Ryanair - new free seating allocation policy?

buglawton

This seating apart scam with Ryanair happened to me recently. Never mind the booking cost you pay to fix it, the real issue is that you only discover on the day you do the online check in. Also the actual seat booking process is a real faff especially on an iPad and made the online check in process take a lot longer.

There's another new policy though. While you can now take a handbag sized item in addition to one carry on bag, after the 1st 150 overhead items are carried in, staff at the airplane take your overhead luggage and put it in the hold. So if you were expecting to access something during the flight you're stuffed. There was no warning from Ryanair's staff about this during physical luggage check in. As a result the lock got damaged (couldn't open it on arrival). Many people carry hand luggage they don't expect to get manhandled into the hold.

The logical solution is that a) Ryanair give you big warning when you book your flight so you can plan to take a stronger hand luggage case. And b) that during physical luggage check in, once X hand cases have gone past, to check the remaining ones in as hold luggage for free. People need to be well prepared for this so as not to cause delays at check in repacking.

Put the seating scam together with the new luggage unpredictability and for me Ryanair is now unusable unless no other route exists. Easyjet will be my first port of call without even doing a price comparison.

bagand96

While you can now take a handbag sized item in addition to one carry on bag, after the 1st 150 overhead items are carried in, staff at the airplane take your overhead luggage and put it in the hold. So if you were expecting to access something during the flight you're stuffed. There was no warning from Ryanair's staff about this during physical luggage check in. As a result the lock got damaged (couldn't open it on arrival). Many people carry hand luggage they don't expect to get manhandled into the hold.

This isn't a new policy it's been in place some time. And it is made clear on Ryanair's website. Only the first 90 cabin bags are guaranteed to be allowed on board. This is because of space constraints in the cabin.

Your logical solution would never work. A large proportion of Ryanair passengers carry hand baggage only, so never go anywhere near the check in desk.

At the airports I've flown from the cabin baggage policy has worked well with gate staff being proactive walking down the queue tagging bags for the hold, giving people plenty of time to get any belongings out they may need.

You'll find easyJet do exactly the same and on busy flights will make people put bags in the hold.

fpcat

My hubby and I take rucksacks, and these go under seats. We've seen cabin baggage being taken from passengers on the tarmac for putting in hold and our 'sacks have always been allowed on. Also carrying a rucksack on your back is easier than trying to carry a small case or bag weighing 10 kgs.!

buglawton

bagand96 wrote: »

This isn't a new policy it's been in place some time. And it is made clear on Ryanair's website. Only the first 90 cabin bags are guaranteed to be allowed on board. This is because of space constraints in the cabin.

Your logical solution would never work. A large proportion of Ryanair passengers carry hand baggage only, so never go anywhere near the check in desk.

At the airports I've flown from the cabin baggage policy has worked well with gate staff being proactive walking down the queue tagging bags for the hold, giving people plenty of time to get any belongings out they may need.

You'll find easyJet do exactly the same and on busy flights will make people put bags in the hold.

Our bag was grabbed as we stepped off the tarmac onto the plane. ***no receipt was offered*** like you get with checked baggage. Good luck with your insurance company if such a bag goes awol.

Barrie_Anthony

It has just happened to us on our flight to Zadar next Tuesday. We have been allocated seats on opposite sides of the aircraft and have had to pay to move one of us. There was plenty of seats together we could have had. We have travelled quite a few times with them recently and it has not happened before.

silvercar

MSE article and associated discussion on this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5658179

I will lock this thread now to keep all the discussion in one place.

(Apologies for not doing this in a neater way but I'm posting from an iPad.)