children as the seating with a parent requirement is age dependent.

I've checked this and gone right through to payment and the website hasn't flagged an issue.

They are both under 10. The age limit is 12 with Tui.

It must have changed then as it used to be a requirement for all or none to take the pre-assignment option.

If you can navigate this work around then every chance 8EF might be selected by a couple prior to the free options being available.  The kids might be then allocated elsewhere with the two parents in 8CD having to later move to accommodate a child with each parent, so mum have one child close (8CD) and the other parent and child elsewhere in the cabin.

In the grand scheme of things would you not be better just having peace of mind now and paying the £12 pp and know you are all in a row together?

eskbanker

nulladave said:

On the picture, Rows 7 & 9 are fully booked, but row 8 has 4 spare seats (8C-8F). If I booked one adult in seat 8C and one in 8D, will the booking system realise that there are two child seats required and automatically block out seats 8E & 8F? There are no seats in the row in front or behind or in the same row, so it should; based on their booking policy, block out the other two seats. But is the Tui booking system that intuitive?

As above, booking C&D would leave a pair free at E&F, so if you were to try the subset route, it would make more sense to book C&E or D&F, thereby leaving two single seats, which would probably be less appealing for anyone else choosing in advance.

la531983

I mean, it would make more sense just to book all four and not leave it to chance....