Seat policy for holidaymakers flying with Ryanair, Aer Lingus & TUI in 2024

Every few years a new seating policy is introduced which thoroughly confuses holidaymakers.

In recent times, it was Ryanair stating that people will now have to pay to reserve a specific seat – a process that was previously free.

So ahead of your summer holidays, here is everything you need to know in 2024 about the popular airlines seating policies.

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Ryanair

Ryanair offers the option to purchase reserved seats or free seats, which are assigned randomly during check-in. Passengers who choose ‘random seat allocation’ can check in between 24 hours and 2 hours before the flight departure time.

If you purchase a seat at the time of booking, during check-in, or at any point leading-up to your flight, you can choose where to sit and that seat will be reserved for you. Online check-in opens 60 days before the scheduled departure time if you have purchased an allocated seat.

The price of a reserved seat depends on where you choose to sit on the aircraft.

If you don’t want to pay for a specific seat and still want to be placed beside travel companions, Ryanair says: “We recommend that you reserve your seat when booking or when checking in to guarantee a seat beside your travel companions. If you choose not to reserve a seat, then a seat will be randomly allocated to you free of charge when checking in, but it is unlikely it will be beside your travel companions.”

The budget airline has a family policy when it comes to seats: “For safety reasons, children under the age of 12 must sit beside an accompanying adult, and infants (aged 8 days to 23 months inclusive) must sit on an accompanying adult’s lap. It is mandatory for an adult travelling with children under 12 (excl. infants) to reserve a seat. A maximum of four children for every one adult on the same booking will receive a reserved seat free of charge. This ensures parents of young children sit together during the flight. This will also allow you to check-in for your flight 60 days before departure. It is not mandatory for any other adults or teenagers in the booking to reserve a seat, however they may choose to do so if they wish to seat with the rest of the family.”

Aer Lingus

There are three ways to select seats on Aer Lingus flights. You can pre-book your preferred seat at different stages before you fly. For more choice, they recommend selecting a seat when booking your flight. You’ll find more information on where your seat is included in your booking.

The three ways to select your seats are:

1. When booking your flight

2. Afterwards in Manage Trip (However, you cannot pre-book a seat on bookings made with a third party such as a travel agent or a tour operator. Aer Lingus advise travellers to contact the third party to find out your options.)

3. During Check in

If you choose not to pre-book a particular seat, Aer Lingus will allocate one based on remaining availability at check in. they say on their website: “We’ll do our best to make sure that you and your travel companions are seated together, particularly if you’re travelling with children. However, this depends on the number of seats remaining at the time.”

TUI

When you’re flying with TUI, you have to pay extra to reserve your seats.

On their website, they state: “You can either reserve your seats when you’re booking your holiday, or you can add them later using your Customer Account or Manage My Booking. If you don’t reserve your seats, they’ll be automatically allocated to you when you check-in online.

“If you’ve paid extra for Select Your Seat or if you have reserved Premium Seats, Seats with Extra Legroom or Seats with Extra Space then you will be able to access the seat map immediately after you book your holiday. You can also choose your seats by logging on to your Customer Account or the Flight Extras website.”

If you are flying with another airline, other than TUI, but booked it through them, they say: “If you need to check in online directly with the airline, you’ll be able to choose from any seat options available when you log-in. If you’re not sure who you’re flying with, take a look at ” Which airline am I flying with? ” Just so you know, some airlines only allocate seats and boarding passes when you check in. In this case, we recommend you check-in as early as possible.”