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Child Item

Ryanair - New reserved seating structure(s)

ekellyie

Hi there,
Could anyone give me advice on how to tackle the new reserved seating/priority boarding structure that Ryanair have in place.
I understand that now you can reserve a seat or book priority boarding with an added on cost, or you can just check in as normal online and they will reserve random seats for you free of charge.

If you haven't reserved a seat or purchased priority boarding and you're checking in as normal, do Ryanair give you the option of a Window or an Aisle seat before choosing it for you?

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sept09baby

Anyone any ideas on how to do this? Trying to choose seats but its not offering any free child seats. Says they should be in certain rows but is charging €10 per child regardless of what is chosen

k123456

Im not 100% certain, but when I booked to travel recently , with my two year old, this is what happened :

as an adult I had to select and pay for a seat e3 each way, my child was allocated the seat directly beside me for free

I used Ryanair phone app, to check in

munchkin_utd

the adult is charged, the kids are free. If your children are adults, then of course they also arent free.

I have experienced problems with getting the "free" child seats before (and reported it) and the answer is that you need to log out and log in again.
Maybe even clear cookies on that browser, but using a different browser (which manages cookies separately) would also do the trick.

satguy

The amount of hoops you have to jump through, just seems to multiply all the time. Looks like there is room for a kinder gentler low cost carrier to step in and carve out a niche for itself.

MOH

munchkin_utd wrote: »

the adult is charged, the kids are free. If your children are adults, then of course they also arent free.

I have experienced problems with getting the "free" child seats before (and reported it) and the answer is that you need to log out and log in again.
Maybe even clear cookies on that browser, but using a different browser (which manages cookies separately) would also do the trick.

Trying it in incognito mode (or the equivalent in other browsers) might help with that

sept09baby

The issue was that it was booked through Click&Go and they weren't assigned this option. Ryanair were no help but got sorted through Click&Go

Kuva

Hi,

1)Do you have to upgrade your Ticket with Ryanair to a "Plus" so that you can sit together with person you are travelling with?

2)If you use Expedia to buy your Ryanair ticket, their is no way to upgrade (that I see). If you then want to upgrade, can you do it through the app or site?

3)I don't have a Dedit card, I don't want one either, few times I've rented a Car I've got away with using Debit but this seems to be a thing of the past. Credit card only with most companies.

Expedia is letting me pay for everything with Debit (haven't went through the whole checkout) will I need a credit card on the day? Expedia is not letting me see extra insurance options that the rental site itself is letting me see either.

4)Expedia is a bit sh1t?

fritzelly

1 and 2 - why not just book it with Ryanair direct?
3 - Debit cards are a thing of the past. Really?
4 - Yep

Kuva

fritzelly wrote: »

1 and 2 - why not just book it with Ryanair direct?
3 - Debit cards are a thing of the past. Really?
4 - Yep

It's cheaper all together + I meant renting a car with a debit card, you seem to have to use a credit card now.

Autocorrect changed it there.

fritzelly

Ryanair don't offer any discounts to sites like Expedia so I would check if you are actually getting a better deal buying it altogether

Re the car rental - every company will be different, think most of the main ones will take a debit card but then again it can vary between locations

dennyk

Car rental companies don't like to do debit cards because people may not have the funds to cover the large hold they'll place on your card to cover your CDW excess and such, and it causes all sorts of headaches. It can also tie up a lot of your own money for the duration of the rental, which could result in you being charged overdraft fees for any transactions that go through before the hold is reversed (which can often take several days to go through even after the rental period is over and the car hire place reverses it). You're better off biting the bullet and getting yourself a credit card; there's really no downside to having one provided you know how to properly manage your finances anyway.

And yeah, regarding the flight, you will never get a Ryanair flight cheaper than at Ryanair, it's not the way they do business. Everyone pays the same ticket price, there are no fare classes. If you are seeing a cheaper price via a third party agent, it's either a mistake or a misleading advert, so you aren't really saving anything, and you are opening yourself to a whole host of potential headaches by using a third party agent. And since it's Ryanair, most of those headaches will end up costing you money, e.g. if you can't check in online and must do it at the airport (fee!), if you don't get your checked luggage sorted properly and you have to add it after booking (fee!), if they misspell your name and it has to be changed (fee!), etc. Skip the hassle and just book on Ryanair directly; you can then just choose one of the cheap seats at the back for a few quid each rather than upgrading to a Plus ticket which might include more stuff you don't need (Priority Boarding, checked bag, etc.).

Car rentals can be cheaper via an OTA, but again, you're taking a risk that if things go wrong it may be a huge hassle to get them fixed. The car hire company usually won't talk to you since you didn't book directly with them, so you may be left at the mercy of some ****ty third party agent's overseas call center where you'll wait on hold for ages (paying international rates) just to have a rep read you some script and then hang up on you "accidentally"; in the end you may end up paying out of pocket for an expensive alternative solution and spending the next several months/years futilely chasing down the OTA to try to get some of your money back. Up to you whether the cost savings is worth the risk, though. Just remember that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is...

fritzelly

There is no reason not to accept debit cards since you can place an hold on funds the same as credit cards. The only difference is with a credit card its money you don't have vs a debit card where it is your money held in reserve

woodchuck

Expedia is great to get a rough idea of flight times and prices, but once I've decided what flight I want, I book directly with the airline.

I don't think there is any advantage going through expedia? If anything I'd think it makes things more complicated in terms of booking reference numbers, online check ins, notifications about flight changes etc.

Haithabu

woodchuck wrote: »

Expedia is great to get a rough idea of flight times and prices, but once I've decided what flight I want, I book directly with the airline.

I don't think there is any advantage going through expedia? If anything I'd think it makes things more complicated in terms of booking reference numbers, online check ins, notifications about flight changes etc.

If you just book a flight and nothing else, then booking directly via the airline is probably the best option, provided you get the same price.

However if you have an entire holiday in mind then expedia is a great choice. I booked three Caribbean holidays so far via expedia. I always look up a lot to get a good price and under the line, if you book flights and accommodation directly via the ailine and hotel websites, it's more expensive then via expedia. I assume they get such a great commission so they have room to lower the price.

Plus, you have only one contact in case something goes wrong. For example if you arrive in Barbados or wherever and you have booked the rental car separately via a local company then good luck if they tell you they have no cars or if you don't find them or they are bankrupt by the time you arrive. With expedia you have a 24 hour emergency number and they have to sort it for you. Same for the hotel. If you arrive and find it burned down then good luck getting your money back and finding a different hotel. Booked with expedia they can help you much better to find something else.

As for booking numbers and online check in. You will get a page full of booking numbers (but labelled what is for what) and you can probably check in online with that but I never ever needed booking numbers. Airport, car rental, hotel only ask for a passport and then they have everything on their screens.

What I don't like about expedia is that you have to make a choice for the exact dates while airlines typically give you a calendar view with the prices each day and then you have it easier to find the best days. With expedia it's a lot of trying until you have a good package.

fritzelly

Expedia is not a bonded travel agent so all the above is at that their discretion and they have no obligation to find another hotel etc...

Booking thru an Irish ITAA travel agent you have some comeback

grogi

Haithabu wrote: »

Plus, you have only one contact in case something goes wrong. For example if you arrive in Barbados or wherever and you have booked the rental car separately via a local company then good luck if they tell you they have no cars or if you don't find them or they are bankrupt by the time you arrive. With expedia you have a 24 hour emergency number and they have to sort it for you. Same for the hotel. If you arrive and find it burned down then good luck getting your money back and finding a different hotel. Booked with expedia they can help you much better to find something else.

Yeah... Expedia's system bellied up when I was in the States few years ago and I ended up with double hotel reservation (if only I got two confirmation emails, I would have checked things up weeks before)... It went as far as card chargeback, they didn't want to hear anything...

I will not use Expedia for anything now and frankly call the 24h helpline b$$t.

fritzelly

Ain't gonna read thru all their T&C right now but I would say with some certainty (that it states) that your contract is with the end provider and Expedia are just a platform through which you can book those services (it's par for the course with OTA's)
They get cheaper accommodation by negotiating prices and/or a very high commission but at the end of the day you can haggle anyone for the same price (especially hotels)

woodchuck

Getting a bit off topic, but I normally book my flights directly with the airline. As said above, I just feel more comfortable when it comes to booking reference numbers, online check, communications etc. Then for accommodation, I rarely book directly with the hotel, but use Hotels.com, Booking.com and AirBnB regularly and tend to get pretty good deals! I just shop around well ahead of time for the best value for money. I also get discount codes and rewards with Hotels.com, which come in very handy.

I'll admit I haven't used expedia to book accommodation before, but I'd be surprised if it saved me any more money compared to my own way of doing things. And as outlined by others above, I don't feel it would actually provide me with additional piece of mind or security - it's not like they're an actual travel agent!

mdwexford

Evening, would like some opinions on this please.

We flew to Gran Canaria a couple of weeks ago.
We paid €20.00 each for the extra legroom seats in the middle of the plane. When we got there a woman was sitting in my seat by the window. I said it to the flight attendant and he said that seat was taken. I had a bad toothache at the time and couldn’t face arguing with him about it.

He tried to put us in two aisle seats across from each other. My other half said no. So then he moved two different groups of people to sit us on the opposite side of the plane to which we had booked. He did all this with no apology or explanation.

This was very embarrassing with the whole plane watching and having to move so many people. All this time the woman in my seat sat there with headphones on and didn’t so much as look in the direction of all this.

About half way through the flight the woman in my seat got up and took off her jacket. Turns out she was a Ryanair staff member!! She then proceeded to help serve the food and drinks etc. When that was done she sat back in my seat.

This was very annoying to say the least. Seats we had booked months in advance and paid €40.00 for were just given away to some member of staff who didn’t feel like working half the flight and wanted a decent seat.

Should I be looking for compensation here and how would others feel about this?

Fann Linn

You paid €40 for a service you didn't get because a staff member took it.
Report same.

bigar

The website says: "We reserve the right to reassign allocated seats at any time, for operational, safety or security reasons."

From what I understand, you did get an emergency exit seat although not the exact one you wanted. The flight attendant did his best to accommodate you so I do not think you will get anywhere by complaining.

RocketRaccoon

I find it very very hard to believe a member of the cabin crew just sat down for half the flight and then got up for the food and drink service before sitting down again.

mdwexford

bigar wrote: »

The website says: "We reserve the right to reassign allocated seats at any time, for operational, safety or security reasons."

From what I understand, you did get an emergency exit seat although not the exact one you wanted. The flight attendant did his best to accommodate you so I do not think you will get anywhere by complaining.

None of those reasons seem applicable here though.

He moved us with no reason given and moved two other lots of people into the bargain. My seat should not have been taken in the first place.

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

I find it very very hard to believe a member of the cabin crew just sat down for half the flight and then got up for the food and drink service before sitting down again.

I’d be saying the same in your position but I can assure you that is precisely what happened.

b757

Door warning light system appeared to be inoperative by the sounds of it. Extra member of cabin crew is required to be in the seat beside said door in the climb/descent when the cabin differential pressure is less than 4 psi.

Under His Eye

A logical explanation.

plodder

At the very least you should get your money back. They agreed to provide a service and didn't provide it. The small print in the T&Cs isn't the last word on contract law, by any stretch.

Under His Eye

I think there was a similar case where they refused to refund on seat reservations.

dzilla

Did you say it to said woman?

ongarboy

I thought you couldn't reserve emergency exit rows as the check in staff needed to confirm you were sufficiently able bodied to be able to open the emergency exits? Is that not the case with Ryanair?

Under His Eye

Nope. So long as you pay you can reserve them. Cabin crew would be supposed to police who actually sits in them.