Sitting together on Ryanair flight: special assistance

Agent_C

I have a medical condition called Ehler's Danlos syndrome, and one of the issues it causes is an increased risk of severe allergic reaction. I have had three incidences of anaphylaxis and carry an epi-pen.

I recently booked a Ryanair flight and started an online chat to request that my partner and I be allocated seats together, as he knows how to administer the epi-pen if needed, and can keep an eye on me. This did not go well. The chat agent told me I did not qualify for special assistance because I don't use a wheelchair (!), she did not know what an epi-pen was, and even after I explained, she kept mentioning insulin, which is something entirely different. She would not allocate seats and told me I needed to speak to a 'higher authority' and gave me a telephone number to call.

Before I do so I would be interested to know if anyone has experienced the same and how I might approach this. I cut and pasted the relevant text form the CAA website but it cut no mustard.

emmajones1976

Why dont you just book and pay for seats together? They cost as little as £4 per journey in some cases, surely that removes all doubt and puts your mind at rest?

The chat agent is kinda right though, "special assistance" at an airport is usually to get disabled people from check in desk to gate, usually in a wheelchair or a motorised device, depending on the size of airport.

Agent_C

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

As I understand it a disability is anything that has a substantial and long term effect in someone's ability to carry out daily activities, and so would include hidden disabilities, communication problems etc that would not affect a person's mobility.

emmajones1976

The last three Ryanair flights I booked had £4 cheap seats towards the back, including one last week. Maybe yours were just booked up.

I mean you could just tell Ryanair you are in a wheelchair? They dont have to know its a lie 🤣

I dont disagree about your definition of disability btw but this is Ryanair we are dealing with. Saying that I have no idea if other airlines would say the same in a similar circumstance though. 

Thrugelmir

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

Is this the real nub of the issue ?  You aren't willing to pay the going rate for booking now. You don't actually require special assistance as such. 

Agent_C

Thrugelmir said:

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

Is this the real nub of the issue ?  You aren't willing to pay the going rate for booking now. You don't actually require special assistance as such. 

No, it's more about feeling like I shouldn't have to pay extra for having a health condition. Anaphylaxis is really scary when it happens and it comes on really quickly. 

soolin

Agent_C said:

Thrugelmir said:

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

Is this the real nub of the issue ?  You aren't willing to pay the going rate for booking now. You don't actually require special assistance as such. 

No, it's more about feeling like I shouldn't have to pay extra for having a health condition. Anaphylaxis is really scary when it happens and it comes on really quickly. 

Why are you paying 'more' though? The seat cost is the same for you as it is for me, my OH is a nervous flyer and we choose to pay to sit together but we don't get our seats any cheaper than you do. What about older children, they pay if they need to sit with parents , again you are not paying more so you are not being discriminated against.

The discrimination would apply if you were expected to pay a supplement for your seats that no other person was expected to pay.

Chris_English

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

As I understand it a disability is anything that has a substantial and long term effect in someone's ability to carry out daily activities, and so would include hidden disabilities, communication problems etc that would not affect a person's mobility.

That sounds like a relatively low amount to ensure that you don’t have a severe medical issue.

Agent_C

soolin said:

Agent_C said:

Thrugelmir said:

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

Is this the real nub of the issue ?  You aren't willing to pay the going rate for booking now. You don't actually require special assistance as such. 

No, it's more about feeling like I shouldn't have to pay extra for having a health condition. Anaphylaxis is really scary when it happens and it comes on really quickly. 

Why are you paying 'more' though? The seat cost is the same for you as it is for me, my OH is a nervous flyer and we choose to pay to sit together but we don't get our seats any cheaper than you do. What about older children, they pay if they need to sit with parents , again you are not paying more so you are not being discriminated against.

The discrimination would apply if you were expected to pay a supplement for your seats that no other person was expected to pay.

If I didn't have the medical condition, then we would take randomly allocated seats for which there would be no charge. 

Agent_C

Chris_English said:

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

As I understand it a disability is anything that has a substantial and long term effect in someone's ability to carry out daily activities, and so would include hidden disabilities, communication problems etc that would not affect a person's mobility.

That sounds like a relatively low amount to ensure that you don’t have a severe medical issue.

Not necessarily if you're travelling on a budget! 

Chris_English

Agent_C said:

soolin said:

Agent_C said:

Thrugelmir said:

Agent_C said:

There were no such cheap seats on the flights we booked - it was £14 a seat going out and £13 each return, so would add £44 to the cost of the booking.

Is this the real nub of the issue ?  You aren't willing to pay the going rate for booking now. You don't actually require special assistance as such. 

No, it's more about feeling like I shouldn't have to pay extra for having a health condition. Anaphylaxis is really scary when it happens and it comes on really quickly. 

Why are you paying 'more' though? The seat cost is the same for you as it is for me, my OH is a nervous flyer and we choose to pay to sit together but we don't get our seats any cheaper than you do. What about older children, they pay if they need to sit with parents , again you are not paying more so you are not being discriminated against.

The discrimination would apply if you were expected to pay a supplement for your seats that no other person was expected to pay.

If I didn't have the medical condition, then we would take randomly allocated seats for which there would be no charge. 

Still not discrimination, you are still being treated like anyone else who wants or needs to sit together.

You aren't asking to be treated equally here, you are asking for special treatment, which Ryanair don't want to give you.