emma75

I have just booked our flights for myself, my 8 year old and my 5 year old for a week on Saturday. We have always flown with them and always been very enjoyable. When i went online after booking to pre select my seats there were none available for the 3 of us to sit together.When i phoned up to explain i was told i could only put a request to be seated together! I am absolutely outraged, There is no bloody way i am going to be separated from my children on such a long flight. I am petrified of flying and already getting myself in a state about it and dont need the added stress of worrying about whether I will be sat next to my boys. Are they allowed to do this?
Surely when i booked they could see i had two children travelling with me. I am sooo annoyed!

heldownunder

Glad you are on your way at last. Sorry about the seating....Thats ridiculous.... Can you at least get the seat across an aisle. Look at it one way you can sit on your own take a sleeping tablet and leave the stewardess to look after the boys!!!
Make sure you get to airport at least 3 hours in advance. Emergency exits arent allocated until the day... So some people will move. Then if not get both boys to start crying on plane and hope someone offers to move..Also explain predicament to stewardesses they do try to help.
We have only just booked flights for 30th and some seats still available as a four but awaiting for e tickets to be issued before we can choose seats.
Good luck

koalakim

Because you are using a online system then basically all the other seats have either been pre-allocated to other passengers who don't care where they sit or other passengers have chosen them - if that is the case then SIA can't really ask anyone to move at this stage! They'd have to call people and ask them to move seats and then they'd be pretty miffed if you then didn't show up or had to cancel.

Everytime recently I've booked online a lot of seat allocation has gone and with SIA offering good prices in advance and allowing people to choose their own seats then you end up with this hickledy pickledy allocation of seats! I've even had little choice of the two of us sitting together.

Don't get miffed, just put in your request and then re-affirm on check-in as the OP said get their early before the masses arrive. If you still can't sit together then tell the crew what the problem is and they will shuffle you around but they might not be able to do it until after take-off. There are rules and regs about the passenger lists and the seat you are sitting in.

Unfortunately this is the by-product of allowing passengers to do so much otherwise you'd just rock up to the airport early to ensure you got the seat you wanted!

Kooky.

To be fair, you've booked very close to the departure date so shouldn't expect there to be a good choice of seats.

That said, I can't imagine for a minute that they'd let you and your boys be separated and will make changes at check-in, the gate, or on the plane if necessary. Single passengers are easy to move and I'm sure they'll be highly delighted to swap with you and not sit with two kids

Wendy

yeah, I can't see them letting two kids sit separate from their parent. Would be very surprised if that actually happened - unless the boys are over 12/13 maybe.

I know when I fly in a couple of weeks, I am praying that I don't have to sit next to ANY kids (I'm leaving mine behind for a reason!)

Kooky.

I often find the parents are far more trouble than the kids

Wendy

Yes, I plan to be

Kooky.

emma75

Yes i know we booked close to departure, this has been down to the fact that our house hadnt exchanged until yesterday although i did book on Monday and Saturday th 16th was the earliest we could fly. Oh has been gone nearly 7 weeks so obviously i want the first available flight. The point i am making is why confirm a reservation that states i am travelling with two young kids when we may not be seated together. My youngest has just turned five and there is no way i am allowing him to sit on a different part of the plane next to a complete stranger! In fact i pity who may have to sit next to him!
I am going to get there super early and try and sort the seating out. Thanks for the advice!
Emma

emma75

A seat across the aisle would be fine too but at the time we were not even offered that! keeping every thing crossed, As i said i hate flying so want no extra stress at the airport!

Emma

carolinephillips

Good luck and have a safe flight.

Centurion

Always remember that a certain amount of seats are not released until on line check in which you should complete as soon as it opens. Not all seats are available to prebook online, so worth using online check in as soon as you can.

Actually, its worth it anyway because then you can just use the online check in queue at the airport which is usually a lot less full and you can still change your seat with the check in agent anyway.

If worst comes to the worst, as other people have mentioned, SIA crew will request some other passengers move for you onboard given the age of your kids.

Don't panic, it will work out fine.

LINZI

Good luck on the seat change i know i would not want to be sat away from my children on any flight also safe journey

Seneca21

Of course they can. If you want seats together you have to ensure there are seats together before you book. Now, your best bet is to look around after take-off and ask some kind person to move, etc. I would move if someone with young kids requested that of me.

Dorothy

Depending on where I'm seated and where the person asking wants me to move to I may or may not.