Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Ryanair seat issue. Another airline seat one...sorry

134 replies

thinkfast · 26/08/2023 23:07

Just returned from holiday today. We had booked and paid for tickets including reserved allocated seats in December. Me, Dd8 and DS11 in a row of 3 with DH over the aisle from us.

Board the plane to discover that the layout of the plane has changed and we have somehow ended up in the emergency rows. I ask one of the air stewardesses are we allowed to sit here and she says no...once everyone has boarded she will find someone to swap with us, as children aren't allowed in the emergency row. She finds 2 people to swap with DD and DS- 5 rows ahead of me. I explain she needs to ask a row of 3 adults to swap so I can sit with my children and she says no. I ask several different rows with 3 adults in will they please swap and explain why (and that they would get extra legroom) and they all look at me blankly. DD is crying. Air stewardess insists that I have to sit in my allocated seat and the kids have to be moved. Refused to ask any rows of three adults to swap. The third person in the row the kids have been moved to is an elderly lady so I can understand not asking her to swap, but there were plenty of rows with 3 adults nearby who could've been asked to move.

Previously, if I've ever sat in the emergency aisle I've been asked if I feel able to open the door in an emergency, and been instructed how to do it. None of that today. If they'd asked me I'd have said no. Currently suffering with a knee injury and reduced mobility so I don't think I should've been next to the emergency door anyway!

Luckily, just before take off very kind man across the aisle from where they have moved to eventually agrees to swap with DH.

Aibu that Ryanair shouldn't allow this to happen? Any chance do you think of getting back the extra we paid for allocated seating?

OP posts:
IHateWasps · 27/08/2023 09:53

It didn't sound like they were in the next row or across the aisle.

I didn't say they were. The point is that they're merely guidelines. Airlines do not legally have to follow the CAA's advice on seating.

ilovesooty · 27/08/2023 09:54

IHateWasps · 27/08/2023 09:41

HaveSomeIntrospect
In this situation, I would tell the air steward that none of us would be moving until SHE found us three seats together, if not then they would have to call the police to remove us from the plane.

That's quite a risk to take because people have been put/forced off planes for refusing to cooperate and sometimes charged. It's a very real possibility.

Anyone who pulls that stunt risks an airline ban.

JassyRadlett · 27/08/2023 09:54

The last time we flew my 10yo was unexpectedly and suddenly sick. Has never happened before but it was a pretty bumpy flight.

Good luck to the stranger sitting beside him if we hadn't been given the seats together we'd paid for. There are reasons for the CAA rules.

Dinojump · 27/08/2023 09:56

Yes, fight to get your money back for the pre-booked seats. I can't fathom why some people are saying otherwise.

If you were in a restaurant, paid for 5 meals but only 4 turned up, you'd be wanting your money back!

IHateWasps · 27/08/2023 09:57

I would have told them to sit tight in the emergency seats (knowing the plane couldn’t take off with children in them) until three seats together were found. I’m sure the air hostess has a home to go to and would want the plane to take off.

You do know that the Captain can and will have people removed from the plane, by the police if necessary. It happens regularly.

I think the OP should have got what she paid for and she should receive a refund as that didn't happen but I wouldn't be too casual about the very real risk of being forcibly removed from a plane because it can happen.

User287264 · 27/08/2023 09:59

We had a similar experience with Ryanair, last minute change of plane meant everyone's seat numbers were messed up. On one side was me with a 4 and 5 yr old, on the other a parent with maybe 9 and 11 yr olds. They swapped with the people who had originally booked the emergency exit seats. No-one would swap with us. No-one. It was awful. The pilot eventually made an announcement along the lines of "this family's seats have been messed up through no fault of their own. The plane cannot take off with this family in the emergency exit row. Please could someone grow up a bit and swap with them or we'll be here all night." Then someone swapped.

We didn't get any apology or compensation or refund. Just humiliation in front of everyone.

I still wonder if no-one had swapped if they would just have put us off the plane.

But Ryanair is cheap, especially since we didn't have any luggage. You get what you pay for I suppose. And we can visit family 5 times a year compared with the more expensive airlines.

AvengedQuince · 27/08/2023 09:59

I'd want my money back but wouldn't be concerned about two siblings those ages sitting five rows from a parent. My child flew 24 hours as an UM at a similar age.

floribunda18 · 27/08/2023 09:59

FrancescaSwan · 27/08/2023 09:50

I don’t think you have a leg to stand on getting your money back tbh. I’ve checked this before and in the small print it says you can be moved and nothing you can do about it. So it’s just airlines trying to make more mo et by recommending you pay for your seat.

However they do have an obligation to sit families together. Especially those with young children. If there was an emergency can you guarantee that a stranger would help them for their oxygen mask correctly…no. Making your 8year old sit on their own was completely against airline regulations. I would have told them to sit tight in the emergency seats (knowing the plane couldn’t take off with children in them) until three seats together were found. I’m sure the air hostess has a home to go to and would want the plane to take off.

Bollocks. Companies write all sorts of nonsense in their terms and conditions, and ir doesn't mean that it is legally enforceable against a consumer and it is always worth writing to get some money back. It's breach of contract - Ryanair make you pay extra for specific seats, if you don't get those seats then you should at least get the additional payment back. I would have more sympathy with the airline if the seats just came with the ticket.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 27/08/2023 09:59

They majorly fucked up seating children in an exit row.

User287264 · 27/08/2023 10:01

YetAnotherSpartacus · 27/08/2023 09:59

They majorly fucked up seating children in an exit row.

This is what happened to us though. We'd booked, say, 24a 24b and 24c in a certain plane. They were not emergency exit rows. Then the physical plane that arrived was a different type with different row numbers so row 24 ended up being an emergency exit row.
So they didn't intentionally allow me to book an emergency exit seat for a 4 yr old.

(Am I actually defending Ryanair here? Shoot me now)

CherryMaDeara · 27/08/2023 10:02

AvengedQuince · 27/08/2023 09:59

I'd want my money back but wouldn't be concerned about two siblings those ages sitting five rows from a parent. My child flew 24 hours as an UM at a similar age.

Have a 🥇for being a cool mum. All families are different, people have explained why their children at that age want to sit with their parents.

IHateWasps · 27/08/2023 10:03

I don't think it's relevant either that some people think her kids should be fine to sit alone because I suspect that she knows her children better than any of us and also she had the decency to do the right thing and pay for her family to be seated together instead of being one of those rude entitled parents on MN who refuses to pay and thinks that the other passengers, some of whom will have their own reason and needs for picking specific seats or sitting together with family members, should be moved to accommodate them even if they have paid.

Original poster
thinkfast · 27/08/2023 10:03

Both are very nervous flyers. We only fly once a year so it's a big thing for them. DS has mild SEN where he's well able to entertain himself for a couple of hours, but has anxiety about new situations and can't cope well with loud noises.

The woman they sat next to was apparently very kind and held their hands during landing and takeoff.

There was a lot of turbulence on the flight so not much opportunity for me to check they were ok, had DH not managed to get the seat across from them.

I'm annoyed that:

  • it's against Ryanair policy and CAA rules to seat children so far from parents - for safety reasons.
  • it would have been just as much effort for the air hostess to find a row of 3 adults to swap with all 3 of us as it was for her to select 2 people to swap with the 2 children.
  • no one checked if I was suitable to sit next to the exit and IMO I wasn't.
  • I paid to sit together and we didn't.
  • no-one was willing to help and swap with us, even for the extra legroom.
  • the Ryanair system allowed for us to be seated in unsuitable seats.
OP posts:
SisterWedge · 27/08/2023 10:03

Gobsmacked by people asking if the 8yo is SEN because they are scared to sit away from parent on a plane!

Flying is a big deal to a lot of people, SEN or no SEN.

Stories like this just confirm I never want to fly Ryanair.

floribunda18 · 27/08/2023 10:04

Also Ryanair isn't cheap in the summer holidays. As for people saying "You get what you pay for" well, this family didn't, that's the point. And if you paid slightly more to use BA, they have been cancelling loads of flights, so they may not have even got away on holiday.

However cheap the flight there should be basic standards.

JassyRadlett · 27/08/2023 10:05

User287264 · 27/08/2023 10:01

This is what happened to us though. We'd booked, say, 24a 24b and 24c in a certain plane. They were not emergency exit rows. Then the physical plane that arrived was a different type with different row numbers so row 24 ended up being an emergency exit row.
So they didn't intentionally allow me to book an emergency exit seat for a 4 yr old.

(Am I actually defending Ryanair here? Shoot me now)

Show quote history

No, but when they changed the plane their data would have enabled them to see that there were children now sitting in the exit row, and effect a simple swap before boarding.

A concern about the safety of who is sitting in an emergency exit row but not about the safety considerations of parents sitting a significant distance from their kids on the plane is an airline that only pays lip service to safety and is clearly trying to get away with as little as possible.

floribunda18 · 27/08/2023 10:06

It's not like there is always a choice of airline to get to your destination either.

floribunda18 · 27/08/2023 10:07

JassyRadlett · 27/08/2023 10:05

No, but when they changed the plane their data would have enabled them to see that there were children now sitting in the exit row, and effect a simple swap before boarding.

A concern about the safety of who is sitting in an emergency exit row but not about the safety considerations of parents sitting a significant distance from their kids on the plane is an airline that only pays lip service to safety and is clearly trying to get away with as little as possible.

Show quote history

This.

Original poster
thinkfast · 27/08/2023 10:10

Oh and to clarify one more thing - the air stewardess never asked for volunteers to swap - the two people who swapped with the dcs were told that they were required to swap - they weren't given a choice. So, she could just have easily required 3 people to swap with us.

OP posts:
AvengedQuince · 27/08/2023 10:11

CherryMaDeara · 27/08/2023 10:02

Have a 🥇for being a cool mum. All families are different, people have explained why their children at that age want to sit with their parents.

Show quote history

This is AIBU, no need for silly medals just because I have a different opinion. The OP says they fly every year so it sounds like they are very experienced flyers.

Perisoire · 27/08/2023 10:11

User287264 · 27/08/2023 09:59

We had a similar experience with Ryanair, last minute change of plane meant everyone's seat numbers were messed up. On one side was me with a 4 and 5 yr old, on the other a parent with maybe 9 and 11 yr olds. They swapped with the people who had originally booked the emergency exit seats. No-one would swap with us. No-one. It was awful. The pilot eventually made an announcement along the lines of "this family's seats have been messed up through no fault of their own. The plane cannot take off with this family in the emergency exit row. Please could someone grow up a bit and swap with them or we'll be here all night." Then someone swapped.

We didn't get any apology or compensation or refund. Just humiliation in front of everyone.

I still wonder if no-one had swapped if they would just have put us off the plane.

But Ryanair is cheap, especially since we didn't have any luggage. You get what you pay for I suppose. And we can visit family 5 times a year compared with the more expensive airlines.

Sounds like a horrible experience, glad pilot stuck up for you.

5 times a year? Do you not think that it’s a bit much given the state of our environment?

SoIinvictus · 27/08/2023 10:26

SisterWedge · 27/08/2023 10:03

Gobsmacked by people asking if the 8yo is SEN because they are scared to sit away from parent on a plane!

Flying is a big deal to a lot of people, SEN or no SEN.

Stories like this just confirm I never want to fly Ryanair.

Well, the OP has just told us that the child does, indeed have SN.

Original poster
thinkfast · 27/08/2023 10:29

No my 11 year old has SEN, not the 8 year old.

OP posts:
Brefugee · 27/08/2023 10:36

Flippingflamingo · 27/08/2023 09:50

Similar thing happened to a family on our Ryanair flight last week.

A family with 2 children had been allocated the emergency exit row so needed to be moved. The air steward walked up and down the aisle huffing loudly that she needed 3 people to move seats and if no-one volunteered she would just be picking people and forcing them to move.

I had 2 children with me so couldn’t move but luckily eventually someone did agree to swap with the family.

"huffing loudly"

what is wrong with you? they are not allowed to have children in that row. Get a grip

JudgeRudy · 27/08/2023 10:39

GuardiansPlayList · 26/08/2023 23:18

It would hardly be fair to expect the old lady to look after and entertain the kids. Planes are tiny and cramped so thinking that you can go up and chat with people is not realistic. You might be able to briefly go and say hello but not for any length of time.

Show quote history

I don't think anyone's expecting someone else to 'entertain' your children. At 8 and 11 they should be capable of sitting 'nicely' for a few hours.
I do think you should get your money back though and an apology for not making efforts to get a good resolution - it sounds like it wouldn't have taken much.
Going forward though my advice would be to nor let your anxiety rub off on your children. I suspect your alarm contributed to the crying. You were in the right though. Even if they weren't kids if 3 of you have paid to sit together that's what should happen. I mean if you pay for say extra leg room you don't get the air stewards measuring your legs n deciding if you need it.

Swipe left for the next trending thread