Ryanair - 8
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ireland
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Cabin Baggage
I choose Aer Lingus when possible because I am allowed my standard cabin bag PLUS my computer bag. Mrs H can also carry her handbag as a seperate item too.
If the overheads are full there is plenty of room under the seat in front of you.
Even when AL are more expensive than RYR I will choose AL because of the above = equals less hassle and stress.
If the overheads are full there is plenty of room under the seat in front of you.
Even when AL are more expensive than RYR I will choose AL because of the above = equals less hassle and stress.
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: La Napoule
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It used to be the case (and probably still is) that the handling agent (not RYR staff) gained commission for any extra bag charges.
I know of one agent who claimed he gained £400 commission over two days on bag charges at the gate.
Christmas to pay for so be warned.....
Binder
I know of one agent who claimed he gained £400 commission over two days on bag charges at the gate.
Christmas to pay for so be warned.....
Binder
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Edinburgh
Age: 39
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I don't think the commission for the handling agents exist anymore, or if it does then it must be limited to certain airports or agencies. The people I know who work on the FR product do not get a penny, but get plenty of hassle if they let anyone off with a big bag or more than one item. 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Europe
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Ryanair has just introduced something new, I'd call it "sales spoiling screen". Well indeed, while it's a protection against unauthorized access of the website by using the automated programmes of any kind, it may prevent some users from making their genuinely own bookings. Not everyone is patient enough to enter fairly long codes during every search. This may reflect in weaker sales, I'm afraid. Of course the unwanted screen scraping phenomenon that FR fights with also makes nuisance, but will this next one hurdle during the booking process really bring more benefits than harm in the economic terms?
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Nuneaton / Fuerteventura
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access code
eu01 we have been putting that bl--dy code in for ages when flying from FUE in canary's to uk i just hide my ip address to uk one and that does the trick.
Technical term is CAPTCHA. Currently set so that after looking at flights on 8 different dates you have to enter a new code. Makes it a real pain if you are looking on the basis of 'Where shall we go on any 1 of 3 or 4 different weekends during the summer ?' - this of course affects mainly those living near major bases rather than outlying spokes. Those looking for a specific route on a specific date are however largely unaffected.
I forecast Capcrap being removed very quickly as it is annoying and likely to block people booking. A week of booking slowdown and it could be removed.
There are easier ways to stop screen scrapers involving credit card patterns and name recognition.
There are easier ways to stop screen scrapers involving credit card patterns and name recognition.
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dublin
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What the story with Kerry airport as all ryanair flight are ending march 2012 according to wikipidea?
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Finland
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Some earlier comments on that forum concerning the possible consequences of Ryanair's attempt to hinder the activities of so-called screen scrapers seem to be very accurate. Today, Travel Weekly writes:
I'm not an actual travel agent, but I do organise group travels quite often and I know how FR has made it difficult to, among else, carry out group bookings. Why? I think it's just one of very many issues this carrier underestimates. And like in the above case, many things could be revised.
If Ryanair didn’t know how much it has the trade to thank for selling its seats it does now after last week's aborted attempt to block third parties booking on its website.(...)
If industry rumours are correct and commentators on our original story are right, Ryanair lost 80% of business in the short period that the verification measure was live.
No wonder it disappeared so quickly.
Of course Ryanair’s distaste for travel agent business and attempts to block screen scraping are nothing new and it has fought and lost a number of court cases around Europe.
But with the airline clearly so reliant on agents, and conversely some big UK agents hugely reliant on Ryanair by up to 60% it is claimed, this particular battle looks set to run.
What the airline was banking on last week is that its customers, on realising that they were not able to book via their chosen travel intermediary, would immediately turn to the Ryanair website itself.
But that naively assumes that most people who buy dynamically packaged holidays are naturally drawn to Ryanair and are confident enough and savvy enough to go online and put together their own holiday from scratch.
The fact is most of this custom turns to agents because they want someone else to do the work for them and offer them a holiday for the lowest price possible.
It’s not like these holidaymakers are fantastically loyal Ryanair customers who have been forced to use an agent because they have tied up all the seat availability and best deals. No one would mistake Ryanair for an airline that particularly goes out of its way to inspire loyalty through its fantastic customer service.
The millions of people who are booking Ryanair flights through third parties are just as happy to fly with easyJet, or Monarch or Jet2 as long as the deal is right. Did someone at Ryanair really think it would be able to redirect this business to its own website by adding another annoying step in the booking process?
The estimated 30% of Ryanair’s business that comes through the trade costs the airline nothing in direct payments, so why is it so determined to cut off this flow of bookings?
In the past it’s all been about price for Ryanair. Chief executive Michael O’Leary has been hugely critical of agents who he believes drive up price but add little value. However in his most recent assessment of Ryanair’s trading O’Leary was happy to talk about increased average fares.
Why? Because an airline that has based its performance to date on growing volume by opening up new routes has to, at some point, start to make those routes more profitable to keep the City happy.
The largest airline in Europe has to start making more money to achieve growth. And who, if not agents, are capable of pushing up average selling prices? There’s only so far Ryanair can go in driving up the basket value by increasing charges for ancillaries or dreaming up ever more outrageous costs.
What Ryanair appears to have underestimated is that agents who are specialists in putting together packaged holidays do add value.
They have strong consumer brands and offer the consumer one place to come to to book their holiday and, increasingly, peace of mind that everything is taken care of and their money is safe.(...)
So following last week’s aborted experiment what price Ryanair moving to significantly improve its holiday offering, as easyJet has done?
Or could we see a softening of its stance on agents now it knows the degree to which it shares its customers with other travel companies? Given O'Leary's past utterances on travel agents I wouldn’t hold your breath.
If industry rumours are correct and commentators on our original story are right, Ryanair lost 80% of business in the short period that the verification measure was live.
No wonder it disappeared so quickly.
Of course Ryanair’s distaste for travel agent business and attempts to block screen scraping are nothing new and it has fought and lost a number of court cases around Europe.
But with the airline clearly so reliant on agents, and conversely some big UK agents hugely reliant on Ryanair by up to 60% it is claimed, this particular battle looks set to run.
What the airline was banking on last week is that its customers, on realising that they were not able to book via their chosen travel intermediary, would immediately turn to the Ryanair website itself.
But that naively assumes that most people who buy dynamically packaged holidays are naturally drawn to Ryanair and are confident enough and savvy enough to go online and put together their own holiday from scratch.
The fact is most of this custom turns to agents because they want someone else to do the work for them and offer them a holiday for the lowest price possible.
It’s not like these holidaymakers are fantastically loyal Ryanair customers who have been forced to use an agent because they have tied up all the seat availability and best deals. No one would mistake Ryanair for an airline that particularly goes out of its way to inspire loyalty through its fantastic customer service.
The millions of people who are booking Ryanair flights through third parties are just as happy to fly with easyJet, or Monarch or Jet2 as long as the deal is right. Did someone at Ryanair really think it would be able to redirect this business to its own website by adding another annoying step in the booking process?
The estimated 30% of Ryanair’s business that comes through the trade costs the airline nothing in direct payments, so why is it so determined to cut off this flow of bookings?
In the past it’s all been about price for Ryanair. Chief executive Michael O’Leary has been hugely critical of agents who he believes drive up price but add little value. However in his most recent assessment of Ryanair’s trading O’Leary was happy to talk about increased average fares.
Why? Because an airline that has based its performance to date on growing volume by opening up new routes has to, at some point, start to make those routes more profitable to keep the City happy.
The largest airline in Europe has to start making more money to achieve growth. And who, if not agents, are capable of pushing up average selling prices? There’s only so far Ryanair can go in driving up the basket value by increasing charges for ancillaries or dreaming up ever more outrageous costs.
What Ryanair appears to have underestimated is that agents who are specialists in putting together packaged holidays do add value.
They have strong consumer brands and offer the consumer one place to come to to book their holiday and, increasingly, peace of mind that everything is taken care of and their money is safe.(...)
So following last week’s aborted experiment what price Ryanair moving to significantly improve its holiday offering, as easyJet has done?
Or could we see a softening of its stance on agents now it knows the degree to which it shares its customers with other travel companies? Given O'Leary's past utterances on travel agents I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Finland
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Captcha is up and running again
A novice: Grrr, let's just move to another airline.
A versed customer:
- short-sightedly: Good! They'll sell less tickets, the prices must fall.
- later: Too bad! Cutting the routes again?
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Sweden
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Terrible...
I think it mainly will hurt FR. It is not easy to read at all, and very easy to make a mistake.
As I have understood it one of most important points regarding commercial internet sites is to make it easy to buy the goods with as little input as possible. This is exactly the opposite...
As I have understood it one of most important points regarding commercial internet sites is to make it easy to buy the goods with as little input as possible. This is exactly the opposite...
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: germany
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I reckon the planned expansion at Leipzig-Halle is bad news for Magdeburg-Cochstedt? FR said 6 weeks ago they would be back in March, but as yet no flights from Cochstedt are bookable. FR are probably playing the 2 airports against each other.