Ryanair Seat Charges

[Pip 11]

I've booked to go on holiday to Lanzarote in March flying with Ryanair from Liverpool, I'm happy with the cost of the flight and baggage charges, but was a bit taken aback by the seat charges, £10.99p per person per flight for a standard seat and £15.99p per person per flight for a premium seat, I would assume the prices would be the same for Fuerteventura flights. A friend of mine booked a seat recently on a Ryanair flight from Alicante, Spain to Manchester which was £5, not bad. As we all know your seats will be allocated at random if you do not want to pay, but an extra £22 for a return journey to me is equivalent to more than 3 hours work.

[bedouin]

You don't have to pay for a reserved seat, just let them allocate one for free.

[zedzedeleven]

Yes, I was a bit taken aback by the £10.99, it adds over forty quid to the round trip for two. I didn`t check the limitations on going "free allocation" but I seem to remember that it meant you had to check in at the airport? I just booked allocated I`m afraid, the price was still reasonable enough but I have never been a fan of seat allocation , especially where it uses blackmail to make you choose it.

[lionfish]

I'm usually happy to pay for the ability to choose my seat, but I'm sure you can still check-in on line and get a random seat allocated without having to pay extra.

[zedzedeleven]

Hmm. there is an interesting article here :- http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CD4QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflights-blog.lowcostroutes.com%2F2014%2F04%2Fhow-to-get-a-free-seat-on-ryanair%2F&ei=A-vZVOvZBpWTsQSF6YGYBQ&usg=AFQjCNF9uXy_pyTkWLJzARwvZBtS1DviQA&bvm=bv.85761416,d.cWc . Lion fish is right, I have just quickly read through the booking information on the FR site, I think it is a bit behind the times though, still saying £5 for a standard seat or £10 for premium.

[KWC]

They even give you the opportunity to go Fast Track onto the plane at another additional cost!!

They know I have booked seats (children going or I wouldn't bother) yet they still send me e-mails asking if I was this additional service. Whats the point when you have booked seats!!

[Ronnietheblue]

The reason they told me Kenny was that they could only guarantee the first 90 passengers overhead locker space, and after that your hand luggage would have to go in the hold, at no extra cost of course They take your hand luggage as you are boarding

[gillgooding]

We flew to Lisbon and did random seat allocation which is free and had no problems at all and were seated together but a young couple were dismayed as they had also done random seat allocation but were seated in different sections of the plane. Hubby said that might be a bonus for some couples not to sit together!!  However there were some spare seats on the plane and they did find two together. 

[paully]

Thats the problem with `random seat` selections.......The computer decides on the loading...Happened to us on a BMI flight from Heathrow, when the plane was very lightly loaded and we were put at opposite ends...Eventually I had to gave in and go and sit with the wife 

[gillgooding]

Also I forgot to mention when doing the random seat allocation for our return flight we were given seats behind the "premium" extra leg room seats in the middle of the plane and then when they closed the aircraft doors the steward asked us if we would kindly move to the empty premium seats to man the emergency exit door which of course we said we would.  The article that ZZ posted above is a very interesting read so thanks for that ZZ.  Seems that Ryanair will take into account if you are travelling with children they will allocate your seats together but suppose it depends on whether you dare risk it.

[MLA]

We fly a minimum of 6 times a year from EMA to FUE. Since the introduction of free allocated seats, which we use, have never been seated separately. We have always been allocated seats A,B or E,F and often with nobody in C and D. Maybe we have been lucky so far? One thing we do do, is as soon as it is possible (7 days) we book the allocated seating (boarding passes). We have also found that, although Ryanair say that you can only print boarding passes 7 days in advance, Ryanair (to date) use midnight as the start of the next day. So, when we go for 7 days and get flights from EMA leaving at 6.50am, we can print our return boarding passes at 4.00am before we leave for the 6.50am flight.

[Pip 11]

Checked in online earlier today and chose the random seat allocation for free, and luckily enough both seats are together D and E. Good point MLA made, meaning if you go away for 7 nights (flying with Ryanair) you can check in online and print your return boarding passes on the date of your outbound flight, but no earlier, which saves looking for somewhere to do it in  Resort/Destination