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Many airlines urge customers to pay for specific seats in advance or run the risk of being split up – but is this really necessary?
We’ve taken a look…
Pick your airline carefully – and book seats at same time
It’s not a general rule that you’ll be split from your travel companions if you don’t pay to reserve the seats you want.
A 2023 study by Which? Travel found that families paying in excess of £100 to sit together are probably wasting their money, with most major airlines likely to sit you with the people you booked with automatically even if you don’t cough up for seat selection.
That means if all your tickets are in one reservation, with most operators there’s a decent chance you’ll be okay – as long as you get checked in early.
It also depends on the airline, with budget firms Ryanair and Wizz Air the most likely to split you up (more on Ryanair’s seat booking policy later).
It’s worth saying that there’s no legal right to sit next to your loved ones on a flight – not even your children – so not paying does carry a risk.
Getting seats together with children
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines should aim to seat children close to their parents or guardians.
Its guidance – which aren’t hard and fast rules – says young children and infants accompanied by adults should ideally be seated in the same seat row, or an adjacent row if this isn’t possible.
Of the major UK airlines, British Airways and Tui both guarantee that children under 12 will be sat with at least one adult from their booking, even if they don’t pay or forget to check in early.
Jet 2 says it will “always endeavour to seat children and infants under the age of 12 next to their accompanying adults”, but if this is not possible they’ll be seated no more than one row away.
EasyJet similarly says its system will always try and seat families together, but if this isn’t possible, it will make sure children under 12 are seated “close” to an adult on the booking.
Wizz Air…
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