Ryanair sits hen party in FIFTEEN separate rows as outrage over seating policy grows

buglawton

Rainbowgirl84 wrote: »

I'm not convinced that seating 15 drunken hens in a bloc on a plane in the event of an evacuation is safer than having them spread out.

Which scientifically proves that couples, families and friends should be un-randomly spread throughout the plane, ideally in the middle rows if possible?

Pollycat

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

No 15 drunken anybodies would be allowed on to the aircraft, now would they? We do have very specific laws for that one I think! So it's (possibly) a false hypothesis to suggest otherwise!

We would wish that 15 drunken anybodies would be denied boarding but we all know that that is not always what happens.

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

But then again, it appears we already may have a law on Seating Allocation which rules the example we read about earlier of a person assisting a disabled companion who was not allocated a seat next to the disabled passenger should never happen, but I have so far only found it buried in this EASA document marked "Consolidated unofficial AMC/GM to Annex IV (Part-CAT)" (whatever those words might signal) ... http://www.easa.europa.eu/system/files/dfu/Consolidated unofficial AMC%26GM_Annex IV Part-CAT.pdf

Are you referring to this part of the linked document?

AMC1CAT.OP.MPA.155(c)
Carriage of Special Categories of Passengers
(SCPs)
SEATING PROCEDURES
When establishing SCP seating procedures, the operator should take into account the following
factors:
(a)
If the SCP travels with an accompanying passenger, the accompanying passenger should be seated next to the SCP.
(b

The emphasis on 'should' is mine.
'Should' is different to 'must'.
Similar wording in CAA guidelines.

Or maybe I've missed the bit about it being 'law'.

The linked document also says:

It is an unofficial courtesy document, intended for the easy use of stakeholders, and is meant purely
as a documentation tool. The Agency does not assume any liability for its contents.

Pollycat

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

Should or must have much the same meaning to the extent I think they may be interchangeable in aviation law.

You think they may have.
Hardly proof, is it?
Are CAA allowed to change the meaning of words in the English language?

Forever_blowin_bubbles wrote: »

However I have already pointed out that I have linked to a document which is marked as an unofficial consolidation, so if you wish also to extrapolate unofficial into your preferred competitive arena of law on the one hand and guidelines on the other, then that's up to you, but you would get short shrift in aviation if you spent much time trying to press it on aviation old school.

'unofficial' wasn't my word, it's in the document.
You already have the link.

'guidelines' wasn't my word,it's in the CAA guidelines.

New CAA guidelines: Making air travel more accessible for passengers with hidden disabilities

I see we've not moved any further forward in you providing proof that airlines are breaking the 'law' so once again, I'll step back until you can do so.
I'm disappointed - I really did think you'd got something in your last post.

Murphy_The_Cat

buglawton wrote: »

Last time I flew Ryanair I had to pay £9 for 2 seat bookings to sit next to OH, not the over-optimistic £2 I've seen mentioned by Ryanair apologists.

.

Maybe you're unlucky, or simply "special"

I've spent the last 2 minutes randomly plugging in routes, on random dates on the Ryanair website and each trip I looked at had £2 seats available (usually a lot of them), but on one trip they didn't have £2 seats & wanted the princely sum of £3 instead.

You do have to move the cursor down the plane to show the cheaper seats - when the site opens up, it only shows the front/dearer portion of the plane.

jpsartre

buglawton wrote: »

Last time I flew Ryanair I had to pay £9 for 2 seat bookings to sit next to OH, not the over-optimistic £2 I've seen mentioned by Ryanair apologists.

As mentioned previously, seat fees are route (and time) dependent. Most routes start at £2, others are more although I don't think I've seen one starting at more than £3. Even the medium haul routes (4-5 hours) in high season start at £3. Of course, if all the cheap seats are prebooked, you'll have to pay more.

Westin

I have found that those £2 seats are often found towards the back of the aircraft. Click on ones towards the front and they can be more.

Murphy_The_Cat

Westin wrote: »

I have found that those £2 seats are often found towards the back of the aircraft. Click on ones towards the front and they can be more.

poxy, non reclining seats with limited seat pitch are poxy, non reclining seats with limited seat pitch whether they're at the front of the plane or the rear.

If people choose to pay more for a poxy, non reclining seat with limited seat pitch towards the front of the plane, the choice is open to them :beer:

fifeken

richardw wrote: »

Does the community lose out from others rejoining under different names?

Seems like Alf, sorry Forever blowing bubbles, has left us again.

buglawton

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Maybe you're unlucky, or simply "special"

I've spent the last 2 minutes randomly plugging in routes, on random dates on the Ryanair website and each trip I looked at had £2 seats available (usually a lot of them), but on one trip they didn't have £2 seats & wanted the princely sum of £3 instead.

You do have to move the cursor down the plane to show the cheaper seats - when the site opens up, it only shows the front/dearer portion of the plane.

In my case it was only a few days before flying out, in order to print the boarding passes, that I noticed the seating snafu. Maybe the closeness to flying date dictated the price - adjusted for need, eh?

So I tried to place myself next to OH where she had been allocated randomly. I expected to pay for 1 seat booking. Paid £4 to do that. The moment that was complete OH's seat allocation disappeared! Had to pay £5 to put her back next to me.

My old iPad which normally has no problem at all printing boarding passes was struggling with the touch method used to choose seats & I was pretty exasperated, just wanted to finish the job.

Why isn't there a really simple option that says "pay £X for the people in this booking to automatically sit together"? Much preferable to faffing with seat allocations on an iPad or phone app.

That option does not exist because... it would give the game away!

Sorry Ryanair this is one monumental FAIL

agarnett

I was travelling alone on my latest. The flight was supposedly sold out a day before, and so as an experiment I left it right to the last few minutes to check-in.

They leave window seats until last for purchase and they headline incorrect "from" prices at the point you check in. In my specific check-in they quoted a from price which was a third less than the cheapest seat remaining for sale.

The seats that supposedly remained for purchase until the last minute were all the wing legroom window seats (so I expect one or more of those will have been given away before take off by the cabin crew) four down the front in 3 4 5, four down the back in 30 31 32.

I got 4F which is usually sold as a "quick getaway" seat. I had a kid next to me whose mother had been sat behind her. There were just the two of them so I offered to swap. The cabin crew asked me to wait until the aisle was clear and lo and behold another swap opportunity appeared. Another couple had been split between the same two rows!

DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB Ryanair.

The flight was late and the swapping up and down the plane added to the delay. I think the cabin crews are getting a bit fed up with it - I exchanged some knowing comments and glances - it is clear they dare not offer their real opinion.

And, no, I purposely didn't buy anything, and I don't think many did.

But it was a fantastic flight otherwise - we took off at past 11pm well after official night but I promised the kid and her Mum that we'd see the sun go down again when we got above the cloud, and we did :-) ... it's nice to be able to predict such!

And I am not kidding but later up at 38000 we could see lights 200km away. Beautiful night and air so smooth.

The cruise descent and approach was perfect - not an inch of sky or energy wasted. Not even the slightest wing wobble - but my water bottle dropped with a thump when we touched down - I think the flight crew were probably demonstrating autoland to themselves as it was such a perfect night for flying? Anyone know if that is likely? It is reassuring that those things can come right down to the concrete and land right in the middle almost completely automated, even if there is a bit of a bump when they use it?

So, all in all, never an experience I easily turn down for twenty quid:D - I know I am full of inconsistencies! Aren't we all? :rotfl:

Please Ryanair, stop the mucking about. I don't want to save money at the expense of fellow passengers' discomfort because they don't know the ropes, and at discomfort of your cabin crew who work hard enough already and could be using the time they spend on this latest diversion in promoting the airline with smiles instead of the frowns all round that pervade at the moment ...

And then we do still have that emergency evacuation question no-one seems to have engaged with ...