A COUPLE were slapped with a £100 fine by Ryanair after the girlfriend refused to leave her boyfriend at the airport.
Scott McCormick and his girlfriend Helena Boshwick, both 33, were looking forward to jetting off on a foreign jaunt to Mallorca from Birmingham Airport for a sun-kissed week away.
The couple opted not to reserve seats, which range between £4.50 and £33 depending on where travellers choose to sit.
As they queued up to board, a Ryanair staffer approached the two and reportedly asked them to step aside and told them there was only one seat left.
Scott and Helena were left with a big decision to make – Helena could board the flight on her own or turn the offer down and stay with her partner at the airport.
She chose the latter, and found she would have to fork out an eye-watering amount for the privilege.
When the couple returned to the check-in desk, they were reportedly told they still had to pay for one of the tickets, while Scott insists he never received a refund.
As a result, Scott claims he had to shell out an additional £100 for a new ticket and a four-hour wait for the next flight out of Birmingham.
A spokesperson for Ryanair 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).
“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.”
After recounting his experience on social media, many suggested that Scott and Helena were targeted because they hadn’t reserved seats – implying that a common strategy used by many to keep fares low could end up costing more.
Scott, hailing from Birmingham, West Midlands, explained: “We checked in the night before and we didn’t reserve a seat but you normally just get a random one.
“Me and my partner thought it’s not that much of a problem if we’re not sitting together for a two-hour flight, we’re adults here.
“We arrived, everything proceeded as usual, went through security as normal, went to the gate after waiting a couple of hours and 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’.
“We stepped aside 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.’
“We were having a meltdown at this point. There was no compassion or care whatsoever.
“After going back and forth we said we’re not going to take separate flights and be in separate countries for hours. We said we wanted to get on the next flight together.
“They said ‘you can do that, we will fully reimburse both tickets and put you on the next flight for free’.”
