Can anyone explain Ryanair's car seat rule to me please?

[BertieBotts]

We haven't flown with them for 18 months and it's all changed.

Says on check in page that you can add up to two bits of baby equipment for free, but they are then charging us the €20 when we add DS' car seat.

Is this because he is a child and not a baby? Or is it because you're not supposed to add it, but you can just turn up with it? That seems a bit risky.

As an aside it is rather annoying that they are charging €20 each way because it was £10 when we did it in £ two years ago But it's still cheaper than hiring or buying a booster with the hire car, so I suppose it's worth it. Or maybe the price goes up at check in, in which case I reserve the stare for DH

You could buy a high backed booster for £30.

Yes but £30 is about the same as €40 and it's more hassle because it means we have to drive to a place which sells them, not knowing the area, and you're not guaranteed to find one at that price. I'd use the Britax Adventure but not keen on the unbranded ones. Not sure about Graco Junior Maxi because I seem to recall it's small compared to other HBBs and it gets pretty bad safety ratings. Then we'd have to find something to do with it before we leave, and none of our families live anywhere near the airport so we couldn't leave it with them. I did consider trying to find a MNer who lives near Stansted who needs a new/spare HBB!

I don't want to compromise and get a low booster as we've got long motorway journeys so I'm not happy without the HBB protection, just want to do it in the most sensible economical way really.

It costs about £80 to add it onto the car hire and I'm not even sure that is a high booster so that seems like a silly option.

Also plane arrives at 7.45pm so I'm not sure anywhere will be open past 8 or so? By the time we've done passport control and hire car it will be past 8. Weekday, though.

Hmm, looks as though there's a large 24 hour Tesco in Bishops Stortford which would be only 6 mins down the road with DS just in a seatbelt. I could probably cope with that. Anybody know if they have car seats in stock? There are a few on Tesco Direct.

(The thought of going directly to Tesco when we arrive in England is actually making me stupidly excited )

You can do click and collect so you buy the seat online and collect in store.

Yep someone has just suggested that on the other thread - well that's another option at least :)

Can anybody answer my original question at all?

bump

I think you have to just turn up with it at the airport. That's what we've had to do in the past but sorry I can't remember if it was Ryanair or not. Can you email them and ask?

How old is he?

The car seat is only free for babies, as far as I know, so you'll need to pay if they class him as a child.

If you just turn up with it, they'll definitely charge you. Probably more than it costs to book it now, knowing Ryanair.

The website says to phone them rather than booking online if you are taking a car seat, so they can process it correctly, so perhaps do that?

But it only mentions it being free for children under the age of two.

Six - definitely not classed as a baby :) I can try and squash him. He might not be impressed.

It is confusing because the wording suggests anybody can carry up to two pieces of baby stuff for free but common sense would say that's only with a baby ticket, not a child's one. It talks about pushchairs and we don't need a pushchair.

Perhaps it's because we are on the German site and not the English one but the writing is English and seems copied from their UK site.

I'm pretty certain it's only free for children under the age of two, otherwise you need to pay.

I'd never check a carseat into the hold anyway. They are thrown about and you'd be lucky for it to arrive undamaged. You can't take it on the plane unless it's airline approved, not many are.

Babies get free equipment but no seat (they have to go on your lap). Children get a seat so just the carry on baggage allowance applies.

We took it in the hold when we moved and it was okay. Was planning to bring it and just buy a new one if it gets damaged - it's only a booster so not much to damage anyway. They put a fragile label on it last time and it wasn't even scuffed.

This is the exact wording and it doesn't mention a particular kind of ticket.

"A fully retractable / s stroller / double stroller / Travel System / Baby Sling plus either a child seat, a booster cushion or a carrycot can be transported for free. Additional children's items can be booked online for a fee of € 10 and must not exceed a weight of 20kg per item."

In fact I've just realised that was autotranslated but even skimming the German with my passable German I can't see about it only being when you have a baby seat booked?

"Ein vollständig einklappbarer/s Kinderwagen/Doppelkinderwagen/Reisesystem/Babytragetuch plus entweder ein Kindersitz, eine Kindersitzerhöhung oder eine Babytragetasche können kostenlos transportiert werden. Zusätzliche Kinderartikel können online gegen eine Gebühr von 10 € gebucht werden und dürfen ein Gewicht von 20 kg pro Artikel nicht überschreiten."

This is inbetween mobility aids and general information about checked baggage, so it's not a baby information page.

Am tempted to just turn up with it and see what they say and if they want to charge a horrendous amount then we go to that tesco, but I think we'd have to click and collect in advance and I'm not certain we'd be able to do the click and collect order at around 5pm when we arrive to pick up just after 8pm.

Can you tweet them and ask? They're usually quite good on their social media pages.

FWIW, we flew Ryanair a few months ago and DS's pushchair was free - he's 3 and on a paid seat.

OK tweeting might be worth a go, thanks :) Did you have to book the pushchair in or just turn up with it?

I just turned up with it. The queue at check in was horrible so I asked at the help desk and they just said to turn up at the gate with it.