eastflyer123

I keep hearing stories about passengers being split from their groups.

I vowed never to use Ryanair about seven years ago when I heard horror stories about luggage fees, boarding pass charges, etc etc.

It seems to be inexperienced flyers that get caught out and make the biggest complaints.

The new "trick" being reported is about partners and friends being split because they have not paid for seat selection. Maybe it's a revenue generating trick (probably) but when you pay the same for a Ryanair flight as what it costs to go out for dinner in a reasonable restaurant, do people have a valid argument?

I used to fly BA for all European trips but now the standard seem to be the same with low cost carriers (or better in price) I stick with Ryanair.

First week in August I need to head to Hamburg from London. Today's price is £45 return. Will I complain about being seated apart from two colleagues? Or will I pay the £15 total charges for priority boarding (guaranteeing my bag on board), seat allocation and a cappuccino for a 90 min flight? Of course I will! Still FAR cheaper than BA! That's cheaper than my airport parking!

The departure and arrival at London Stansted is another discussion for another thread. What a farce.

Ditto

People always like to complain, whether it is justified or not
No matter what airline you choose, you have 3 options:
1. Pay up seat selection in advance and get the seats you want
2. OLCI the minute it opens, and hope you will be assigned seats together, if not pay the fee then (if still applicable)
3. OLCI the last minute and complain you are not seated together anymore... (or don't OLCI at all and complain you are charged for airport check-in)

I've seen plenty of inexperienced passengers being seated apart on KLM flights, including a couple with their lap infant seated in B + D of the same row, this would not have happened if they checked-in online, even 4-5 hours in advance.

Palal

Ryanair appreciates stories like this anyway because it gets people talking about them, reducing their need to advertise

oug

It's definitely a revenue generating "trick"!

Regardless of how empty the flight is if you book two seats it seems that you're going to end up sitting separately unless you pay a few £ more.

Separating passengers is clearly by design. If you start a dummy booking you'll see "Sit next to friends or family" is a clearly outlined perk of paying to pick your seat rather than relying on their unfriendly allocation.

If you miss it on the booking page you'll see a nice reminder you see when you go to manage your booking and print your boarding passes - although at this stage you're not reminded that there's a cost associated with the changes!



But hey-ho, I guess they've decided that if you're willing to accept the often antisocial flight times, the horror that is Stansted, the often miserable staff and every other "quirk" associated with flying Ryanair an extra £5 or so to sit with your travelling companion is unlikely to be the deal-breaker.

rrapynot

There's an assumption that the fare and seat selection are cheap so why complain? I just paid almost $200 for a round-trip and the only remaining seats for selection were $14 each way.... so basically $228.

Mizter T

Just as a counterpoint to that, I have recently paid the equivalent of US$20 and US$25 for two Ryanair flights this summer. Though certainly at other times the flights on these routes are much more expensive, up to and indeed more than what you paid.

Regarding paid seat selection - at least at the moment, Ryanair are offering some allocated seats "on sale" for €2 (or £2) each towards the back of the plane on rows 24 to 28, there being 33 rows in total. (Worth bearing in mind that at most airports Ryanair also use the rear doors.)

I wouldn't be that surprised if some allocated seats remain almost permanently "on sale" at such a price.