Ryanair double price of seat selection.

Johnnyscotsman

You have to admire them. Get around flight price hikes by upping the ancillary options. There will be the usual outrage but I always check the Aer Lingus price and then go through the process with Ryanair - seats, priority, the lot. Still nearly always cheaper on the routes I use.

jjbrien

I was looking at flying Manchester back to Dublin cheapest Aer Lingus options were in pounds £34.99 Ryanair was £16.99 then if you wanted to add a bag and a seat plus piority came out almost the same so ya Ryanair is usually cheaper. Aer Lingus has really stopped competing in my opinion

Bazzy

unless you have kids or are going a very long distance I cant see why youd want to pay for a seat its madness most of the short hops are less and two hours

trellheim

Info

https://www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-news/ryanair-doubles-the-price-of-standard-seat-selection-its-your-choice-36738777.html

Personally I am just waiting till they start charging for wheelies at the gate although I cant think how they are going to do it without slowing down boarding to an unusable pace.

kevinandrew

I fly Ryanair a lot, the past few years have seen some big improvements and I've had no problem flying them but there's been a noticeable slide in the past few months. The frequent changes in seat policy, baggage rules and pricing has been confusing for passengers and difficult to implement for ground staff. 


The most recent hand baggage rules means only passengers with priority boarding can bring on a large wheelie bag, everyone else who tries to bring one gets it checked in at the gate for free anyway. Not exactly fair and on a recent flight to Barcelona our departure was delayed while they loaded about 70-90 wheelie bags that got gate checked. The return saw almost everyone on board pay for priority boarding, the queue was literally double the length of the standard boarding and was as chaotic as ever. 


I can see the rules changing again by next year, especially if my recent flights are anything to go by! 

Bazzy wrote: »

unless you have kids or are going a very long distance I cant see why youd want to pay for a seat its madness most of the short hops are less and two hours

Ryanair appear to be automatically assigning middle seats to those who don't pre pay, no fun for a lot of people, even on just 2 hour flights!

Tenzor07

€13 to book a seat on AL...

On a recent flight I didn't bother paying and got row 13 outbound, aisle seat so perfect...
On the return leg I got allocated row 18, window seat with no one in the middle, so €0

I'd not bothering paying for a seat unless flight was 5 hours+

OldMrBrennan83

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kevinandrew

Aer Lingus charges €15.99 for over wing exit seats, €13.99 for the first seven rows and €9.99 for all other standard seats. 

Ryanair's is more complicated, €18 for front row, €15 for the remaining four front rows, anything from €12 to €7 for anything forward of the wing, €15 for the over wing exits and then it varies from €8 to €3 down the back depending on whether you want a window, aisle or middle seat!   

Some people don't care where they sit and that's fair enough but a lot of people do have preference and will pay the extra but I think Ryanair is pushing the limit with how much it can get away with charging. Nothing beats BA having the audacity to charge £50+ seat selection for business class passengers on long haul!

jjbrien

They might not be able to get away with spiting people up or adding extra charges for stuff for much longer the UK government is on to them https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/24/crackdown-airline-hidden-fees/

billy few mates

Patww79 wrote: »

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Over a nice coffee or a drink paid for with the money you saved by not paying for a seat...;)
That’s what I do anyway, I never pay to choose a seat, I haven’t used Ryanair since they had the cancellation crisis last year but when I did I always checked in as late as possible and found I quite often got a better seat ‘randomly allocated’ to me. I haven’t used Aer Lingus much recently but when I do I check in the day before and take whatever free seat they give me....

Tenger

Tenzor07 wrote: »

€13 to book a seat on AL...

On a recent flight I didn't bother paying and got row 13 outbound, aisle seat so perfect...
On the return leg I got allocated row 18, window seat with no one in the middle, so €0

I'd not bothering paying for a seat unless flight was 5 hours+

I think the seat selection is targeted at groups or families who want to be seated together. Personally when traveling alone I dont really care where I sit, I'll be dozing anyway.

nsa0bupkd3948x

jjbrien wrote: »

They might not be able to get away with spiting people up or adding extra charges for stuff for much longer the UK government is on to them https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/24/crackdown-airline-hidden-fees/

For example, Ryanair charges a fee of £115 to change a name on a booking online, or £160 at the airport.

EasyJet charges £47 for a name change within 60 days of a flight if done online, or £52 via their call centre. It is free to correct a spelling mistake.

If they ban name change fees the touts will be all over that booking out flights around match times etc.

Noxegon

Patww79 wrote: »

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Nice idea in principle, but I'd rather be sitting next to my partner in the event of an in flight emergency of any kind.

Just my €0.02.

plodder

jjbrien wrote: »

They might not be able to get away with spiting people up or adding extra charges for stuff for much longer the UK government is on to them https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/24/crackdown-airline-hidden-fees/

I think you can make a case for outlawing "punishment" charges, eg deliberately separating groups who are traveling on the same booking, but the concept of separate charges is fair enough in general, so long as they aren't hidden (which they aren't). Not charging for name changes would be particularly absurd.

ted1

Johnnyscotsman wrote: »

You have to admire them. Get around flight price hikes by upping the ancillary options. There will be the usual outrage but I always check the Aer Lingus price and then go through the process with Ryanair - seats, priority, the lot. Still nearly always cheaper on the routes I use.

Here’s an idea, don’t select your seat.

ted1

moloner4 wrote: »

Bazzy wrote: »

unless you have kids or are going a very long distance I cant see why youd want to pay for a seat its madness most of the short hops are less and two hours

If you going soley yes, but travelling with friends or colleagues it's annoying that you are only split so that you can pay more to be with them.

If you are travelling with colleagues dies it matter what they charge? Surely the company is picking up the bill

OldMrBrennan83

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OldMrBrennan83

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Irish Steve

The issue that I think should be stamped on is where a family member pays the mandatory fee because they are travelling with children, and then the other family member (on the same booking) is dumped somewhere random unless they pay an additional seat booking fee. If it's deemed unacceptable (by the regulators) to separate children from parents, that should extend to all people travelling on the same booking.

In the event of any sort of emergency, expecting one family member to deal with 2 (or more) oxygen masks is possibly a big ask, and just having the other family member in close proximity should be a requirement to assist with that safety issue. As for the implications of trying to deal with an emergency evacuation, I'm not sure I want to go there, the potential for massive problems in that scenario is not a nice one to think about.

faoiarvok

billy few mates wrote: »

I just Refuse to move, even though I haven't paid for my seat I just say I paid for this seat and put my headphones back on.

Username checks out

TrustedApple

Last time I went to London for me and the girlfirend.

Aer lingus wonted from cork 350 euros return.

Ryan air i paid 100 euros picked my seats on the way back then add the train it's 165 euros.

For a one hour flight it was 185 euros return extra with Aer.

To be fair the coffee is nicer with Ryan air ...

We might give out about Ryan air but if we did not get them air line prices would not be this cheap. I was in the US and my co workers nearly died when I told how cheap it is for me to fly in the EU.

flexcon

Guys,

Just used Ryanair from Cork to Standstead return with the other half.

When you want to pick your seat its 2 euro at the time of booking. It's 4 euro after the event.

We decided not to do this, and on a full flight, both of us separated but both on a Window seat.

You have to remember - if enough people complain about paying for seat allocation, then they will just include it in the price as an all inclusive package.

So instead of my flight being 19.99 each way, it will be 22.99 each way. End of the day, its a few euro on top of your flight. I am getting my flight 2 or 4 euro cheaper than you as I chose the option to sit where they would like me to sit.

ted1

TrustedApple wrote: »

Last time I went to London for me and the girlfirend.

Aer lingus wonted from cork 350 euros return.

Ryan air i paid 100 euros picked my seats on the way back then add the train it's 165 euros.

For a one hour flight it was 185 euros return extra with Aer.

To be fair the coffee is nicer with Ryan air ...

We might give out about Ryan air but if we did not get them air line prices would not be this cheap. I was in the US and my co workers nearly died when I told how cheap it is for me to fly in the EU.

The aircoach would have been 20 Euro instead of 65.

Doltanian

ted1 wrote: »

The aircoach would have been 20 Euro instead of 65.

Its closer to €30 going to the Airport.

LiamaDelta

Doltanian wrote: »

Its closer to €30 going to the Airport.

I presumed he meant the train from Stansted to London.

Irish Steve

Friendly hint, can we get back to the topic of Ryanair changing seat booking fees, the diversion into coach and train fares is getting a little too far off topic at this stage.

Thanks

Jamie2k9

It will rise again next year, its a good source of revenue...

billy few mates

Mr.S wrote: »

I hate sitting in the middle seat, even on a short flight so I gladly pay for a window seat.

It's what, 3.99 for the basic seat? Well worth it!

Sure, it doesn't kill me to sit in other sits, but a little comfort goes a long way

Wait til closer to the departure time and you likely won’t have to pay for a window seat...;)
The window (and aisle) seats are premium seats so the software for ‘randomly allocating’ those seats will hold on to them in case someone wants to pay for them, if enough people don’t pay for them they have to be allocated in the end anyway as they have to give you the seat you paid for.
If nobody paid for an aisle or window seat and they were randomly distributed or raffled off 66% of the passengers would get one while the remaining 33% would be allocated the centre row seats.
I used to check in as late as possible and most times I’d be given an aisle or window seat for free....

LiamaDelta

I think their policy of allocating middle seats first actually works against them as there comes a point that there's no rows of 2 or 3 left for couples or groups

Tenger

LiamaDelta wrote: »

I think their policy of allocating middle seats first actually works against them as there comes a point that there's no rows of 2 or 3 left for couples or groups

I disagree. The middle seats are only being allocating at check-in if others have already purchased the seat selection.

jimmycrackcorm

Irish Steve wrote:

In the event of any sort of emergency, expecting one family member to deal with 2 (or more) oxygen masks is possibly a big ask, and just having the other family member in close proximity should be a requirement to assist with that safety issue. As for the implications of trying to deal with an emergency evacuation, I'm not sure I want to go there, the potential for massive problems in that scenario is not a nice one to think about.

That would imply that a single parent travelling shouldn't be allowed to fly with more than two children then.