Ryanair - New reserved seating structure(s)

Spanish Eyes

I don't get all the complexity on Ryr's part. They should just factor in a fiver each way for a seat in the price. Extra if you want the first row or the exit row.

People will still think they are getting a bargain but won't realise it includes the seat price.

They are making a dog's dinner out of this.

nualaonthewall

On the possibility of moving seats after take off, is this really allowed? My oh thinks we all have to be seated in our allocated seats in case we crash and have to be identified!

That macabre reason aside, what is the best advice if either of us has an empty seat beside us? Do we ask first or just move? I'm picturing an undignified scurry around the plane as we all play musical chairs!

Fred Swanson

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joeysoap

On my last flight (AL) there was an empty aisle seat in front of me. 10c. The minute the doors closed or should or I say the second the doors closed the guy in 10d hopped across, his partner hopped into 10d. Result = they now had two aisle seats and she had an empty seat beside her in 10e. You would have to be there to see the speed it happened at.

nualaonthewall

joeysoap wrote: »

On my last flight (AL) there was an empty aisle seat in front of me. 10c. The minute the doors closed or should or I say the second the doors closed the guy in 10d hopped across, his partner hopped into 10d. Result = they now had two aisle seats and she had an empty seat beside her in 10e. You would have to be there to see the speed it happened at.

I'm not that nifty on my feet, especially in cramped conditions, and the oh is too bashful. I think that I read here on Boards about someone who always tries to board last and gets to scope out all the possibilities. I think I'll try that. Anyone else successful with that strategy?

Just out of interest, I tried the option to switch one seat to see what they'd charge and, even though only one of us would actually be moving from the assigned seat, they charge on the double. I had no intention of paying anyway, but it narked me.

Also, since I booked the flight months ago, I actually paid 50% more for our seats than I would have today. I know that's the luck of the draw, but trying to gouge me now puts me off. Lesson learned the hard way.

cobham

As Masala wrote:

The concept that a 'couple' cant be seated together WHEN there are seats free to accommodate is just 'mean-spirited'. If enough passengers complain/ insist that they need to sit together and eventually delays kick in .... then Ryanair might realize that this has back fired.

This actually happened this week on a flight. Person involved raised the matter with fellow passengers as they Queued to board and it seems all sorts of people had been separated. Once the door closed many changed seats which obviously irked the poor stewardess but there too many to enforce a return to seats without delaying the flight.

Next thing, the captain makes an announcement that the seatbelt sign would be on for the duration of the 4 hr flight due to expected turbulance. Needless to say the flight was blissfully smooth

It is all about generating income. I feel the old system of free seating was better as people got settled quicker. Yes perhaps there will always be some people who need or are happy to reserve seats and this should be available also. Not just children but elderly, infirm, disabled etc need to have a 'carer' near.... surely in the interests of the efficient running of the flight?

Fred Swanson

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nualaonthewall

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Have to build in seat commodes so!

ahbell

Happened on the last four legs I've been on over the last month or so. On one particular flight there were probably around 10 empty seats up near me at the front so I text my missus to come down from row 20-something, the purser at the front kicked off and said all seats were planned out for weight and balance - I presume this is untrue and it's all just a money making exercise?

Masala

ahbell wrote: »

Happened on the last four legs I've been on over the last month or so. On one particular flight there were probably around 10 empty seats up near me at the front so I text my missus to come down from row 20-something, the purser at the front kicked off and said all seats were planned out for weight and balance - I presume this is untrue and it's all just a money making exercise?

Actually.. to be fair... that could be true especially on a less than full flight.

grogi

ahbell wrote: »

Happened on the last four legs I've been on over the last month or so. On one particular flight there were probably around 10 empty seats up near me at the front so I text my missus to come down from row 20-something, the purser at the front kicked off and said all seats were planned out for weight and balance - I presume this is untrue and it's all just a money making exercise?

As mentioned before, it is true.

Coming from back to front is not ideal, especially for take off. But there is nothing that stops you from going to the loo and not finding your seat back.

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/1659/is-passenger-weight-distribution-important-on-a-commercial-flight

joeysoap

Masala wrote: »

Actually.. to be fair... that could be true especially on a less than full flight.

So they would refuse anyone from purchasing that seat? :rolleyes:

Though I have been on an EJ flight where the cabin senior Looked for volunteers to move back as the flight wasn't full.

I also overheard on another EJ flight a passenger requesting to move and one of cabin crew replied ' as long as it's to the rear it's ok, but our instructions are not to allow passengers move forward' she qualified this with ' I don't know why but that's what we're told'

tina1040

Stationmaster wrote: »

Were the 3 all on the same booking or 3 individual bookings?

Same booking.

joeysoap

Got an email from RY tonight to check in now for July flight. €4 for Dublin to Uk and £6 for Uk leg. For seats. Not going to of course, but out of curiosity checked and I see 18b and 21b are vacant on that leg,and there will be lots more, lets hope uk passengers areearly checkers-in and get the middle seats . I'll hold on until at least the day before.The leg from Dublin is only a hop. And I'll be stunned if it's half full.

billie1b

joeysoap wrote: »

Got an email from RY tonight to check in now for July flight. €4 for Dublin to Uk and £6 for Uk leg. For seats. Not going to of course, but out of curiosity checked and I see 18b and 21b are vacant on that leg,and there will be lots more, lets hope uk passengers areearly checkers-in and get the middle seats . I'll hold on until at least the day before.The leg from Dublin is only a hop. And I'll be stunned if it's half full.

Which flight is the Dublin hop? I'd be surprised if it's not nearly full or overbooked already

km79

km79 wrote: »

Booked seats
Went back into webchat
Refusing to refund

Luckily I took screen grabs ...........I now have to escalate it through a different form

They got back to me today to refund the difference as promised (incorrectly it turns out) by the first CS rep
Fair play to them . Credit where it's due .
And it's a win win as I'm going to use the refund now to buy seats for myself and my other son to all sit together .
So in conclusion
One adult return was 8 euro u12 was free
And I'll probably purchase the other 2 seats as well
So they still make money out of me

joeysoap

billie1b wrote: »

Which flight is the Dublin hop? I'd be surprised if it's not nearly full or overbooked already

Leeds Bradford. RY so they wont overbook. Still €14.99. I know it means zilch but at the moment theres 28 seats booked.

Leeds Bradford to Faro still £24.99. Call it €30. Dublin to Faro via Leeds under €100 for 2

Cheapest Dublin to Faro same day is now €156 (down from €178 when I was booking) so a saving of just over €200 for the inconvenience. An extra flight, and arriving about 3 hours later. Assuming flights on time. (July last year arrived at Dublin airport for a 21:00 flight to discover that the Ryanair flight was running well over 2 hours late. Arrived in Faro at nearly 2am).

At the time of booking the saving was over €250 and I assumed that prices would go up, not down.

billie1b

joeysoap wrote: »

Leeds Bradford. RY so they wont overbook. Still €14.99. I know it means zilch but at the moment theres 28 seats booked.

Leeds Bradford to Faro still £24.99. Call it €30. Dublin to Faro via Leeds under €100 for 2

Cheapest Dublin to Faro same day is now €156 (down from €178 when I was booking) so a saving of just over €200 for the inconvenience. An extra flight, and arriving about 3 hours later. Assuming flights on time. (July last year arrived at Dublin airport for a 21:00 flight to discover that the Ryanair flight was running well over 2 hours late. Arrived in Faro at nearly 2am).

At the time of booking the saving was over €250 and I assumed that prices would go up, not down.

As there's only 2 flights per day to LBA they're known to always be overbooked, it's one of the most overbooked flights between DUB and the UK
It's ridiculous how cheap it is to fly bucket and spade routes from the UK compared to Ireland.

Living Off The Splash

Building work in Faro airport at the moment causing all sorts of delays on the way back.

Masala

billie1b wrote: »

As there's only 2 flights per day to LBA they're known to always be overbooked, it's one of the most overbooked flights between DUB and the UK
It's ridiculous how cheap it is to fly bucket and spade routes from the UK compared to Ireland.

Would this apply to Belfast as well?? A quick trip up the motorway from Dublin wouldn't be a major inconvenience if there is a good saving...

Fred Swanson

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billie1b

Masala wrote: »

Would this apply to Belfast as well?? A quick trip up the motorway from Dublin wouldn't be a major inconvenience if there is a good saving...

Yes applies to Belfast also if you get it early enough

QuietMan2010

joeysoap wrote: »

Got an email from RY tonight to check in now for July flight. €4 for Dublin to Uk and £6 for Uk leg. For seats. Not going to of course, but out of curiosity checked and I see 18b and 21b are vacant on that leg,and there will be lots more, lets hope uk passengers areearly checkers-in and get the middle seats . I'll hold on until at least the day before.The leg from Dublin is only a hop. And I'll be stunned if it's half full.

Presumably like me, you received what appears to be a service announcement message -

"Time to check-in | Reservation: XXXX to [destination]"

Except that check-in is not open for customers who booked for flight-only (without allocated seats). So its not correct. It is not time for me to check-in. What this is, is a marketing up-sell message. Not a service announcement. Dangerous slope this, Ryanair. Next time you send an important service announcement, I will not pay as much attention; I will expect it to be a marketing message.

Jayop

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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The missus flew out of Belfast and back into Dublin last week going to Malaga. The savings were pretty big and it suited where we were in the country too that particular week.

TBH, for anyone living out west like myself, unless I happened to be in Dublin/Belfast/etc. already the day of departure the savings would want to be massive not to use Knock. If I can get the same flight from Knock I'd be prepared to pay 60/70 more just so I don't have to travel to Dublin, pay for parking etc.

km79

So a further update

3 of us now have seats paid for (the other person is fine sitting by themselves ) BUT it will not allow us 3 to check in early
I only select those 3 and it still says no early check in must purchase seats to avail of 60 day check in etc
Back for yet another webchat

HeidiHeidi

Three of us are flying in the morning. Two booked together, I booked separately.

The other two checked in today, and got seats together - free gratis and for nothing. I just checked in about an hour ago, and got a window seat (hurray!)

So it would seem that the splitting-people-up policy is not across the board.

joeysoap

billie1b wrote: »

As there's only 2 flights per day to LBA they're known to always be overbooked, it's one of the most overbooked flights between DUB and the UK
It's ridiculous how cheap it is to fly bucket and spade routes from the UK compared to Ireland.

Ryanair charter says they don't overbook (but they also state that they lower their prices If the opposition are cheaper. This is bulls*it, there are often cheaper AL fares to the same destination on the same day)

But you are correct on the price of bucket and spade flights from UK. Maybe got something to do with EasyJet, Jet2, Monarch?

https://corporate.ryanair.com/about-us/passenger-charter/


I live in north Louth and up to 2 years ago Belfast we probably my first choice of airport but not since sterling got strong. You have to be really on the ball with EasyJet as they release flights in blocks. You also might have to factor in car parking costs.

joeysoap

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Three of us are flying in the morning. Two booked together, I booked separately.

The other two checked in today, and got seats together - free gratis and for nothing. I just checked in about an hour ago, and got a window seat (hurray!)

So it would seem that the splitting-people-up policy is not across the board.

The answer is probably in your first sentence.

( I know there wasn't a question)

HeidiHeidi

joeysoap wrote: »

The answer is probably in your first sentence.

( I know there wasn't a question)

But it's not really, really last minute - what I gathered from earlier posts was that you'd have to leave it till literally the 11th hour - and then you still wouldn't get seated together.

(Me getting a window seat is different, and it turns out it's row 11 which apparently doesn't have a window! But I still have something to rest my head against.)

joeysoap

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

But it's not really, really last minute - what I gathered from earlier posts was that you'd have to leave it till literally the 11th hour - and then you still wouldn't get seated together.

(Me getting a window seat is different, and it turns out it's row 11 which apparently doesn't have a window! But I still have something to rest my head against.)