MSE News: 'Family tax': Dad's outrage as Ryanair tries to seat 3yo away from family

richardw

Pollycat wrote: »

I may be wrong but I understood it was a recommendation rather than a rule.

From the CAA website:
The above talks of 'aims' and 'ideally' and 'make every effort' and 'should be' (as opposed to 'must be').

It is just a recommendation as you say. Earlier http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=68581078&postcount=19 I suggested the campaign should be aimed at the government and the CAA, the airlines aren't going to change voluntarily.

Elimum

Airlines should start to add a "seat together" option for all that people that don't mind the row or the seat position, but travel with people that can't manage by their own. That would be honest, but I suppose the law would consider it discriminating and a breach of H&S.

Stacey06

After reading this story has made me nervous checking in 7days before we fly to find out we might not be sat all together including our daughter who is also 3. Now we are paying extra money for seating, which is going to cost us an extra £30 odd each flight!!! Money making system if you ask me!! But I don't fancy chancing a 4 hour flight seperate!!

Moto2

zagfles wrote: »

If a 16 and 17 year old still need to sit with Mummy and Daddy I think that says a lot

Mine would have paid to be at the other end of the plane from us

shropshire_traveller

We have been on 2 Ryanair flights from East Midlands to Greece, 1 in April 1 in June, we paid to choose our seats but on both flights parents and children were split and we ended up moving so that they could be seated together. On the flight in June there were parents with 2 children age about 7 and 2 and they had given them all separate seats the 2yr old was hysterical so we moved and let the dad sit with the 2yr old the crew didn't even ask anyone to swap or go to the aid of the mum who was trying to strap the 2yr old into a seat on her own. The awful thing was that when we went to the toilet there was a man just a few rows in front lying across 3 seats to himself why couldn't they have put 2 of the family together.

melanzana

People have to be responsible for their children.

So pay for a seat together or get there early for check in on a package holiday.

I don't see the problem really.

Don't forget, those who don't have children travelling with them may have had them in a younger life and gone through all that, and are now enjoying the freedom of travelling without them!

If travelling with Ryanair and I had children now I would pay for seats together. The stress of worrying about it would ruin my trip TBH. But then again I would be more concerned about the children being with me than anything else really. All other stress is futile if it can be solved, and it can.

Jinnyjinny

What about those people who have paid to sit together and then get moved because families have assumed they will be allocated seats together without paying. I have had seat I paid for changed without being asked so that families who haven't paid can be seated together. I wouldn't mind changing if asked but was not pleased to get to boarding gate to be told my seat had been changed!

Frequent_Flyer_UK

You all know with Ryanair you get your seat and anything else you pay for.

This is a case where the parent A SOLICITOR failed to do her homework ie read the small print and rather than accepting the consequence of her error instead let the world know how stupid she was by trying to blame someone else.

Can we identify her so we know to avoid someone so incompetent

It is a reflection of society today that rather than accept we have made a mistake people turn to social media and compound their stupidity

Roxpops

This happened to our family in May 2014. Our family were all allocated separate seats around the plane. On contacting Ryanair they said speak to check in staff who could only put our 2 year old (he turned 2 in April 2014) in an aisle seat on the opposite side of the plane and one row in front to his mum. Cabin crew wouldn't assist at all - they were not willing to ask other passengers if they would consider swapping seats. It was only after he started to get very upset that a couple agreed to swap seats for duration of take off and landing.

We paid for two seats coming home so that the whole distressing incident didn't happen again.

Futureconditional

I pay extra to choose my seat and on many occasions have been asked to move to accommodate families and on one occasion having paid for extra leg room on a long distance flight was asked if I would mind moving for an obese person. I now refuse