Fodder for the Ryanair haters...

[BobnSpike]

...or for the "not very smart passenger" haters. Either way, please enjoy:

Ryanair boss flies off the handle over 'idiot' critic - Business News - Business - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ryanair-boss-flies-off-the-handle-over-idiot-critic-8104958.html)

[flexicrew]

It's LCC, and you're expecting..?
LCCs pounce on you at every opportune moments, wanna travel cheap then equip yourself with some basic knowledge.
Half a million haters? Get a grip, wait till you really get 30million hits on your facebook then probably the CEO twit may look your way and bow.

[captjns]

Another boring article. More free publicity for the little gnome. I don't see their doors closing in the immediate future.

[Skeleton]

In this case the gnome is right.

Its made quite clear on the website the fees involved.

End of.

[Tableview]

I fully agree with MoL - much as I despise his company's ethics and modus operandi. People have a choice, providing a foolproof way of not having such problems. It's one I made long ago, I don't fly Ryanair.

It's like going to the North Pole and then bitching that it's cold.

[Loose rivets]

Trouble is, the best laid plans of man etc.

I arrived at my London address, only to find the printer dried up. That was not in my plans. I was totally knackered and it was too late to do anything. Fortunately, I wasn't flying with Ryanair. As it happens, we also cleaned the heads, but that's not the point. If I'd been a dad with a large family, I'd have been stuffed, and a little help from someone you're sending money with would be appreciated. But no, people like that are just empty inside, so there's nothing you can do about them.

[Tableview]

Here's a little business opportuity for someone then, to set up a little bureau with a computer and a printer at the airports and offer to print peoples' boarding passes for say £5 a shot. That's a huge discount on the Ryanair price!

Ah, but I forgot, most airports have an internet cafe anyway, so it begs the question as to why people don't think of this simple solution.

[Dan Winterland]

These days, people often book flights, hotels and hire cars on their smart phones or tablets while on the move and they don't have a convenient printer to hand. I fell foul of this nonesense about a year ago when a hire car company demanded to see a printout, even though I had the agreement on my laptop and could show them the booking there and then. It was resolved by going next door and asking nicley if I could use their computer and printer. Needless to say, I won't be using this care hire company ever again.

Other airlines allow you to check in on line without printing anything. In this case, it's just another opprotunity to extract more cash from you. Five pounds I can believe is reasonable, but sixty? And I know the Ts and Cs are there to see and it's a case of "Caveat Emptor". Seems theres a lot to beware of with flying with Ryanair.

It makes me wonder how long their policy of "If you don't like it, then f#ck off!" will last. Seems that if this woman got so many people to agree with her, then this is a lot of people who are going to follow O'Leary's advice. And referring to your customers as "Idiots" just gives the impression you just don't care about them - which I'm sure he doesn't.

I don't like Ryanair's policy - I'm one of their ex-passengers who has taken the advice of their CEO and will always use their competitiors in preference. Thanks for the hint Mike!

[Tableview]

Seems that if this woman got so many people to agree with her, then this is a lot of people who are going to follow O'Leary's advice.

The irony is that most of those people will travel Ryanair because they think it's cheap and that they won't get caught out. But they will. Again and again. Human nature and greed. That's what he trades on, and that's why he's so succesful.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

He had a similar respect for his customers, and look what happened to him.

I do not agree that just because the small print advises of the death penalty for not having a print out, that it should be enforced.
Unfortunatly until such time as the passengers are shown some respect by MOL, then there will continue to be such issues with the Irish.

[Piloto2011]

As much as I dislike RYR from a pilot's / employee's point of view I have enjoyed them as a customer. It's cheap and simple to fly them if you just follow the rules. In fact, in some places like Spain you can even bend the rules to your advantage, i.e. more weight.

I hate to come to their defense but in the 100 plus times I have used them they were late only once, diverted only once but provided a free bus ride to original destination, and bumped me once for being late one minute for a snow storm. The latter was annoying indeed. Aside from that no problems at all.

In 2011, RYR had a pax volume of 72m, which is expected to grow again this year. The 500m Facebook like clicks that that unhappy woman has received are about .8 percent of the 72m folks O'Leary had flown in 2011. Don't think he cares that much.

[direct ortac]

There are laws in the UK to prevent "unreasonable" penalties in a contract. The UK banks know all too well about this when they were pulled up for charging 40+ quid for a letter. So my advice would be to explore this avenue. I am assuming UK law applies, which may not be correct.

I would not be surprised if this WAS a MOL stunt! But, hey, you have to admire the guy for what he has built.. love him or hate him, he has made the traditional boys sit up and pay attention.

I don't fly Ryanair as I have safety concerns. Nothing to do with the flying, it's the getting out that concerns me. Max. capacity with cabin crew that don't seem to have this as their 1st priority. I am sure all the regs are met but there is more to it than just ticking the boxes.

[DaveReidUK]

I don't have any problem with the principle of printing your own boarding card pass at home, or paying to have it done for you at the airport if you don't.

But if the latter, the charge should bear some relation to the actual cost, to Ryanair or the handling agent, of doing so - otherwise it's just a fine/penalty.

Yes, of course you are deemed to have agreed to the charge in your ticket contract/conditions of carriage, but contract terms still have to be fair and reasonable.

It would be fascinating to see this tested in a court of law.

[Sober Lark]

Biggest lie ever: “I read & accept the terms of use of Ryanair's General Terms and Conditions of Carriage and website Terms of Use” ✔

[RAT 5]

There is a government investigation proposed into the whole aspect of credit card charges for making bookings in many industries. It is proposed that the charge should reflect the charge made by the CC companies to the provider, and not be a source of extra randomly decided profiteering. It seems this scope of customer rip off could be widened.
Add to this little story the one about RYR refusing to accept a boarding card PDF on a smart phone; unlike other customer orientated market leading airlines who encourage such an environmentally friendly procedure.

[DB6]

Ho ho ho. Just like watching the Jeremy Kyle show - which I also despise. As someone recently said, Pikeyair do us the favour of keeping the ****e off decent airlines. But that's all.

[hellsbrink]

There are laws in the UK to prevent "unreasonable" penalties in a contract. The UK banks know all too well about this when they were pulled up for charging 40+ quid for a letter. So my advice would be to explore this avenue. I am assuming UK law applies, which may not be correct.

Ryanair is an Irish company with it's HQ in Ireland and the "unreasonable" request to print off your own boarding pass or pay through the nose for it being printed off at the airport by Ryanair has already been challenged in Spanish courts where Ryanair "won" at the end of last year when they appealed an earlier decision where it was declared to be "abusive" as it had been "the customary practice over the years has been that the obligation to provide the boarding pass has always fallen on the airline". Unfortunately, "customary" is not necessarily "law" so, according to the appeal judge, surcharges for not printing off your own boarding pass are in compliance with international law and Ryanair were able to keep said clause in their T&C's.

Any attempt to challenge things in the UK would probably also fail, since we are looking at it being classed as being under Irish law, so if you don't like the potential surcharges the, don't fly O'LearyAir.

[Teddy Robinson]

diverging slightly ... there is a certain character in one of my daughters DVD's that has an uncanny resemblance to somebody .. I can't quite pin it down.
It was something about sign here .....:E

[robfahy]

I don't think most people would have the option to print-out a boarding pass at the airport as you cannot print it out within four hours of the flight...

Passengers can check-in online from 15 days up to 4 hours before each scheduled flight departure time.

[The SSK]

I think it's pretty good going for MoL - rip this woman off to the tune of £300 for five scraps of paper, then publicly humiliate her for being stupid enough to get herself ripped off.

Does Ryanair still claim Southwest as its role model? Thankfully Herb Kelleher doesn't have a grave, otherwise he'd be spinning in it.

[Irishboy]

Here's a little business opportuity for someone then, to set up a little bureau with a computer and a printer at the airports and offer to print peoples' boarding passes for say £5 a shot. That's a huge discount on the Ryanair price!

Ah, but I forgot, most airports have an internet cafe anyway, so it begs the question as to why people don't think of this simple solution.

They have covered that also, you can only print your boarding card up to 4 hours prior to flight time.

[lexoncd]

Easyjet today announced allocated seating following a summer trial where 70% of passengers approved of the new policy. No charges unless you specify certain rows. Now contrast that positive piece of news from a passenger friendly airline to the comments Mr o'leary. I cannot believe that the CEO of any organisation can use such foul language including the "F word" to describe the unfortunate charges that one of his passengers was forced to pay. If O'leary had simply stated he disagreed with her complaint fair enough but now 500,000 people who joined in with this woman probably feel similarly insulted. Did she use such language?... Its about respect Michael and quite honestly the PR stunts don't work anymore so how about trying to be customer focused and see what you could truly achieve then.

The issue was that the passenger printed off the outward boarding cards but because her return flight was more than 15 days away she was unable to do the same for the return sector. I don't have a problem with a "reasonable" scale of charges for certain services but have to say €60 is a scam.

[caulfield]

British aviation is very naff.I flew in the last good company(dan Dare)>we would have given her a boarding pass and sent her on her way with a smile.Ryanair,easyjet,thomas C,thomson..whomever,naff people running naff brands for naff customers.Then theres Ba..a pc self-satisfied over-rated poor shadow of its BOAC greatness.And thats it!Thats British aviation today.I got out.I worked abroad and enjoyed it.Lived in Korea,Italy,Japan and others.Brits are very naff people.All the good genes got wiped out in both wars and what was left emigrated.
As for O'Leary,hes bog Irish so it doesnt count.Most Irish are okay fellas.

[funfly]

I bid (and won) on a radio charity auction a holiday in Europe which included the flight. When we contacted the carrier who was credited on the radio as 'giving' the flight, they said that we still had to pay for everything except the flight, i.e. bags, seats, etc. In the end the 'free' flight cost us around £360!
I may add that the firm offering the accommodation did not ask us for another penny.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

Please ensure that the radio station is aware of the free flight, and the actual cost.

There is a duty of care by the station to ensure that comps are real, free and fair.

This will ensure that this company does not benefit from incorrect indirect advertising due to the promotion.

(from the inside)

[Gulfstreamaviator]

what if you only book 3 hours before flight,,,,are you still :mad: by MOL.

[funfly]

Gulfstreamaviator
This was well discussed with the companies concerned when I realised the situation. Both radio station and the resort expressed concern and have apologised to me. In effect the 'gift' was made by the resort but they had to add a flight to make it a total package. What XXXXXXX airlines offered was just that - a flight - and reading the small print this included flight and airport tax so I was due to pay the rest, I can't quibble about this but it came as a bit of a surprise because, as you can imagine, one tends to offer more at a charity auction that the package is actually worth.
I just thought that it was a bit stingy and more than a bit misleading and I feel that this typifies the attitudes of the transport industry today. Treat em bad, pack em in and screw em if you can. (anyone mention Beardy here?)
Rant over, had the holiday and a wonderful time.

[Doors to Automatic]

As I always post when the Daily Mail publishes its bi-monthly anti-Ryanair article - you have a choice; if you don't like O'Leary's complete contempt for the people that have helped him achieve the success he has, then don't fly with them.

I will never fly Ryanair again as long as I live. If more people stopped complaining and started voting with their feet then this nasty little man would have to learn some manners. But whether he does or not is of no relevance to my life because I won't ever be setting foot on one of his aircraft again. :p

[Hotel Tango]

I honestly think that there are plenty voting with their feet. However, there are also still too many who continue to be brainwashed into thinking RYR is the dog's boll*cks. Furthermore, as they expand and enter new markets, as in Eastern Europe, they have plenty new innocents to brainwash and abuse. Ryanair is not the only LCC in the world. There are plenty of them. Most of the other treat their customers with respect and provide a reasonable service with reasonable T & Cs. I have no problem flying with Southwest, Frontier, JetBlue, Air Berlin and TUIfly. I don't and will never fly Ryanair whilst their product remains as it is and MOL remains in charge.

[J.O.]

The same twaddles who will book with Ryanair and then complain about being ripped off with extra charges such as this, won't bat an eye at the fact that the company - whose credit card they're using to pay for the same tickets and fees - is charging them north of 20% interest on the unpaid part of their bill. :D

[paparomeodelta]

I have flown Ryanair 100+ times over the years, and have always been treated nice, have had very few delays, and also experienced nice cabin crew but who are quite strict that passengers are listening up, not chatting during safety announcements, than in most airlines. Reassures my safety awareness.

Marginal comments is I hate the yellow interior, I think they are too picky w overweight (but comes with the package), too much selling garbage onboard (comes w the package). And Girona is NOT BCN, and Nyköping is NOT Stockholm.

BUT always damn cheap if you know how to take advantage of the booking system, in spite all extras. Always direct flights, which is great for me flying from "Stockholm". Love the non-reclining seats, I´m 1.94 and hate the regular mouse-traps.

So I will vote with my feet and continue to use Ryanair.

MOL? Why should I care about him?

[Tableview]

Exactly what the man said at 5th Sep 2012 16:44!

[jackharr]

O’Leary loves ANY publicity and is a regular on breakfast TV programmes. I can’t wait for the time when he and a disgruntled passenger are interviewed together.

Who I wonder will be the first to thump O’Leary on live TV? It will happen. Compelling viewing!

[lexoncd]

Mrs W used Ryanair this summer to and from airports in France which aren't served by other carriers. This allowed us to have an extra long time over there at marginal cost aside from the flight so it was a no brainer. Flights were even cheaper than using an ID90 and all that entails. Flights were on time and no other issues as we carefully checked things off. I always add £40 to any fare shown to cover other costs and as a rule of thumb not too far out.

But here's how things are changing, when I see a route i.e MAN - PMI with other carriers then I look at them first and will willingly pay extra to be treated with a little respect. Ryanair remind me of Airtours holidays years ago.. Coffee and biscuits on Dan -Air and £13.84 airport taxes extra. When they scrapped this and improved the customer product they boomed.. Sure in time Ryanair will do the same.

[Al Murdoch]

Not that I wish to leap to O'Really's defence, Jackhar, but he frequently goes on record to say that he is very happy to debate anything with anyone as long as it's live and unedited. Journalists don't go for that because he seems to make them look like morons most of the time.

[Tableview]

He certainly does, I remember the Panorama interview a few years ago (John Humphreys?) and MoL came across like somebody's favourite uncle and made the interviewer look a total tosspot.

[jackharr]

....MoL came across like somebody's favourite uncle and made the interviewer look a total tosspotLine him up against the tough Jeremy Paxman, the oh-so-polite James Naughtie or the often-ridiculous Jeremy Clarkson. If none of them can get manage to get the measure of O'Leary, then I might consider becoming a Ryanair fan myself:sad: Bring it on.

[Sunnyjohn]

The stupidity in all this is not with the customer or Ryanair but with Facebook. So I fall foul of Easyjet, lambast then on Facebook and six million people hit the 'Like' button. Facebook will fall long before Ryanair.

[Dick Fisher]

I don't fly Ryanair as I have safety concerns. Nothing to do with the flying, it's the getting out that concerns me. Max. capacity with cabin crew that don't seem to have this as their 1st priority

What pathetic "reasons" for not flying them. Over 70m people choose to do the other thing every year, at reasonable cost, in fairly new aircraft, supervised by staff who have a vested interest in the safety of the operation.

So tell us please, how Ryanair's cabin crew are somehow less well trained and certified than any other airline? And how does your idea of only booking flights that are half full work out? I'd be interested to know.

I've used them for ten years and in all that time, there's been two short delays, and one cancelled flight. And they fly to places legacy carriers are not interested in. What's not to like?

[Koan]

60 Euro for a boarding pass? How can anyone defend this and blame the passenger? If a one page printout was 1 Euro It would still be double any "internet cafe in Alicante". You blame this woman, have you never woken up to find your printer ink low? Have you never lost your boarding pass print somewhere on the way to the airport. If you wanted to buy a Diet Coke at the airport and the snack bar demanded €45 for it would you pay? No freaking way! You think you are getting a cheap ticket but you are actually being set-up to be exploited.

Obviously this is a cynical ploy to extort a absurd sum from the occasional passengers who arrive without a boarding pass who have no choice but to pay or incur greater costs in hotel booking / purchasing a new ticket.

Ryanair CEO Calls Customers 'Stupid': Shame On You - Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2012/09/07/ryanair-ceo-calling-customers-stupid-makes-this-airline-kids-blood-boil/)

MOL is disgusting. Just listen to his own statements. He thinks his passengers are stupid, and you keep feeding him more business? A gangster's level of exploitation. Again, I will never fly Ryan for any reason. The sooner Ryan goes bankrupt the better. I edited this post to be sure it's noted that I'm not down on Ryan's crews. I'm sure they are great and I hope someday they can take their experience and ability somewhere else where they can make a difference.

[Torque Tonight]

I think you'll be waiting a long time.

[Koan]

Sad but true.

[cldrvr]

I don't know why people complain about this. You fly Ryanair, this is what you get. They are clear in the T&C, no point claiming stupidity and ignorance when they enforce the T&C you yourself acknowledge.

Ryanair is a cash machine, they have 3 Billion in cash on hand and will be here for a very long time, the shareholders love what MoL is doing and as long as he generates these kinds of returns it is not going to stop anytime soon.

They have more cash in the bank than easyJet is worth, now that would be funny, MoL buying eJ outright and having cash left over

[highflyer40]

they are great if you just stick with their rules and like others have said take advantage of their booking system. I use them over staff travel where I can because it's direct. £12 return all in I paid last time from Leeds to Barcelona. show me any other "LCC" that comes close to that. the service is no better nor worse than the east coast rail service from Leeds to London on a Friday night. and about the same duration.

[infrequentflyer789]

£12 return all in I paid last time from Leeds to Barcelona. show me any other "LCC" that comes close to that. the service is no better nor worse than the east coast rail service from Leeds to London on a Friday night. and about the same duration.

Think you mean London to Leeds on friday night (and t'other way on Monday morning...). Least you get a seat on FR (to date).

And of course if you turn up for one of those trains at peak time without the right bit of paper (or get on the wrong train with advance ticket) it will cost you a lot more than £60 per person just for getting the guard to print you a new one.

I don't know why MOL doesn't just go full circle and call his boarding cards "tickets". If you have to bring a bit of paper with you to the airport to get on the plane then that is what it is - a ticket. Lose paper ticket - no fly (or hefty re-issue fee if you are lucky) just like the old days.

[Scott C]

I have no experience of RyanAir from an employment perspective, but from a passenger point of view, I would rather pay more to fly with another airline than hand any money over to RyanAir.

I work at an airport and I see how they operate and it just doesn't fill me with confidence to want to fly with them.

As for the OP, 60Euro for a ticket print-out is just a rip-off...there is a line between running a successful business and just been greedy and sadly RyanAir crossed that line a while ago.

[highflyer40]

I'm sorry but let's face it FR is to aviation like megabus is to buses. they don't need bells and whistles just cheap fares and those that pay don't care how they are treated (and let's be frank they are use to being treated probably alot worse on the council estate).

[Sunnyjohn]

Thank you Highflyer40. I use Ryanair regularly. I was brought up on a council estate. I read all the Ryanair terms and conditions. I have a degree and an MA in linguistics. Kindly go back to the hole where you came from until you grow up a bit.

[jabird]

dead on the side of a Spanish mountain because their aircraft ran out of fuel, really only have themselves to blame

Never say never, but no more likely than any other airline. MOL has repeatedly said that the two things that would stop him were a nuclear war or an accident. We can let Iran get on with the former, but the latter is strictly under his control. Crashed planes don't make money, end of.

Passengers can check-in online from 15 days up to 4 hours before each scheduled flight departure time.

I presume there is a difference between check in and print? Most e-docs are emailed by PDF, so this could be saved for later, although I'd love to know where these internet cafes are at airports, I've never seen one. Simply not enough yield for all that space - stuffing a £1 per 10 mins slot terminal in a corner somewhere is much easier.

Still, with a bit of imagination, there's always a hotel nearby.

I think it's pretty good going for MoL - rip this woman off to the tune of £300 for five scraps of paper, then publicly humiliate her for being stupid enough to get herself ripped off.

I remember learning about these guys in GCSE Latin (yes, like MOL, I went to a school that teaches Latin). Stand up is the same today - take the piss out of the 1% to the amusement of the 99%. I'm not condoning it, but there's nothing new in that game whatsoever.

because her return flight was more than 15 days away

I think that will expose the biggest reason why she got called an idiot. MOL sensed a fellow toff. The regulars go to Benidorm for a week, fortnight tops. She was spending a month perhaps in a villa? Easy prey!

She then asked for her money back "as a good will gesture" and barfed all over Facebook - red rag to a bull.

If more people stopped complaining and started voting with their feet then this nasty little man would have to learn some manners

Anyone who has met the guy knows he learned charm and good manners long ago, at Clongnowes no doubt. He is just selective in who he uses them with.

When he finally does drop a genuine clanger, and when revenues stop rising, maybe the board will find someone different to replace him, although I suspect he'll have his eyes on the Irish TS job by then.

As for O'Leary,hes bog Irish so it doesnt count.

So bog Irish that he went to the local equivalent of Eton.

He just happens to adopt a marmite persona, because he knows he'll never be Sir Mick, and the media buy his antics hook line and sinker every time.

His act is basically just Sir Beardie in reverse, and given the latter's Holier Than Thou antics of late (remember that his trains are just Stagecoach buses on rails too), who would you really want to sit next to on a 2 hour journey?

And referring to your customers as "Idiots" just gives the impression you just don't care about them - which I'm sure he doesn't.

Quite the opposite. He cares about revenues and yields, and that means trotting out the usual lines about least delays / canx / bags lost etc. As pointed out several times above, FR staff are usually polite, but firm on the rules, and they will try their best to sell you something.

Picking out one customer, who was clearly trying to make a meal of a stupid rule that she knew damn well was going to penalise her, and singling here out as an "idiot" was quite clearly just another part of a very well targetted ongoing plan to get time on the BBC and other media outlets for free. Remember - no ads on the BBC, except for Ryanair and Virgin Trains!

[ExXB]

I don't know why MOL doesn't just go full circle and call his boarding cards "tickets". If you have to bring a bit of paper with you to the airport to get on the plane then that is what it is - a ticket. Lose paper ticket - no fly (or hefty re-issue fee if you are lucky) just like the old days.

The Montreal convention (MC99) has a specific definition of a ticket, which isn't a boarding card. He could merge the two, but that would cost money.

I'm giving MOL the benefit of the doubt here. I see his objective as being to reduce check-in costs by encouraging his customers to be fully prepared when they arrive at the airport. Charging something reasonable would encourage lazy pax while charging something outrageous has the opposite effect. This whole episode has reminded practically the whole planet that you should have all your paperwork in advance when flying Cryanair.

Calling the woman an idiot is completely in character and the media feeing frenzy following that is advertising for Ryanairs cheap flights that no amount of money could buy.

So he's killed two birds with one stone and ended up with a couple hundred euros to boot.

I'm not defending him, I would avoid FR unless his schedule and price met my needs, but I would also know his rules.

[Shack37]

Thank you Highflyer40. I use Ryanair regularly. I was brought up on a council
estate. I read all the Ryanair terms and conditions. I have a degree and an MA
in linguistics. Kindly go back to the hole where you came from until you grow up
a bit.



Sunnyjohn
:D:D:D:ok:

[Sober Lark]

Remind me how much it used to cost to fly from Dublin to London before Ryanair arrived?

People are born different and each person is unique and most of us accept that. We really shouldn't be highlighting the ineptitude of this lady being incompatible with the rest of us in forgetting to print her boarding pass.

[jabird]

We really shouldn't be highlighting the ineptitude of this lady being incompatible with the rest of us in forgetting to print her boarding pass.

Sober, she didn't forget. She flew out to Alicante and spent 15 days in a villa, and never left the house to go to town once, never popped round to the neighbours to ask if they had a printer, never bothered to ask in one of the hotels near ALC if they could print the passes for a small fee, presumably never spoke to anyone, zip, nada, all trip?

[jackharr]

Many apologists for Ryanair miss the point.

I recently tried to book with Ryanair from either of my two nearest airports for a flight to Dublin; there was no alternative airline operating these routes.

The website was a nightmare to negotiate. I tried to find the box to opt out of “voluntary insurance” but failed. (I have disabled pop ups on my computer so maybe that was the reason but the website should be designed to cope with this). So after a wasted half hour, I gave up trying and went to the local travel agent.

Ryanair will not deal with travel agents. So in the end, a surface route train/ferry was used. (Thank you First Choice for making the arrangements).

Ryanair seem deliberately to make their website difficult to in order to catch out the unwary. That poor woman without the boarding passes – perhaps a first (and doubtless, last) time user of Ryanair - didn’t expect to have to read through pages and pages of small print. No customer should have to do that.

I was an Air Force QFI and later an airline training captain. If one of my students didn’t understand something, I didn’t call him an idiot; I looked to myself and wondered what I was doing wrong in not getting the message across. O’Leary has obviously overlooked this simple principle: if his customer found something difficult, he should NOT blame the customer (calling her an idiot). He should look to himself and his staff and question why the customer had made the mistake: was it perhaps that his airline hadn’t made things clear enough?

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this policy of obscurity is deliberate as it brings in much extra money and thus enables a headline air fare to be advertised. Presumably it is for the same reason that the company won’t use travel agents: travel agents would quickly become savvy and avoid all the hidden pitfalls and thus deny Ryanair a substantial income.

Not every internet user is capable of making the effort to look for all the hidden traps; in many cases elderly or disabled people simply can’t work the system and are fleeced as a result. I have a mentally handicapped daughter. There is absolutely no way that she could understand that a flight advertised as being say £25 actually costs four times that amount. Ryanair's policy discriminates against the less capable.

Ryanair’s hidden agenda shows utter contempt for the travelling public. O’Leary will one day, sure as eggs are eggs, push things too far. I would not bet against a prosecution at some point.

[avturboy]

Ryanair is a business, it is owned by its shareholder who choose to have MoL run it for them. The primary purpose of the company is to make money for said shareholders... it is a secondary matter the business happens to be an airline.

The only thing that matters is 'shareholder value', if the shareholders believe they are getting a good return then they'll leave MoL well alone to get on and make them money.

Confusing websites, tricky small print, scandalous fees for printing a boarding card, fuel load policy, et al ... are a means to an end (taking as much money as possible from each customer and reducing operating costs) and MoL will do whatever he believes he can get away with in pursuit of delivering the results his shareholders want ...

What amazes me is that passengers continue to choose to fly with Ryanair, despite the often adverse publicity and stories of 'rip off', however given that people must be making that choice of the their own free will then the business will continue to operate. Maybe there is a limit to what passengers will put up with, but the threshold has not been reached yet.

Personally I have never set foot on a Ryanair aircraft and I can see no good reason why I ever would ... there is a lot I do not like about the operation I choose not to be a passenger.

[Shack37]

Sober, she didn't forget. She flew out to Alicante and spent 15 days in a
villa, and never left the house to go to town once, never popped round to the
neighbours to ask if they had a printer, never bothered to ask in one of the
hotels near ALC if they could print the passes for a small fee, presumably never spoke to anyone, zip, nada, all trip?


Lot of information there jabird, are you the lady's husband perchance and therefore (rightfully) pee'd off at the extra cost?

[edi_local]

A few people saying the Ryanair Website hides information or makes it difficult to see what you need to do. I can only assume you use a different Ryanair website to me.

Just that whenever I book, it won't let me continue unless I specifically click the little box stating that I agree with the terms and conditions of travel. I must be one of the few who actually read things before I agree to it, especially if money is involved. I guess I'm the idiot here. Just that if this woman ticked that little box, which she would have had to have done in order to proceed, then she surely read that she would have to pay £60 if she didn't print a boarding card off. No? Well maybe she should read things in the future, especially something called a contract, which is what she entered in to when she ticked that little box stating she fully understood Ryanairs conditions of carriage.

Now, let's assume she didn't read them, which would have been silly of her anyway. She would have been told at at least one stage in the booking and then again when she got to her confirmation page and then again in her confirmation email that she would have to print off her own boarding cards for all flights. Now, let's assume she ignored all the big red wording for whatever reason. In all of my previous bookings with Ryanair I have been sent numerous emails at various stages before my flights stating that I must check in online and print off my boarding cards. It's quite hard to miss, actually.

Now why should this woman be exempt because the charge is "a bit high?"

It's her own fault. She deserves no more sympathy than someone who turned up late for a flight on BA or KLM and was made to pay £60 for a new ticket, or someone who has brought £60 of overweight baggage for a flight on United. Airlines charge money when people don't stick to what they have been asked or told to do. The fact that this is a boarding card is irrelevant. It's a charge, a penalty for doing something wrong.

To kick up a fuss about it is idiocy. She's got nothing to stand on, she is totally in the wrong. FR could charge £1000 for a boarding card and it would still be the same story, especially as she blindly said she accepted the charge!!! She won't get a penny back from MOL and rightly so. FR didn't become one of the worlds largest airlines by refunding boarding card fees. If what he's doing is making him shed loads of money then for God's sake keep doing it man!

[davidjohnson6]

edi_local - could I pick you up on just one small point ?

FR could charge £1000 for a boarding cardActually no, they couldn't, because a last minute one-way fare on Ryanair is somewhere in the order of £250. Alternatively, one can go to the nearest major airport and buy a last minute one way ticket on a traditional network carrier. Thus, if one were to be charged £1,000 for a boarding card, many people would just opt to catch the next flight instead and possibly spend the £750 on hotel costs or use a different airline. Better to get some money, than a customer pays money only to the competition. Therefore, the maximum Ryanair can charge for a boarding card and expect people to pay is probably about £300 per person - allowing for the inconvenience of waiting for the next flight.

Still a lot of money though !

[Tableview]

edi_local is correct in principle even if the amount he mentions is unrealistic.

Much as I detest RyanAir, everything he has stated is correct and valid. There's a simple choice, one I made long ago, I won't use them. All carriers have terms and conditions. Earlier this year I bought a ticket to SA on KLM, I went on their website, booked and paid for the cheapest ticket for my trip/dates.

While I was down there I wanted to extend my stay. I rang them and they asked me if I'd checked the fare conditions. I said no, I hadn't ....... they told me it was non-changeable. So I bought a new return ticket from SA which covered the southbound leg of my next journey. My fault, my problem, I still fly KLM and I don't go round slagging them off. And as someone's who's been in that side of the airline industry I know more about fares than most people so I should have been more careful.

[Hotel Tango]

But KLM don't charge you if you haven't checked-in online and non-changable/non refundable fares are CLEARLY defined as such on the KLM site. I think that most passengers are aware of restrictions on fares as that has been an industry norm since almost day one. Being charged for airport check-in is, I believe, exclusive to one carrier, namely Rob You Rigid.

[jackharr]

edi_local (http://www.pprune.org/members/364489-edi_local)

Age: 27
A few people saying the Ryanair Website hides information or makes it difficult to see what you need to do. I can only assume you use a different Ryanair website to me.You are age 27 and have grown up in the computer era. It is second nature to you to use smart phones, complex websites, etc. Give a thought to the 73 year-olds like me who find such matters hard work. This is where Ryanair takes advantage of those who struggle.

One day O'Leary will be old and might find new technology not as easy to master as do his grandchildren. Has he realised that I wonder?

[The SSK]

As a first for me, I’m using a ‘budget’ airline at the weekend (Jetairfly).

I have checked the T&Cs, I have spoken to other people who have used them, and I ought to be confident that:
I do not need to print boarding passes
We have a 20k free baggage allowance plus one in hand
We will have assigned seating

And yet I am STILL paranoid that something will go wrong and a nasty surprise will be sprung on me at check-in. That’s symptomatic of the depths to which Ryanair has dragged this industry.

[Rwy in Sight]

Airline travel includes aspects and procedures not used on other form of travel. When you purchase a train ticket you can use it to go through the "traiside" are of the station and all the way to your seat. Ryanair has taken the approach of stripping commercial flying from all the elements that pax can do without (food, drink, hold baggage) thus offering very low fares for a great number of people. However a boarding pass is a necessary document to gain access to the seat you have paid so it should be included in fare much like the life jacket, additional fuel for an IFR approach, the presence of the cabin crew for the safety aspect etc.

So I really feel that cost cutting has gone too far but I think that as long as enough pax are flying on FR, our comments bear little weight to the company.

[McGoonagall]

It aint really difficult flying with lo-co airlines. Read the T&Cs, turn up on time, get on, get off. Some of the best free entertainment to be had is by arriving at the airport in good time and sitting back with a glass watching the stressed out muppets that feel their own rules apply with regard to baggage weight, check in closing times, sobriety, expired passports, an extra kid (she is only 2 and can sit on my lap) etc....

Sometimes I can only wonder at the reserves of patience the ground staff have.

;)

[Shack37]

Edi Local
Having read your diatribe criticising this woman for not reading the RYR T&C carefully enough I note that you quote £60 per boarding card when it was actually €60 as quoted in the newspaper article.
Pot, kettle, black?


Just that whenever I book, it won't let me continue unless I specifically
click the little box stating that I agree with the terms and conditions of
travel. I must be one of the few who actually read things before I agree to it,
especially if money is involved. I guess I'm the idiot here. Just that if this
woman ticked that little box, which she would have had to have done in order to
proceed, then she surely read that she would have to pay £60 if
she didn't print a boarding card off. No? Well maybe she should read things in
the future, especially something called a contract, which is what she entered in
to when she ticked that little box stating she fully understood Ryanairs
conditions of carriage.

[Hamish 123]

Bit of thread drift, but seeing as how this thread is all about the evil empire that is Ryanair . . . .

Flying back from Seville last week with Ryanair, our flight was late arriving from Stansted, so there was a bit of a mad rush to get it turned round quickly. This may explain why the cabin crew were announcing, as soon as people started boarding, that the first place passengers should stow their hand luggage should be the space under the seat in front of them. Overhead lockers were to be used only if no space was available under seats. As me and my family boarded early, we ignored this and used the overhead lockers, but I ended up sitting beside two folk who both did the whole journey with their feet resting on their bags. There must have been many more in that situation on the flight. At 6' 2", and with the legroom available in Ryanair, this option is a non-starter for me.

Two things strike me about this devlopment:-


Safety - imagine trying to evacuate an airliner when there are bags on the floor in virtually every row?
Precedent - have we now reached a situation where virtually no one puts luggage in the hold anymore, and airliners are palpably not designed to manage this much luggage within the cabin?
Neither point fills me with much confidence. I'll go back to travelling with Monarch, even if more expensive.

[ExXB]

Edi Local
Having read your diatribe criticising this woman for not reading the RYR T&C carefully enough I note that you quote £60 per boarding card when it was actually €60 as quoted in the newspaper article.
Pot, kettle, black?

I understand that all of Cryanair's pounds and euros fees and charges are common rated. Had the lady been assessed the fee in the UK it would be £60, but since it was assessed in Spain it was €60. He common rated them a couple of years back when that was close to the actual exchange rate, and obviously hasn't gotten around to fixing it. But don't be surprised if he simply increases the euro amount. He won't reduce the pound amount.

[jabird]

Not every internet user is capable of making the effort to look for all the hidden traps; in many cases elderly or disabled people simply can’t work the system and are fleeced as a result.

I have some sympathy with this point. There are regulations governing accessibility to websites, in which case I'd love to see the CAPTCHA thrown out, but I think it will take a few more test cases first.

I have a mentally handicapped daughter. There is absolutely no way that she could understand that a flight advertised as being say £25 actually costs four times that amount.

So realistically, would you send her to make an booking with any airline or travel company?

Ryanair's policy discriminates against the less capable.

We are on sticky ground here. Does it do this to people who are less capable because of reasons beyond their own control, or because they cannot be bothered to read the small print?

I'd be interested in a reasoned thread on the former, but this one is clearly about the latter.

Lot of information there jabird, are you the lady's husband perchance and therefore (rightfully) pee'd off at the extra cost?

No, I'm (rightfull) pee'd off at people who complain after they have been stung by t's and c's they agreed to. Nothing in my reply wasn't already in the original article.

Maybe she should have just stayed in the UK and taken a rail holiday on Beardie Trains. Then she could have joined the hundreds of thousands bleating about that - again, long after the rules of the game were clearly made available for the participants.

[jabird]

Safety - imagine trying to evacuate an airliner when there are bags on the floor in virtually every row?

Either the bags are dangerous or they aren't, doesn't matter how many there are. In my experience, Ryanair staff are amongst the most efficient at making sure they are stowed properly.

and airliners are palpably not designed to manage this much luggage within the cabin?

Oh please! Airliner design has evolved to take this into account. Remember when there was just a shelf, no bins?

If Ryanair's practice was not safe, it would not be happening, period.

If there are modes of public transport where bags are a problem, try evacuating a train or an urban bus in the run up to Christmas. Another one for PTDRuNe.

[edi_local]

If there are modes of public transport where bags are a problem, try evacuating a train or an urban bus in the run up to Christmas. Another one for PTDRuNe.

Never mind Christmas time. I've just come off one of the slow trains from Birmingham to London Euston, after we called at BHX the carriage was an obstacle course all the way to at least Leighton Buzzard! I don't hear anyone complaining about trains not having seperate compartments for baggage. Has anyone on PPRune ever used the tube?

To suggest Ryanairs hand baggage policy is a danger to the passengers is absurd. Why not have a go at BA who allow 23Kg in their cabin baggage, as well as 2 items (2 bags in C, 1 bag+ 1 small item in Y), and that's on all routes, not just long haul and that includes aircraft which are of similar size or smaller than the FR 738's.


Anyway, Hamish 123, You state that:

"Overhead lockers were to be used only if no space was available under seats. As me and my family boarded early, we ignored this and used the overhead lockers, but I ended up sitting beside two folk who both did the whole journey with their feet resting on their bags."

Why did you blatantly ignore what the cabin crew were asking you to do? You're not in charge of the cabin safety, they are. Do you think they were making such requests for fun? They had their reasons that in the first instance you should use the space in front of you, as you stated, so why did you feel as though that didn't apply to you? Being on early surely meant that there would be plenty of room under the seats for your family's bags. Perhaps the people next to you could have put their bigger bags in the overhead bin had you not used up all the space?

[jabird]

Well all this Ryanair bashing has made me want to actually fly with them again. And here's why.

Firstly, let's get the booking confirmation out the way:

Ryanair Travel Itinerary - Don't Forget You MUST Check-in Online and Print Off your Boarding Pass

Could they make it any clearer?

Now on to the reality of pricing and service. For anyone who says other airlines are more "pleasant", then fair enough, but if you want to fly to/from BHX and actually go somewhere interesting, your main options for low cost one way sectors (ie come home from somewhere different) are now really just Flybe and Ryanair - not that baby going made any difference here!

Caveat - unlike the passengers who grumble, I don't have any excess baggage, including kids, and I like to visit new places. To be honest, this makes me much more tolerant of Ryanair than most people might otherwise be, but if everyone else hated them that much, they wouldn't still be in business.

So I say to myself - "where do Flybe go that I haven't already been to" - basically narrows it down to Hamburg, west of Ireland and Dubrovnik - so an easy win for the latter as I've never been to Croatia.

As this is one of Flybe's more distant destinations, I wasn't expecting any bargain basement offers, so when I saw the last outbound of the season for £56, I thought great, book it.

Just remember here - this is the flight nobody else wants. No romantic weekenders, no families, not sure how many Croatians come to the UK for the summer - remember they aren't in the EU.

Then I go to Ryanair, who happen to be having one of their usual big splash sales on - BHX-TRS for £18. How much to go the other way I wonder - often these a priced with a low outbound as a sweetener, but not this time - €18 for the return, obviously no £12 APD this time, but that INCLUDES the £6 card fee which I could have avoided if I was a more regular Ryanair user.

I do still have one of those euro prepay cards, so no hidden currency fees. Incidentally - also booking a new year ferry trip to NORTHERN Ireland, they want £5 for my card AND they are charging in euros!

So Ryanair still comes out just under 1/3 the cost of Flybe - and as I always want a window seat, that is also easier to get with the Ryanair freeforall than with an airline that charges you to select one.

For this, I will put up with those gaudy yellow interiors!

[Hotel Tango]

FlyBe is one of the most expensive so-called LCCs I know. I always end up on either Lufthansa (Eurowings) or Brussels Airlines. Never found a FlyBe fare to beat them.

Those who enjoy RYR are welcome to them. We all have a choice and that's exactly what we do. I choose not to fly Ryanair (or Flybe).

[Shack37]

Sober, she didn't forget. She flew out to Alicante and spent 15 days in a
villa, and never left the house to go to town once, never popped round to the
neighbours to ask if they had a printer, never bothered to ask in one of the
hotels near ALC if they could print the passes for a small fee, presumably never
spoke to anyone, zip, nada, all trip?


Lot of information there jabird, are you the lady's husband perchance and
therefore (rightfully) pee'd off at the extra cost?

No, I'm (rightfull) pee'd off at people who complain after they have been
stung by t's and c's they agreed to. Nothing in my reply wasn't already in the original article. (My bold)

Are you referring to the "original" Independent article linked by the OP? I have just read it again and your information is much more comprehensive than that given in the article.

[jabird]

never left the house to go to town once, never popped round to the
neighbours to ask if they had a printer, never bothered to ask in one of the
hotels near ALC if they could print the passes for a small fee, presumably never
spoke to anyone, zip, nada, all trip?

Err, I think there was just a little bit of sarcasm in that comment. My point was that Ryanair online check-in opens 15 days before the flight departs.

Are you really telling me either that she (a) did not know she'd have to pay the €/£ 60 fee or (b) that she had zero opportunity whatsoever to find a printer from which to print these boarding passes at some stage in those 15 days?

[esa-aardvark]

It seems to be deliberate Ryanair policy to prevent one
printing the boarding card more than 14 days before flight.
Why ? Perhaps to allow time for it to get lost.
Incidentally it is not necessarily all that easy to print
a pass in a foreign hotel. I have been in that situation,
ie 8th floor room, laptop computer and hotel printer in
the lobby does not want to work. Staff behind the desk have no idea why and no-one else available.
Depending where the lady was staying internet cafe's are not that common in Alicante.
Still I remember some of my business training
"The main cause of failure is greed".

Anyway why does one need a boarding pass these days,
as you print it yourself it does not actually prove anything
much, except perhaps that you have printer. I much prefer
the method of putting the appropriate Credit or Airline card
into a machine and it prints the card for you.

[DaveReidUK]

It seems to be deliberate Ryanair policy to prevent one printing the boarding card more than 14 days before flight.

Why ? Perhaps to allow time for it to get lost.

That theory doesn't make sense.

If Ryanair wanted to maximise the chance of you losing your boarding card, they would let you print it months in advance, not just 14 days before your flight.

[Sober Lark]

Someone who has the ability to pass Ryanairs CAPTCHA test probably hasn't a leg to stand on when it comes to claiming an inability to remember other conditions of travel such as printing their own boarding passes.

[Shack37]

Err, I think there was just a little bit of sarcasm in that comment.
My point was that Ryanair online check-in opens 15 days before the flight
departs.

Are you really telling me either that she (a) did not
know she'd have to pay the €/£ 60 fee or (b) that she had zero
opportunity whatsoever to find a printer from which to print these boarding
passes at some stage in those 15 days?


Err, not even a hint of sarcasm, stated more as facts. So you embellished it due to having taken severe instant dislike of this woman. A good example of not letting the facts ruin a good rant.
The answer to your question is, I don't know because I wasn't there.

[Malone]

I seem to remember an occasion some years ago when O'Leary appeared on "Watchdog" and he got so caught out that he actually stormed off! I think that it may have been Nicky Campbell interviewing. I think he also had an Italian chef (Aldo Lippi??) there who found it most amusing, as did I.
;)

[Sunnyjohn]

Depending where the lady was staying internet cafe's are not that common in Alicante

If you're in the city, I've found 20 so far. In the province, obviously, there are less.

[Shack37]

If you're in the city, I've found 20 so far. In the province, obviously,
there are less.


SJ
True but for me the point is this. This woman is being torn to shreds here by contributers posting assumptions disguised as facts. None of them know what her situation was or the reason why she didn't print her return boarding passes. Maybe it was a simple case of forgetting to do it, maybe she had other things on her mind to worry about. The point is, we don't know the circumstances but that doesn't stop the "zero tolerance" experts who obviously never made a mistake in their perfect lives.

[Torque Tonight]

It is not that we are all perfect and have never made any mistakes. It is that when we have screwed up we accept the consequences and then get on with things, particularly where the matter is legal or related to a contract which we have agreed to.

Very recently I exceeded the checked baggage weight limit for a different airline by a couple of kgs. I had to pay an excess baggage fee. Irritating, yes. Did I start a Facebook campaign, seek someone else to blame, enage the media, demand an apology, fish for compensation.... no I didn't.

O'Leary is right on this one, although his way of speaking about it was not ideal. There is virtually nowhere on Earth where in the space of two weeks you cannot print off some pages from the interent; and presumably she managed to print her boarding passes for the outbound sector so cannot claim ignorance for the inbound sector.

[Tableview]

I seem to remember an occasion some years ago when O'Leary appeared on "Watchdog" and he got so caught out that he actually stormed off! I think that it may have been Nicky Campbell interviewing

I'd like to see that clip because I find it hard to imagine that O'Leary would be 'caught out' and would 'storm off'. He's too damned smart!

[DeepDene]

SLF occasional vistor to this site ... been travelling on business for over 30 years; 95 countries at the last count and goodness knows how many airlines - many of them now defunct. My company is going through tough financial times and forced me to take Ryanair for the first time this week. I was dreading the thought - however ..... my observations are:-
1) The website was not particulalry difficult to navigate,
2) the flights departed on time and clearly this was a priority (can't over emphasise how important this is to business passengers !!)
3) The fare - booked 5 days before departure - was £127.00 the next cheapest my company travel coordinator could find was £497.00 on a certain German carrier. BA didn't feature !!
4) The Ryanair crew were friendly and efficient - and they got me to my meeting, and home to my loved ones, on time.

Overall, I was quite impressed - particuarly with the price! Many of the knockers on here I suspect work for more traditional airlines - the ones who think you should feel privileged to fly with them (anyone from BA reading this? Anyone remember the marquees in the Terminal 4 car park and flights leaving without passengers - how's that for poor treatment of your customers?). So far, a very happy Ryanair customer.

[ChatterBox33]

It seems to me that some people would prefer a return to the "glory days" of aviation when people actually got dressed up to fly, gourmet food on all flights, etc.

If I fly Ryanair, I know what to expect. They get me from A to B. Yes, they play cheesy announcements (especially the trumpet one when landing on time) but I could not give a fig for a sector of 1-2 hours.

The rules of the company are so well publicised that I fail to see how anyone can continue to complain.

[davidjohnson6]

It seems to me that some people would prefer a return to the "glory days" of aviation when people actually got dressed up to fly

Would it really be so bad, if people made an effort to look a little more presentable at Stansted ?

[B Fraser]

I had the misfortune to go to Luton Airport recently. I have seen better dressed people hanging around a dole office waiting for the doors to open. The sad truth is that flying has largely become a race to the bottom and in many cases, has reached that point.

[Sunnyjohn]

Yes, there were glory days. I worked for BEA before it became BA. It was a prestigious airline and proud of it. But that was in the middle of the last century. We are now in the 21st century and short-haul flights are just bus services. There is nothing at all romantic about being herded like cattle into an aluminium tube and breathing 129 other people's exhalations whilst attempting to read as trolleys clank past you. I am sure our American friends will tell you the same with their short-haulers. If you want romance and quality you can still get it but you pay the price. I am hoping that when we visit New Zealand we can fly Emirates Club Class for a real treat. It'll cost us most of our retirement savings but it'll be worth it. In the meantime I am perfectly happy to use Ruinair and Squeasyjet for what they are - bus services.

[Shack37]

There is virtually nowhere on Earth where in the space of two weeks you
cannot print off some pages from the interent; and presumably she managed to
print her boarding passes for the outbound sector so cannot claim ignorance for
the inbound sector.


Agree with everything you say. What we don't know is why she didn't print them unless she explained on her Falsecook rant but I can't access that, not being a member.
People come on here with moans about many things and get either sympathy or flamed but at least the flamers are aware of the details of the whinge they're flaming.
Maybe someone who has read her :mad: bark can enlighten us all.

[jabird]

you embellished it due to having taken severe instant dislike of this woman. A good example of not letting the facts ruin a good rant.

No, I made a simple, logical assumption. We know she stayed in a villa, we know she was there for more than 14 days.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to assume that she had opportunities somewhere during the last 14 days of her stay, or on the way to the airport, to find a printer that would do the job in hand.

For anymore than 1x€60 I would have gone into Eroski and bought a printer myself.

doesn't stop the "zero tolerance" experts who obviously never made a mistake in their perfect lives

More like the "zero knowledge" Ryanair "experts" who decide to take on the airline on a legal point where they have no claim of any substance to make. It might be totally absurd that they charge you this much for a single sheet of paper, but that is their policy, take it or easyJet it.

Of course I make mistakes, I usually do so several times each day. However, I have the decency to know that "most" of my mistakes are my own fault. I'm still not sure who to blame for the ones that aren't, can anyone help me out there?

[Shack37]

Of course I make mistakes, I usually do so several times each day. However, I
have the decency to know that "most" of my mistakes are my own fault. I'm still
not sure who to blame for the ones that aren't, can anyone help me out
there?


OK, if there is no cost or pain involved I'll cop for one of them.

[jabird]

Just for the record, I have tried various FB searches, and contacted the poster directly, but no luck with either.

There are a few Ryanair hate groups out there, but the airline still has far more "fans" than the haters - I'd say by about 8:1.

[PAXboy]

RYR are a bunch of A1 class $hits but everyone knows that. If they don't - by the time they have flown one sector with them - they know that!

The key to this stated problem and the irritation of the original traveller, is that the group of people who ONLY knew old service - many of then of the still expect full sarvice.

Tthey might not travel very often and so be unaware of the changes. But, in another ten years, that generation will (mostly) either know - or be too old to travel. I only travel RYR if I have no choice but that's my choice.

The 18 year olds that are travellin gon their own account for the first time - don't think twice about these things.

It's called life - which is not the same things as progress! :}

[Basil]

the ones who think you should feel privileged to fly with them (anyone from BA reading this?
Certainly did in 1980 but King & Marshall sorted that out. Always good to do a 'Putting people first' re-run, though.
Presently in Sydney and met up with friends who came out a few days ago in Singapore economy. They felt that the CC appeared to consider them a nuisance and unworthy of their attention. Regrettably, having recently dealt with (one or two, not all) SIN ground staff, I wasn't surprised.

[edi_local]

Just for the record, I have tried various FB searches, and contacted the poster directly, but no luck with either.

There are a few Ryanair hate groups out there, but the airline still has far more "fans" than the haters - I'd say by about 8:1.

That's because the vast majority of people who use them have done exactly what has been asked of them and have gotten from A to B for much less than the fare stated on another airline and have been perfectly happy with the service they got and didn't expect, want or demand more than they were getting. Quite what people moaning abut FR, especially on Facebook, hope to achieve is beyond me, even if they charged my own mother £60 for a boarding card I'd still book with them without hesitation if I felt they were offering me a good deal and no amount of "it's unfair" moaners would change my mind.

[Ancient Observer]

Basil,
yup, they need PPF again. As you say, it doesn't hurt to re-run it....