Ryanair - New reserved seating structure(s)

Gatica · 20-02-2014 10:26am

mambo wrote: »

Isn't it too late at that stage? She had already chosen NOT to pay the extra charge, so was allocated seats automatically (and not contiguous) and by then it's too late to go back and choose to pay?

It's a stupid process, if the random allocation given to you by Ryanair is not to your liking, one should have the option to then pay instead and allocate the seating. The mother in the article probably assumed the whole travelling party would be seated together (not an unreasonable assumption, but she maybe should've checked their T&Cs to be sure), which in most cases would've been done, except she probably checked-in too late for 2 seats to be available together.
I'm not a fan of Ryanair myself, and as others have said, this new policy is another way to pressure people into paying for seats as previously they could've just planned to be really early for the flight and queue up to sit together.

It was funny though when she said:

"I've already paid £150 for the flight, so what is that actually going towards?" Fiona added.

Transporting you from A to B, no?
Ha ha... come on, does she think the flight itself is free and the fees are there for other services?!

lc180 · 20-02-2014 12:19pm

The system is flawed and needs to be tweaked. As a software developer I hate it when the computer geek gets the blame but in this case it pains me to say that the IT folk should have done a better job and caught this seating scenario during testing or design, that is unless they were instructed to specifically not plan for it.

I still think its a better system than the free for all. I've lost count of how many times I've been on a flight when a family of 4 board the plane last and then complain that there isnt seats together! At least this way you can see that you are allocated separate seats and can ask staff at the gate to help fix the problem.

BrokenMan · 20-02-2014 12:29pm

lc180 wrote: »

The system is flawed and needs to be tweaked. As a software developer I hate it when the computer geek gets the blame but in this case it pains me to say that the IT folk should have done a better job and caught this seating scenario during testing or design, that is unless they were instructed to specifically not plan for it.

I still think its a better system than the free for all. I've lost count of how many times I've been on a flight when a family of 4 board the plane last and then complain that there isnt seats together! At least this way you can see that you are allocated separate seats and can ask staff at the gate to help fix the problem.

As a software developer then please give your solution. There are no seats left together on the flight when 2 people check in. How do you seat them together?

People need to realise this has always been a potential issue no matter what system was used. Back in the day when you queued up at check in to get your seat allocation it was the same thing.
At least now you have the option to check in early pay a few euro and get your seats together.

Reekwind · 20-02-2014 12:37pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but presumably Ryanair are using the same allocation method as every other airline, just not providing a 'grace period' in which you can select your seat for free?

Gatica · 20-02-2014 12:42pm

I would imagine so, but since it costs so much to check in with them at the airport, people try to do all this seating business themselves.
At a desk an assistant may see a family travelling together and may look for better seat allocation. On the other hand, an automatic allocation system may just assign the next 2 available seats on the plane, whether beside each other or not, when perhaps there may be couple of seats together further down the back of the plane.

mambo · 20-02-2014 1:27pm

We have a 2 year old, so there's no way we would take a chance on "allocated seating" when it might not seat us together. And Mrs Mambo refuses to pay the extra fee. So we will continue to use Aer Lingus and others.

20-02-2014 1:46pm

Gatica wrote: »

It's a stupid process, if the random allocation given to you by Ryanair is not to your liking, one should have the option to then pay instead and allocate the seating

As broken man says, what if there aren't any more seats beside each other? Sometimes, its just bound to happen. They should never have separated them from each other, though. Somebody on the plane would have been willing to swap seats, im sure.

20-02-2014 1:51pm

mambo wrote: »

We have a 2 year old, so there's no way we would take a chance on "allocated seating" when it might not seat us together. And Mrs Mambo refuses to pay the extra fee. So we will continue to use Aer Lingus and others.

That's a stupid policy to have. You should factor in the 5er for picking your seats into the Overall cost, then choose accordingly.

People are very quick to tout Aer Lingus as some sort of bastion of customer service, care and support. It's not that long ago a flight to England cost the guts of €400, and you were forced to fly with them.

Since Ryanair came on the scene, it's cheaper than a train to cork.

ProudDUB · 20-02-2014 3:03pm

mambo wrote: »

We have a 2 year old, so there's no way we would take a chance on "allocated seating" when it might not seat us together. And Mrs Mambo refuses to pay the extra fee. So we will continue to use Aer Lingus and others.

She won't pay 5 euros to preselect a seat, but she'll pay possibly 20 times that for a more expensive seat on another airline, so that she can do it for free? :eek:

I really, really hope that the good Mrs Mambo is not a bank manager or an economics teacher.

zac8 · 20-02-2014 3:39pm

ProudDUB wrote: »

She won't pay 5 euros to preselect a seat, but she'll pay possibly 20 times that for a more expensive seat on another airline, so that she can do it for free? :eek:

I really, really hope that the good Mrs Mambo is not a bank manager or an economics teacher.

But its not even free on aer lingus. Its 5 euro a seat with them too.

A Dub in Glasgo · 20-02-2014 3:50pm

Difference with AL is that you can choose seats together for free when you check in online (opens 30 hours before departure)

Ms.Sunshine · 20-02-2014 4:11pm

mambo wrote: »

Isn't it too late at that stage? She had already chosen NOT to pay the extra charge, so was allocated seats automatically (and not contiguous) and by then it's too late to go back and choose to pay?

As far as I know you can go into Manage Bookings up to the day you fly and book reserved seats. I have done this in the past without a problem!
I also flew with Ryan air recently and we had their own reserved seats and we all got to sit together..

mambo · 20-02-2014 5:11pm

Ms.Sunshine wrote: »

As far as I know you can go into Manage Bookings up to the day you fly and book reserved seats. I have done this in the past without a problem!
I also flew with Ryan air recently and we had their own reserved seats and we all got to sit together..

Can any confirm this for sure? i.e. that if you refuse to pay to choose seats, and are allocated seats automatically and don't like them, you can subsequently go in and pay the fee to choose better seats?

Fred Swanson · 20-02-2014 8:50pm

This post has been deleted.

A Dub in Glasgo · 20-02-2014 9:45pm

Ms.Sunshine wrote: »

As far as I know you can go into Manage Bookings up to the day you fly and book reserved seats. I have done this in the past without a problem!

That is not relevant in this case as the person had already checked in

languagenerd · 24-02-2014 8:33pm

Booked flights ages ago with a friend, separately, like we've always done. Now we probably won't be seated together unless we pay €20, which I can't really justify cause the flights themselves were €30 :v Just annoying for me, cause I'm a nervous flyer and would like to be able to talk to my friend as a distraction!

Funny how they market this as a new "customer friendly" move when it's really just money-grabbing! :P

padser · 25-02-2014 7:46am

mambo wrote: »

Another good reason not to fly Ryanair, especially families.

I don't need any more reasons not to fly Ryanair. I end up on about Ryanair 10 to 12 Ryanair flights every year and I hate every one of them.

I used to be of the opinion that I was happy to pay a premium to avoid the experience, but over the last 2/3 years increasingly there doesn't even seem to be much a premium, if any, to the other low cost airlines (I mostly fly Aerlingus or carrier from the country I'm flying to).

Easyjet is a fantastic airline, every bit as cheap as Ryanair but with a genuine customer service mentality (insofar possible on a budget airline obviously, it's not like they will change flight dates etc for you)

thomasm · 25-02-2014 8:11am

Flew Ryanair over weekend with wife and 3 young kids. Had five seats in a row without having to pay going over and coming back.

The part where Ryanair call those with kids and people who need assistance boarding needs to be monitored a bit more. Everyone just jumped up when this was called and staff made no effort to stop them. It's not easy getting 3 young kids and bags through the scrum on the plane and as a previous poster mentioned one family in row 32 got on at the front of plane and caused all sorts of issues getting to seats. Someone should be at the bottom of the steps checking this.

Noticed also they were randomly taking bags off people on the steps. Guy beside us had a smallish bag and we had 3 cabin bags and two small back packs and they took his and ignored ours.

There is a lack of room on the plane for the luggage and staff spent a good bit of time rearranging this.

legendary.xix · 24-03-2014 9:20pm

ProudDUB wrote: »

I just checked in for a flight to Glasgow that I am taking tomorrow. My boarding passes have me in assigned seats. On the outbound leg, it says "Priority Q Seat 12 G" and the return leg says "Other Q Seat 30D". Anyone know what is up with that? I did not select, or pay for priority boarding either when I first booked the ticket, or when I checked in.

Someone at work was asking me that question today. They've been put on priority Q for an outward journey and other Q for return though they hadn't selected priority. Was there a reason for this?

languagenerd · 25-03-2014 1:02am

legendary.xix wrote: »

Someone at work was asking me that question today. They've been put on priority Q for an outward journey and other Q for return though they hadn't selected priority. Was there a reason for this?

Flew last week - was Priority on the way out (sitting in row 2) and Other on the way home (row 23). My friend was the sane, though she had rows 1 and 9. I just assumed the first 2 or 3 rows were given Priority, maybe so that they can put their bags up and not block the aisle right at the front when everyone's trying to board?

Fred Swanson · 25-03-2014 1:46am

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spurious · 25-03-2014 11:29am

Flew Ryanair again at the weekend. Still, a large herd rushes to queue and stand for 30 minutes before anything happens. Do they think the plane will go without them?

There are also still a number of goons who ignore the assigned seating and plant themselves anywhere - usually with an enormous bag jammed over some other seat 4-6 rows away. Lots of fun for the staff to move these idiots.

ScottSF · 25-03-2014 1:15pm

As far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed with Ryanair. You always had to learn and follow the rules to have a stress-free and almost always on-time flight. Now the only difference is you have to pay if you MUST have a window or aisle seat. Or if you have a family or group of people and you don't want to risk not getting seated together (which can be dealt with if you check-in early). My advice is to factor in the reserved seating cost into the ticket price when comparing your options.

thomasm wrote: »

Noticed also they were randomly taking bags off people on the steps. Guy beside us had a smallish bag and we had 3 cabin bags and two small back packs and they took his and ignored ours.

The one thing I don't like hearing about is the flight crew taking away people's carry-on bags at the stairs/jetway. Why should they ever take away carry-on bags before the under the seat and overhead storage bins are completely full?

The only reason to queue up in advance now (same on most airlines) is if you really need overhead bin space and don't want it to run out. I hope Ryanair isn't arbitrarily taking away bags as the poster above says. Ryanair needs consistent rules on this and I'll be happy to follow them to get a good airfare deal.

spurious · 25-03-2014 2:22pm

ScottSF wrote: »

The only reason to queue up in advance now (same on most airlines) is if you really need overhead bin space and don't want it to run out.

If the bag is within the stated limits, it should fit under the seat in front, no?

ScottSF · 25-03-2014 2:43pm

spurious wrote: »

If the bag is within the stated limits, it should fit under the seat in front, no?

With the old Ryanair that SHOULD be true. However now you can bring a personal item (within limits) similar to Aer Lingus. So someone may have a large purse and also a maximize size wheelie carry-on bag. The purse must go under the seat, therefore the overhead space is also needed.

My only issue is if you only have one bag, they should never take it away because you should always be able to fit it until the seat. Anyone have experienced this?

Fred Swanson · 25-03-2014 3:33pm

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grimm2005 · 27-03-2014 2:47am

Potentially some more new customer friendly initiatives coming from Ryanair: http://www.independent.ie/business/ryanair-flies-over-70-journalists-to-london-in-major-charm-offensive-30128263.html

Possibly free checked in baggage for families and free allocated seating for kids (not sure about that one, surely it means the parents would still have to pay for their chosen seats?), as well as free milk warming facility. New "family fares" will come in in April.

I'm quite surprised by the free checked bag comment considering MOL's hatred for checked in baggage but I'm guessing this cost might be hidden in the "family" fares (albeit at a lower cost then the usual stand-alone charges).

Also of note is that the new website will launch April 10th (possibly sooner) apparently making it far easier to find the cheapest prices. Would be interesting if they implemented their own type of skyscanner system on the site, although I understand that they are doing something with Google on this front.

I'm personally looking forward to mobile boarding passes which I think they previously said are coming in June.

cullenswood · 27-03-2014 10:07am

I booked my flights a few months ago for the family holiday around about the time allocated seating came into effect, but unfortunately I think I missed the option when booking. I paid €7 each for priority boarding for each family member so we could get seats together. I since learned about the allocated seating and tried to pick my seats via Manage my Booking but it is not letting me do it. Do I have to wait until 15 days before, despite paying the €7 charge (which is equivalent to the €5 allocated seating charge, plus €2 extra for priority boarding)?

Thanks

languagenerd · 27-03-2014 7:25pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Flew to Scotland and back with them last week - they didn't measure at all on the way out, but one staff member was measuring on the way back. Meant you had a 1 in 4 chance of being checked, although he was too distracted by the girl ahead of me to even look at mine.

It's less likely than it used to be, but they are still occasionally checking. If people start taking the absolute piss with it, they won't be long going back to their old ways...

Jimmy Iovine · 28-03-2014 12:48am

mambo wrote: »

Can any confirm this for sure? i.e. that if you refuse to pay to choose seats, and are allocated seats automatically and don't like them, you can subsequently go in and pay the fee to choose better seats?

Any confirmation on this?

I'm flying with my girlfriend in a week's time. I don't want to check-in before I know for definite.

grimm2005 · 28-03-2014 1:16am

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Any confirmation on this?

I'm flying with my girlfriend in a week's time. I don't want to check-in before I know for definite.

I just checked in for a flight, was allocated a random seat and I was able to go back into "manage my booking" afterwards and I was able to choose and pay for a new seat.

A Dub in Glasgo · 28-03-2014 7:10am

I checked in for a flight in 2 weeks and we got 4 seats across (C, D, E & F) for the family. Happy with that

kingshankly · 28-03-2014 10:55am

Can not for the life of me understand why people with kids would take the chance of not getting seats together by not paying for selecting seats

mambo · 28-03-2014 11:30am

kingshankly wrote: »

Can not for the life of me understand why people with kids would take the chance of not getting seats together by not paying for selecting seats

Just booked flights with both Ryanair & Vueling. Paid €5 extra for allocated seating to be 100% sure mum & dad & toddler would all sit together. I know the toddler would never be allowed sit on their own, but I wanted to be 100% sure all 3 of us will be together in a row. Flights were still dead cheap, even with the "emotional blackmail" extra fee, which I just factored into the overall price.

ger664 · 28-03-2014 11:41am

cullenswood wrote: »

I booked my flights a few months ago for the family holiday around about the time allocated seating came into effect, but unfortunately I think I missed the option when booking. I paid €7 each for priority boarding for each family member so we could get seats together. I since learned about the allocated seating and tried to pick my seats via Manage my Booking but it is not letting me do it. Do I have to wait until 15 days before, despite paying the €7 charge (which is equivalent to the €5 allocated seating charge, plus €2 extra for priority boarding)?

Thanks

My sister in law did the same and was allowed to allocate her seats at no extra cost 2 weeks ago and not flying until June. We are on the same flights I didnt book priority as I want to get away from my teenage kids for a couple of hours

languagenerd · 28-03-2014 2:08pm

kingshankly wrote: »

Can not for the life of me understand why people with kids would take the chance of not getting seats together by not paying for selecting seats

If a couple had three kids, it'd cost €60 to select seats together. I'd say that's probably why - people have already paid the fare and baggage fees, so they're willing to take a chance in the hope they'd get to sit together anyway. People now know about it, but there are those like some posters above who booked before all these changes came in, paid extra for the priority queue so they could get on first (as they thought it was unallocated) and now will have to fork out another €40 to €60 on top of what they already paid because the terms have changed in the meantime...

Jimmy Iovine · 28-03-2014 8:08pm

grimm2005 wrote: »

I just checked in for a flight, was allocated a random seat and I was able to go back into "manage my booking" afterwards and I was able to choose and pay for a new seat.

Cheers. I just checked in there and we're beside each. Window seat as well. Hate the aisle ones.

A Dub in Glasgo · 28-03-2014 8:37pm

kingshankly wrote: »

Can not for the life of me understand why people with kids would take the chance of not getting seats together by not paying for selecting seats

£40 extra to select seats, 30 minute flight. Kids are 11 & 14, I will save my £40 tyvm now that I know Ryanair will seat a party together if you check in early enough

Fred Swanson · 28-03-2014 8:48pm

This post has been deleted.

kingshankly · 29-03-2014 12:04am

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

£40 extra to select seats, 30 minute flight. Kids are 11 & 14, I will save my £40 tyvm now that I know Ryanair will seat a party together if you check in early enough

At that age it's ok but someone say with a 3 and 5 year old there's no way I'd chance it regardless of price which will still be cheaper than any other airline

legendary.xix · 30-03-2014 11:51am

My two flights last week were good and positive. Even with assigned seating, some people still like to get on the plane early and be seated with their bag overhead out of the way. Understandable enough.

athtrasna · 30-03-2014 10:57pm

I thought it was funny flying to Gatwick last week that ours was the only Ryanair gate in the area where there was a queue of over 100 people before the boarding call. Any of the other gates around us saw people get up at the call but no queues...just small groups here and there. Maybe it's a London thing

grimm2005 · 31-03-2014 6:46pm

athtrasna wrote: »

I thought it was funny flying to Gatwick last week that ours was the only Ryanair gate in the area where there was a queue of over 100 people before the boarding call. Any of the other gates around us saw people get up at the call but no queues...just small groups here and there. Maybe it's a London thing

Nah, happened to me when I was flying to Krakow in February, I just joined in at the end a few minutes before boarding :P

lucian_lcr · 01-04-2014 9:37pm

I also don't like to pay £5 for a seat but still want to travel together with my group, so I searched for a way to do it! And since I didn't found a clear answer... I decided to analyse the Ryanair's "random seat allocation"!

Here's what I found:
1. The seats are NOT randomly allocated, but they follow a certain rule.
2. The system allocates seats in an (almost) continuous manner. The allocation starts from the middle of the plane (Premium rows 16&17 excluded, of course) and continues towards back and towards front, 1 row at a time: 18, 15, 19, 14, 20, 13, 21, 12, etc.
3. When allocating the seats on a certain row (let's say 19), it goes from left to right: 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, 19E, 19F.
4. I've seen many cases in which the system skipped one place (like 19F), and allocated 2 consecutive seats on the next available row (14A and 14B). I assume this happened for not breaking up families or persons travelling on the same reservation.
5. The premium seats plus rows 6 and 29 are the last ones to be allocated for free.

So, if you want to seat in the middle, do the check-in as soon as possible (15 days before departure).
If you want to seat together, just try to identify which is the "current row" and see if there are enough unallocated seats on it. Is so, book ASAP. If not, just wait for others to check-in and fill that row, and you do the check-in when the system will start allocating seats on a new row.

These are my findings. If you are interested in more details, you can read the full analysis published on the LowCostRoutes blog (sorry but I'm not allowed publish links here), but I summarised the most important things above.

Fred Swanson · 01-04-2014 9:40pm

This post has been deleted.

A Dub in Glasgo · 01-04-2014 9:44pm

The above tallies with my check in about 14.5 days in advance, I got row 15

lucian_lcr · 01-04-2014 9:48pm

Yes, of course, they start right after 16&17, meaning with rows 18 and 15. Sorry, this is a copy/paste mistake (I took the rows list from the article)! Thanks for pointing this out!

grimm2005 · 01-04-2014 10:21pm

Sounds about accurate to me too, I checked in for my upcoming flight (next week) about 1 - 2 days after check-in opened and got aisle seat in row 15 (one above middle exit row). So I guess they give out all the "worst" seats first (ones that will get you off the plane slower and not offer any leg room benefits) probably to entice the buyer to go back and purchase a seat closer to one of the exits.

So I guess if you're not bothered being seated together or are traveling alone it probably makes the most sense to check in as late as possible to increase the chances of a premium seat or at least something close to an exit.

lc180 · 01-04-2014 11:05pm

grimm2005 wrote: »

Sounds about accurate to me too, I checked in for my upcoming flight (next week) about 1 - 2 days after check-in opened and got aisle seat in row 15 (one above middle exit row). So I guess they give out all the "worst" seats first (ones that will get you off the plane slower and not offer any leg room benefits) probably to entice the buyer to go back and purchase a seat closer to one of the exits. .

I checked in for my flights this weekend as soon as online check-in opened and both flights are row 15. Looks like your theory is pretty accurate.

Fred Swanson · 01-04-2014 11:07pm

This post has been deleted.

Ryanair - New reserved seating structure(s)

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