Ryanair made 4yr old sit alone

No. They don't.

But you're not being particularly empathetic. Especially not in the way you use this point as an implicit rebuke to someone else.

People might have booked their seats because they have a medical need for them. They might have a phobia of flying. They might have any one of a myriad reasons, which frankly are their own business and for which they owe no entitled stranger an explanation. They've paid for that seat. It's theirs.

Whenever a CF tries to pull this stunt, if everyone's answer were an emphatic 'no' then the CFs would stop asking. They might even be willing to take responsibility for the wellbeing and comfort of their own children and book seating, thus avoiding this tiresome scenario playing out on so many flights ad nauseam.

If so, the world wouldn't exactly be a better place but flying would be just a little less fraught and uncomfortable. That won't happen as long as people persist in humouring this nonsense.

Surely any child sitting on their own becomes an " unaccompanied minor". In which case Ryanair becomes responsible for them.

Thing is, for them to accommodate you all sitting together once you reached the airport, they would have had to ask others who had prob paid to sit together, to move for your family. As others have said, just pay to sit together. That’s why Ryan Air is so cheap, because of all the add ons.

Whenever I've travelled with Ryan air the kids and one adult gets a free seat so you have no one to blame other than yourself as to why your poor 4 yr old was on their own. This is your fault alone

The onus isn’t on the stranger though… the onus is on the parent who chose not to sit next to their kid and therefore cannot help the kid (so it’s the parent’s choice that the kid doesn’t have a mask or get help to evacuate….). And this is why I would always always pay to sit next to my child.

We always pay to ensure our kids are seated next to us and not frightened. You can’t blame the airline, if everyone else has paid for their particular seats what are they supposed to do?! Turf them out and give you their seats when you haven’t bothered to pay?! Honestly don’t be so entitled, if you are so concerned about your kids welfare then be smart and pay for it ahead of time instead of leaving it to chance,the kindness of strangers etc.

I'm not going to weigh in on whether on not Ryanair honoured their own policy (I don't know), or whether you should have paid for pre-booked seats if you were able to (the thread has that covered).

However, your opening post makes me wonder just how much of your children's apparent distress is being transmitted to them by you. I'd have a think about that. Are you sure you're not deflecting your own upset and guilt about the situation your actions created onto Ryanair and your fellow passengers? Flying doesn't have to be instrisically scary, nor does sitting next to someone who is not a parent.

Totally agree with you, you'd expect the airline enforces the booker to pay the reservation fee and then allocate the kids seat.

But the OP didn't follow policy. She would have looked pretty stupid spouting a policy that she hadn't followed.

It is mandatory for an adult travelling with children under 12 (excl. infants) to reserve a seat. A maximum of four children for every one adult on the same booking will receive a reserved seat free of charge

Ryan Air are total scum
Complain all you like - it wont make any difference and you won't get anything from them.

YABU because you didn't pay the fee to pre book your seats together when you bought the tickets.

I’m confused – the OP said in title the youngest had to sit alone but then they say the two youngest were together – obviously that is still not ideal but it doesn’t sound like the four-year-old was completely on their own! I agree with everyone- it must’ve been upsetting but Ryanair are notorious cunts and if you don’t pay for every possible “perk” upfront you can expect to be fleeced and/or have a miserable flight

Easily sorted OP - next time pay to reserve seats together before you travel. You didn’t do that this time so I that’s why you were separated. I think you are unreasonable to expect others to swap for your convenience- they likely wanted to sit next to their own family.

Same here, and we were told - same as the OP - to just sit down and they'd sort it out later. They obviously had no intention of sorting it out, they couldn't have given less of a shit.

👏👏👏

Right or wrong of Ryanair to have this as a policy, OP was in the wrong not booking the seat as required.

This, imagine you've gone out for a meal, you've ordered and paid for a fillet mignon then the table next to you has ordered chicken nuggets, but now don't want them, the waiter then tells you you must take the nuggets and give them your steak or you'll get nothing and be made to leave the restaurant. Would you say 'of course, give what I've paid for to them.'?!

Let me guess, you think TFL should introduce a policy where you have to pay extra to sit next to your family on the 381?
No?
Well that's how much of a scam paying to sit next to your own family on the plane is...

Where do you live that you can get on a bus as a family of four, like the OP's family, and be able to sit together? This doesn't happen where I live. On the bus, you sit where there is a space.

In the unlikely event that OP is actually reading this, you obviously pay to book the seats together when you book the flights. It's basically part of the ticket price.

Pay to sit together. It really irrates me when I see families expecting people to move to accommodate them because they won't pay for seats. I travel with my kiss regularly and always pay for the seats.

The answer is you pay to book a seat next to the person of your choice. You don't ask others who've paid to sit next to the person of their choice to move, so you don't have to pay.
You know this.

Ah ok that changes things. It isn’t mandatory for children to sit with adults then. If that is the case then yes you would have to pay.

I find it weird they don’t ensure children, say under 7, are with a responsible adult. In an emergency it is terribly unfair of an airline to put the onus of putting masks on them and helping them evacuate to a complete stranger

Yabu

You didn't adhere to the terms and conditions of booking

You only had to pay for ONE seat reservation (not 4) and you could have booked for the children to sit with a parent. Doing this is mandatory under their Ts&Cs.

Neither the airline nor the other passengers are responsible for you choosing not to do this.

Organising a seating plan where everyone is happy has a cost. It is Ryanair policy to make the people who care where they sit and who they sit with bear 100% of thar cost so that those who don't care can fly more cheaply. You bought tickets at the "I don't care where I sit or who I sit with" price. YABU to then not accept the consequences of that (rather foolish) decision.

FeatherBoat what would you pay for something that is mandatory. Ie the plane technically shouldn’t take off unless you are have paid to be sitting together? or you leave the plane.

I don't know what you mean.

OP with Ryanair your should have selected your seats when you booked, not when you checked in. By then everyone else will have selected their seats so you'd only have what's left.

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe they will come back on and enlighten us or maybe not.