A flight attendant believes there is a ‘best’ seat on to book on Ryanair flights – and told her followers how they can find it the next time they take to the skies
Everybody wants to travel in style – but sometimes it feels impossible when you’re on a cramped budget flight with your knees up against the seat in front of you. However, one flight attendant has shared a clever tip to ensure that you can be sitting in the best seat on a Ryanair flight every time.
Barbara Bacilieri, 29, shares videos on YouTube with her nearly three million subscribers, offering hints and tips about flights, and what you need to consider when you’re booking yourself onto one.
She said: “On a Ryanair plane, if you don’t pay extra, they’ll assign you any seat. And it’s always going to be the worst possible seat, right in the middle of two people, in the last row, or worse, a seat without a window.
“But as I’m on a four-and-a-half-hour flight, I paid extra to travel like a queen in a seat where I don’t have anyone next to me on one side. And for this seat I only paid €11 (£9.59) extra”.
Barbara revealed that she selected the right-hand side of row 27, where only two seats are located. She recommended that travellers consider booking the row the next time they travel.
The flight attendant also revealed the worst seats for getting some sleep at 38,000 feet.
Barbara – known as Barbie Bac – said: “The last row: this is the worst of all, without a doubt. Why? Because of the constant traffic of people going to the bathroom.
“Noises from the kitchen or galley, flight attendants catching up with their gossip or what we call ‘galley radio’, smells coming from the bathroom, and on many planes, these seats don’t recline.
“As you can imagine, this is guaranteed torture and possibly one of the worst experiences you’ll have flying”.
She also said aisle seats aren’t good for getting sleep, adding: “Although the aisle seat seems convenient because of the ease of getting up to stretch or go to the bathroom, it’s a nightmare for sleeping.”
This is because “people constantly bump into you as they pass by, and flight attendants brush against you with their food carts”.
You have to “stay upright” when in these seats – and Barbara even said: “It’s happened to me many times as a flight attendant, walking down the aisle at night and tripping over the foot of a tall passenger. And if you’re tall, you should avoid any seat that isn’t in the front row or near the emergency exit.
“You’ll probably have to pay more to sit there and have some extra responsibilities, but we’re talking about comfort, and that comes at a price”.
If you are tall, she recommends emergency exit row seats. She said: “Bulkhead seats, located right behind a dividing wall, offer unparalleled legroom. They’re ideal if you’re tall, or you just like to stretch out.
“But this seat has two disadvantages: there’s no storage space underneath, so you have to put everything in the overhead lockers. And the second is that many have fixed armrests, so not all passengers can sit very comfortably, and if the entire row of seats is empty, you can’t lie down.
“Exit row seats could be the best or worst decision of your life; there are no grey areas. They’re the holy grail of legroom. You have as much space as first class, but without paying for it [often you do have to pay, however].
“The problem is that, depending on the plane, you may end up with an emergency exit with a door instead of an emergency window, and during the flight, it’s a favourite spot for passengers who feel like standing up for a while.
“And many times you have a flight attendant right in front of you, so it can be quite uncomfortable for both of you. But that’s not the worst of it.
“In the event of an evacuation, you’re responsible for opening that emergency exit and helping to evacuate the passengers”.
If you want to be comfortable, you may also want to completely avoid sitting in the middle seat, as it comes “with no personal space” or “control”.
She said you’re “trapped,” and it’s possibly between two strangers. Barbara even went as far as to describe it as “the seat of despair”.
“But the good thing is that you get both armrests, that’s the rule of the middle seat,” she said.
Barbara admitted that, if you want to sleep, the window seat is the best.
She added: “This is my favourite seat. There’s a wall to lean against, complete control over the sunlight since you can roll the blinds up and down, and on top of that, you avoid people bothering you every time they get up. So it’s the king of personal space.”
Although she did point out if you need to use the bathroom, you’re going to have to disturb a few people – potentially even having to wake them up from slumber.