Looking to book a hol for half-term. Having just about got over the “half-term tax” I now find there’s an extra fee for the 3 of us to sit together on the plane…

I’m not too worried about us adults sitting apart, but wouldn’t want my 8yo to be on her own.

Does anyone know if there’s a law/regulation insisting that airlines have to sit a minor with a parent/guardian?

EDIT: Oh… And obviously this…

I’m sure they’d just allocate seating with at least one adult during check in/baggage drop.

What airline? It’s not usually an issue with Easy Jet or Ryanair, you’ll be allowed to board first.

It’s branded as “Thomson airways” don’t know if it’s subcontracted to another airline though.

but wouldn’t want my 8yo to be on her own.

If my friends with kids are anything to go by, they’d be glad of the peace and quiet. And the kids 8. Can 8 year olds not be trusted on their own?

She’s trusted, and in many ways is very grown up and responsible. Ultimately though she’s still a child and in an unfamiliar environment could well become scared and want her mum and/or dad…

I refer you to the pic in the OP…

I don’t know if it’s law though I suspect it may be a requirement of some sort.

Recently flew with EasyJet with family split into different bookings which meant that one child was not sat next to an adult (preallocated seats) though in the next row. EJ moved people round to ensure he was sat next to a parent.

I flew Ryanair last year with my wife and 3 year old daughter. We were advised to get there early and get to the front of the queue as they couldn’t guarantee that even one of us would be able to sit next to her. Pretty bad really but I’m sure someone would move if you asked nicely.

Some one will swap seats if required, no one wants to sit next to some one elses kids, especially if they are not accompanied by a parent 🙂

When I’ve flow with just me and one young child and it’s not allocated seating I have usually found the 3rd seat in our row remains vacant, unless there is absolutely no other seat available on the plane.

Can 8 year olds not be trusted on their own?

It’s not really a trust thing, aside from being scared the OP may just want to travel with his children, rather than having them sit with some randoms leaving them to sit in silence for the duration of the flight. Odd concept I know.

leaving them to sit in silence for the duration of the flight.

As we’re unable to put them in the cargo hold that would be the best possible solution for a child on a plane

The other aspect is of course should evacuation be necessary, you really need a parent there to handle and check for their child.

Oh and sit in silence… You don’t have kids, do you 🙂 Besides they’ve all got tablets nowadays..

You know what I mean!

As an aside, and for balance, due to a **** up by United airlines I ended up sitting separately from my parents (they were put in an exit row, I was too young according to FAA regs, so got moved) for a 4 hour flight when I was 8, had a whale of a time! Ended up playing cards with my surrogate family.

Don’t worry about it, it’s really really simple.

You can pretty much guarantee that your [kid’s] desire not to sit next to a stranger is completely dwarfed by that stranger’s desire not to sit next to your kid.

They’ll be up outta that seat quicker that you can say “Would you mind looking after…”

If for some reason they are slow on the update then simply delve into the seat back pockets, remove two sick bags, give one to the kid and then the other to the stranger “Just in case he fills that one up”

job done

I’ve done it on planes and transfer coaches. Never fails.

We had this recently as our bookings were all split up, the airline , Virgin, were not massively helpful and said it was up to us to sort it out. My daughter is 18 months old. So we got on, stuck her in her seat next to some poor random who had refused to move and then sat down somewhere else. Funnily enough it changed pretty quickly and we were seated together but it was a very odd process.

Currently on holidays in Mallorca via Thomson. 2 adults, 2 children (1 infant). We were sat all together, didn’t think such a problem ever existed. Flew with few budget airlines around and never was family separated .

As kids do get shouty if they don’t see us.

Prebooked seats are first 4 rows aka economy business class where it’s quiter or other rows with extra leg room.

If you realy worry about getting odd seating, then I suggest you check in earlier than other families to be allocated better seats together. Beat them with your smartness.

HTH.

It’s the next airline business model – worry you then you’ll pay money for seats together!

Last time we did a cheapie to visit the sister-in-law sounded like a few people were asked if they’d like to move when it came to checkin to accomodate people with kids.

I’d expect that the airline would want you to sit together rather than having unsupervised anklebiters dotted about the ‘plane. It’s in everyone’s best interests really.

Just make sure you get there early. The last time I flew, boarding started with “priority ticket holders, those with young children and the disabled.”