Holidays have been a long time coming for most and if you've saved up for the trip and handed over your holiday money, you may not want the extra expense of then having to pay to sit together when it comes to your seat on the plane. A former British Airways flight attendant, turned consumer expert, has offered their advice on how to avoid this extra expense.
Jane Hawkes explained that many airlines, such as easyJet, Jet 2 and Ryanair, will charge passengers to choose a seat and this can amount to a sizeable and unwelcome extra cost. However, if you don't want to pay to sit together, it seems there are several ways to avoid incurring the cost.
She explained to the Express: "Obviously if you’re travelling with children you might not want to do this. Because if you’re travelling as a family, you’ll probably want your children with you to keep an eye on them. But if you’re travelling with friends or a partner, then never pay to book a seat together. Just wait to get onboard and then say ‘we’re travelling together and we didn’t realise we’d be separated’."
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She went on to say: "You could also ask other passengers around you who can be very accommodating, but there’s not much point asking before you get onboard." Jane said if solo travellers are sitting between friends they may be happy to swap so a group can sit together on the plane. And passengers may be more willing to swap if it’s an opportunity to switch out of the undesirable middle seat.
If a plane is very busy, passengers that don’t choose a seat before boarding will often be allocated the middle seat. Middle seat passengers tend to have slightly less room than their neighbours and won’t be able to look out the window.
Different airlines have different rules and, of course, different pricing structures. You may pay extra for seats with extra leg room, and encounter different fees depending up where on the airplane you'd like to sit. However, Lancs Live says that on Ryanair, children under the age of 12 must be seated with an adult and the airline will allow passengers free allocated seats for four children per adult. Of course, some passengers might want a break from their travelling group if they’ve had a stressful holiday.
With the cost of living crisis in mind, Jane also shared a tip that could help passengers make some extra money or grab some freebies while at the airport. She said: “Mystery shopping is a way to pass time at the airport but it’s also a way of making a little bit of money.
“Most companies will offer a variety of mystery shopping tasks but not all of them will offer airports. Just do your research because you don’t want to do anything that’s going to cause you more stress and hassle.
“What you want to do is something that might get you a free coffee or something small without filling out loads of forms.” Mystery shopping is when people pretend to be a normal customer and judge how well a shop performs."
If passengers have time to kill at the airport, it could be a way to earn a little extra cash for a holiday treat. Jane Hawkes shares consumer tips and advice at ladyjaney.co.uk
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