Sitting with your child should not be a surprise fee.

In June 2026, the UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a consumer-protection investigation into Ryanair’s use of a mandatory fee requiring a consumer travelling with a child to pay to sit next to that child. The CMA is also examining whether the fee was included in the total price shown early in the purchase process.

The CMA has made no finding. Its case page says the initial investigation runs through December 2026 while it gathers information and evidence. That procedural clarity matters: a regulator opening an investigation does not prove an infringement, but it does identify a specific charge and checkout design worth public scrutiny.

The total has to mean total

Travel sites train people to compare a headline fare before they can assess everything that makes the journey workable. A fee that is functionally unavoidable for a family is not just another optional extra in the mental arithmetic of a booking screen.

Before paying, capture the fare, passenger details and final checkout screen. Compare the final total across providers rather than relying on the first price in a search result. If a mandatory fee emerges late, retain the screen and booking reference; they show what the service presented at the time of purchase.