Paid for seats on ryan air and kids still sat separately

[Hookahchakkah]

Has anyone had any success getting a refund and compensati on.? We paid the extra to ensure we were with the kids all together and they sat all four of us completely separately, not even across an aisle or one row away like five and twenty five rows away from each other

This is what you need to do: www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolving-travel-problems/how-the-caa-can-help/how-to-make-a-complaint/

Where is that bloody laughing emoji….

This warrants it!

🤣

I am no fan of Ryan Air but people use them because they are cheap! Everyone complains about them and yet their flights are full.

The only lesson here is never ever fly revolting ryanair again. Awful company awful owner, awful service, and simply not worth whatever pennies it saves. Ive had my own similar thieving experience with them and their rude ignorant arrogant staff and Id rather stay at home than fly with them ever again. Not much point writing nasty reviews about them either, it would just be one in a sea of many.

I wouldn't let this go. They are the worst airline ever and their staff are miserable fucks who need basic training in customer service, never ever met one nice staff member, you only have to walk along the airport counters and they are the only ones with miserable faces on them. They are always in the pits of hell in every airport because they are fucking arses ! They don't want to help you and don't give a damn about you.

The experience needed for a job with them is to be able to argue loudly, not let you get a word in edgeways, faces like slapped arses and rude as fuck !!

They are the most disabled unfriendly airline in the world. They should be wiped off the map of airlines, their planes aren't fit for purpose unless you're a 2 foot 2 stone person. They're rip off merchants charging for things they shouldn't be but that's about to hit the fan soon. They wouldn't have let you on if you hadn't paid for your seat so why should you be expected to sit away from your children having paid to do so. They're that fucking thick that they can't even work out a plane seating plan.

Sounds like typical Ryanair. I fly a reasonable amount between work and family living in another country. I've never encountered an airline like them, it's like they're trying to be terrible on purpose.

Don't fly Ryanair again. They have an appalling lack of concern for their customers. I have never had a flight without an issue with them. I'm 57, I've been flying reguarly since I was four months old. They are hands down, the worst airline I have ever flown with. I avoid them like the plague to the extent that I fly from an airport further away to use a different airline to my regular destination.

Try contacting the travel journalist Simon Calder if you don't get anywhere with your complaint.

Don't blame the staff, they are victims as much as any passenger who sets foot on a Ryanair plane.

I agree that Ryanair going bankrupt would be something to celebrate. Not that it is likely to happen.

Thankyou for reminding me to avoid Ryanair. They really are shit.

He wasn’t - it’s very clear from the OP. He was sat nearer but not with them - they’d be no issue if he had been sat with them! So when she was trying to go check on them / get people to swap and couldn’t get by because I’d the cart etc it sounds like he was better placed to do so. Only from the OP’s posts - I get there might be some nuance that isn’t included.

I get that no one agrees with me that this is weird but I’m just answering the questions.

Perhaps they changed the aircraft. I know when that’s happened with easyJet they state you need to log back in and choose seats again. I’d put it in writing to request a seat refund, however if the aircraft change did apply and they send an email, they wouldn’t refund

For those saying a 10yo should be ok to sit solo. Not all kids fly regularly to be comfortable in that situation and not all kids can manage being in unknown situations. I know my DD wouldn’t be able to handle this

Re: the OP’s issue with seats, I would complain and complain till you get what you want.
Re: flying with Ryanair generally - I’d don’t see a problem. It is usually works out a bit cheaper than other airlines even once you've jumped through all the baggage and seating hoops. Cabin crew don’t seem any different to other cabin crew and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable.

This happened to me and DH on a Jet2 flight last month. Paid for seats, when we got to airport we did bag drop, but then the machine said we had to go to desk. We went to the desk and they said they had to move our seats. I know this happens and I’m aware you have no right to your paid seat (it’s in the t&cs!) - he gave us emergency row seats so wasn’t so bad I guess.

Try and get your money back for 3 seats and then ensure that Ryanair give the last seat to the person who moved for you.

This is a classic example of how Ryanair treat their customers sadly. I’ve seen some awful behaviour from their staff several times. Hope you’re all none the worse for the experience.

Exactly. I've never actually had a real problem with them. Sometimes a flight has been delayed but not through their fault. Staff as friendly as any other budget airline. Last flight, they were actively trying to help a disabled passenger but he was adamant he didn't need any assistance. Them going bust would seriously fuck up a lot of people's lives.

Absolutely appalling. But that's Ryan Air.
Consumer Law in UK, yes, you can just get a refund via your CC (generally you threaten to do that as it's costs them more and they repay you).
Otherwise you can take them to small claims and it adds even more more money for the company you're claiming off. (I've done it twice and it's annoying, but. I've won and got lots back. .

If you do fly Ryan Air ensre it's above £100 then you can just apply for a CC refund if it goes wrong. Add seats if you need to.

Not entirely relevant to this conversation but if everyone on a Ryan air flight pays for priority boarding , who gets priority? To me all this preferential treatment for a few extra pounds is a con.

You should absolutely get a refund. I’m a bit surprised at the level of panic about a ten year old sitting on their own for 2.5 hours though - at that age I would have found it exciting and been mortified my mother was making such a fuss about it.

Regardless if they had changed the aircraft, there should be code imbedded in the system to ensure that minors sit with their own grown ups especially if they have paid and paid for seats together. That’s not an excuse.

Also, how on the grounds of safeguarding minors that’s unacceptable to be honest.

I was on an aisle seat at the front and he was on a window seat so it was much easier for me to get up the second the seatbelt light came off.

weve had seat issues before and never complained on various airlines, as long as we are near enough we don’t mind not sitting together and we’ve both swapped seats before so nervous flyers can be with their partners despite paying for seats to be together as long as one person was near the kids.

im sure someone will come along and tell me im mental or wrong in a second but if there was an issue on the plane or severe turbulence or one of them was sick I would want to be able to comfort them or help them, rather than them sitting next to a complete stranger.

I travelled alone as a child and flew as an unaccompanied minor and was sick once in a window seat and filled the bag and had to wake up the person next to me to get out. I also had a really bad flight when I was young when all the oxygen masks came down and people were screaming, and have seen a couple of really severe medical emergencies so would want to be able to tell the kids everything was going to be ok and not to worry.

if I was sitting next to someone else’s kids on a plane I would offer to sit somewhere else so the parents could be with them and I can’t understand for a second why it happened that we all got moved.

thanks so much to everyone who posted helpful or comforting comments

Splitting children away from their parents is a safeguarding issue. That’s probably the point you need to make again and again, and loudly!

Same happened to me (also with Ryanair) but I was like a dog with a bone and got the compensation nine months later in the end! It was about £800 so worth pursuing, and they are legally obliged to pay so even Ryanair can’t wriggle out of it forever. I can see them chancing their arm with the seat fees though as it’s only £10 each or so and therefore people are more likely to give up. I guess small claims court if you really want to take it all the way?

Yes, I would complain to the airline about that. Not just about the initial seat-switch but also for the poor way the staff spoke to you.
But it’s Ryanair, so don’t hold your breath that they will even reply.