Ryanair money-saving seat hack fails with couple booted off flight

A horrified holidaymaker discovered that a common hack to save money on Ryanair flights backfired – when he was booted off without a refund.

Scott McCormick and his girlfriend, Helena Boshwick, 33, were due to fly from Birmingham Airport on May 1 to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for a week-long holiday and gym-mentorship event.

The 33-year-old said they had not paid to reserve seats, which typically costs between £4.50 and £33 per seat, because it was a short two-hour flight and they didn’t mind if they didn’t sit together.

Everything went as normal, and the couple were first in the boarding queue when a Ryanair staff member asked them to step aside while the rest of the passengers boarded.

After all passengers were gone, the staff member reportedly told the couple the flight was full and that there was only one available seat left.

Scott said the two had a ‘meltdown’ as they had wanted to travel together, but says the staff member said it was because they ‘hadn’t reserved a seat’.

The gym-owner claims they protested and were finally told that they could both get on the next flight and receive a refund for both tickets.

But when the couple went to the check-in desk again, they claimed they were told they still had to pay for one of the tickets, while Scott claims he never received a refund.

After sharing his ordeal on social media, many suggested Scott and Helena were singled out because they had not reserved seats, a technique many use to keep fares low, but could end up costing people more.

But Ryanair explained the issue occurred because they switched planes from one with fewer seats, and as a result, one passenger was unable to travel.

Scott, from Birmingham, West Midlands, said: ‘The lady scanned our boarding passes and told us to step to the side for a second. That moment was a red flag, I thought, ‘there’s something happening here’.

‘We stepped to the side and watched all the people board the flight. I asked her to tell us what is going to happen and she said no. When everyone boarded, she said, ‘the plane is full, there’s only one seat remaining and we will have to reimburse you for the other seat or you’ll have to get on the next flight.”

Scott said there was ‘no compassion or care’ when they tried to sort out the issue, until they were told both tickets would be reimbursed if they went on the next flight together.

He added: ‘We went down to ticket sales and they said we still have to pay for one ticket, only one is reimbursed. One of the seats was put down as a cancelled booking, and the other was a missed flight, so we’d still have to pay for one seat and be reimbursed for the other.

‘That’s the biggest part of the [issue], we were just lied to at the gate but then we still sold us a seat and we still have seen no sign of reimbursement.’

The couple reportedly had to fork out another £100 for the new ticket and waited around four hours to board the next flight to Palma.

Scott said he will now avoid flying with Ryanair due to the staff’s lack of compassion and empathy.

While a Ryanair staff member reportedly told the couple that a refund would be processed for one of the tickets, Scott claims he has still not received it or heard from the company.

Ryanair said that Scott is not entitled to a refund for the flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca as he was reaccommodated onto the next available flight.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: ‘This flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca (1 May) was not ‘overbooked’ – it was scheduled to operate on a 737-8200 (197 seats) but for operational reasons had to be swapped to a 737-800 aircraft (189 seats).

‘Mr McCormick’s travel companion was not refused boarding but chose not to board and travel on this flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca and was required to pay a Missed Departure fee (£100) to be booked onto the next available flight.

‘Mr McCormick was notified by email on the day of travel (1 May) that he was entitled to claim back reasonable receipted expenses, however Mr. McCormick has yet to submit any expense receipts to Ryanair.’

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