Booked a holiday as a family of 4 but not sitting together?

Booked a holiday as a family of 4 but not sitting together?

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rich12

Original Poster:

3,461 posts

153 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
I booked a holiday package through love holiday for us 4 (2 adults, 2 young kids).

When I got the email confirmation through, the flights came in 2 emails rather than one. For some reason, i'm at one end of the plane with my daughter and my wife is at the other with my son.

Surely this should've just been booked as one and we would all be together?
I know you can pay £15 or whatever to book seats but I don't care where we are and assumed you book as a 4 so at the very minimum, your allocated seats are next to each other.

Of course if i'm in the wrong, i'll just have to pay even more money just to sit together but surely if the agent booked it as one, the seats would be together?

SS2.

14,455 posts

237 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
Have you phoned the airline to see if they'd be happy to (or are able to) allocate you 4 seats which are closer together ?

eybic

9,212 posts

173 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
Some say that the airlines do this on purpose so you pay extra to be seated together, true or not I don't know but it's believable.

Robertj21a

16,475 posts

104 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
rich12 said:
I booked a holiday package through love holiday for us 4 (2 adults, 2 young kids).

When I got the email confirmation through, the flights came in 2 emails rather than one. For some reason, i'm at one end of the plane with my daughter and my wife is at the other with my son.

Surely this should've just been booked as one and we would all be together?
I know you can pay £15 or whatever to book seats but I don't care where we are and assumed you book as a 4 so at the very minimum, your allocated seats are next to each other.

Of course if i'm in the wrong, i'll just have to pay even more money just to sit together but surely if the agent booked it as one, the seats would be together?
I'm sure this is done on purpose if you haven't paid to sit together.

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

209 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
Allegedly Ryanair split a number of couples by default on each aircraft unless they've paid up front to chose particular seats.

Last two flights I've been on all they've actually done is sat Mrs A with Mr B and Mr A next to Mrs B. Simple enough to start a conversation to see if that's the case and swap round to sit next to your partner when the seatbelt sign goes off.

Does depend on how fit Mrs B is though... scratchchin

rich12

Original Poster:

3,461 posts

153 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
This is 100% done on purpose, why else would they do the booking in 2 parts?
They confirm the flights with Ryanair for 4 people and job done right? I can't think of a single reason why it would be done in 2 parts except for this exact reason.


The Leaper

4,937 posts

205 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
rich12 said:
assumed you book as a 4 so at the very minimum, your allocated seats are next to each other.
Wrong assumption! Been like this quite a while now with several airlines.

Also if you have opted for the cheapest quote, especially via a booking agency, check it includes baggage. Some airlines, eg BA, do not include baggage at their lowest prices, so you get to check in and have a quite large extra to pay to get your luggage on the plane.

This is all to do with getting you to buy their product because you think it's the cheapest, after which you discover what you've bought is not what you expected, and as a result you spend more.

R.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
rich12 said:
This is 100% done on purpose, why else would they do the booking in 2 parts?
They confirm the flights with Ryanair for 4 people and job done right? I can't think of a single reason why it would be done in 2 parts except for this exact reason.
That's the reason, you can either pay or sit apart. IIRC you now get guaranteed cabin bags if you book seats, but if you've also got cabin baggage it's not much of a benefit.

CharlesdeGaulle

26,091 posts

179 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
Depends on aircraft of course, but short haul usually has seats in 3s so you might only have been seated as 2 2s or a 3+1 anyway. What do you gain by sitting 'together'? I certainly wouldn't pay any more of it were my lot.

Sheepshanks

32,528 posts

118 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
CAA rules say family members shouldn't be seated apart (doesn't mean right next to each other though) because in the event of an emergency they'll try and get to each other and cause disruption.

Flying on 'proper' airlines for work I've been moved loads of times after being seated to accommodate someone who needed to sit near a family member.

I imagine Ryanair staff won't give a toss though.

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

260 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
How long is the flight?

For a couple of hours, I really wouldn't worry about it. If it's that much of a problem, stump up to sit together.

//j17

4,471 posts

222 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
If it bothers you, pay the extra to pick your seats.
If it doesn't, see who the children would rather sit with, swapping the parent sat with the children for part of the flight if it's a longer one.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,461 posts

153 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
//j17 said:
If it bothers you, pay the extra to pick your seats.
If it doesn't, see who the children would rather sit with, swapping the parent sat with the children for part of the flight if it's a longer one.
The main reasons are that it's my 2 year olds first flight and her and her 6 year old brother are inseparable. We're going on a family holiday and being separated at the very beginning isn't my idea of a good start to our first family holiday.

Paying £60 for the privilege after paying all the other crap isn't something I want to do.

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
some would class that as a result biggrin

eybic

9,212 posts

173 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
rich12 said:
The main reasons are that it's my 2 year olds first flight and her and her 6 year old brother are inseparable. We're going on a family holiday and being separated at the very beginning isn't my idea of a good start to our first family holiday.

Paying £60 for the privilege after paying all the other crap isn't something I want to do.
I think paying up might be your only option.

Sheepshanks

32,528 posts

118 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
rich12 said:
The main reasons are that it's my 2 year olds first flight and her and her 6 year old brother are inseparable.
Put them next to each other then.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,461 posts

153 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
dazwalsh said:
some would class that as a result biggrin
Ha.

I'm going to a hot(ish), sunny place with an albino and another kid with hyper mobility. I want this to be as stress free as possible.

cts1975

342 posts

167 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
Let's no be surprised RyanAir are trying to get more money out of you for the privilege of sitting together.
You could look for an airline that don't charge to reserve seat - cant be that many who don't.
Cancel the holiday or pay the extra. It's £60 which isn't a lot in the overall cost.




Shaoxter

4,048 posts

123 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
eybic said:
Some say that the airlines do this on purpose so you pay extra to be seated together, true or not I don't know but it's believable.
Happened to us on a Ryanair flight, except our 2 year old had a seat which wasn't next to either of his parents! Thankfully some of the other passengers agreed to swap seats.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Thursday 9th January 2020
quotequote all
rich12 said:
dazwalsh said:
some would class that as a result biggrin
Ha.

I'm going to a hot(ish), sunny place with an albino and another kid with hyper mobility. I want this to be as stress free as possible.
Pay the sixty quid then smile