So I started wondering why there is so much bile in this thread about Ryanair. What is it that evokes such strong feelings, both for and against? I’ve only used them once and, I must say, I found that it delivered exactly what it said on the tin – a very cheap flight to Norway. Ok, the seats were hard, the food expensive and inedible, the check-in rules strict, and the flight times ungodly, but what the hell, myself and my family got there and back for nearly nothing.
Anyway, I watched the Panorama programme, and the uncut interview with Michael O’Leary, and I also spent an hour on the Ryanair website, booking a few dummy fares and checking out the terms and conditions.
I truly don’t see what the controversy is. As far as I can see, the charges are very clearly displayed, easy to understand, and you have the option to stop and go elsewhere at any point up until payment. The fact is that Mr O’Leary has developed a brilliant business model which enables you, as long as you follow the rules, to fly very, very inexpensively. True, it requires a rethink of attitudes, but what is so wrong about taking the cost of meal service out of the ticket and making those who want it pay separately. That has been the norm on the train for years (and British Rail prices were plenty high enough), but I haven’t noticed people complaining. What is wrong about stripping out all the other costs out of the ticket as well? It’s true that Ryanair baggage charges are skyhigh – so don’t carry baggage, or look for a traditional carrier when you have bags to transport. It’s true also that both Ryanair and Easyjet apply loading models which increase the price of tickets the closer the date of travel. That’s actually why I don’t use them more. I can rarely plan ahead, and usually find BMI or BA more , or equally, competitive on price at short notice. There’s also a change fee of between 25 and 100 quid. That’s fine. At 10 quid I can throw away the ticket and buy another one! I am sure that if Mr O’Leary starts to lose business as a result of being relatively unattractive to business travellers, he will find a way to attract me by undercutting his rivals. Right now, I am not his market, which is ok by me. On the other hand, last night I found a fare to Bergerac, booking a month ahead, for 10 quid. No strings, no frills. So, what is the problem?
In fact, the only “unfair” (but definitely not hidden) charges I could find were the exorbitant credit card fee of 5 quid – c’mon, it doesn’t cost that much and realistically there is no other way to pay – and the online check-in fee of 5 quid. The former is money-grabbing (actually it is designed to incentivize you to get a Ryanair credit card, which I neither want nor need) whilst the latter seems to be to be poor marketing. I appreciate that it is waived on some routes, but if you are going to eliminate physical check-in, it does seem a bit unfair to add a charge for something that cannot be done any other way. IMHO, would have been smarter to apply an across the board increase of one or two pounds on fares without telling anyone. Nobody would have noticed and Mr O’Leary would have been even better placed to assume the moral high ground over BA with its nasty, ill-timed and very much “hidden” seat selection charges, changes to long-standing transatlantic baggage rules and other charges. Not to mention things like hidden $2 headset charges on other airlines, etc. etc.
No, I’m sorry, I’ve read all the posts, and checked the facts and I’m afraid my vote goes to O’Leary over Willie Walsh any day. And I am a BA gold card holder, by the way, so it’s not as if I don’t fly much. Incidentally, I probably won’t be a gold card holder next year, because I have spent most of this year eschewing the airmiles in favour of a rigorously competitive approach to ticket pricing and as a result have a much extended travel budget and a very happy CFO. Who’s the mug? Not Mr Michael O’Leary, that’s for sure!!