A British couple have vowed to “never fly with the airline again” after their attempt to save some money saw Ryanair post three messages for the entire world to see – ouch!
In a story from Kennedy News, reported on by the MailOnline and several other UK publications, life coach Scott McCormick and his girlfriend, Helena Boshwick, were attempting to fly to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for a week-long break and gym mentorship event. They chose not to reserve seats for the flight, which can range anywhere between £4.50 and £33 per seat, because they didn’t mind sitting seperately on the 2-hour journey.
Scott told Kennedy News, “We were the first ones at the gate ready for boarding. 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.’
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“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’.”
After a minor “meltdown” and what I assume were some stern words with the airport staff, it was agreed that Scott and Helena would get on the next flight together.
“I asked if we can have that in writing or an email for them to confirm it in some way. They said it’s on the system, and when we go to ticket sales, they will reimburse us and we can get on the next flight,” he added.
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Unfortunately, the situation then got even more stressful when the staff told them that only one of the seats would be refunded, as the system had the other wrongly marked as a missed flight. After shelling out another £100, the couple were finally able to board their Spain-bound flight four hours later.
“Ryanair should have asked all passengers if anyone would like to volunteer their seats,” he added. “It felt like discrimination, how do they pick out these people, is it because we’re young and we have no kids so there’s just two of us, is it to do with something we don’t see or understand?”
Passenger Scott has still not recieved a refund after being kicked off the initial Ryanair flight, but the airline doesn’t seem to care very much despite being accused of discrimination.
Ryanair’s savage response after the passenger was kicked off the flight
Credit: Ryanair
Ryanair has always been that girl, and it is never above pushing customer service aside to serve up a piping hot pot of tea. Over the last few days, it has posted three different messages that seem to be directly related to the story.
“Today is a good day to separate couples onboard,” was the first post, earning nearly 2k likes. with the second reading, “‘I won’t fly with Ryanair again!’ Sure… see you next month.”
The final one reads: “Good morning to both the fans and the complainers.”
Mess queens, through and through.
In a full statement to the MailOnline, Ryanair said the passengers were not kicked off the flight because of it being overbooked. Instead, logistical reasons meant one passenger needed to catch another flight.
The company 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).
Credit: Ryanair
“As a result, one passenger was unable to travel on this flight, and was reaccommodated onto the next available flight to Palma de Mallorca.
“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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Featured image credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
