Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, said Thursday that it had scrapped a fee that parents had to pay to sit next to their children, after a British regulator said it was looking into whether the charges were unfair and unlawful.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/ryanair-stops-charging-for-parents-to-sit-with-their-children/
Good News--- they are dropping the fee
Bad News-- They actually did it in the first place.
Any bets on when the credit card reader goes on the bathroom door?
You have to read a bit more to understand. The seattle Times takes a news story that is also on BBC but edits out "Seat Reservation" leaving only the word "fee". The BBC story is more complete.
If you wanted to ensure that family members or friends sit together you cant rely on the airlines free seat assignments at boarding, you have to pay for a reserved seat.
BUT young children are required to sit with an adult so, if i understand correctly, Ryan said reserve the adult seat and we will put the child next to you for free. That reserved seat cost is the "fee". Average cost under $15. Sort of a dumb move, you know people go looking for that sort of thing to complain about. Now the adult and child will get two free seats in the back row and I suspect they charge for reserved seats for children in the future. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdr4zy4e1n1o.
Most families will still pay to sit together because they only guarantee one parent is with the children. EasyJet already has this policy.
To be honest the previous Ryanair policy was a good one. You only have to pay for one seat and children sit next to you without a reservation fee. This means you can choose your seat. Now you can’t choose unless you pay a seat reservation fee for every passenger including children. This is the same as the easyJet policy.
Helen, Ryan was sitting up to 4 kids with that one seat paid parent for free. I dont know what the new policy is, but they could very well say that since dad and the four kids can sit together in the back of the plane, if they want to sit together in the front, all 5 of them will have to pay (when before it would have been only dad had to pay). There was another obvious solution to the problem ... fly another airline. No one is making anyone fly Ryanair.
As for the comment about putting a card reader on the toilet door. My last discount airline flight was 75 minutes. I have been on plenty of buses for longer durations than that with no toilet and no stop for a toilet. I have been stuck in traffic in an Uber for that long with no toilet ... no one is complaining that there are no toilets on most buses or in Ubers. So, yes, if they think it will increase the ability to show increased profits, why not? My 401(k) wouldn’t mind if every company had that attitude. If I don’t like it, there is always Wizzair, trains, buses, uber, walk.
Interesting post Joe32F !
I asked google what the BBC reported and it said this:
"Ryanair has dropped its controversial policy of charging parents a mandatory fee to sit next to their young children, a change that officially took effect on June 25, 2026. This shift came in direct response to an investigation launched earlier in the month by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which questioned whether forcing parents to pay extra just to follow child-safety guidelines violated consumer law."
Anyway, I'm back to learning French so I can become an EU citizen so I can better boycott Ryanair! Doesn't anybody know the past particle of the word "curse" in French?
Now, can I get on the show House Hunter international to help me find a flat in Paris that will allow me to keep my pet dog, cat and egg laying chicken? I'm pretty sure France will give me a residency permit if I explain the reason I want to move to France is to better boycott ryanair! Nobody likes Ryanair (except the millions of people fly that cursed airline daily.)
Happy travels!
David, kudos for a funny Saturday morning read!
Please note my boycott of Ryanair so far is not causing them to reconsider their business practices-- but I am hopeful once I master French that my odds will improve!
Happy travels
I have been on plenty of buses for longer durations than that with no toilet and no stop for a toilet. I have been stuck in traffic in an Uber for that long with no toilet ... no one is complaining that there are no toilets on most buses or in Ubers.
I'm glad that you don't suffer a medical condition that requires close access to a toilet. At least with an Uber or a bus you can stop whenever you feel the need to go, that's not really an option on a plane.
Access to a toilet is a basic necessity and not something that should be monetised for profit.
I'm glad that you don't suffer a medical condition that requires close
access to a toilet.
Peeking into my medical records again? You missed a page. While i dont think free airplane toiIets fall under the Universal Humam Rights heading, I do carry a credit card and three 1€ coins which does the trick for the Ryanair and most every other pay toilet I have encountered in the Eurozone, Montenegro and Hungary.
Actually, this responce does serve a purpose, even if off topic. If like me you ofren find yourself on short notice, to carry the 3 coins and the credit card is a smart habit.
I think the first time a passenger relieves himself on the feet of another passenger because he doesn't have a credit card or a coin, the second passenger is going to own Ryanerr.
Actually, David, I'll join your boycott. Well, I don't actually fly much intra-Europe. Only two flights in 11 trips, 24 weeks, since 2000, both connecting flights going back to the US. But I won't ever fly Ryan. I feel for all the people who got misled into flying Ryan to Beauvais (Paris), Hahn (Frankfurt), Weeze (Düsseldorf), Memmigen (Munich), or Bergamo (Milan). Lying should not be a corporate business plan.
I'm also one of those who boycott Ryanair and never fly with them, even if it means paying twice as much with another airline.
Doesn't anybody know the past participle of the word "curse" in
French?
It's "ensorcelé" (or "ensorcelée" in the feminine form).
ensorcelé" or "ensorcelée"
I tried 3 different online translate services and all of them came back with 'bewitched'. ( not curse or cursed)
As Mr Spock would say, Fascinating.
"Fascinating"? Not to highjack a thread, but that word reminds me of a joke.
Two women, friends from High School, meet after many years.
"Well", says the first woman, "how does your husband do in his business?"
"Oh," says the second woman, "he does very well. Last year he did so well in business, he bought me a Cadillac."
"Fascinating," says the first.
"And the year before that, he bought me a fur coat."
"Fascinating."
"And the year before that, he bought me a gold ring."
"Fascinating."
"But," says the second woman, "how does your husband to in the business."
"Well," says the first woman, "not as well as your husband, but last year he saved enough money to send me to charm school."
"Charm school?" says the second. "What good is charm school?"
"Well," says the first woman. "For one thing, they taught be to say 'Fascinating' instead of bull____"
