-
I know this isn’t strictly Avios, although I have made 4 Avios reward redemption flights for a family of four for this booking.
I have been having an argument with BA customer service for nearly 30mins on this subject, as they will not commit an answer, but can a 12 year old sit in an extra leg room seat on BA?
The wording, when accepting the terms & conditions when choosing a flight specifically says ‘Over the age of 12’ – grammatically over the age of 12 really means 13 years and older.
I know the CAA minimum requirement is 12 years (although some airlines increase this age) but the BA simply wouldn’t commit to a yes or no, and simply replied with ‘Over 12 years’ when probed for a yes of no to the question of ‘can a 12 year old sit in an extra leg room seat’.
If BA worded this as 12 years and old, then no confusion and I save BA a customer trying to get through to their support service, but has anyone flown with a 12 year old in an extra leg room seat?
Thanks!
I would suggest “grammatically over the age of 12” really means 12 years and 1 day old!
TBH, if you do buy the seat then it will STILL come down to the opinion of the crew on the plane… no amount of guarantee from a call centre agent will override a CSM deciding they don’t want your 12yr old sat in an exit row. (And don’t dig your heels in if that happens – what crew says goes on the plane, even if they seem to be wrong according to some wording of some policy somewhere)
Yes. Done it loads of times.
I just asked my spouse (who’s former BA cabin crew) what they’d have done in this situation.
Their response was that it’s a grey area, but essentially they would take a judgement call regarding the 12 yr old’s capabilities. If the kid is sensible and alert and appears strong enough to operate the door then that would have been fine. If the kid doesn’t appear strong enough or mature enough then you’d be moved. My other half also stated that even if they allowed the 2yr old to stay, they would not allow them in the window seat.
Different crew will handle this differently, so just because this is what one former crew member would do doesn’t mean that’s what the ones on your flight will do.
And ultimately this is a safety issue that comes down to the opinion of the crew on the day. You might fly the outbound in the exit row just fine but be relocated on the return… and if that happens, you’ll just need to suck it up I’m afraid, you won’t be in a position to argue. The crew won’t care about what the call centre said, they care about operating the flight in a manner they are happy is safe.
I would suggest “grammatically over the age of 12” really means 12 years and 1 day old!
I agree! See also “alcohol is only served to over 18s”.
I’d actually always thought that a booking would block it automatically where necessary based on the DOB?
My daughter’s always sat in the window seat from the day we first did this. And that was very close to her 12th birthday – I remember it clearly as emergency exit seat was a sort of rite of passage! She’s quite slight tbh, but very sensible. I will admit I’m always amazed they allow this – don’t think it’s sensible…
My daughter’s always sat in the window seat from the day we first did this. And that was very close to her 12th birthday – I remember it clearly as emergency exit seat was a sort of rite of passage! She’s quite slight tbh, but very sensible. I will admit I’m always amazed they allow this – don’t think it’s sensible…
That’s a really cool rite of passage for her!!
@cc999 if I were you I’d forget about the call centre, reserve the exit row seats and just accept there’s a non-zero (but hopefully small) risk you’ll get moved.My daughter’s always sat in the window seat from the day we first did this. And that was very close to her 12th birthday – I remember it clearly as emergency exit seat was a sort of rite of passage! She’s quite slight tbh, but very sensible. I will admit I’m always amazed they allow this – don’t think it’s sensible…
That’s a really cool rite of passage for her!!
@cc999 if I were you I’d forget about the call centre, reserve the exit row seats and just accept there’s a non-zero (but hopefully small) risk you’ll get moved.Thanks! Though not as cool perhaps as my son’s first flight in Qatar First. Sydney – Doha. The look on his face !!
@cc999 I totally agree with the just book it advice. I’ve been asked a few times about my daughter’s age, but everything’s always been ok when I’ve said 12 (now 13…).I would suggest “grammatically over the age of 12” really means 12 years and 1 day old!
I agree! See also “alcohol is only served to over 18s”.
I’d actually always thought that a booking would block it automatically where necessary based on the DOB?
It doesn’t block. They once put me with a lap infant on a exit row seat.
I haven’t flown BA short haul for ages but in the past, when I was HBO and had a mobile BP it always beeped at the gate when boarding. The gate staff would then “remind” me I was in an exit row and ask if that was OK.
Now knowing from above posts that the system won’t block a child from choosing that seat, if a child was in that position and got beeped on boarding, the gate agent might also decide to reassign the seat?
Over 12 is 12. 12 + 1 day is over 12, just bad wording. They would otherwise say “under 13”. It might be a moot point, but it is a legal point. Plenty of law says the same. Of course cabin crew can over-ride but I doubt.
Personally if I ever get that far back I take special attention to those in exit row seats. I don’t want anyone impeding the exits, so if I think they might I raise it with the cabin crew.
90% you’ll be fine. They serve my 17yo son champagne (and they know his age, so it is served via Mum). Safety is much more than just age.
Yes they can.
Don’t sweat BA customer services it’s the crew that make this decision. They can move ANYONE from those seats if they deem them not capble to assist in emergency. Does not matter if you paid a pretty penny for the exit row either.
My daughter was 12 when on pre booked exit row seats a few years ago. You may find the crew might ask them if they feel able to carry out duties in an emergency. If they seem sensible, confident and able all should be fine.
Last year we were assigned exit row seats on online check in (fantasic luck) . When we arrived at the bag drop in Faro though the desk staff said he needed to do some checks with a supervisor with regards to my now 13 year old daughter sitting in exit row, before issuing our boarding passes and pulled us aside from the bag drop queue.
10 mins later he kindly called us over, said all was good and gave us our boarding passes.
Crew were super nice as well and we enjoyed the free upgrade
Thank you everyone for your responses. They are very much appreciated!
I agree that we’re probably 95% good. She is a tall, well spoken, confident and polite 12 year old – and as much as I very much doubt we will have problems, that 5% is just too much of a niggle for us because it would be far worse for us to be split up as a group on the plane to any old available seat remaining than having the extra leg room seats (which really is only for me as I’m over 6ft).
So, in this case, will probably opt for booking standard seats so we all sit together and no fret of issues when we get there. It’s only a European flight of a few hours.
Thank you everyone for your responses. They are very much appreciated!
I agree that we’re probably 95% good. She is a tall, well spoken, confident and polite 12 year old – and as much as I very much doubt we will have problems, that 5% is just too much of a niggle for us because it would be far worse for us to be split up as a group on the plane to any old available seat remaining than having the extra leg room seats (which really is only for me as I’m over 6ft).
So, in this case, will probably opt for booking standard seats so we all sit together and no fret of issues when we get there. It’s only a European flight of a few hours.
We are a family of three which makes 3×3 seat config very good for us.
Credit to BA they will try to sit you all together if you have children on the booking. Only once have not been in a row of three together. When my daughter was under 12 you got your seats allocated about 3 days before flight. We always got seated together.
Last year was the only time we got spilt up when checking in 24 hours before. Even then I was in the row behind my wife and daughter who were seated together.
They can move ANYONE from those seats if they deem them not capable to assist in emergency.
Off topic, but I once witnessed a group of three French ladies being removed from an exit row, on the grounds that none of them could speak English and therefore could not read and confirm their understanding of the emergency door operation card.
The joke was that the crew member summoned to share the bad news did so in perfect French!
which really is only for me as I’m over 6ft
I’m 6ft 4in so appreciate the desire for extra legroom. Given we’re talking European flight on BA we’re probably talking A319 or A320, one tip (if you can’t use the exit row) is the fact rows behind the over wing exits have an inch less legroom than those further forwards. (Also applies to A321 ceo behind the second emergency exit but the A321 neo doesn’t reduce seat pitch as you go back in the cabin).
Aerolopa is your friend in figuring out these small differences: https://www.aerolopa.com/ba
As an aside that’s irrelevant to BA, you might like to know A220 seats are particular knee-space friendly due to their tray table design. One of a few reasons why it’s my favourite short haul jet.
A 12 year old is going to be a LOT quicker than most in getting out of the plane 😁 But if it were my son sitting in the window, I’d probably swap with him if an emergency is declared (if it were safe to do so). As the statisticians tell us, we’re more likely to die on the way to the airport, in the bag drop queue (quite likely), in the lounge, or putting your bag in the overhead bin… 😉
which really is only for me as I’m over 6ft
I’m 6ft 4in so appreciate the desire for extra legroom. Given we’re talking European flight on BA we’re probably talking A319 or A320, one tip (if you can’t use the exit row) is the fact rows behind the over wing exits have an inch less legroom than those further forwards. (Also applies to A321 ceo behind the second emergency exit but the A321 neo doesn’t reduce seat pitch as you go back in the cabin).
Aerolopa is your friend in figuring out these small differences: https://www.aerolopa.com/ba
As an aside that’s irrelevant to BA, you might like to know A220 seats are particular knee-space friendly due to their tray table design. One of a few reasons why it’s my favourite short haul jet.
Thanks for the tip!!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
