There have been a lot of reports in the media about Ryanair splitting up passengers who do not pay for an upgrade. This is my recent experience.
I have flown Ryanair many times, and although I am ranting away about them, I will most likely fly with them again. Why? Because they are a budget airline and I am a budget traveller. I like cheap flights to great places. I love a great deal, and if you know how to handle them properly, Ryanair will give you just that . . .cheap flights.
It is only recently I realised something. Previously when I have been travelling with a companion, I always ended up sitting separately. Luckily, as a regular solo traveller, I have never been tempted to upgrade to seat together. I can handle a 3 hour flight alone, but others might not be like me. Imagine how much money Ryanair collects each flight.
Then I noticed a pattern. The middle seat. The worst seat on the plane (apart from that one next to the toilet). I hate the middle seat. Sandwiched between two strangers. Unable to look out the window, or along the walkaway, the only place to stare is at the head in front of you. You do not have an armrest to yourself and and might accidentally fall asleep on a stranger’s shoulder. So imagine my surprise when I walked onto a practically empty flight and I had the middle seat. Hmmmmm.
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Then when I checked in for the return leg home, I once again had the middle seat. When I boarded the plane, I had a good look around. A lot of people were sat in a middle seat with two empty seats next to them. Many couples were talking through the gaps on the seat, and guess what, when the flight took off and the seat belt signs switched off. They all moved to sit next to each other.
Each one of them had been put in that middle seat, so that they would hopefully purchase the add on. Their trick would hopefully line Ryanair’s pockets with your money. I even noticed that Ryanair kindly wrote in words that I was going to have the middle seat rather than counting on me working out that B and E on their flights were the middle seats.
This makes me wonder that perhaps on the fuller flights I have travelled on, have they purposely sat people apart, even when they check in as soon as check-in open? How long have they been doing this? And if they are doing this, what else are they doing to grab our money?
Ryanair, I have clocked you!
What are your experiences of Ryanair? Do you use budget airlines? Comment below. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog (It’s Free) to read more posts like this one which will be delivered to your inbox fortnightly.
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I take Ryanair very often, solo traveller, basically because I can combine the flight times and the price with more frequent flights from the city I live in and the city where I was born than with any other company.
I lately pay always for my window seat, I like the last raw, and that one is really 4 euros per flight, it is really affordable if the ticket was a bargain. I mean, if a ticket was around 50-60 euros, in a two hours flight (1600 km more or less), for a short weekend, even if the final price is 58 or 68, still is a bargain compared to the rest of options I have.
In the past, I never did, and I got the middle seat mixed with a corridor seat, a couple of times got a window seat but those ones were really very very few times. Anyway, many of the flights I used to take were early on the morning, so I did not care much the middle seat, as soon as the belt sign was off, I would open the table and sleep putting my arms as a pilow.
What I want to say is that, yes, probably they are making money in this way, but I do not really think that they are really looking into splitting people who travel together to force them to pay, otherwise me, a solo traveller, why I was ending always with a middle seat?
Middle or not middle, for a two hours they can put me wherever they want while the ticket keeps being that cheap and they keep on allowing to take a normal size backpack with me (theoretically, most of the backpacks I see, including mine, are bigger than what they say they allow, but I suppose they are ok because it fits under the seat). In all low cost fliying companies everything is a way to make money, but I doubt that Ryanair really gets into splitting people….now well, if I have non-priority and priority clients, obviously, I would assign middles seats to non-priority ones…..
I dunno! I’ve traveled mostly solo in Ryanair. Just twice (London to & fro Berlin), I’ve traveled with my husband and somehow both the times we weren’t put in separate seats. I didn’t buy for seating arrangement but I was one of the earliest to check-in though.
I almost always exclusively fly budget airlines because I travel for a living. I’ve actually lucked out and rarely sit in a middle seat. (Even on Ryanair). Interesting that you got selected for the middle seat. I do believe that a lot of other factors go into why your put into a middle seat: whether you check in early, ask for a free upgrade, etc. I use a lot of these tips when flying budget airlines!
That’s a scam. Ryanair should at least inform their passengers as to why they are always given the middle seats. You shouldn’t have ‘discovered’ it yourself. I do not agree with these gimmicks. Seats should be given on a first come and first serve basis. Fortunately, in my country India, I easily get window seat or aisle seat on a first come first serve basis.