Families should not pay to sit together on plane says MP

[rob@rar.org.uk]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_2133000/2133869.stm

Just seems like common sense to me, but airlines do like to screw as much money out of us as possible...

Regards

Rob

 

[BevS97]

It's just a scare tactic - as it says in the article they always try and seat families together anyway - but they tell you that you might be separated and your 2 year old will have to sit all by herself halfway across the plane - so you pay.

In reality this will never happen - even if you checked in late and there were no more seats together left, they would swap people around on the plane rather than have kids sitting alone.

personally, I have never paid for this 'extra service' and I have never had any problems with seating.

Bev

 

[lisag1]

I agree with you Bev and I have also never paid for pre-allocated seats. I'd like to see them try to seat me away from my children.....

Lisa

 

[alexandra uk]

Well I've been a sucker and paid for it
I'm going with dp and 14 month old ds, and I could'nt of coped if they had split me and dp up.
I'm dreading the flight with ds as it is -

The thought did cross my mind not to pay for it.
I thought "would they really split a family up" But I went ahead and paid anyway.
The biggest rip off is that I had to pay a further £25- on top of our £50- for ds to pre allocate. And they are already charging me full adult price for his seat. ( when i think he should of been charged childs price, especially as hs only 14 months )

If I was to phone up and cancel, do you think there would be a fee ? Or if they would allow me to cancel it at all ?
I really don't want it now - I feel ripped off

 

[lisag1]

Alexandra,

You normally only pay approx £40 - £90 for an infant to travel providing they are seating on your knee (disgusting really!).

I would contact the Travel Agent and find out why you've paid full price.

Lisa

 

[alexandra uk]

I'm paying £239 for him because he is having his carseat on flight.
It will be alot easier that way as he is familiar with it.
I'm annoyed because child places are around £89 - £129 and they get a seat. Yet I've got to pay full ADULT price for my infant

Its just not on

 

[lisag1]

We decided last year to buy a seat for our 18m old, something we hadn't done before as we've always had the babies sitting on our lap. Wow the difference, he slept, I was able to eat etc for that I didn't mind paying for! Are you going chartered or scheduled as we only paid approx £170 last year with Virgin.

Lisa

 

[alexandra uk]

We're going chartered with airtours.
You would expect airtours to be a little cheaper than virgin. #
How did you cope with the flight with your little one? What did u do to entertain him/her?

134 to go

 

[alexandra uk]

How did u cope with the flight with your little one Lisa ?
What did u do to entertain him/her ?

 

[lisag1]

Hi Alex,

One of the reasons we go scheduled is because of the child prices. I was given a quote for October of £540 with Airtours for each of including our 2yo!!! In the end we paid approx £430 ad, £220 children with Virgin.

We actually have 3 little 'uns and last year I went to ELC to get all their goodies (mini magna doodle, sticker books, mini duplo setc, walkmans & story tapes etc). We wrapped each toy up as a little present and packed them up in a rucksack for each of them to carry. Adam was 18m, Elliot 3yo, Cameron 5yo - they were all really pleased and guess what I did?? You guessed it I forgot to pick them up in the rush - aaaarrrrgggghhh!! I was gutted, Virgin saved the day as they are given a K-Id bag with a few bits but the main thing was the seat-back TV's with a dedicated children's channel it really saved the day!! Phew

We also took lots of choc/snacks to bribe them with and an endless supply of dummies!

Lisa

 

[alexandra uk]

I'd definately consider going with virgin the next time we fly.
People I've spoken to who've flown with them are really impressed.

I'll have a look in ELC for some toys. I've looked in the Argos and Index cat. , and theres not much in there thats small and suitable for the plane.

 

[BevS97]

Alex,

at 14 months there's not a lot really that he will be able to do on the plane - my dd liked sticker books at 18 months, but probably still a little young at 14.

I would take some books to look through - maybe some crayons if he likes to color - does he like music? We took a walkman which worked well - a 14 month old probably wouldn't wear headphone's, but you could put them near him in the carseat and he should be able to head a little bit.

Have you booked a package, or a fly-drive? None of the charters give good deals for kids on the fly-drives, although the are better on packages. I think an infant should count as a child, but it seems common practice that they don't.

Bev

 

[alexandra uk]

We've booked a charter package. Next time I would like to go schedueld. Although I suppose I should give this holiday a chance first

The baby does like music, he likes to bounce up & down to it, so a walkman would be a good idea .
Thanks

 

[alexandra uk]

I've just phoned Travel city and canceled the preallocated seats and the flight meals. ( I thought they were a bit of a rip off at £15 per head )
All in all I've saved £120
We'll have a good breakfast before boarding, and be ready to eat a horse by the time we arrive
I just hope they sell something other than crisps and chocolate on the flight. Will they let me take my own food on the plane ?

 

[alexandra uk]

Now I've been on the website, and it says meals are included in the flight price, but they still tryed to charge £15 pp extra.
I've phoned them and been told that yes meals are included. So if I had paid for meals and not checked the website, they would have had £45 off me for nothing. So just be careful and check.

113 to go

 

[WDWfan uk]

I do feel strongly about this........ it should be expected that families sit together. let alone have to pay for "the privilege" - except perhaps if you have a large group with more than one immediate family.

BUT......We have had experience of scheduled airlines trying to split us up - both BA and Virgin!

This was in spite of calling in advance ( more than once) to ensure our seats were together, children's meals booked etc. before both journeys.

In fact, in '95, I stood my ground for 3 HOURS at Miami airport arguing with this woman who insisted that my FOUR YEAR OLD son and my 7 year old son would be fine on their own ... " You can visit them once the plane has taken off" AND "Nine hours isn't too long, especially if they sleep". [ I should add that they were expecting each of us - all four - to sit alone in different parts of the cabin!!!]

Welllllllllllll ............ Okay, now she had gone way too far with me, so with 20 minutes before take off, I insisted on seeing the top person ...... we got two together in Club Class and two together in what would have been Club if they'd had enough Club class to fill it....... yes..... they were sitting amongst empty seats in the front of the plane.