How can I avoid the middle seat on the plane?

Q I fly regularly on Ryanair but refuse to pay extra for an allocated seat. How can I avoid always being assigned a “middle seat”?

Name withheld

A In common with other airlines, Ryanair offers the option to pre-book specific seats. For passengers who choose not to pay for this service, the airline allocates seats.

Until May 2017, I found that Ryanair assigned passengers in a selection of window, middle and aisle seats, and furthermore that groups who had booked together were generally sat together. But then there was a sudden change on the seating arrangements aboard Europe’s biggest budget airline.

The default assigned seat for people who did not pay became “B” or “E”, the middle seats, while couples and larger groups often found themselves scattered the length of the plane. The airline insists this is simply a random allocation of seats combined with a wish to keep the more popular window and aisle seats free for people who are prepared to pay.

“We are very happy to facilitate any customer who wants a free-of-charge random seat,” Ryanair told me, “but we are also going to do our best to facilitate customers who are willing to pay for a reserved seat.”

After spending much of 2017 in middle seats, I deduced that the later a non-seat selecting passenger checks in, the higher the chance of a good seat – simply because all the middle seats will already have been assigned.

Since then I have enjoyed a wide (non-)selection of window and aisle seats: 32D from Lourdes to Stansted, 17C from Edinburgh to Stansted, 8F from Stansted to Seville, 5A from Stansted to Belfast and, best of all, 1A from Manchester to Dublin.

The free check-in window for non-priority passengers opens 48 hour before departure. In my experience you get a barrage of emails and texts from Ryanair reminding you to check in online and avoid the charge for airport check in.

The longer you hold your nerve and ignore these exhortations, the higher your chance of getting a good seat. My Manchester-Dublin assignment was awarded as I headed to the airport by train, just over two hours before departure.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question.Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder