Ryanair - new free seating allocation policy?

Mamitch

We have travelled with Ryanair three times already this year. There appears to be a new policy of allocating seating so that people booked together are sat far apart, to encourage you to pay for your seat.
On a 23rd May flight, we had checked in for free as soon as we received the alert; we were allocated a seat in row 8 and another in row 26. By chance, I overheard another passenger complaining that she was in a similar position, and, guess what, they were in rows 8 and 26! So we swapped, and both ended up sitting next to the people we were travelling with.
Same thing happened again on our return yesterday. This isn't random allocation, this is punishment for not paying.
Personally, I don't mind where I sit on a short haul flight. However, it does appear to delay boarding as people faff about trying to stow their luggage at opposite ends of the plane. Also the aisles are congested as people have to get in and out of their seats to accommodate the person in seat B or E. Our flight yesterday was delayed by almost an hour because it took so long to board everyone that we missed our slot. It would be interesting to know if other flights are being delayed for this reason.

richardw

Long thin planes in 2-2 seating or wide planes in 2-X-2 is the answer, 3-3 seating is a pain.

leylandsunaddict

There's always a lot of people moving to let other people sit down, causing congestion no matter what seats a computer has allocated. It's inconsiderate people loading bags the wrong way into the overhead that causes delays, especially when they're too big, and they also want to put a jacket and everything else up there as well.

onomatopoeia99

Ryanair's business model is to keep the headline price low and 'encourage' you to pay for extras.

If you're prepared to accept all the aggro that comes with using Ryanair to get the cheapest price, then go for it, but it's a bit rich to complain about them not accomodating your seating requirements when you wouldn't pay for allocated seating. If you want to sit with your travelling companion(s), pay to do so.

Do not understand why it caused a delay in boarding though, takes barely a moment to let somone in if you're in the aisle seat and that happens anyway, however the allocation is done.

soolin

Since we usually pre book an aisle and middle seat if we do board quickly then we still have to stand to let the person with the window seat in, I can't see why that would change if we were seated apart?

zagfles

Mamitch wrote: »

We have travelled with Ryanair three times already this year. There appears to be a new policy of allocating seating so that people booked together are sat far apart, to encourage you to pay for your seat.
On a 23rd May flight, we had checked in for free as soon as we received the alert; we were allocated a seat in row 8 and another in row 26. By chance, I overheard another passenger complaining that she was in a similar position, and, guess what, they were in rows 8 and 26! So we swapped, and both ended up sitting next to the people we were travelling with.

Excellent, well done! Someone should set up a "Ryanair seat swap" website where people can arrange swaps beforehand!

Same thing happened again on our return yesterday. This isn't random allocation, this is punishment for not paying.

Does appear to be so. I've just checked in and the same happened to us - and someone mentioned it in another thread.

But they do give you the option of moving one of the seats to be next to the other, so you only pay for one allocated seat rather than 2. The seat right next to my wife is £9, the one right behind is £5. I asked her whether it was worth paying. She said no. I'm not sure whether to be pleased she's as tight fisted as me, or offended she doesn't think it's worth paying a fiver to sit next to me

Personally, I don't mind where I sit on a short haul flight. However, it does appear to delay boarding as people faff about trying to stow their luggage at opposite ends of the plane. Also the aisles are congested as people have to get in and out of their seats to accommodate the person in seat B or E. Our flight yesterday was delayed by almost an hour because it took so long to board everyone that we missed our slot. It would be interesting to know if other flights are being delayed for this reason.

I'll let you know. This sort of shennanigan from Ryanair is not unexpected, and it's all part of the game of travelling with them, but if it affects their punctuality it'll certainly hit their profits and they'll probably ditch it. Quick turnaround helps them keep costs down, which is why they discourage hold baggage.

zagfles

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Ryanair's business model is to keep the headline price low and 'encourage' you to pay for extras.

If you're prepared to accept all the aggro that comes with using Ryanair to get the cheapest price, then go for it, but it's a bit rich to complain about them not accomodating your seating requirements when you wouldn't pay for allocated seating. If you want to sit with your travelling companion(s), pay to do so.

The OP was complaining about the flight delay, rather than being split up, and that'll affect everyone on the flight whether they paid or not.

Do not understand why it caused a delay in boarding though, takes barely a moment to let somone in if you're in the aisle seat and that happens anyway, however the allocation is done.

It's probably more that one of the couple may have stuff in their carry-on case that the other wants for the flight eg book, tablet, glasses, whatever, so they have to go down the aisle to get it and a few people doing that could cause delays.

Of course they should have prepared - we certainly will.

bagand96

I'm pretty sure this is a new policy to deliberately split people up (and therefore generate extra revenue)

Not sure when it started, but perhaps at the beginning of May. I flew in April and 4 of us were allocated seats together both outbound and inbound on very busy flights. Flew again in June, 2 of us amongst the first to check in and got put at opposite ends of the plane with available seats all around.

I posted this on another thread the other day....

Does anyone know if they've started deliberately allocating seats apart? I never pay to reserve seats, just make sure I check in early online when the "free" window opens. I've always had seats allocated together. Last month I went away, a party of 4 had free seat allocation together both outbound and inbound as normal.

I flew the other week, and checked in as soon as the check-in opened. The seats allocated were 14 rows apart. Both allocated middle "B" seats, in empty rows, the seats all around were available.

Afterwards when accessing the booking it gave a handy reminder "You are seated 14 rows apart, there's still time to change your seat". Clicked the link and for £2.99 moved one of us into an adjacent seat.

Seems like a new ploy to deliberately split people up. Goes against their "Always getting better" drive from a couple of years ago...

IAmWales

I've flown with Ryanair three times in the past two months, and the parents last week. We've not been split up yet (I wouldn't mind if we were, it's only a few hours!).

zagfles

IAmWales wrote: »

I've flown with Ryanair three times in the past two months, and the parents last week. We've not been split up yet (I wouldn't mind if we were, it's only a few hours!).

Maybe they're trialling it on certain routes...

Mamitch

My experience was on the London Stansted to Malaga route. As previously stated, it is all part of the game flying with Ryanair. If people travelling together don't mind sitting apart, it's fine. As the previous contributor states, it could be a bonus! However, if it starts impacting on the already tight turnaround time, they may have to think of another way of encouraging you to pay for your seat.