not prepaying for virgin seats...am i being stupid?

[Lilly3580]

I've paid for 6 of is to sit together at £200 for 3 adults and 3 children. The flight is 9 hours and we've paid thousands for a family holiday, if we were split up my children wouldn't like it and it would start the holiday in a negative way. It's your decision but I wouldn't expect others to move when I had the choice to pre-book.

[peter+lynne]

or you could be like us and pay for seats and not get them.
we paid to sit in the bubble and where told we couldn't as the plane was empty and she had to balance out the passengers

[Dendycat]

I always pay but resent having to. I wouldn't settle for the flight knowing that my kids might be upset or I wouldn't be next to them if they needed help. If my child is sat next to a stranger then I couldnt (and shouldn't) rely on a stranger to prioritise my child's safety in case of an emergency.

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Originally Posted by Dendycat

I always pay but resent having to. I wouldn't settle for the flight knowing that my kids might be upset or I wouldn't be next to them if they needed help. If my child is sat next to a stranger then I couldnt (and shouldn't) rely on a stranger to prioritise my child's safety in case of an emergency.

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Unfortunately it will take an accident where a child separated from a parent dies/is injured for this issue to be corrected. Airlines will do nothing about the situation until they are forced to or face the negative publicity/public backlash over such an incident.

[mummyroo1]

Originally Posted by peter+lynne

or you could be like us and pay for seats and not get them.
we paid to sit in the bubble and where told we couldn't as the plane was empty and she had to balance out the passengers

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Yep us too, paid for 6 of us to sit together, ended up sat 16 rows apart. Wasn't too bad as kept as a 4 and a 2 but I was still really cross. My mum is a very nervous flyer and we were too far away from her, it really stressed her out and I had a very stressful last night of my holiday when I tried to do online check in the night before and realised they had split us and our pre-booked seats had become allocated at the gate! so even paying is no guarantee.

[Mrs dee]

Wow I've read so many threads on the dibb regarding this very subject. I've read horror stories of children being on their own and parents heavily complaining to be sat next to them. I've read of people having a child on their own sat next to them having been separated from the parents. They were then responsible for helping child open their meal etc etc. So in answer to the op, it seems you are not too fussed if you are separated and your child is sat away from you. It's not for me to judge - however in the scheme of things with kids the same age... I 100% have no problem paying £150 on a 10,000 holiday. It's nothing and I factor it in with the flight costs. I personally would not have my children sat away from me - not in a million years having experienced horrible turbulence and landings. My children my responsibility, my babies regardless of age and apart from that - I love chatting to my wee boy who's 8 <3 and nine hours is a long flight.
In answer to your question ... I was in the mco queue where parents were screaming at the check in staff to have them all sat together. Totally embarrassed themselves - if you want to be sat together it pays to pay 😉

[Bellasmummy]

We had no trouble getting seats together last August, 2ad 1ch booked 72 hours before.

I check the seat plan fairly often, if it looked as though I'd have trouble getting the seats I'd pay but that hasnt happened to date.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Dendycat

I always pay but resent having to. I wouldn't settle for the flight knowing that my kids might be upset or I wouldn't be next to them if they needed help. If my child is sat next to a stranger then I couldnt (and shouldn't) rely on a stranger to prioritise my child's safety in case of an emergency.

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It's like you looked inside my brain, Dendycat.


If my child is sat next to a stranger then I couldn't (and shouldn't) rely on that stranger to prioritise my child's safety in case of an emergency.

That ^^^ is the key thing for me. As flo-tinka said - at the very least join Flying Club to secure a 72-hour booking.

I have only been split up from DS once - he was 8. Our flight had been cancelled and they squeezed us on another one (the last out that night) - so I couldn't really complain. Once on the plane, I asked the stewardess and she said I could ask the other passengers if they would be willing to move. In our case we were lucky, and a kind man WAS willing - but you just can't rely on that.

I'm with you, though - I absolutely LOATHE having to pay for seat selection. But surely better safe than sorry when you're travelling with kids.

[dietcokebreak]

Originally Posted by Behappy

If I'm paying thousands to go to Florida, £150 isn't worth the upset imo.

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Totally agree

[tinytots]

The airlines should not put this extar cost onto its passengers but they do. It preys on families who want to have a guarantee. I pay it for peace of mind. It would ruin my holiday if we were not sat together. The cost pales into significance for what you've paid for the holiday.