Holiday firms charge for families to sit together

Filed under: Travel News

When you're travelling with a young family, it's important for everyone to sit together - or at least close by.

But now some package holiday firms are charging families more than £80 just so that two adults and two children can do so.

The Express reports that the charge comes on top of fuel surcharges, tax and fees for using credit cards.

Consumer watchdog Which? found that, on a long-haul flight, if a family of four flies with Thomson, the cost of booking their seats can add £84 to the cost of their flight, or £80 if they are flying with Cosmos or Thomas Cook.

For medium-haul flights, it costs £70 with Thomson, £60 with Thomas Cook and £48 with Cosmos.

This drops to £44 with Thomson for short-haul flights, and £40 with Thomas Cook. Cosmos charges £48.

The move has provoked strong criticism, especially as official guidelines issued by the Civil Aviation Authority say that children and infants should "ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult".

In response to the survey, Cosmos said that it's policy is to try and sit families together and Thomson and Thomas Cook said that they do their best to sit families together but cannot guarantee it unless they pay the extra charge.

However, even paying the extra charge does not guarantee that a parent can sit next to their child as Thomson says that a family paying the fee might be "in front, behind or across the aisle" from each other.

Chris Gray, assistant travel editor at Which?, said: "I think these charges are wrong. They unnecessarily bump up the price of holidays at a time when many families are struggling to pay for holiday breaks at all.

"Why should airlines and tour operators charge so much for a service they should offer as standard?

"It is common sense for airlines to put children with their parents. After all, if you are off on holiday without children, the last thing you want is to be seated next to a six-year-old who's upset at being separated from their parents."

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