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

Maverick1251

"When the Parrs checked in for their flight from Faro last month and printed their boarding passes, the airline's system had seated parents Chris and Kim Parr, both 33 from Lancashire, and their three-year-old, Lily, in three seats spread out around the plane. Their five-month-old, Harry, was sitting on his mother's lap, as planned"

The above statement clearly shows all 3 were seated in different parts of the plane.. So if the Dad did swap with his daughter, she still would be sat away from mum and dad? The only ones sat together were mum and baby, because he was sat on knee.
I am with the Parrs on this one.. A lot of airlines have now introduced this "family tax" not just budget airlines because it's a big money spinning profiteering machine. But unlike most other airlines, Ryanair is the least likely to help in these circumstances because they want to make sure those that don't pay the tax get a suitable punishment!!!

davetrousers

the airline's system had seated parents Chris and Kim Parr, both 33 from Lancashire, and their three-year-old, Lily, in three seats spread out around the plane. Their five-month-old, Harry, was sitting on his mother's lap, as planned.

Some people seem to think that the parents were sat together and the 3 year old was separated, but the article clearly says they were spread out around the plane.

HFDMammy

You get what you pay for seems to be obvious here. Cheap flight? Fine, but if you want luxuries like free baggage and free reserved seating then pay for a regular airline and don't expect it if it's not included in the price. We got flights only with Thomsons to Sanford at Easter. Luggage was £75 per 20kg and the seat reservations were £30 each for me and hubby and £12 each for the three kids. Guess what, I paid, to be certain I could sit me and my family where I wanted. If I'm travelling by myself, I don't bother to reserve because I don't care, so why bother to pay for something I don't need

springsteenrocks

Why don't these supposedly educated people take responsibility for their own actions or inactions. When they booked their flights, like every other passenger, they had the opportunity to pre-book seats.

They made the considered choice not to. The consequences of that decision belongs with the parents, not Ryanair. My Wife and I have just flown to Alicante with Ryanair. £55 return each. We paid for seats on top. Our decision.

The problem with bleating parents like the solicitor and her husband is they expect the world to revolve around them.

In my opinion Ryanair have improved beyond all recognition and I'd rather fly with them than any other low cost carrier. Stop knocking Ryanair and put the 'blame' for this situation fairly and squarely back on the shoulders of the parents.

sunflower2012

Ryanair attempted to do this to us too. We're a family of four with a 3 yr old and a 6mth old baby. On the outward journey we were all seated together. We checked in on the way back and I was seated in row 8 with my daughter in row 28 and my husband with our baby son on his lap in row 30.

We went online to their chat service and got a response saying the flight was very full and we would have to speak to the airstewardess on boarding. We were told seats were randomly allocated so it was a fluke we were all allocated together on the way out. We could of course pay to be put together.

I checked online and they were showing as still having one ticket left at £26.99 and then the next day they had multiple tickets at £32.99 so the flight was nowhere near full (as it proved when we boarded 3 days later and there were 4+ rows of 3 all empty).

I went back online to their chat a day later and mentioned that the flight wasn't full despite their claims and our three year old daughter could not sit alone for her safety and that of those around her and they changed it in 2 minutes. We were so relieved and it meant that we weren't stressed in the remaining day and night before we flew.

Utter madness from Ryanair but seems we were very lucky in the end! How can they treat their customers as pound signs and not people? (They also seem to be able to charge £15 for a bag on the way out and £25 for the same bag and same weight on the way back!).

Pollycat

Kel1404 wrote: »

My 4 year old daughter and I flew with Etihad from Abu Dhabi to Sydney (almost 14 hours) and it was not until we got to the gate that I realised they had sat me at the front of the plane and my daughter almost 10 rows behind me.

Didn't you check your boarding passes as soon as you'd checked in?

Kel1404 wrote: »

We checked in together so there is no reason why they should have separated us. They said it was a full flight and nothing could be done until after take off and to see if someone would swap seats.

But with Etihad you can check-in online from 24 hours before your flight.
AND you can choose your seat.
Why didn't you do that?
If the rest of the passengers had all checked in online that would explain why - even though you checked in together - you weren't given seats together.
They probably separated you because they were the only seats left on the plane.
They even told you the flight was full.

Kel1404 wrote: »

I refused to sit down and soon pointed out that I was pretty sure no one wanted to be sitting next to a screaming 4 year old for take off.

You were lucky you weren't off-loaded for being obstructive.

Kel1404 wrote: »

soon pointed out that I was pretty sure no one wanted to be sitting next to a screaming 4 year old for take off.
I found 1 particular staff member very unhelpful and rude and told her that if we were to be separated then she could deal with what im sure would be numerous complaints from other passengers over my daughter screaming why she wasn't sitting with her mummy.

TBH, your behaviour sounds rude to me.

green_lantern

That's as maybe but the fact of the matter is the person booking the flights omitted to book seats and they were allocated at random. So a solicitor will know attention to detail in the contract you are signing up to is the rules you live by and a policeman will know you cannot flaunt the rules. The parents were at fault, not the airline in this particular case!

green_lantern

sunflower2012 wrote: »

Ryanair attempted to do this to us too. We're a family of four with a 3 yr old and a 6mth old baby. On the outward journey we were all seated together. We checked in on the way back and I was seated in row 8 with my daughter in row 28 and my husband with our baby son on his lap in row 30.

---

What is the problem here? Why is it so difficult to understand that if you BOOK your seats you get the seats you want and if you do not then you get the seats that are allocated to you and they may not be together. That is why they have BOOKED seats! The lesson to be learnt is that just because you have a family does not mean people and companies need to do what you tell them or accommodate your wishes.

tomtontom

davetrousers wrote: »

Some people seem to think that the parents were sat together and the 3 year old was separated, but the article clearly says they were spread out around the plane.

The article has been edited since originally published - the OP acknowledges their mistake part way through the thread

green_lantern

Why did you not book your seats? Whose fault was it you did not book your seats? Life does not revolve around parents with children and your mistake does not move the blame onto the airline, no matter how much you want them to be at fault.