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

Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by mrarjen on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:14AM (#16902303)

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.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by wastedhours on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:48AM (#16902531)

The longest delays I've had on Ryanair have been the shortest flights, not sure if it's just that short routes have more points for operational issues, or they just prioritise longer ones.

Recently my flight to EDI didn't leave until it was due to arrive, an hour waiting at the gate itself with no staff to update on anything (the price you pay for barebones staff on no-frills

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by rusk on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:21AM (#16902345)

the driving up and down the runways can be a significant factor. Ryanair think nothing of keeping their passengers on the tarmac for hours on end.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by mugsie on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:39AM (#16902482)

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.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by rusk on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:47AM (#16902526)

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 bedamned.

In fairness though, I think though they've decided not to pursue this particular type of "cost saving" more recently.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by icebraining on Monday April 23, 2018 @08:20AM (#16902706)

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.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by rusk on Monday April 23, 2018 @09:14AM (#16903098)

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

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by maccard on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:32AM (#16902418)

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.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by isostatic on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:44AM (#16902506)

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 compensation as it was a U.S. airline. Lesson learned. (No lounge access either so cost me several beers)

I wasn't flying during the Volcano incident.

I do remember being delayed overnight with ryanair due to weather, but that was c. 2003. They wouldn't reroute me on the next morning flight to Anconna (rather than my original Forli flight -- only 50 miles away), so I had to buy a new ticket. It's attitudes like that which is the reason EU261 came in.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by mrarjen on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:54AM (#16902564)

That EU261 is great yes, TBH I have earned money on the last 3 flights I have taken thanks to this system. All of those were long distance and had delays between 10 and 15 hour. It somewhat compensates for the lost time.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by majewsky on Monday April 23, 2018 @08:25AM (#16902733)

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.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by maccard on Monday April 23, 2018 @10:55AM (#16903910)

Yeah, that's fairly bad luck. I've flown about 100 timesover the 4 years, some short haul and some long haul, and in that time frame I've had about 10 flights delayed by > 2 hours. One of those was the volcano incident, and another was the beast from the east a few weeks ago.

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Re:How to avoid getting stuck with the middle seat on a Ryan... by KozmoNau7 on Monday April 23, 2018 @08:25AM (#16902730)

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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