Ryanair increases fees on seat reservations and priority boarding

Ryanair has increased the fees on seat reservations, including reservations with extra legroom. Anyone hoping for priority boarding will also be asked to shell out extra as the budget airline rolls out its latest raft of fee hikes.

Ryanair has sneakily raised the price on its seat reservations.

A standard seat reservation has increased from £2 to £4, while a seat with extra legroom has jumped from £11 to £15.

Priority boarding has also gone up from £7 to £13.01.

The airline has confirmed that prices rose recently but has not said why.

If you don’t pay, the seat allocation is ‘random’, with the algorithm that Ryanair uses differing from flight to flight based on demand.

Last year passengers accused Ryanair of routinely sitting groups apart so that they would be forced to pay to sit together.

Something of a lottery

Now a family of three (two parents, one teenager) has a one in 17,578 chance of getting seats together on the airline, according to Money Mail.

Statistically, they have a better chance of winning £100 in the National Lottery. 

Research from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has found that an average of one in five passengers are split from their party.

But, with Ryanair, 35% of passengers are separated – more than any other airline. They often separate passengers when there are plenty of free seats available on the flight, too.

The aviation watchdog is reportedly investigating claims that family and friends are being deliberately split up.

Travelling with kids?

As of October 2016, Ryanair has made it compulsory for at least one adult in a party which includes children under 12 to pay £4 for a reservation.

You’ll then be able to choose nearby free reserved seats for up to four children. You can also pick seats in rows 18-30 or pay more if you want to sit in other rows.

If you have more than one adult in your group, they’ll have to pay their own seat reservation fee to sit with you.

Changes to baggage allowance

Earlier this year, the airline brought in its baggage allowance change. Instead of allowing passengers two items of cabin baggage, they can now only take one piece on board.

People who have added priority boarding can still take a second case onboard.

Everyone else is entitled to take on one small bag and a second wheelie bag will be placed in the hold for free at the boarding gate.

A small bag is classed as 35cm x 20cm x 20cm.

The airline has increased its checked-in bag allowance from 15kg to 20kg and standard check-in bag fees have been cut from £35 to £25 for a 20kg bag to accommodate the change.

Read: Ryanair delays hand luggage restriction until mid-January for more