To think I should be able to sit next to my 7yo dd on a 4 hour flight?

[StripeyKnickersSpottySocks]

I accept ts part of the risk you take when you fly with RyanAir, but I really thought that either someone would have offered to move or the stewardess would have told someone to move.

We somehow managed to be the last people on the plane even though we joined the queue for check in ten minutes after it opened. We were over an hour queuing for check in, then the queue to go through security was terrible. By the time we cleared security they were tannoying the last call for our flight. DD was desperate for the loo at this point so we stopped quickly at the loo and then ran onto the plane.

No seats together or near each other. I (loudly and infront of a stewardess) told dd she would have to sit by herself. DD was crying and begging not to, screaming that she wanted to be with me. Nobody offered to move, I would have done if the situation was reversed. I asked the stewardess what would happen if there was a crash - who would look after my dd, get her the oxygen mask, etc. She shrugged and told me to get sat down. With hindsight I wish I'd kicked up a fuss but I didn't. I was so stressed and upset myself that I picked dd up and put her in a seat on her own and did her belt up - with her still crying and screaming.

Am mad with myself and Ryanair.

OP YANBU. Assuming of course your dh wasn't sitting with your dd in which case I reserve the right to change my mind! However I think it is entirely possible that the people in earshot couldn't speak English or had children with them - probably only a couple of rows could hear your conversation with the stewardess so it is unfair to slag off the whole planeload of people for not moving unless they had made an announcement.

Reminds me of the reverse situation though...

Dh and I were travelling on a flight where we did have reserved seating so got on plane relatively late as we usually do. To find a couple on our seats (window and middle), 2 children aged about 10 and 12 in the window and middle seats on the other side of the aisle and the 2 aisle seats free. We showed the couple on our seats our tickets and politely asked them to move so we could sit in the seats we had booked. They did but not without a large amount of muttering about 'harrummph we'll move but for goodness sake why does it matter what seat you go in etc etc'. During the flight it became obvious that the 2 children who were sitting on the other side actually belonged to this couple!!!! So they actively tried not only to sit on our seats and guilt us into not taking them but also to foist on us their own children! W*nkers.

That's hilarious Alicet. I have to admit that my current favourite seating configuration when I do have DH on the flight with me (I often fly alone with a 2 and 4 year old) is...

DH with a child either side, bag of toys and food in the 3 seat bit.

Me..across the aisle with a book and a coffee on my own!

Yes turniphead I think that would do it for me too !

ah, well your dd was on her own and therefore an unaccompanied minor despite you and your dh being on the a/c- I do feel the cabin crew should have tried to get one of you seated with her, but they are often on such short turnarounds, and under huge pressure from the company to get away quickly that they didn't take the time to make the effort.
yanbu, write to the CAA!

Yes this sucks but it is Ryanair, and if you dont pay for their extras then (for example their speedy boarding or whatever they call it so you can get on aircraft first) you have no more chance of sitting next to your dd than if you were on a train or bus etc.

I never pay for this shite, and I never pay ti 'sit together' on our holidays flights either but I therefore have to take responsibility for the fact that I may not be sat with my kids (yay ) yours must be more sensitive than mine lol

and it doesnt matter whether you check in when it opens or closes, if you havent paid up then they dont care where you sit. Thats low fares for you!

I haven't read the whole thread - just the first page, so apologies if someone else has already said this.

Yes, it is utterly unacceptable that none of the passengers who heard what was going on offered to swap seats.

However to say that it's dreadful that NONE of the passengers on the plane offered IS blatantly unfair - given the size of the aircraft and how crowded they are when full, not to mention the height of the seat backs, it is quite possible that a lot of the passengers may have been aware of a commotion but totally unaware of the reason for it!

I suspect the reasoning is that if you got decent treatment despite not having shelled out for it, then word would get out and nobody would ever pay for it - sick, but that's capitalism

Ive just booked a holiday for next year and i had to pay extra to ensure that myself, DH and 4 kids could all sit together.

Hi, as posted By TheCrackFox on Thu 27-Nov-08 13:39:21 you have a case and I would complain. CAA is the governing body of all airlines. Meaning, if an airline wants to operate, they must get a permit from CAA therefore they have to follow their guideline. No matter what free seating policy they have and whether other passengers are willing to move they have to follow CAA'a guidelines. Children have to sit with their guardians!
Speaking as Ex cabin crew I would never ever sit away from my child on a flight - maximum would be a row in front or behind - anywhere where I could reach their oxygen mask and put it on their face. In your situation, I would refuse to sit down and take off and would prefer to get escorted for disruption and taken off the aircraft (I am quite sure that would make news and it would end up in you being in the RIGHT if in dispute and CAA got involved).
I am quite shocked at the amount of parents here who just say that it is ok and that you knew that Ryanair operates free seating policy. There is a governing body in airline industry and operating airlines can have their own business and customer service policies but HAVE TO OPERATE WITHIN THE RULES OF CAA.

YANBU.

Airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet cause enough people to behave like animals to make it an even more unpleasant experience than it needs to be.

I hate with a passion Ryanair, and like others would need to have a gun to my head to fly them (their policy of making disabled people pay £18 for the privelege of using wheelchairs makes me sick - am sure there are plenty of other examples).

I also can't believe how selfish rude and inconsiderate your fellow passengers were. I'd like to think that it was only flying Ryanair that caused them to behave that way and away from the hell-hole that is Ryanair they are actually decent human beings.

Doubt it though...

did you not ask the person next door/same ailse if they would swap?

agree prob only yhe rows near you would have known and if it ever happens again get the air hostess to put out an annoucement on speakers

"There is a governing body in airline industry and operating airlines can have their own business and customer service policies but HAVE TO OPERATE WITHIN THE RULES OF CAA."
" No matter what free seating policy they have and whether other passengers are willing to move they have to follow CAA'a guidelines."

yes but as far as i can tell from what i've looked up on-line the caa guidelines of insisting a child be seated with a parent only applies to children 5 and under because that is also the cut off point for when an airline will allow a child to fly unaccompanied. so if the caa is saying that it is ok for an over 5 to fly unaccompanied with no parents on the plane,why should it make a difference if the parents are there or not (i'm not saying this is right but this seems to be the logic that is followed as far as i can tell from admittedly poorly worded internet sources,but i'd be happy to get clarification from anyone in the know and be corrected.)
if this is the case then surely the gripe should be with the caa to change their rules rather than ryanair for adhering too strictly to what they are and are not obliged to do.

i would fully support this womans right to complain though and definitely think she should pursue it and hopefull something will change in ryanairs attitude.
i personally refuse to fly BA on principle and sent them a letter of protest when i did so, as such i'd actively encourage her in her right to complain even if i don't agree with her complaints.

What weirdos the other passengers must have been, but you do have to be quite assertive in these situations. DS, who was 4, and I were pretty much the last one onto a Ryanair flight back from France in the summer. We got on and I stood in the aisle holding his hand and said in my best Women's Institute voice "who's going to move so I can sit with my son?". Several people started to move!

i'd imagine a lot of people wouldn't move on principle though if you took that tactic. i don't know why but i think that would get my back up a bit.

i'm really upset that no passenger offered to move. how rude, selfish, and unkind. we are really crap in this country for considering children in public environments.

Flying has become a rip off - to have to pay to sit next to someone is a rip of but what is even sorse is that the person you have paid to sit next to has to pay also to sit next to you - it is taking the piss.

To not move adults on a flight and separate a child of 7 form her mother is a total disgrace.

TBH I would rather pay the total amont and have the ability to book my seats etc all for the total price - it gets my back up to find there are all these extras.

I flew BA to australia and they were very good in my own experiance as I was travelling on my own with two children 9 and 3 at the time, I stopped in bancock and hk on the trips and the flight attendents were great.

When they called for all people travlling with children to come up first - lots of people without children got up, so the stewards made these people get to the back of the que and wouldn't let them get in the way - they even came and got me as I was sat down (didn't see the point in trying to fight all the non children people) and made me go to the front of the que

We had a similar experience being last on the plane with Ryan Air although in our case someone was kind enough to move.

I think it helped that my son was five years old at the time and wearing bright blue hearing aids.

I hate Ryan air though. I think you get what you pay for.

"TBH I would rather pay the total amont and have the ability to book my seats etc all for the total price - it gets my back up to find there are all these extras."

yep and i'd agree with you to the hilt.why i love ryan-air is because 99% of the time is i do not need to avail of any of the extras they charge for (except fees related to credit card/booking) and so the savings are passed on to me.and it's the ability to choose this that in my mind makes them great.rather than charge everyone and provide the services as standard they only charge people who choose to use the particular services.so for someone like you who does want to avoid all the hassle and just have everything in black and white,as you say yourself they are probably not for you.

" flew BA to australia and they were very good in my own experiance "

yes i've flown with them manytimes before and the service was without exception excellent. it was nohing to do with their performance but with their decision to make it official policy to treat every male passenger as a likely child mollester. www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-414550/Revealed-How-BA-bans-men-sitting-children-dont-know.html

but that's a completely dfferent thread for a completely different day.

This will happen to us I suspect in 3 weeks.

I loathe Ryanair too, but have foolishly booked to fly home with them at Christmas because they fly from a small local airport which is very convenient for us. I haven't paid extra for priority boarding - partly out of pigheadedness principle and partly because I've heard it doesn't necessarily guarantee you a seat anyway if you have to get on a bus first to reach the plane which means it's a free for all even if you have paid for priority boarding. Horrible way to bring out the worst in human nature imo.

I think who you fly with does make a difference to passengers' attitudes and pig-headedness.

I flew Emirates from London to Oz via Dubai and Singapore on my own with two DSs (4 months and 3 years) and requested a sky cot for DS2 when we booked the ticket. When we checked in I checked again we would have the skycot.

London to Dubai was fine, but when I got on the plane at Dubai I realised that we just had two normal seats.

I kicked up a fuss, and luckily two sweet old ladies moved for us.

The same thing happened Singapre to Oz, "wrong" seats so no skycot, and the same two old ladies moved for me.

They shouldn't have needed too though it was Emirates stuff-up.

(Never flying them again though, the extra stop in Dubai is just so painful!)

I do think Ryanair and other similar airlines (although I hate to tar say Easyjet with the same brush as Ryanair!) are fine for certain categories of passengers, but as soon as you have any additional "needs" they try to screw you for all they can get (charging for wheelchairs, charging for families to sit together, charging for checked in luggage). Just the thought is making me shudder....

I understand that you may not want all the extras, so you save on not wanting to sit next to someone and so forth.

The last flight I have booked is from barcelona and I have to pay tp check in - how extaclty am I going to board the flight if I cant check in? the spanish dont allow online check in so not an option. Everone has to check in and so surely it is better to just include it in the blardy price!

I took the train in the summer - oh bliss from Brussells to london in 2 hours and you only have to be there half an hour before. As you book online you are given your seat numbers and the price is one price and that is it. I did find travelling by train a refreshing experiance from travelling by plane dont think I would want to do Australia by train though

Ivy-you can do online check-in to go to spain, you just have to enter your passport details. we did this last month going to Madrid with Easyjet.