Ryanair seating policy!

Irish Steve

How many times do I have to repeat this.

I am NOT expecting to get minor assigned seating "for free", the Ryanair systems enforces a mandatory charge that the intending passenger has to pay, and the supposed reason for that is that the minor children are supposed to be allocated seating with the parent. IT IS NOT FREE,

The aviation regulators require that minors are seated with the adult they travel with. Ryanair's system charges a fee to facilitate it, The system is not working because it does not allocate the seat reservation at the time of booking, and as a result, in some cases, the minor child is then not seated in accordance with the stated Ryanair policy.

billy few mates

Irish Steve wrote: »

How many times do I have to repeat this.

I am NOT expecting to get minor assigned seating "for free", the Ryanair systems enforces a mandatory charge that the intending passenger has to pay, and the supposed reason for that is that the minor children are supposed to be allocated seating with the parent. IT IS NOT FREE,

The aviation regulators require that minors are seated with the adult they travel with. Ryanair's system charges a fee to facilitate it, The system is not working because it does not allocate the seat reservation at the time of booking, and as a result, in some cases, the minor child is then not seated in accordance with the stated Ryanair policy.

Seems to me that flying with Ryanair is just not for you. You need to fly with any one of the large number of airlines that allow you to book your seats the way you want to. You may have to pay a little more to do this but I think you'll find it worth it. If budget isn't a limiting factor you might also consider chartering a private jet and you can sit wherever you like without having to worry about inconveniencing your fellow passengers with your perceived safety concerns...

LucyIrish06

In my opinion its just more money grabbing, 80quid for a suitcase ? Are ya alright in the head O'Leary ??
Flights should be like buses and trains. if you want a particular seat, pay for it, if your not bothered, board the plane and sit where ever you please. But of course this isn't going to happen

theyoungchap

Irish Steve wrote: »

How many times do I have to repeat this.

I am NOT expecting to get minor assigned seating "for free", the Ryanair systems enforces a mandatory charge that the intending passenger has to pay, and the supposed reason for that is that the minor children are supposed to be allocated seating with the parent. IT IS NOT FREE,

The aviation regulators require that minors are seated with the adult they travel with. Ryanair's system charges a fee to facilitate it, The system is not working because it does not allocate the seat reservation at the time of booking, and as a result, in some cases, th e minor child is then not seated in accordance with the stated Ryanair policy.

So the system is forcing a charge on you because of aviation rules, and you think that is unreasonable? Ryanair is a business not a charity. Yes they are using the situation to make money, but people sense of entitlement when it comes to Ryanair is incredible. Would you rather they added a fiver to everybody's fare and you knew nothing about it? People simply want everything their own way. Go fly with BE or BA or Aer Lingus.

People without children also pay tax which pays for your children's allowance, should that be a tax which is only paid by people with children too?

PlaneSpeeking

theyoungchap wrote: »

So the system is forcing a charge on you because of aviation rules, and you think that is unreasonable? Ryanair is a business not a charity. Yes they are using the situation to make money, but people sense of entitlement when it comes to Ryanair is incredible. Would you rather they added a fiver to everybody's fare and you knew nothing about it? People simply want everything their own way. Go fly with BE or BA or Aer Lingus.

People without children also pay tax which pays for your children's allowance, should that be a tax which is only paid by people with children too?

Ah yes but some think we pay it solely for their kids!

I generally wait 30 hours are due to book Aer Lingus so it's choose a seat for free, sometimes not - however not always. 14 euro the other morning as I was away for three days and wanted to check in beforehand. Trust me - I'd not be moving for anyone too tight to cough up and/or too entitled to follow the rules.

And the poster earlier DOES want something for free - the child choosing a seat next to parent. Already paying as a parent gets them to sit where they want - the child should have to pay too.

Living Off The Splash

I always pay to sit in Row 2 on Ryanair flights. Myself and my wife. Aisle seat and middle seat. I think they cost us about €16 each one way. We are happy to do this.
Sometimes the window seat is vacant during our flight. Sometimes it is paid for by a customer. Sometimes it may be randomly allocated for free.
On a Ryanair flight last week. Rows 2 and 3 on the opposite side had one person sitting in the window seats. The other two seats were free.
During the flight a woman moved to one of these seats, row 3, mumbling to one of the occupants of the window seat that she had asked the cabin crew if she could do this. Next thing her partner with two year old arrives and takes up the other vacant seats in row 2. She said that they hadn't been allocated seats together on the plane. In other words the parent with toddler on lap and the parent without toddler weren't seated together.
They now had a seat for one parent and a seat for the toddler and in the row behind a seat for the other parent. Three seats for free that the rest of us had to pay extra for.
The toddler then used the area at the front of the plane as a play area, beside the emergency exit door, food preparation area etc.
To add insult to injury. There was a French lady with Irish partner smoking an e cigarette on the plane when the cabin crew were busy serving drinks etc.. She would secretly take a drag on the cigarette and blow the smoke in to her handbag.

I am happy to follow the rules and pay for what I have to pay for. It seems that the world is full of selfish people who feel entitled to do what they want to do and F everybody else.

PlaneSpeeking

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

I always pay to sit in Row 2 on Ryanair flights. Myself and my wife. Aisle seat and middle seat. I think they cost us about €16 each one way. We are happy to do this.
Sometimes the window seat is vacant during our flight. Sometimes it is paid for by a customer. Sometimes it may be randomly allocated for free.
On a Ryanair flight last week. Rows 2 and 3 on the opposite side had one person sitting in the window seats. The other two seats were free.
During the flight a woman moved to one of these seats, row 3, mumbling to one of the occupants of the window seat that she had asked the cabin crew if she could do this. Next thing her partner with two year old arrives and takes up the other vacant seats in row 2. She said that they hadn't been allocated seats together on the plane. In other words the parent with toddler on lap and the parent without toddler weren't seated together.
They now had a seat for one parent and a seat for the toddler and in the row behind a seat for the other parent. Three seats for free that the rest of us had to pay extra for.
The toddler then used the area at the front of the plane as a play area, beside the emergency exit door, food preparation area etc.
To add insult to injury. There was a French lady with Irish partner smoking an e cigarette on the plane when the cabin crew were busy serving drinks etc.. She would secretly take a drag on the cigarette and blow the smoke in to her handbag.

I am happy to follow the rules and pay for what I have to pay for. It seems that the world is full of selfish people who feel entitled to do what they want to do a F everybody else.

This! Mind blowing levels of entitlement!!!

I went to the bathroom up front on a recent flight to UK and saw a parent with their boarding pass in their book - showing 23F (window if I'm right ??). She was sitting in the front row by the door and the space where the door is was one kid and the area where the servers put the trolley back was another - PLAYING CATCH!!!!

Mother refused point blank to move the kids, discipline them or even acknowledge them. Even cabin crew had no luck. She should have been arrested on landing and banned.

theyoungchap

There are people who would expect you to move to the middle of the plane, furthest away from the exits, just so they can sit together. No way would I move from a seat I have paid for, and one I hadn't would depend on my mood on the day AND where the alternative seating is.
If it is closer to the door, and with a window seat, I would maybe move.

lightpause

IMHO You shouldn't be charged more to travel with relatives. A seat is a seat. Fair enough if you are choosing a so called "premium" seat (as if anything could be considered premium on a Ryanair flight).

Another issue I have with Ryanair is that we have 2 toddlers, they cannot travel alone so we are forced to choose seats, even if we don't want but since Ryanair is so customer oriented they give the children's seats for half price, something they are forcing us to do.

There is a place for Ryanair but some of their policies go just a step too far. I'd rather pay 30 quid more and fly Aer Lingus where I can carry my cabin luggage without being asked to pay and can choose my seats. I would normally pay for seats, as a matter of principle though I just don't like being forced to do something.

Gwen Cooper

A few years ago I was sitting in my usual seat (that I paid for), when the crew asked me if I can move a few rows up so the lady who is sitting next to me can sit together with her granddaughter.

The seat they asked me to move to was a window seat too, so I didn't mind moving from row 29 to 22. When I settled down in the seat, I turned back to see if the lady and her granddaughter were reunited.

Turns out that her granddaughter was a grown up woman. I was angry for the rest of the flight. I was asked to move a few times since then, but always refused. I'm not moving away for anyone else. I paid for this specific seat 6 months in advance to make sure I get it and I will drag you through hell if you try to take it away from me

Mebuntu

Irish Steve wrote: »

Having said that, I'm also aware that some people can be very obstructive about their perceived "rights",

I think that is very OTT to accuse someone of being obstructive because they refuse to move from a seat they've paid for to accommodate someone who hasn't. Far from being "perceived" they have every right to refuse.

theyoungchap

lightpause wrote: »

IMHO You shouldn't be charged more to travel with relatives. A seat is a seat. Fair enough if you are choosing a so called "premium" seat (as if anything could be considered premium on a Ryanair flight).

Another issue I have with Ryanair is that we have 2 toddlers, they cannot travel alone so we are forced to choose seats, even if we don't want but since Ryanair is so customer oriented they give the children's seats for half price, something they are forcing us to do.

There is a place for Ryanair but some of their policies go just a step too far. I'd rather pay 30 quid more and fly Aer Lingus where I can carry my cabin luggage without being asked to pay and can choose my seats. I would normally pay for seats, as a matter of principle though I just don't like being forced to do something.

Well you are not being forced to fly with Ryanair, as you said yourself go ahead and fly Aer Lingus!! Or else holiday in Ballybunion.

plodder

That reminds me, my OH was just telling me on her last flight home, there was a woman in the aisle seat who wouldn't move to let her into her middle seat. She insisted my wife climb over her. So, she climbs in and hears a conversation between the person at the window seat and another passenger in the row behind with a baby. "Oh, are you traveling together?" she says to passenger with baby "we can swap seats, if you want to be together". Ka-ching!! Woman glued to her aisle seat gets more than she bargained for.

Gwen Cooper

plodder wrote: »

That reminds me, my OH was just telling me on her last flight home, there was a woman in the aisle seat who wouldn't move to let her into her middle seat. She insisted my wife climb over her. So, she climbs in and hears a conversation between the person at the window seat and another passenger in the row behind with a baby. "Oh, are you traveling together?" she says to passenger with baby "we can swap seats, if you want to be together". Ka-ching!! Woman glued to her aisle seat gets more than she bargained for.

I would do my best to climb over her with my ass landing on her face

Noxegon

theyoungchap wrote: »

In their own eyes, parents and their children and their entitlements outrank everybody else in this life.

If you think parents are bad, try musicians

A former friend of mine and I fell out over the fact that I wouldn't agree that he should be allowed to store a violin case in the overhead bins on Ryanair despite it being massively over the permitted dimensions.

PlaneSpeeking

Noxegon wrote: »

If you think parents are bad, try musicians

A former friend of mine and I fell out over the fact that I wouldn't agree that he should be allowed to store a violin case in the overhead bins on Ryanair despite it being massively over the permitted dimensions.

Oh the conversations overheard at the steps when young wans won't put their giant sized suitcases in the hold!!!

You know the trunks Kate Winslet's ma took on the Titanic ? These make that look like carry on.

Irish Steve

To clarify yet again.

I am not expecting Ryanair (or any other airline) to provide allocated seating for family groups for no additional fee if that is their policy, what I am expecting, and should be able to get, is seats that are in accordance with Ryanair's own stated policy of sitting minors with an adult that is/are part of the same group. Because of the way the booking and check in systems operate, that is not always operating as expected, despite having paid the relevant fee.

And yes, I'd love to be in the position to be able to charter a private jet, or even own one, but unfortunately, the only way that will happen will be if I win the lottery, so until that happens, it's whatever carrier serves the route I want to travel on. Yes, it was a lot simpler when I could turn up at the airport, throw the bags in the back, do the walk round checks, put the passengers in and go.

The IAA doesn't have an on line source, but the CAA says

Families, children and infants

The seating of children close by their parents or guardians should be the aim of airline seat allocation procedures for family groups and large parties of children.

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. This is because the speed of an emergency evacuation may be affected by adults trying to reach their children.

Whenever a number of infants and children are travelling together the airline should make every effort to ensure that they can be readily supervised by the responsible accompanying adults.

billy few mates

"Another issue I have with Ryanair is that we have 2 toddlers, they cannot travel alone so we are forced to choose seats..."

Why would you not want to choose the option to select four seats so you and your family members can all sit together...?
You don't have to fly with them at all if you don't want to, there's plenty of choice out there...

PlaneSpeeking

billy few mates wrote: »

"Another issue I have with Ryanair is that we have 2 toddlers, they cannot travel alone so we are forced to choose seats..."

Why would you not want to choose the option to select four seats so you and your family members can all sit together...?
You don't have to fly with them at all if you don't want to, there's plenty of choice out there...

Always love the martyrdom of "forced" to do something.

Having children - a choice
Travelling with them - a choice
Paying for that option - a choice

I see little coersion!!

billy few mates

I fly quite often, I rarely use Ryanair but when I do I know the rules and I can easily accept them.
Regardless of who I'm flying with I never pay to select a seat as I don't mind where I sit.
I also find the later I check in online the better that seat tends to be.
I'm quite happy to let Ryanair allocate me whatever "randomly allocated" seat their computer system decides but once I'm on board I operate a strict no swap policy that even Ryanair would be proud of. I don't care how old your granny is or how young your grandchildren are I'm not moving so you can sit beside them unless you pay me the €10 I pretend I've paid for that seat. This is roughly what it would have cost you if you'd paid for it when you made your booking so you should be no worse off if you really need to sit together.
I think that's fair...

Noxegon

billy few mates wrote: »

I fly quite often, I rarely use Ryanair but when I do I know the rules and I can easily accept them.
Regardless of who I'm flying with I never pay to select a seat as I don't mind where I sit.
I also find the later I check in online the better that seat tends to be.
I'm quite happy to let Ryanair allocate me whatever "randomly allocated" seat their computer system decides but once I'm on board I operate a strict no swap policy that even Ryanair would be proud of. I don't care how old your granny is or how young your grandchildren are I'm not moving so you can sit beside them unless you pay me the €10 I pretend I've paid for that seat. This is roughly what it would have cost you if you'd paid for it when you made your booking so you should be no worse off if you really need to sit together.
I think that's fair...

You’re generous - I typically offer mine for €25

PlaneSpeeking

Noxegon wrote: »

You’re generous - I typically offer mine for €25

Note to self to start that....!!!

Pat Dunne

I am a regular FR user, I use the airline as it is a no frills airline, if I want frills, I'll pay for them. We threat your regular sub 4 hour European destination journey as you would most other journeys, to simply get there safely and within reasonable time.
Ironically, last week we happened to use EI for my most recent flight, as their arrival time appeared to suit our travel plans best. However we ended up been delayed over 2 hours as a result of the aircraft going tech earlier in the day and upon arrival in DUB having to wait over 20 mins before the Airbridge driver showed up.
I along with my regular and long suffering other travelling companion are happy to go with the terms and conditions set down by the airline.

coffee_cake

billy few mates wrote: »

I fly quite often, I rarely use Ryanair but when I do I know the rules and I can easily accept them.
Regardless of who I'm flying with I never pay to select a seat as I don't mind where I sit.
I also find the later I check in online the better that seat tends to be.
I'm quite happy to let Ryanair allocate me whatever "randomly allocated" seat their computer system decides but once I'm on board I operate a strict no swap policy that even Ryanair would be proud of. I don't care how old your granny is or how young your grandchildren are I'm not moving so you can sit beside them unless you pay me the €10 I pretend I've paid for that seat. This is roughly what it would have cost you if you'd paid for it when you made your booking so you should be no worse off if you really need to sit together.
I think that's fair...

I thought you aren't supposed to swap anyway??

Squatter

Irish Steve wrote: »

To clarify yet again.

I am not expecting Ryanair (or any other airline) to provide allocated seating for family groups for no additional fee if that is their policy, what I am expecting, and should be able to get, is seats that are in accordance with Ryanair's own stated policy of sitting minors with an adult that is/are part of the same group. Because of the way the booking and check in systems operate, that is not always operating as expected, despite having paid the relevant fee.

And yes, I'd love to be in the position to be able to charter a private jet, or even own one, but unfortunately, the only way that will happen will be if I win the lottery, so until that happens, it's whatever carrier serves the route I want to travel on. Yes, it was a lot simpler when I could turn up at the airport, throw the bags in the back, do the walk round checks, put the passengers in and go.

The IAA doesn't have an on line source, but the CAA says

From your earlier posts, it appears that in the situation that you outlined, the Ryanair computer should simply have refused to process your son's booking as it couldn't abide by the CAA regulation.

Would your son have been happy with that logical outcome?

Irish Steve

Squatter wrote: »

From your earlier posts, it appears that in the situation that you outlined, the Ryanair computer should simply have refused to process your son's booking as it couldn't abide by the CAA regulation.

Would your son have been happy with that logical outcome?

I'm not sure, in one respect, that would be no different than looking at the booking engine and seeing that the flight was full on some dates/rotations. Yes, he wanted to travel, but given the type of holiday he was booking, if one date/flight combination wasn't available, he's have looked at other dates or flights.



On the actual flights, there were people who were happy to swap, but that's not a certainty, given some of the attitudes that have been posted in this thread, and I wouldn't want to be depending on that option.

Squatter

Irish Steve wrote: »

I'm not sure, in one respect, that would be no different than looking at the booking engine and seeing that the flight was full on some dates/rotations. Yes, he wanted to travel, but given the type of holiday he was booking, if one date/flight combination wasn't available, he's have looked at other dates or flights.

Fair enough.

Widening my question from the specific to the general, surely Ryanair's (or any other airline's) booking system shouldn't be able to take a booking when it is clear that the said booking would be in breach of the CAA regulation?

Hitman3000

Irish Steve wrote:

On the actual flights, there were people who were happy to swap, but that's not a certainty, given some of the attitudes that have been posted in this thread, and I wouldn't want to be depending on that option.

Some people would swap their seat once they are paid what they paid for it. I was on a flight recently with RA and was asked to move. I said I would once I was given the 14 euro the seat cost. The person refused to pay, so I stayed where I was.

trellheim

If you are boarding into a window seat and the already seated aisle seat passenger will not move to let you in (WTF !!!! ) do not climb over them, instead call the Cabin Crew, they will sort them out rapido

That's my recommendation anyway

(thinks : who could possibly be such a tit )

Living Off The Splash

You have to pay extra to sit in the first few rows. On a recent flight a family was split up despite the fact that a couple of the front rows only had one person sitting in the window seat. This suggests to me that the first few rows are not randomly
allocated except perhaps when the flight si flying at full capacity?