Originally Posted by
Steven Andrew
Long time lurker, first time poster. Just flown MAN-NUE on a relatively quiet FR flight. Plenty of empty seats, but the computer assigned me 33A, despite there being plenty of empty B and E seats elsewhere on the plane. After completing online check-in (via the Ryanair app), there was an option to purchase a seat. This disappears two hours before departure (i.e., as soon as online check-in closes).
On departure, cabin crew were happy to allow separated people to move around the cabin. Fortunately, we had a slot delay so take-off was not compromised, but I imagine it would be if we had a tight turnaround. One interesting thing to note was that the last five rows needed exactly five people in them for weight distribution. Because of this, a man who joined his wife from further up the aircraft was told he couldn't sit in row 30, but both were able to move further up the aircraft. When the woman had left, the cabin crew had to find a volunteer from further up the plane to move back to make up for the missing pax at the back.
As such, it seems that the algorithm is far more complicated than just assigning individual travellers B and E seats. I got a window seat despite there being plenty of middle seats left, and there seems to be a link with weight distribution calculations required by flight deck crew. It must be noted that there is also an option to pay for a seat after one has checked in. No-one else has mentioned this from what I can tell so maybe it is a new thing which they are gradually rolling out.
I am due to fly NUE-BGY tomorrow on FR metal. I will be sure to report back on my experience.
Flew NUE-BGY today. Flight was much busier. Was allocated 14C, despite there being a splattering of B and E seats available elsewhere. Again, one had the option of paying for seats once one had checked in, so it is possible to roll the dice on the random allocation before paying if one is a solo traveller.
Flying BGY-HAM tomorrow on FR. The flight looks full, and most seats are gone already. At the back, row 31 is empty (apart from 31B). 30E and 30F are free, as is 29A. Emergency exit rows are free apart from 16B and 17B. Apart from that, there is a splattering of window and aisle seats available in the premium rows (1 to 6) - the middle seats have been filled first. It will be interesting to see how they fill these final seats. Going to leave check-in until tomorrow to try and gauge it.