A family was left stunned when they were initially informed that they couldn't board their Ryanair flight from Leeds to Bucharest on March 21, as staff informed them that their seats had been given away.
After a long week, 29 year old mum Nicole decided to take her friend and 12 year old son on a spontaneous weekend getaway. Embracing the spirit of spontaneity, the group arrived at Leeds airport on March 21 for their weekend break without a set destination in mind, opting instead to book a random flight with Ryanair at their desk.
They ended up shelling out £8 each for flights for a weekend jaunt to Bucharest, Romania, and promptly made their way through the airport to reach their gate on time.
While waiting to board, they hastily booked a car and accommodation for their arrival later that evening. However, their plans soon hit a snag.
"If you are booked, or planning to fly with Ryanair in the near future, make sure you are aware of this so you do not end up in the same situation that we did," Nicole warned at the beginning of her TikTok video.
She continued: "Last weekend, we booked a last minute flight to Bucharest. We checked in online and then we booked our seats."
Nicole added: "We did not queue to get onto the plane because we thought we've got our seats so we'll just wait. When the queue started getting shorter, we got in the queue, got to the desk to then find out Ryanair overbook flights."
Sharing her experience with her 663,000 followers, she recounted: "When we got [to the desk], they were saying 'Oh sorry, but your seats have been taken'.
"We were like, what do you mean, we paid for our flight. They're saying it's standard procedure, it's in the terms and conditions that they overbook flights. There's not a guarantee that you were gonna get on that flight."
"If you're like us and you're that person sat at the bar while everyone's queuing to get on the plane for ages, you'll be that person," she pointed out.
She went on to describe the airline's offer in case they couldn't board the flight: "They basically said, if we don't get on the flight, they will issue a compensation or will offer us an alternative destination, which isn't ideal when you've got a hotel booked in the destination that you're going to."
While showing the footage of her speaking with the airport personnel near the gate, Nicole said: "And we had to wait a long sixty seconds to find out if we can get on."
She then expressed relief that they eventually boarded: "So what felt like the longest three minutes ever, because some people didn't show up so did get on the flight. Bare this is mind."
Luckily for Nicole and her companions, they finally arrived in Bucharest later that evening, delighting in their surprise weekend getaway before heading back to Leeds two days on.
According to Ryanair's 'notice of your rights', they assert that they do not overbook their flights. The document states: "However, in the unlikely event that a seat is not available for a passenger with a confirmed reservation, we will seek volunteers to surrender their seats in exchange for benefits that we and the volunteer may agree upon before involuntarily denying boarding to other passengers."
They further stated that if there are insufficient volunteers and they deny a passenger boarding involuntarily, they will compensate the traveller.
Ryanair has been approached for comment.
English (United States) ·