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How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

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Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#101

Post by mannykannot »

vertex-four wrote: post #96
mannykannot wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article specifically says that there is statistical evidence showing that Ryanair does, in fact, preferentially allocate base-fare paying users to middle seats. Though the article does not explicitly say that the evidence supports a particular variant of the algorithm, your particular alternative does not seem to alter the underlying reasoning here, which is that if you check in late enough, all the middle seats…

Interestingly, Ryanair claim that they do not overbook their flights, and claim to be the only airline in Europe which don't. See section 9 here: https://corporate.ryanair.com/about-us/passenger-charter/

Yes - this seems to support that claim: https://conversation.which.co.uk/travel-leisure/flight-airli... This also mentions that EasyJet claims to limit its overbooking to about 1%. You are probably aware that overbooking has become a problem in the US - I don't know whether European airlines are allowed to do it to the same extent.

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#102

Post by isostatic »

rusk wrote: post #89
isostatic wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, BA have gone downhill dramatically in the last few years -- I used to be a top level frequent flyer with them I've got a flight coming up next week with them to Nairobi, on a tired old 747, which I'm not looking forward to. In years past I'd paid a fortune for such a flight, now unless BA is at least £400 return cheaper than someone like Lufthansa, I won't fly them. I did fly BA in January (again to Nairobi), wa…

I often suspect with BA, that they actually purposefully make the economy experience worse than it economically needs to be, so that the difference with the more expensive tiers can be exaggerated. Often a fairly dismal experience, but their in-flight food is usually very good.

I don't fly further back than premium economy, which is how economy should be. Nothing as extravagant as a bed (although I'm in the process of upgrading next week's flight with miles)

However even up front their experience is lacklusture. I'd rather fly business on Qatar than First on BA, and certainly rather business on Qatar than business on BA. It's a tired product on tired planes and tired crew.

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#103

Post by mseebach »

tomrod wrote: post #7
neonhomer wrote: post #4

I don't understand the issue with paying to choose your seat on the budget airlines. My wife and I recently flew Spirit to and Southwest from our destination in the US. Even after adding bags and seat (we even paid for their big front seats) it was still cheaper than Southwest.

Economically, no issue. They are price discriminating to their hearts content and letting people get what they want. Psychologically, it feels like being taken advantage of. No brand loyalty or other customer value to be had. Expect people to abandon in droves when similarly priced travel comes along.

> Expect people to abandon in droves when similarly priced travel comes along.

I would expect Ryanair to be fine with that. Their business model is that a very large subset of passengers select their flights based on price, and price alone, that price is the only customer value that matters. They are explicitly not investing in fluffy brand loyalty.

I fly a lot on expensive, flexible tickets on legacy carriers, and have status, so I'm reasonably "loyal", and have fast track and lounge access to show for it, but the BS airlines come up with that is supposed to make non-status holders in economy "feel the brand" (despite the objectively sad quality of the hard product) triggers my gag reflex.

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#104

Post by icebraining »

nukeop wrote: post #90
rocqua wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a company raises prices 'because they can' and people keep paying, that is just how markets work. In some sense, this leads to a better allocation of seats, as it allows those who desire some seats to pay for them, whilst those who have to preference get a cheaper flight. Now, people who used to be fine with the dice-roll of not paying get a worse experience. But this comes with the upside of those who really want…

People keep paying because there's no other choice on certain routes, short of driving or taking a bus. This isn't an upgrade or anything, people who wanted to pay to reserve seats could already do so. You could have also not paid, and picked whatever was available, switch with your neighbors, and so on. Obviously, since Ryan Air figured out that they can extract some extra bucks out of that, you're now assigned a pl…

This is a standard rent-seeking behavior with no advantage for the customers.

It does if they use the extra income to reduce the ticket price. Which would sound pie-in-the-sky for most other companies, but considering Ryanair's prices, it wouldn't surprise me.

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#105

Post by mseebach »

rusk wrote: post #82
neonhomer wrote: post #4

I don't understand the issue with paying to choose your seat on the budget airlines. My wife and I recently flew Spirit to and Southwest from our destination in the US. Even after adding bags and seat (we even paid for their big front seats) it was still cheaper than Southwest.

Southwest is an interesting comparison actually. Aren't they a budget airline that prides themselves on being friendly as well?

EasyJet and especially Norwegian are "premium Ryanair" products. They are rarely as cheap as Ryanair, but still cheaper than legacy. The hard product is pretty comparable, but the whole experience feels a bit more toned down and less hysterical (and a lot less yellow).

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#106

Post by gadders »

distances wrote: post #73
koolba wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On other airlines I frequently have to ask the person in front of me to keep their seat upright. Do they ever say "No"?

> Do they ever say "No"? Not once this far! I'm if course asking politely and explaining that I'm a bit short of leg space here.

Did you offer to subsidise the price of their ticket?

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#107

Post by tomrod »

mseebach wrote: post #103
tomrod wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economically, no issue. They are price discriminating to their hearts content and letting people get what they want. Psychologically, it feels like being taken advantage of. No brand loyalty or other customer value to be had. Expect people to abandon in droves when similarly priced travel comes along.

> Expect people to abandon in droves when similarly priced travel comes along. I would expect Ryanair to be fine with that. Their business model is that a very large subset of passengers select their flights based on price, and price alone, that price is the only customer value that matters. They are explicitly not investing in fluffy brand loyalty. I fly a lot on expensive, flexible tickets on legacy carriers, and h…

I agree completely.

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#108

Post by icebraining »

rusk wrote: post #76
mugsie wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ryanair actually care a lot about keeping people on the tarmac - it costs them money. Their financial model only works if the plane is in the air as much as possible.

That is not true, as numerous documented cases will attest. They get charged for using the gate, once they are on the tarmac "waiting for a window" they don't suffer additional costs. It's not that they decide to "park the plane on the tarmac" it's that the interaction of various airport operational procedures make this the chepest option in certain scenarios, which is what they'll choose every time. Passengers bedam…

once they are on the tarmac "waiting for a window" they don't suffer additional costs.

Nonsense, the crew has limited flying hours, and sitting there will burn them up. I can assure you they don't want to have to cancel or delay a flight because the crew can't fly anymore.

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#109

Post by KozmoNau7 »

clu3l355 wrote: post #37
KozmoNau7 wrote: post #2

Step 1: Don't fly on Ryanair. Just don't.

Compared to the other budget providers (Easyjet, Flybe [who frankly, aren't even budget prices]), they're miles ahead. The Easyjet routes I used to fly regularly were late every single time, and a member of airport staff told me ~50% of Easyjet flights were delayed in that particular airport. While Ryanair is certainly super basic, and they take every opportunity to sell you tat, they've been far more consistent and…

I don't fly on those, either.

The lowest I'm willing to go is Norwegian, and I'll absolutely choose a provider like SAS or Swiss or Lufthansa, if the prices are even remotely close.

Swiss has by far the best chocolate on their flights, BTW :-)

Re: How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight

#110

Post by KozmoNau7 »

mrarjen wrote: post #14
KozmoNau7 wrote: post #2

Step 1: Don't fly on Ryanair. Just don't.

Flights I had on Ryanair are merely 1 or max 2 hours long, (not taking the driving up and down the runways in account) and for this period of time some discomfort is perfectly fine.

The point is that I absolutely refuse to support their business model, the way they treat their employees, and their union-busting attitude.
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