Father had to sit on his own

Joel, Sarah and Yasmin JOEL Combes, 46, was unable to sit next to his wife and seven-year-old daughter Yasmin on a flight from Birmingham to California last May after he refused to pay an extra £25 to move seats.

When wife Sarah, 42, went to check in online, the plane was only three-quarters full but TUI’s system still sat Mr Combes away from his family.

He accused TUI of targeting families as they are more likely to pay to sit together.

Mr Combes, a lawyer from Peterborough, said: ‘It is all a way of getting more money out of passengers. They should scrap this extra charge.’