MSE News: Ryanair to charge £5 to pick a seat as it ends free-for-all

Former_MSE_Helen

"Ryanair's free-for-all seating policy is to be scrapped from next February..."

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Ryanair to charge £5 to pick a seat as it ends free-for-all




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Pincher

Nobody wants the middle seat, so if you don't pay, the computer is bound to give you the middle seat.

NFH

At what point are you allocated a seat? With most airlines, this is done at check-in, regardless of method of check-in, which usually opens 24 hours before departure. However, with Ryanair offering check-in up to 15 days before departure, I doubt they will do this. And without your seat number on your boarding pass, how will you (or anyone else) easily identify your seat number?

lijaloo

When I checked in online with easyjet 30 days before my flight I was allocated seats at that time. I was also offered the option of paying extra for one of their premium seats but declined. Ryanair have said seats will be allocated 24 hours before the flight. So presumably that means they will be changing the time you can check in online which is currently between three weeks and four hours before the flight.

MarkBargain

Is it guaranteed that all the people on one booking will be allocated seats together? Perhaps they will dispurse the group through the plane to encourage payment of the £5 fees?

So, passengers can check in two weeks before but only get the seat number 24 hours before. How is this communicated? Will there be a fee to find out your seat number at the airport for anyone who forgot to make a note or take a print? What about those who cannot check emails 24 hours before the flight e.g. when on holiday abroad?

NFH

If they reduce the check-in time from 15 days down to 24 hours, this will hit the majority of people who don't have access to a printer while travelling. They would need to introduce mobile boarding passes (like many other airlines) which would also reduce the current paper wastage. However, given that their iPhone app is still struggling to work, I don't expect this any time soon.

hilda1

Oh yes...the Irish man strikes again !.......Reckon he will soon be charging for using their in-flight loos and toilet paper;):) !!

zerog

NFH wrote: »

If they reduce the check-in time from 15 days down to 24 hours, this will hit the majority of people who don't have access to a printer while travelling. They would need to introduce mobile boarding passes (like many other airlines) which would also reduce the current paper wastage. However, given that their iPhone app is still struggling to work, I don't expect this any time soon.

The past 3 times I tried a mobile boarding pass, the man at the gate printed me a paper one anyway. I didn't even get upgraded - when that happens they just write the number manually, which sometimes makes it hard to convince the crew that I didn't self-upgrade! (This is with proper airlines - not LearyAir)

richardw

hilda1 wrote: »

Oh yes...the Irish man strikes again !.......Reckon he will soon be charging for using their in-flight loos and toilet paper;):) !!

I think that's unlikely.

lijaloo

They are going to offer the option of downloading boarding passes onto smart phones from Feb 2014 according to the Ryanair website. Look at news for 30th October.

NFH

It sounds as if this new policy could be fine for lone travellers with smartphones, but quite a problem for many other people, especially families who need to sit together. Even if the parents have smartphones, most young children haven't.