https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/thankyou-so-much-rynanair.html
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31st Aug, '25. 12:00
We just drove our two granddaughters from our home in the Tarn et Garonne, France, to Toulouse airport, for a Ryanair flight to Milan. The flight was to meet up with their parents where they would all catch their arranged flight back to their home in Manhattan.
We are a multi-national, multilingual family, all well experienced in travelling the world, but this was the first time that our two granddaughters, ages 16 and 15, had flown without their parents. The girls holidayed with us, and their parents had a separate holiday in Italy. The girls flew from JFK to Brussels, and from there to Toulouse to join us without any problems. They carried with them the required authorization from their parents to travel as unaccompanied minors.
On getting to Toulouse to get them home via Milan, the woman at the Ryanair check-in told us that she could not allow the two onto the flight. The older one could fly, but the younger one needed to be accompanied by an adult of 18+ years. That is the policy of Ryanair. Nevermind that the booking had been made and paid for before they set this policy, and, of course, they had not bothered to inform us of it until we got to the airport and the clock was ticking on the whole return itinerary.
Could one of us grandparents accompany them to Milan? No, came the answer. The three, two girls and one grandparent, had to be under a single, different booking, and we could not make a new booking from there anyway.
We thought that we would drive them to Milan if nothing else could be arranged.
But we put the older girl on the Ryanair flight, and tried to arrange for the next available flight to Milan for the younger one. No Ryanair flights were available to fit with the required time constraints. The first available way was British Airways to London, then British Airways to Milan, so that was booked by their father, arranging it from Milan.
At the BA check-in, we were informed that the payment for the booking had not been confirmed, so no boarding passes. The clock was ticking again, for the London flight. Several frantic calls between Toulouse, Milan and British Airways eventually got BA to agree to clear the payment with little time to spare. Younger granddaughter got her boarding passes and got on the plane which is currently on approach to land at Heathrow.
It's such a shame, no, an outrage, that the girls' first experience of travelling on their own was such a hyper-stressful, hyper-upsetting experience.
I wonder what our chances are for obtaining satisfactory compensation from Ryanair?
Ryanair. Never again. Not for any of us.
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