How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryanair flight • Hacker News Board

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

#131

Post by rusk » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #108

rusk wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Like I say, this is subject to operational restrictions but they'll throw the customer under the bus if and wherever it suits them.

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

#132

Post by rusk » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 1:20 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #106

distances wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

I can see a new revenue opportunity for Ryanair where they allow passengers to bid on whether a seat is/is not reclinable. This new product would permit the guy behind to block the guy in front from reclining by paying more, or the guy in front could pay more to regain this privilege.

There would be great possibilities for a real-time booking app feature and the nervous tension as the check-in window begins to close as you attempt to get one last closing bid in ...

Another marvelous opportunity to turn inconvenience for some into more profits and cheaper flights for others.

\s

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

#133

Post by dazc » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 1:24 PM UTC

vertex-four wrote: post #115

isostatic wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 y…

I often hire a car to travel long distance in the UK since trains are so expensive and with flights you really need to book very far ahead to get a decent price. With flights also I never find a convenient outward and return trip that will not involve staying overnight.

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

#134

Post by YouKnowBetter » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 1:34 PM UTC

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #113

gambiting wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I am a train fan, used to do it all the time with the family though Europe. Now I can not afford it anymore and flying is always cheaper. Not much faster with the obstacles, nor more confinient, but simply more economic.

How on earth that is possible remains one of the best kept secrets (to me). But I am sure there is a boat load of tax money involved.

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

#135

Post by isostatic » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 1:34 PM UTC

vertex-four wrote: post #115

isostatic wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 y…

Yes, putting effort into finding a cheaper method is another option. It's the same with shopping for anything - you could go to 4 different shops and compare them, or you could just take the easy option. You can buy from John Lewis and get a 5 year no quibble guarentee, or you could save 10% and buy online, but have a hassle if it breaks.

Choice is a right pain, but it allows you to choose what's important

Edinburgh to Paris is a long trip - 1360 mile return. That's £600 for a car (HMRC give you 45p per mile, they wouldn't give you that if that was a grossly high amount), plus the cost of the ferry.

I can get a train leaving tomorrow and coming back on Saturday for £400 return, or 30p per mile. I can fly on the same days for £276 return, or 20p per mile. What is a fair price?

Transport is a low margin industry. The fact that some people can travel really cheaply is possible because others are willing to pay more for flexibility. This means those who want flexibility win (London to Edinburgh trains every half hour), and those that want cheap tickets win (12p/mile), and those willing to shop around win (even less than 12p/mile).

What would you change?

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

#136

Post by moolcool » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 2:09 PM UTC

fwdpropaganda wrote: post #43

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…

> 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. Withwhich I mean expensive meals/drinks, costs for suitcases, costs for checking in at the airport when you didn't have access to internet, etc. Complete BS. Cost of expensive meals and cost for suitcases aren't "random costs". They are entirely predictab…

Don't think of it as an airline, think of it as a greyhound bus which flies. Manage your expectations inline with how much you're actually paying.

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

#137

Post by gadders » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 2:13 PM UTC

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #125

gadders wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why should the person in front be the one that experiences the issue? The tall person still gets to recline their seat.

Because that's just their luck, being seated in front of a really tall person. Maybe that sucks a bit, but those are the odds, you only choose your own seat. Next time they may be seated in front of a really short person, who knows? The point is that you should have a bit of common courtesy towards other people, and it goes both ways. Just blithely jamming your seat as far back as it'll go, just because you can and b…

I'm not talking about blithely jamming it back, but a reclining seat is something you pay for, right? It's not because you feel entitled, it's because that is what you have purchased.

You might as well just take someone's inflight meal from them or cover up the screen of the inflight entertainment.

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

#138

Post by isostatic » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 2:27 PM UTC

dazc wrote: post #133

vertex-four wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 y…

I often hire a car to travel long distance in the UK since trains are so expensive and with flights you really need to book very far ahead to get a decent price. With flights also I never find a convenient outward and return trip that will not involve staying overnight.

And that's a great choice. They're door-to-door (if you have the car dropped off at home), and costs are easily understood too - cost of hiring the car and cost of the petrol. This can be as low as 10p/mile, plus say £60 for the car for the day

The downsides of hiring the car

- time isn't very useful while you're driving (compared to on a train/plane where you can work, or read, or watch netflix)

- usually slower - especially with city centre to city centre

- parking stress

- Driving is tiring, and more dangerous. A 3 hour drive, then an 8 hour day, then another 3 hour drive.

Choice is wonderful.

Ideally I'd have something that costs 5p per mile, runs every 5 minutes, is is door to door, and I travel on my own sofa with 300mbit wifi, power, and waiter service.

However as that's not possible I, as a consumer, can choose what's important for me for a given journey. Sometimes that's the train, sometimes it's the plane, sometimes it's a coach, sometimes I'll drive

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

#139

Post by distances » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 2:33 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #106

distances wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

I'm afraid I didn't, and neither did I give the option to pay me for reclining. I wouldn't really know how much to ask.

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

#140

Post by KozmoNau7 » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 2:39 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #137

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's just their luck, being seated in front of a really tall person. Maybe that sucks a bit, but those are the odds, you only choose your own seat. Next time they may be seated in front of a really short person, who knows? The point is that you should have a bit of common courtesy towards other people, and it goes both ways. Just blithely jamming your seat as far back as it'll go, just because you can and b…

I'm not talking about blithely jamming it back, but a reclining seat is something you pay for, right? It's not because you feel entitled, it's because that is what you have purchased. You might as well just take someone's inflight meal from them or cover up the screen of the inflight entertainment.

Sometimes you pay for something, but circumstance prevents you from making use of it.

Tough luck.