November 5, 2025, 6:06 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Our author flew to London with her family on Ryanair. According to the airline’s family seating policy, she should have been seated next to her 4-year-old daughter. Instead, the aisle separated their seats. Assistance from Ryanair? None. A commentary.
“19C and 19D–there’s an aisle between them,” I think even before I see our seats on the plane. And: “How is this supposed to work?” My daughter is four. And although she’s already quite an experienced traveler for her young age, I knew before we boarded the plane to London that this would be challenging. So, as we attempted to sit down on the plane, the first tear of distress was shed: “Mom, I don’t want to sit alone next to the strange man.” I can understand that. I don’t want you to sit there either.
System Error in Ryanair’s Family Seating Policy
How did we end up here, when Mom usually plans well in advance? Quite simply: A few weeks ago, I booked a flight to London, round trip. Somewhere during the booking process, I read that younger children, thanks to the family seating policy, would sit next to a parent without needing an extra reserved seat. For this text, I checked again. At one point, Ryanair states: “For family bookings, children (aged 2 to 11) receive free reserved seats so they can sit next to a parent.” If an adult purchases a reserved seat, they can select up to four seats for children next to them for free. The condition: You sit in the cheap rows. If you want to sit elsewhere, such as where there’s more legroom, you have to pay the price difference or the full price for the child.
Sounds good at first. Since the flight to London is just over an hour and we have little luggage, I book the basic version on my smartphone. So, no reserved seats, but plus 8 euros for adult seats, as the system indicates. Child will definitely sit next to me–I think, and quickly click through the system. Possibly not very attentively. When checking in, I see the mistake: Ryanair assigned us two aisle seats. I can still seat my husband anywhere, but the two mother-daughter seats pre-selected by the system are fixed. No changes possible. Even though several seats directly next to each other are available on the plane’s seating plan, and according to the airline, this should be possible. I would gladly pay Ryanair at this point to actually seat us together.
Also interesting: Will Ryanair soon charge a 100 euro fee for a check-in error?
In a Row Means Next to Each Other at Ryanair
Armed with my natural belief in the goodwill of others, I go to the counter on the day of the flight, politely explain my problem, and ask for a solution. The surprisingly brusque response for Münster: “You could have booked earlier; now nothing can be done.” My response: “I booked in September and checked in early. The system wouldn’t allow any changes; the seats were fixed.” Long look, no answer. Conversation over. Another Ryanair employee quietly adds: “Ask when boarding the plane; maybe they can do something.” Said and done. The flight attendant’s friendly response: “You’re sitting in a row, so for us, that’s next to each other.” Seriously? When I reply that my daughter is only four years old and might still need a bit of support from me, she promises to check later if she can persuade other passengers to swap seats. I see the flight attendant again only when disembarking.
How did we solve it? On the outbound flight, the mom sitting next to me apparently understands my dilemma and swaps seats with the comment, “My daughter is already grown.” Problem solved. On the return flight, faced with my crying daughter and my increasingly urgent request for seating help, I receive only a shrug and another long look from the nearby flight attendant. My daughter continues to cry, so I take her on my lap for the moment. A flight attendant immediately appears: “I know your daughter is crying, but that’s not allowed.” Okay, I understand. Do you have another solution? Perhaps the infant seat belt we used on our laps until she was two? No. Not allowed. Thank you, Ryanair. As always, exceptionally helpful. And once again, it’s the mother-daughter duo sitting next to us by chance who help out.
Ryanair itself responded to an inquiry from TRAVELBOOK: “Children aged 2 to 12 must sit next to or near an accompanying adult. This passenger chose two aisle seats (19C and 19D), which are directly next to each other (…).” Almost correct.