Ryanair made 4yr old sit alone

[LHGL]

We had a really stressful experience recently and I don’t know if it’s just me who finds this completely unacceptable but I just feel the need to get this out there.
Family of 5; DH, myself, DD 4 and 9, DS 7. Both DD’s get very travel sick.
Just under 3 hour flight to Italy and we check in online in advance, and I notice nobody is sitting together. I mean nobody is even on the same row - 5C, 32F,19B etc. We click ‘change seats’ but there are no options. I read up on kids sitting alone and am relieved to hear that Ryanair policy is that anyone under 12 needs to sit next to an adult.
We get to the airport and tell the Ryanair woman at baggage, she’s says not to worry and they’ll make sure we’re sitting together at the gate. Get to the gate, same story but the cabin crew will sort us out.

we board the plane and the two flight attendants tell us the flight is busy and they can’t help. DH reminds them of the policy of kids and adults sitting together, and they shrug and tell us we’re blocking the aisle. After a little more polite protestation we’re told they’ll sort us out once seated.
They don’t. We tried to swap with people ourselves but only managed to get the two youngest together, people weren’t terribly helpful and luck was against us with language and some odd folk.
The long and short of it was that the flight was a very distressing experience for all, not least the kids, and I was really taken aback by how uncaring the Ryanair attendants were. They put more effort into trying to sell us scratch cards than attempting to stop my kids being terrified of ever getting on a plane again.

You cocked up here . They offer you free seats for a child next to a parent . You need to select them when you book the seats.
If you didn’t do this then you have made the mistake .

I think you skipped that stage of the booking

Whether or not we should have to pay extra to add back on all the basics of good service that used to be included is a separate discussion.

OP+DH either didn't understand Ryanair's seat-booking policy (their error) or they deliberately tried to circumvent it (their entitlement); in either case to the perceived detriment of their children's experience of flying. They are now trying to deflect the blame for their own dubious parental choices, by suggesting that it is Ryanair who have been neglectful.

I would hope you'll be responsible enough to book your seats in advance like the vast majority of parents do.

You can't claim you didn't know.

Nothing changes if someone doesn't take a stand, no matter how difficult the brand is renowned for being.

While 4 years old is still young, imagine this was a two year old being removed from their parents?

It's unacceptable, and I personally feel huge empathy for the OP on this one (although do agree, they should have challenged this before arriving at the airport, but we live and we learn...).

so subversive and edgy for u to sympathise with a faceless corporation that put a 4 year old in danger

It's a well known fact that you pay for everything extra with RyanAir. The alternative is a higher ticket price with seat reservation included. For those citing CAA guidelines... a) it is guidance only and b) RuinAir is headquartered in the EU and answers to EASA, not the CAA. OP you should have paid the extra £10 and you would have been able to guarantee 4 of your seats.

The rule applies to all who want to sit together not just families!

Why should those who pay to seat together face not being able to because some entitled parents stamp their feet and refuse to pay? Why should those ppl lose their money?

I presume you think it is ok because....?

This is such a weird attitude.

Maybe it would be your infant who would need the good luck.

Not everyone in the world is a nice person.

Would you think it preferable for Ryanair and other airlines to offer reserved seating at booking and hike fares up right across the board? Some people are happy to sit in any random seat, not have priority boarding, etc to avail of a lower fare - it’s a menu - you get a basic seat with basic fare, any extras you pay for.

it’s neither subversive nor edgy - the faceless corporation has the rules printed for all to see and is known to be the biggest most unpleasant money grabber of all time – your credit card is not going to give you a rebate for booking with a bunch of greedy bastards

But you don't if you are with a child. They allow these to be booked free of charge when with children. Ryanair should have sorted it. However, OP could have looked into it and arranged it (for free) in advance.

Or.....or..
The child's 'loving parent' could spend a tenner to ensure they sat together?
Imagine being so tight you'd place your child in discomfort and 'danger' than spend a tenner to sit together!
Where is the love? indeed!

15 pages later and the op hasn't been back, meanwhile we all fight amongst ourselves 🤨

Well your advice was ridiculous, sorry but it's true.

This is their policy
For safety reasons, children under the age of 12 must sit beside an accompanying adult, and infants (aged 8 days to 23 months inclusive) must sit on an accompanying adult’s lap. 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. This ensures parents of young children sit together during the flight. This will also allow you to check-in for your flight 60 days before departure. It is not mandatory for any other adults or teenagers in the booking to reserve a seat, however they may choose to do so if they wish to seat with the rest of the family

There’s been a thread on this at least once a month for the decade+ I’ve been on MN. How people still claim ignorance and don’t check the policy when travelling with children is astounding.

Mn being mn!! 😁🍷

How on earth are you booking your restaurants? You ask for a table for X amount of people, not “can 6 people come to eat dinner tonight please”.

I find it really annoying that everyone gets the same chance to purchase the seats that they want and then I’m made to feel unreasonable when someone who hasn’t done this thinks I should give my seat up for them .
Of course your 4yo shouldn’t be sitting on their own but you should have booked their seat to make sure this doesn’t happen

Ryanair are fucking shit, I really do avoid travelling with them at all costs. They purposefully split people up as much as possible to punish you for not prebooking, I am actually shocked they do this with little ones as well, massive safe guarding issue.

That really is a shit experience, knew you'd get a load of people whinging that you should have prebooked but you would assume Ryanair would flag a 4 year old and assign them a seat next to an adult passenger on the same booking. Ridiculous, further strengthening my resolve to never touch them with a shitty stick. 😅

I honestly can't believe people are sympathising with these feckless airline employees who have a history of unscrupulous grifting, threatening their customers, stealing from and scamming their customers showing a lackadaisical attitude to child safeguarding.

A four year old being seated away from his parents in an area with no surveillance is risking literal molestation/assault and the little boy is too young to defend himself. Those of you who think an innocent child deserves to pay for what you percieve as a parental mistake are demonstrating your own sociopathy and outing yourselves as unfit parents. Why wish suffering on a child like that?

Some of you really, genuinely oughtn't be mums.

Because no one has ever won a chargeback case with an airline?

Personally I can't stand Ryanair and avoid flying them however everyone knows that their prices are a base price and then everything is extra, including choosing seats.

You have young children, 2 of whom get travel sick, yet you didn't want to pay to sit together?! This is completely on you and you need to take responsibility. I expect Ryanair are getting sick and tired of parents like you complaining because you thought you could get away without paying.

Why do people think that a cheap airline would care more about their child's safety than they do?