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£104 to sit next to your own child. From today, that charge is gone

Qurexa Editorial Team2 October 20268 min read 0 0
£104 to sit next to your own child. From today, that charge is gone

What happened

On 1 October 2026, the government announced that two common airline charges are being scrapped. The first concerns seating children with their parents. From 2 October 2026, airlines must seat children under 14 with a parent or accompanying adult at no extra charge. Until now, families often had to pay to be sure of sitting together. The government said parents could be charged up to £104 for a return journey simply to sit with their children. The second change concerns mistakes on bookings. Passengers can now correct simple booking errors free of charge. The government said fees for this had been as high as £40. In practice that usually means a misspelled name, a missing middle name, or a name entered in the wrong order. The changes follow Royal Assent of the Civil Aviation Bill, and bring UK rules more closely into line with standards in the European Union. The government says it is working with the industry to put them in place quickly. A third measure was announced at the same time, on a different subject. The government, airlines and trade unions are setting up a shared information system to identify and manage persistently disruptive passengers. In 2025, more than 1,000 serious incidents were recorded. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "Charging parents just to sit with their children is a rip-off, plain and simple." Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: "Parents should not have to feel the pinch just to sit next to their child on a flight." Rory Boland, Travel Editor at the consumer group Which?, said: "It's clearly unfair to force parents and children as young as three to pay an extra fee just to sit together".

Why this matters

Anyone who has booked a family flight will recognise the problem. The headline fare looks reasonable. Then you reach the seat selection page and discover that sitting together costs extra, per person, per leg. The uncomfortable part was always the choice it created. You could pay, or you could gamble on whether a six-year-old would be seated three rows away from you. Most parents paid. That is what made it effective as a charge, and what made it feel unfair. There is a safety argument too, not just a comfort one. In an emergency, instructions are given to adults who are expected to help the children with them. A parent separated from a young child by several rows cannot do that. Cabin crew know this, which is why they often spend the first ten minutes of a flight rearranging passengers who paid nothing while the family who paid £104 sits where it booked. The name correction fee was a smaller sum but arguably more objectionable. A typo in a name is a clerical matter that takes seconds to fix in a booking system. Charging £40 for it was a charge for an error, not for a service. For families in Lincolnshire flying from Humberside, East Midlands or Doncaster, the saving is real money on a family holiday. For a family of four, £104 is a day out.

What the evidence actually says

A few things are worth pinning down so you know what to expect at the airport. The rule applies to children under 14, seated with a parent or accompanying adult, at no extra charge. It does not mean every family will get its first choice of seats, or a window seat, or a row together at the front. It means the airline must seat the child with their adult without charging for it. The age limit matters. If you are travelling with a 15-year-old, this particular rule does not cover them. The date matters too. The seating change applies from 2 October 2026. If you booked a flight before then, it is worth asking your airline how it is applying the rule to existing bookings, and asking in writing. The £104 figure is the government's description of the maximum a family could previously be charged for a return journey. It is not a refund you can claim. On implementation, the announcement says the government is engaging with the industry for swift implementation. In practice, different airlines may adjust their booking systems at different speeds. If you meet a charge that should no longer apply, say so at the time and keep a record. The disruptive passenger measure is at an earlier stage. A shared information system between government, airlines and unions is being created; it is not yet described as operating. The figure of more than 1,000 serious incidents in 2025 is what the government has published to explain why. So: a clear, dated change on seating and name corrections, with the usual gap between a rule starting and every system catching up.

Qurexa perspective

There is one practical angle that matters more for some families than the money. If your child takes regular medicine, or carries an inhaler, an adrenaline auto-injector, insulin, or anything else that may be needed quickly, sitting beside them is not a preference. It is part of managing their condition. Under the old arrangement, families in that position were effectively paying a surcharge because of a health need. That is worth noticing, and it is good that it has gone. Qurexa supports people across Lincolnshire with prescription delivery and medication adherence, and holidays are one of the moments when medicine routines slip. A few things reliably cause trouble: running out mid-trip, keeping insulin cool, and not having a letter for anything that looks unusual at security. If a family holiday is coming up, order repeat prescriptions in good time rather than in the last week, keep medicines in hand luggage in their original labelled packaging, and ask your pharmacist whether you need a letter from your GP for what you are carrying. Your pharmacist can also tell you what the rules are for the country you are visiting, because some everyday UK medicines are restricted elsewhere. That is travel planning, not medical advice. The medicines themselves are a conversation for your pharmacist or GP.

Practical advice

Here is how to make use of this. If you are booking now, do not pay to sit with a child under 14. If a booking system tries to charge you, stop and contact the airline. Take a screenshot first. Still book early where you can. The rule guarantees you will be seated together without paying; it does not guarantee which seats. Check bookings you have already made. If you paid a seating fee for a flight departing after 2 October 2026, ask the airline about it in writing and keep the reply. Check the spelling of every name against the passport before you pay, every time. Correcting a simple error is now free, but avoiding it is still less hassle. If an airline refuses something you believe you are entitled to, escalate properly. Complain to the airline first and in writing. If you get nowhere, the Civil Aviation Authority publishes guidance on passenger rights and on alternative dispute resolution schemes. Which? and the CAA are both reliable, free sources on what airlines must do. Social media is not. And for the disruptive passenger measure, the practical point for ordinary passengers is unchanged: cabin crew instructions are legally binding, and the consequences of ignoring them are serious.

What to know

From 2 October 2026, UK airlines must seat children under 14 with a parent or accompanying adult at no extra charge. The government says parents could previously be charged up to £104 for a return journey to sit together. Passengers can also now correct simple booking errors, such as a misspelled name, free of charge; such fees had been as high as £40. The changes follow Royal Assent of the Civil Aviation Bill and bring UK rules closer to EU standards. The government, airlines and trade unions are separately creating a shared information system on persistently disruptive passengers, after more than 1,000 serious incidents were recorded in 2025. The rule guarantees you will not be charged to sit with a child under 14. It does not guarantee particular seats. If a booking system still tries to charge you, screenshot it and contact the airline. If a child in your family takes regular medicine, order repeat prescriptions well before you travel and keep medicines in labelled hand luggage. Sources: Department for Transport, "Take off for passengers as government scraps extra charges when flying", GOV.UK, 1 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/take-off-for-passengers-as-government-scraps-extra-charges-when-flying ; Civil Aviation Authority passenger rights, https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/ ; Which? Travel, https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/airlines This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. Always check with your pharmacist or GP before travelling with prescribed medicines.

#flights#family travel#passenger rights#airlines#holidays#consumer rights

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