I have no beef with seat fees, heck they can ask for £30 one way for a 2 hour exit row seat if they like (I won't pay it). They can charge what they like, heck they can give me a middle seat if they like, but what is draconian & should be illegal is deliberately sitting folk on the same booking 3/4 of the plane apart deliberately to blackmail them to pay for a seat.

My wife is a nervous flyer, with health conditions & I am basically a lowest grade carer - to take advantage of that to leverage maybe 50% of the headline fare is disgusting.

For those who must be seated together, I find that on Ryanair, the best tip is to check in, see what stupid seats 20+ rows apart they give & then pay to move 1 person beside the other (at least halving what they extract from you).

If you don't have to sit together (but it is a preference), take pot luck on the seats, keep checking (even take screenshots of) the seating plan until the paid seating window closes, then sit in a seat nearby that was sold - I even had a chance encounter with someone in the same position - I was able to inform her which seat I was meant to be in, in the same row as her friend & we both sat beside our travel companions without succumbing!

I would agree to the boycott, plus observe & promote it, provided the aim is clear - reasonable charges & no more split group blackmail.