Travel expert shares legal right to sit with family on plane and if you need to book seats

If you're heading on holiday soon and wondering whether or not to book specific seats, you may want to hold off. According to travel experts atWhich?, you're "probably wasting" your money if you're paying to sit together.

It comes as Which? Travel found many customers who didn’t pay for seat selection "told us they ended up seated with their travel companions anyway." Talking about other major airlines, they state that "most" of them will "automatically seat you with the people you booked with" with the figure for those being seated together for easyJet standing at 93% with Jet2 at 90%.

Am I legally entitled to sit with family?

Many people may think that there is a legal requirement to do this, especially those with children. But this is not the case at all. Which? explained: "There’s no legal right to sit next to your family, not even children."

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The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says: "Young children and infants who are accompanied by adults should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult. Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from accompanying adults."

In a recent post, Which?also stress: "There is no UK law that says children have to be seated with their parents on a plane."

What UK airlines sit families together?

Which? state: "Most airlines will seat people who book together for free, whether they’re families or not. Paying for a seat is usually unnecessary - except with a couple of carriers, as we’ll see below.

"We’ve looked at the policies of some of the major airlines to see how likely they are to seat children with parents - and whether you’ll need to pay extra. Also, be warned that some airlines will charge hundreds of pounds more for a baby than others."

Travelling soon?

If you are set to travel soon, holidaymakers should also know that there are seven essential passport checks you should carry out before heading on holiday this summer. Travel insurance experts at Tiger.co.uk have said people should ensure the laminate over the personal details page is not lifting or peeling.

This is because it could raise suspicions of tampering. This is a common reason for passports being flagged or rejected so even if all the information is readable, it’s best to get your passport replaced to prevent any issues.

They further add that if your passport has sustained water damage, you likely won’t be able to use it as a valid travel document. While minor exposure to water such as slightly crinkled page edges shouldn’t be an issue - further damage like smudged ink or discolouration can lead to delays or refusals at the border. You can read about all seven key passport checks for Brits here.