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

nathancunn.com

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

#111

Post by majewsky »

isostatic wrote: post #69
maccard wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same is true for other airlines. Anecdotal, but I've been stranded in airports/on planes far more often with other airlines than I have with ryanair.

I've taken about 500 flights in the last decade or so, I can count on one hand the number of delays of over 2 hours * Moscow 2013 to Heathrow -- 4 more hours in the lounge, got €600 compensation. * Heathrow 2014 to Bangkok, 5 more hours in the lounge -- got €600 compensation. * Toronto 2017 -- delayed Delta flight to New York to catch a Virgin flight to Manchester so was downgraded and rerouted on KLM. No compensatio…

So it's just bad luck for me then. Of the 6 flights I have taken, 2 were delayed overnight and one was delayed by ~3 hours.

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

#112

Post by isostatic »

Aardwolf wrote: post #3

Isn't aisle seat at least as annoying as middle seat? People walking through the aisle bump into your shoulder all the time, and the stream of people walking through it almost never stops. It's not like you can use it as leg space. Middle is worst of both worlds, except at least you don't get a constant stream of moving people right next to you

Depends on the flight. On long haul I sometimes go for window (if it's a sleeping flight), sometimes go for the aisle (if it's a working flight). The latter allows me to get up and stretch my legs. Daytime flights from Europe to Africa though I choose a window - never get tired of staring across the Sahara.

What annoys me is people who close the blinds on the non-sun side of the plane. 7 hour flight from Frankfurt to Lagos for example, Flight takes off about 10:00 (GMT+1), lands at 1800 (GMT+2). What possible reason is there to want to sleep on such a flight - very few will be transferring from outside Europe, and those that do are likely from the US, where they'll have slept on the previous leg.

On wide bodies, it could be a 2-3-2 layout, I go for the aisle on the middle in the hope that the middle of the 3 will be empty, or it will be a couple who won't disturb me. On a 2-4-2 again aisle in middle.

On shorthaul flights though it's always window -- no need to get out of your seat for a 2 or 3 hour flight, so board, sit, and not be disturbed.

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

#113

Post by KozmoNau7 »

gambiting wrote: post #77
jbb67 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know anyone who would fly on ryanair. If they were the only 'airline' flying somewhere I would consider that it's not possible to get to that place. As far as I'm concerned they only exist to spam up the flight listings

For a lot of places in Europe, there is no other option. Ryanair has conquered connections to all smaller airports, where normally you'd need to change in Amsterdam/London/Frankfurt first, and they fly for 1/10th of the price most of the time. Yes, I hate them too, but if the options are a 2h flight with Ryanair for £30 or two 2h flights with BA for £300(or 2h flight + 5h train) then Ryanair wins 100% of the time.

I'd rather go by train, then.

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

#114

Post by plantain »

mannykannot wrote: post #101
vertex-four wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The compensation for being bumped is defined in consumer law in the EU, and it's very punitive - ~300 euros minimum.

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

#115

Post by vertex-four »

isostatic wrote: post #57
dazc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience, people in the UK see the charge for a designated seat as scam, they don't understand the budget flight business model. Ryanair (not a UK company btw) have been a pioneer in this area with aggressive discounting of basic level airfares but with lots of 'upgrade' options.

The UK press has spent decades telling people about "rip off Britain". There are usually plenty of choices for people willing to pay. In transport, you can choose between comfort, speed, time, flexibility, reliability, and a few other factors, and make your choice. London to Manchester options on the train have * Time -- travel by train "offpeak" and save a fortune over peak * Comfort -- travel by train "peak" and ha…

In practice, however, doing your research is hard - it can take me up to an hour to decide on the best way to travel for a certain event, across multiple booking sites, some of them unknown to the general public (such as TrainSplit). Sometimes it turns out that the best way to travel involves booking three separate journeys, and then I get to worry about delays - nobody will take responsibility for onward travel if you do that, and you may end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. Megabus winds up incredibly pricey - sometimes moreso than the train - on arbitrary days, so I have to keep that in mind. Sometimes flights are actually cheaper than a train, even when booking several weeks in advance, but then there's the worry about public transport at either end properly matching up - and again, a flight delay could cost me the better part of £40 if I booked an advance train ticket rather than a flexible one on the other end.

There's also the fact that long-distance travel in the UK is priced significantly better than short-distance travel. There's been times where I've been able to get to London from a small town for cheaper than it'd cost to get to the nearest city. First class on East Coast used to be priced at a rate where it was cheaper to upgrade (and get food and drinks included) than to get food on the go - on local services, there's often no competition aside from a car, so prices even for standard class can be raised almost arbitrarily, especially if there's any tourist traffic on the line.

Even for long-distance journeys, pick the wrong date or need to be there for the morning, and my options become far, far more limited, and far, far pricier, since we don't have sufficient capacity for peak dates - we barely have capacity for everyday services on some modes of transport - and we have very few overnight services.

Edinburgh to Paris next month - we were stuck with the choices of taking the bus, or flying for 2-3x the price. Train was more expensive than the flight - a remarkably common occurrence, even for travel entirely within the UK. We eventually chose the bus, despite it being a 24 hour journey.

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

#116

Post by KozmoNau7 »

isostatic wrote: post #93
rusk wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and behind a person who reclined their seat. Jam your knees in there. There are certain periods of long haul flights where you need to recline but the inconvenience to your fellow passenger should never be necessary on shorter ones. Speaking as a tall guy as well, one of the things I do actually like about Ryanair is their seats don't recline.

On most airlines, the seat is made to recline. If you don't like this, book a seat with more leg room, or book on a plane which doesn't have reclining seat.

I don't mind that people recline their seats.

I do mind when they just smash it back as hard as possible the instant the seatbelt sign switches off. I also very much mind when they do it while I have stuff on the table in front of me, especially since the seats seem perfectly designed to smash cups and water bottles. Or even worse -- laptop screens.

It's fine that people want to recline their seats, but they should be just a tiny bit mindful of the person behind them.

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

#117

Post by KozmoNau7 »

gadders wrote: post #95
rusk wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and behind a person who reclined their seat. Jam your knees in there. There are certain periods of long haul flights where you need to recline but the inconvenience to your fellow passenger should never be necessary on shorter ones. Speaking as a tall guy as well, one of the things I do actually like about Ryanair is their seats don't recline.

I got upgraded on a BA flight once because the person behind me said he was too tall for me to recline my seat. I'm not sure where this idea came from that tall people can stop people from reclining their seat. If I've paid for a reclining seat, I'm going to recline it if I choose to.

Just be a bit polite and mindful of the person behind you. They may have something on their table. It doesn't hurt to just ask if you're going to hit anything.

And believe it or not, some people actually have long legs, and physically cannot fit if you recline your seat. Should they optimally have gotten a seat with more leg room? Sure! But that isn't always possible.

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

#118

Post by kalleboo »

raphaelj wrote: post #35
rusk wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would take issue with this. The service with Ryanair is awful. I have never experienced rudeness from cabin crew of other airlines like I have of Ryanair.

Try to fly with American or United.

Or Delta...

I just now have a personal rule to never fly with a North American carrier.

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

#119

Post by KozmoNau7 »

nathcun wrote: post #10
Aardwolf wrote: post #3

Isn't aisle seat at least as annoying as middle seat? People walking through the aisle bump into your shoulder all the time, and the stream of people walking through it almost never stops. It's not like you can use it as leg space. Middle is worst of both worlds, except at least you don't get a constant stream of moving people right next to you

I'd say Window > Aisle > Middle. Middle definitely to be avoided.

People are generally ignorant of seat etiquette. Window seat gets the window, obviously. Aisle seat gets the better legroom. Middle seat gets both arm rests.

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

#120

Post by north_east_dev »

mosselman wrote: post #31

Ryanair is a horrible airline. If you add up random costs you are confronted with during the whole process of flying with them they aren't even that much cheaper. With which I mean expensive meals/drinks, costs for suitcases, costs for checking in at the airport when you didn't have access to internet, etc. Leg space and general facilities are crappy and their handling of cancelled flights, etc is very poor. Whenever…

> If you add up random costs you are confronted with during the whole process of flying with them they aren't even that much cheaper.

I'm sorry but that is nonsense. I live abroad so am a frequent flyer back (say 5 or 6 times a year at regular intervals) home, for the past 5 years. I always compare the prices, never once have a rival airline beaten Ryanair. I've never had a bad issue either.

Personally as a 6ft 2 guy I love that they don't have seats which can recline :) the bane of my life on other airlines.

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