You don’t always need to pay with some airlines
Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert (MSE) has advised travellers to attempt several strategies to secure seating on flights without incurring additional charges.
In an update on the MSE blog published on April 27 this year, the specialists recommend first checking whether your carrier offers free seat allocation. The guidance highlights that while numerous airlines charge for seat selection or require passengers to wait until check-in, some permit free seat choice at the time of booking.
MSE explains: “Airlines rely on the fear factor to convince you to cough up for allocated seating. Passengers worry if they don’t pay up, they’ll be split up.” But this is not a general rule.
With most airlines, if you skip paid seat selection and check in online as soon as it opens, there’s still a good chance your group will be seated together, as long as enough adjacent seats remain available.
MSE explain: “All of the major airlines bar Ryanair told us their seat allocation systems will always try to seat groups on the same booking together. So check in as soon as you’re able to and you should get to sit together, as long as there are seats available next to each other that haven’t been snapped up by folk who paid to reserve.
“Of course there are no guarantees – for that, you’ll have to pay. But if you’re willing to take a small risk to save some cash, this is a no-brainer. Also note a few airlines let you select a seat for free after booking, without waiting for check-in.
“So once you’ve booked your flight, find out when check-in opens and set yourself a reminder to do it as soon as you can (even if it’s the middle of the night) – you have to move fast to nab those empty rows.”
MSE has highlighted the following airline seating policies for families travelling on holiday flights.
- British Airways, Tui and Virgin Atlantic “all guarantee that children under 12 will be seated with at least one adult from their booking – although the rest of the group might be split up. British Airways also lets you choose your seat for free if you’re travelling with a child under two. Tui and Virgin warn children may be seated behind or in front of their parents, or be separated from them by an aisle.”
- American Airlines and Wizz Air “guarantee that children under 15 will be seated with at least one adult from their booking.”
- Air France “will do everything it can” to make sure that children between two and 11 years old will be seated beside one of the adults from their booking. When booking for yourself and a child over two years old, you can pay to choose your seat.
- Jet2, KLM and Norwegian say their systems “always try to seat children under 12 with adults from their booking. Jet2 adds that, if it’s not possible, it’ll seat them no more than one row away. Norwegian says it will ensure children between two and 11 years old will be seated within the same row and aisle as an accompanying adult, but if that’s not possible, no more than one row or aisle away”.
- Easyjet says its “booking system tries to place families together but there’s a stronger likelihood the earlier you check in. In the case that a family can’t sit next to each other, it will make sure each child under 12 is seated ‘close to an adult’ from their booking”.
MSE say Ryanair is ‘different’
MSE reminds Ryanair passengers that the rules work slightly differently. Children under 12 are guaranteed to sit with at least one adult in their group, but one adult must pay to reserve a seat. Up to four children can then be seated next to that adult free of charge.
It adds: “With Ryanair though, as ever, the rules are different. The good news is that children under 12 are guaranteed to sit with at least one adult in their party. The catch is that one adult travelling with a group of under-12s MUST pay for one seat, with up to four children getting seats next to them for free.”
It urges people to check out the MSE website here where it explains more about the Ryanair rules.
Talking about its own Seat Policy, the Ryanair Help Centre confirms: “For safety reasons, children under the age of 12 must sit beside an accompanying adult, and infants (aged 8 days to 23 months inclusive) must sit on an accompanying adult’s lap. It is mandatory for an adult travelling with children under 12 (excl. infants) to reserve a seat.
“A maximum of four children for every one adult on the same booking will receive a reserved seat free of charge. This ensures parents of young children sit together during the flight. This will also allow you to check-in for your flight 60 days before departure. It is not mandatory for any other adults or teenagers in the booking to reserve a seat, however they may choose to do so if they wish to seat with the rest of the family.”
You can read more about its seat policy here. The airline also has a dedicated, helpful video and an FAQ section.
‘Family tax’
Most parents consider sitting with their children essential. That’s why airline seat fees can be particularly frustrating for families worried about being separated. MSE has previously campaigned on the issue, describing it as a so-called ‘family tax’.
Aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), says airlines should “aim to sit parents close to children”. If this isn’t possible, they should not be separated by more than one aisle or more than one seat row. It also notes that parents should not have to pay to avoid a situation where their child is seated in a different part of the aircraft.
However, these are guidelines rather than strict rules, so they’re not guaranteed. In practice, most airlines will usually make sure children are seated next to at least one adult in the group, even if you don’t pay for seat selection or forget to check in early.
