Fury as Ryanair seats passengers 'rows apart' unless they pay to sit together

zagfles

Caz3121 wrote: »

I think it would be easier if they displayed the price including the seat selection fee and then offered a discount to de-select it which means they are choosing to sit apart...bonus for single travellers if they are not bothered where to sit.
I guess that goes against their policy of showing cheap fares but I suspect less people would deselect it than currently choose not to add it.

Yes that's the reason they do it, so they're not going to inflate the fare and then give discounts.

It was the same when they were forced to stop charging silly fees for using virtually any payment method, other than some obscure card that hardly anyone had. They could have kept the exact same prices by increasing the headline price and giving a discount for the obscure card, but that would have defeated the whole reason for their pricing structure.

I remember that caused some serious whinging here

leylandsunaddict

IAmWales wrote: »

Fury, irate, despicable ...

Imagine being furious, irate and calling an airline despicable for giving you exactly what you paid for. How dare an airline do that! :rotfl:

Frozen_up_north

Two weeks ago we flew with Ryanair and were seated together
without paying for allocated seats.

We have previously had seats several rows apart on Jet2 and have heard of other airlines doing the same.

Another non story from the media. If it bothers anyone, it's their choice, and they know in advance they might not sit together. We have booked about 8 or 10 Ryanair flights in the past year and only once were the seats not together.

Use the savings towards a meal out at your destination.

Pincher

Ryanair is just thinning the gruel because all the Olivers are screaming: "Please Sir, can I have some more." Dignity? Self-respect? I think it costs just a few pounds more, with other airlines.
On the other hand, Ryanair is the perfect way to experience steerage class from the Titanic era.


I had a really uncomfortable night about 30 years ago, packed into a long distance train in China. You are the lucky ones if you managed to squeeze under the seats, smelling feet. I couldn't even stand up straight, because there was no where to put my feet. Nowhere to put my rucksack, so it was on my back for at least ten hours. Eighteen hours later, I actually got a seat, because it thinned out. I could have bought a sleeper berth, at three or four times the price, but I wanted the "authentic" travel experience.

KLM does something more subtle.

When you book initially, you can choose your seat if you pay a little extra, but I find that if you wait till the ~30 hour check-in window, you can choose a seat for free, but from a reduced selection, since some seats had been allocated already. I am talking about the cheapest, most inflexible tickets (what else would an MSE buy ), not super duper fully flexible ones.

Just got offered an upgrade to business class, during online check-in, at what KLM claimed was 80% discount. I grabbed it like a shot. About 90% of the (business class) seats were empty, so I had plenty to choose from. I wonder whether they would refund the money if I had paid to pick an Economy seat previously? Great minds think alike, as business class was 90% full when we lifted off. How many were MSEs? Hehe.

It has occurred to me that I only got the 80% discount because more seats were empty. As the number of unsold (business class)seats disappear, it makes sense to reduce the discount.

All in order to squeeze a little more out of me, but nobody seems to bat an eyelid about KLM.

Consumerist

We gave up flying Ryanair years ago (on the advice of their CEO, Mike O'Leary: "If you don't like it . . ." ). It was very good advice.

Watching their passengers unpacking pairs of socks, etc. to reduce their luggage weight by a few milligrams became good entertainment for us as we checked-in with other airlines.

If you must travel Ryanair then you should know, by now, what you're letting yourself in for.

PeacefulWaters

Consumerist wrote: »

Watching their passengers unpacking pairs of socks, etc. to reduce their luggage weight by a few milligrams became good entertainment for us as we checked-in with other airlines.

Their luggage allowances are generous enough enough and comparable with most airlines.

If you must travel Ryanair then you should know, by now, what you're letting yourself in for.

I've flown eight legs with them this year. One ninety minute delay. A couple of the longest flights were hard sell on the coffee and scratch cards, but nothing I couldn't ignore.

I saw one customer taking the pi$$ with hand luggage the size of Ayre's Rock but overall I've been quite impressed.

[Deleted User]

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Their luggage allowances are generous enough enough and comparable with most airlines.

I've flown eight legs with them this year. One ninety minute delay. A couple of the longest flights were hard sell on the coffee and scratch cards, but nothing I couldn't ignore.

I saw one customer taking the pi$$ with hand luggage the size of Ayre's Rock but overall I've been quite impressed.

I've flown Ryanair probably 150 or so times over the years - I commuted several times a week between Ireland and England for a while and took many weekend breaks in Europe.
Because I followed the clearly marked instructions on the booking website,used a trusty rucksack that fitted Ryanair's size restrictions and prepared for my flight properly I have never experienced a single issue.
Virtually every flight has been on time or early and every single one of them has been cheaper than the competitors.
EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.
In a week in which BA has suffered another PR disaster Ryanair recorded record annual profits of £1.1Billion while at the same time driving down fares by 13% in three years.
It seems people are not that worried about being separated on a plane for an hour or two .....

piggy73

I have just checked in for our Leeds/Bradford flight to Dublin next week and guess what - we have been allocated middle row sits for rows 11 and 25 - with plenty of availability in the rest of the plane.

Ryanair are not my favourite airline anyway and I don't mind paying a few pounds more for airlines that offer a better travel experience - so Ryanair is always a last resort option.

I have no hassle sitting separately but I think it is poor customer practice without advising customers of a change in policy.

Frozen_up_north

piggy73 wrote: »

I have no hassle sitting separately but I think it is poor customer practice without advising customers of a change in policy.

It's not a change of policy, neither is it just Ryanair, we flew Jet2 months ago and were allocated separate seats.

You pay your money and take your choice. For a 2 1/2 hour flight we don't care. Ryanair have fairly new aircraft, arrive on time and have given us no hassle. In addition, they are invariably cheaper than their rivals.

Go with whoever you like, it's your choice. Ryanair must do something right to record the profits they do, and order new aircraft from Boeing. Compare that with Monarch who asked for yet another bail out recently and Jet2 who fly old bangers of aircraft...

soolin

Consumerist wrote: »

We gave up flying Ryanair years ago (on the advice of their CEO, Mike O'Leary: "If you don't like it . . ." ). It was very good advice.

Watching their passengers unpacking pairs of socks, etc. to reduce their luggage weight by a few milligrams became good entertainment for us as we checked-in with other airlines.

If you must travel Ryanair then you should know, by now, what you're letting yourself in for.

Obviously never flown BA then, we've seen people get onto Ryan air craft barely able to carry their luggage, on BA we've seen it unpacked all over the floor whilst people struggle to wear an extra pair of socks just to get the weight down.

I suspect it all depends on the check in and gate staff and how stroppy they feel that day. We've certainly never noticed any difference between the airlines, they all do it.