Worth paying for Priority Boarding with Ryanair - have young children

Looking for some sound advice, if poss.

A large family group of us are traveling from Birmingham to Reus next month. There are 6 adults, 3 children (aged 5 or under) and two babies less than 1 year old.

We don't mind being split up into smaller groups but for the obvious reasons we want at least one parent sat next to the children.

I know that at one point priority boarding was used by the majority of passengers because of the "free with online check-in" saga but wondered if PBers were still the majority, or whether we could get a way with not paying out for Priority Boarding if we got to the gate early?

Any advise on this would be appreciated, particularly from people who have flown recently with Ryanair and can advise me on whether PB is essential for families with young children.

Many thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • Pont
    Pont Posts: 1,459
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    I can only comment on a recent flight to Poland (April) from Birmingham. In my view it was totally pointless for anyone to pay for priority boarding as after going through the gate we were herded onto a bus to take us out to the plane. The priority boarders all rushed to the furthest side of the bus, but when we got to the plane the 'non priority door' opened first and so the non-priority flyers got all the best seats.

    In the past, when the DDs were small, we paid for Dad to have priority boarding (6 foot 3) so that he could physically charge onto the plane and nab the seats for me and kids!

    My advice - perhaps pay for the 2 biggest, burliest, loudest, pushiest members of the party to have priority boarding, and send them on to scowl and be obnoxious to the rest of the plane (I mean, of course, to reline across several banks of seats until the rest of you are on the plane)!
  • well you will get stung on charges as wont be able to book online because of the infants so check out other flight options before committing to ryan air x
    ***MSE...My.Special.Escape***
  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    You can now do online check in with infants. It started in the last month.
    I'd personally pay for PB & get there very early. You still need to queue. However, if you are then put onto a bus, it rather defeats the point.
    But no one really wants to sit next to other people's children, epecially if their parents are not near them. If there really are no sets of two seats to allow a parent to sit next to a child, ask nicely :D
  • MrSmartprice
    MrSmartprice Posts: 17,625 Forumite
    I travel regularly with Ryanair and never use priority boarding. I always manage to get the seats I want, without fail, the exit seats in the middle. Few people bother and it's a waste of money.

    We came back from Reus last week and they do not use a bus, you walk to the plane. With kids you cannot have exit seats but you will have no problem getting seats together as long as you get to the gate on time. It is a small departure lounge so once you get past the obligatory 'building site' bit which they seem to have at every Spanish airport you will be fine. Also, the plane was not full either way so don't worry.
  • lorweld
    lorweld Posts: 5,546
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    Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].
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  • AnnaV
    AnnaV Posts: 531 Forumite
    I can't see how they would allow young children to sit on their own anyway!! Surely that is a health & safety issue?
    Anna :beer:
  • dazzer68
    dazzer68 Posts: 1,159 Forumite
    AnnaV wrote: »
    I can't see how they would allow young children to sit on their own anyway!! Surely that is a health & safety issue?
    eh hello, this is ryan air were talking about! they are a law unto themselves.
  • Dont bother with PB - its a total scam. I dont know about Ryanair, but EasyJet always load up PB, then families with small children, then internet/group A boarding cards, then group B. I imagine that most airlines follow this order.
  • terryya
    terryya Posts: 603 Forumite
    I wouldn't be too sure! On all the ryanair flights I've taken it was just PB and then everyone else, no kids first!

    For the little it costs I'm paying for PB for when I travel with the kids, just to relieve the worry about getting on through the scrum (after first checking that the airports don't use buses!). When it is just me and the wife we don't bother and stand back to laugh at everyone rushing around!
  • noddyboffin
    noddyboffin Posts: 236
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    I would like to echo some of the comments from previous posts and say from my view having travelled many times with Ryanair it is a waste of time.

    Although Priority Boarding passengers are called to the gate first the luxery seems to be lost once the gates are open and people are let to the plane.

    What we do when travelling with our 2 year old, 6 month old and 3 bags is when we get to the plane I take 2 bags and the 2 year old and find the seats and leave the girlfriend and the 6 month old to collapse the buggy and bring the other bag on board.

    As long as I can get on and find a block of 3 we are sorted and there will always be some kind person to carry an extra bag for you (hopefully)
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