Southam

Love it or hate it, Ryanair is Europe's biggest budget airline (and one of the biggest anywhere) so it cannot be ignored. The Independent newspaper reports that families will be required to make an advance seat reservation to sit together, paying a fee to do so. The report explains that passengers can still take pot luck on seat assignment but families may be separated. The airline apparently faces the pleasant business problem of nearly-full planes which reduces flexibility in seating groups.
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...-a7160576.html

anyegr

Ryanair has cheap tickets. IF you don't need any of their extras.

Checked bags, seat selections, early/priority boarding, food and drinks etc. all costs extra.

It's been a two years since last time I flew with them. But I have no serious complaints against them and probably will use them again if I need a cheap flight to one of their destinations.

Last time they gave me the choice to pay extra for a selected seat or get whatever was left over. That was in 2014. Before that it was a mad scramble and struggle to get on the plane early to get a decent seat. Boarding was much calmer with selected seats.

The article says: "When young children are allocated seats away from a parent, the cabin crew are obliged to re-seat them."

Why? It's not the cabin crew who were too cheap or too lazy to get selected seats.

If I pay extra to get a specific seat I'm certainly not going to move to another seat because some family has to sit together and need that seat.

If the parents refuse to pay extra to be seated together with their children they should have to live with the consequences. If that means having to sit ten rows away from their little darlings, maybe they will learn the lesson for next time.

Odin

Ryanair has cheap tickets if you book in advance and even IF you do need their extras.

HappyTrvlr

The day before our non-stop flight from Krakow to Rome, they offered us early boarding for about $4.00 each which we were so glad we took. It was a madhouse. Flight was on time and inexpensive even with the extras we paid for. I would fly with them again.

Whathello

In the meantime it gives them advertising
We flew Delta transatlantic and were separated and the staff couldn't have cared less.
So where is the difference ?

LT

Sorry, but am not seeing the problem here. Ryanair is a LCC. They don't try to hide it or do anything nefarious. If being seated together is that important to families, they have two options: 1) pay the seat fee on Ryanair; or 2) choose another carrier that offers advance seat selection for free. I don't see why Ryanair should be forced to make accommodations for families.

justineparis

Most airlines I look at now ( here) are making you pay for advance seat selection.. even our bigger airlines like WestJet and AirCanada.

I do think that there should be an exception.. parents travelling with children under 8-10 should get one free seat selection.. not for themselves.. they should pay for themselves.. but each adult gets one child seated near them . It only makes sense safety wise.. in an emergency an adult would have to help a child and that adult should be the parent..

I have used Ryanair a few times now.. and yes.. even with extras their flights are cheap if you book well in advance. We haven't had any problems with them so far and would use them again. The flights are bare bone.. no free food or entertainment.. but generally the intereuropeon flights are short.. 3-4 hours at most.. so we suck it up fine.

joannyc

Even the airlines that I don't consider low budget airlines are charging for advanced seat selections... Lufthansa and Swiss both charge.

justineparis

Our major airlines require you to make and pay for a seat reaervation if you eant to sit together , so which airline doesnt nowadays?

Odin

Quite a few don't make you pay since you can pick seats FOC 23 (LH)/24/48 or 72 hours before departure. If your family/couple is booked under one reservation, it is unlikely to be split. When I check-in online with BA and I am travelling with someone, the automatic seat assignment always seats us together. But if you want to prebook before that time limit, then you will likely have to pay.
With some airlines, if you have their FF card, you can pick a seat in advance, also FOC.