First Choice Airways- family seating policy

jyonda

Hi, we are flying with First Choice and would like to know if it's worth paying to guarantee being sat together. We are a family of four , 2 adults, a 4 year old and a one year old with her own seat. Surely it would be nuts to sit us apart so why bother paying for the 'guarantee'. I did speak to them and they said they 'might' even sit the 4 year old separately which has got to be illegal!
If anyone has some insight or experience in this area please let us know.
cheers

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

I used to work for a major airline, and ground handled for a few others and we would never ever have sat a 4 yr old or a 1 yr old on their own....if there is an emergency....sheeshhh it isnt worth the airline doing that.

make sure u dont get to check in late and even if u cant get 4 together u should be able to get 2 x 2 so a kid can be sat with an adult at least, failing that u get on board and says ok who will please help me and move seats so i can be sat with my kid who suffers from severe plane sickness????? if no one offers u say to the person they are sat next to, ok here are the sick bags, good luck lol...I had this problem once and just said ok but my child is very very shy and will scream the whole flight if she has to sit next to a strange man...and what do u know the husband who was being adamant about not sitting next to his wife got up and went and sat next to her lol

Zazen999

Yeah - just make a fuss - nobody likes a fuss.

I do it all the time and usually get what I want. To make it easier, try and check in earlier if you can.

No airline in their right mind would surely split up a family with 2 kids???

Scratch that - nothing would surprise me.

Enjoy the holiday.

Engadine

I was airline cabin crew for 11 years, it used to happen quite often that families were split up, especially when they were one of the last to check in. If you haven't prebooked your seats then it is down to when you turn up at check in. If you turn up early, ie when check in opens you should be ok.

The remaining seats that are not prebooked are then on a first come first served basis. If you haven't prebooked the seats and end up being one of the last to check in then the chances of 4 seats together are very slim.

If you were split up and your 4 year old was sitting alone then they cabin crew would then have to try to find other passengers willing to move seats to allow either you or your wife to sit with the 4 year old. It's not illegal but for safety reasons the crew would not be happy having a 4 year old sat apart from the rest of the family.

When I was crew it used to be a nightmare trying to get other passengers to move as often if meant them being split up from their family.

hammy_the_hammer

as far as i know it's only CAA guidance regarding not having children sitting on their own ....as people have testified if you turn up early you should be ok getting 4 of you together ....however on the safety / practicality issue they really would consider it 'job done' if they sit you in two's (adult+child)anywhere on the plane.

jyonda

So if we check in really, really early then we should be OK then??? Even being sat 2 and 2 would be bad. 3 and 1 might be OK as one of us adults can get some peace and quiet!

Becles

First Choice and Airtours split families up. Here's what happened to me!

With Airtours, the mini bus to the airport broke down. There was 5 of us going from the hotel - me and my ex, and a couple with a son. We were the last people to get to the airport and they were holding check-in open for us! Me and ex checked in, and got 2 seats together, but when the family checked in, they were given 3 random seats. As I didn't think it was right for the little boy to be separated, we gave him and his mother our seats together, and we took the random ones.

So when we travelled to Mexico with First Choice in 2006, I pre-booked seating as I didn't want to end up in a situation like before. The bus came and took us to the airport, but we were towards the back of the queue. On arrival at the check in desk, we were allocated 2 sets of 2 seats which were on opposite sides of the plane. I explained we had paid for pre-booked seating, but the clerk said we were not on the list. He refused to do anything, even though I produced the First Choice invoice showing the payment!

A supervisor was called. He had a look and said we were not on the list. He said he would make enquiries and told us to stand to one side. The rest of the flight continued to check in, until we were the only ones left. The supervisor came back and said he had not been able to contact First Choice, and our flight was bording now. We had to take the 4 random seats that were left, and literally run through passport control etc., to the gate.

We got on the plane and I told the stewardess what had happened, and said I was unhappy as we were all split up after I specifically paid for group seating. She told us to stand in the alcove where the toilet is and once everyone was seated, they managed to move people around so we did get to sit together.

After 2 bad experiences, I would certainly pay for group seating in the future, and always carry the holiday invoice so you can prove what you have paid for. It is worth it IMO for peace of mind.

poet123

What about the child protection issue? would the airline not be liable if a 4 year old were seated seperately and was molested by the passenger next to her/him? Dodgy ground I would have said.

jyonda

On the way out we can control what time we get to the checkin but on the way back we're at the mercy of the hotel transfer and the local checkin clerk. It's a ten hour flight and I don't want to spend the entire holiday worrying about not being sat together but then Becles paid for it and even then didn't get it allocated at the desk! It is annoying to have to fork out extra for common sense.... oh what to do?!

dmg24

How much is prebooked seating? I would weigh that up against the cost of your peace of mind x

jyonda

60 quid. 2x20 for adults and 2x10 for kids. How anyone can charge to guarantee an infant and a four year old sit with their parents on a plane is beyond me. I do have 60 quid and my peace of mind is worth 60 quid but it galls me...