Whingeing Ryanfliers

[Munnyspinner]

Is it just me or does everyone have to groan and gripe about the poison dwarf's airline?

Ryaniar are only there to make money and the more the better. They do this by operating on a tight margin but perpetually lowering their exposure to risk, increasing revenue and reducing costs. This is only possible becuse they know that the size of the market is significantly greater than the number of passengers they need to make their business model work i.e. they don't rely on any loyalty and expect repeat passengers will take a decision on their travel needs based only on individual need and price. This clearly suits lots and lots of people.

I cannot see the point in moaning about Ryanair as it it a pointless and no doubt fruitless exercise - they won't listen and I doubt they actually care what people say. If it makes more money for Ryanair they will do whatever they need.

Charging for aspects of a journey that generate additional charges for the airline is eminently sensible. If you can check in online - check in online - it's free. If you want someone else to do it for you, and it's not difficult, then pay the charge.

I have never and probably willnever fly with the Ryan because I usually have a choice of airlines and I prefer quality over price. Eveyone has a choice. If you choose ryanair please don't keep on complaining - you know what your going to get before you book your ticket.

[Gassy]

^^^^^^^^

What he said

[Alanwsg]

If you can check in online - check in online - it's freeSure about that?

[raffele]

Check in will no longer be free for all. If you've been following the news and threads on here about their recent plans, from May 20th you'll be charged £5/€5 to check in unless you have bought one of their very cheapest fares on all new bookings.

The fact that they are now charging people for a process that has to be completed in order to travel is what's causing the outrage at the moment... Bundled with their plan to charge a horrendous amount for those who have problems with printing, or forget to bring their passes to the airport. Charging £40/€40 for something that, in reality, only costs 10p or so is nothing shy of daylight robbery.

To cover a couple of your other points - you said you're probably never going to fly with them. Very good that you have a choice of other airlines. However there are people, believe it or not, that need to travel on a budget. Which is why FR appeal to so many. The reason for all the moaning and whinging which is obviously annoying you, is because they are very sneaky in how they add extra charges and fees to jack up the price, making it more costlier than first thought. And not everyone has access to these forums, or pays much attention to big news stories about FR, and don't find this out until after they've been stung - and they are more than within their rights to kick up a fuss about it.

People are always going to whinge and moan about Ryanair, because of the very way they conduct business - sneaking in charges, trying to slipstream their insurance into your booking without you noticing - and you're just going to have to put up with all the whinging. No, Ryanair won't listen and change their ways, but it's not going to stop people trying to get them to listen up.

[al446]

I totally endorse what Rafelle says and would add that some do not have a choice and also some do not what crap service FR offers.

FR's core customer is someone who can't afford to fly BA, LH, KLM etc and are less inclined to read small print. Often their choice has been greatly reduced because another loco has been forced off a route because FR has come in and carried out a war of attrition using its financial muscle and the better loco has had to withdraw. FR then pushes up prices and often reduces frequency.

In my case I wish to go to Granada if I go anywhere in Spain so am stuck with FR out of Liverpool unless I want to go to Malaga and hire a car, defeating the object of using loco.

Their customer service is appaling, you only find that out after you have a problem, and exhibit amazing inflexibility.

I agreee they are there to make money but I always thought that had to be done ethically otherwise we are back to the bad old days of Rachmanite landlords etc.

I do not knock FR on principal, I do so because I have experienced them as a shyster company, the last time from Murcia was that, the last.

[ManofMan]

I do not knock FR on principal, I do so because I have experienced them as a shyster company, the last time from Murcia was that, the last.

MOL must be $hitting himself only 63,599,999 passengers left using his service.

[Nicholas49]

Well that may be what you experienced, but has it ever occurred to you that the people who write in with their horror stories are always the moaners and that the vast majority of customers (and we're talking big numbers of passengers here pall) never feel the need to put pen to paper because they got from A to B safely and without incident? Has it ever occurred to you that people vote with their feet, so if everyone really was so distraught by their 'customer experience' the airline would no longer exist? Of course it hadn't.

My experience of flying with Ryanair has been nothing but excellent. On many occasions. If something doesn't work out, I'll be sure to check whether it was any less likely to with BA before moaning about it here.

There really is nothing worse than a whinger, so if you don't like it then either fly with someone else or just stay at home. Either way, stop moaning on about 'how appalling' it is. It isn't.

[bondim]

Munnyspinner,

let me point out that ALL businesses are there to make money, the more the better. I do agree, however, that money making could be done more ethically, and that there should be stricter regulation rgarding "hidden extras".

But surely, Ryanair must be doing SOMETHING right, as millions of people still book with them.

[Avman]

MOL must be $hitting himself only 63,599,999 passengers left using his service.

I think there´s more than 1 pax turning away from RYR. No significant impact yet, but once the ball starts to roll.........? The airline´s open contempt for its customers is going to cost them eventually.

FR's core customer is someone who can't afford to fly BA, LH, KLM

More like conned/brainwashed in believing they can´t afford to fly BA, LH, KLM. In fact, RYR is often not that much cheaper.

I travel regularly from Maastricht to Birmingham. My options are to travel initially by car to Brussels, Dusseldorf or Weeze. All three are roughly 1 hour´s drive. Amsterdam is too far away and out of the reckoning. I book my trips up to 4 months in advance. For my particular circumstances (bag to check in for instance) I find that once past the initial low fare quotes made by Flybe (DUS) and RYR (Weeze) the end total comes to within a few Euros of the total Brussels Airlines fare (BRU). Brussels Airlines booking process is easy and up front with regard to what you pay. Furthermore, free self-allocated seat upon web check-in, FF program, and above all the feeling that you are treated all the way as a valued customer. Cheapest of all, but only in July and August (for obvious reasons) is Lufthansa. I wonder how many RYR customers who actually want to travel to Dusseldorf in July or August would even consider checking Lufthansa fares? They´ve been brainwashed into thinking there can´t be cheaper than the likes of RYR. But how long for?

Of course we need competition to keep prices realistic, but not in the direction RYR is going. That´s not competition, that´s taking the pi$$ out of your customers.

[Skipness One Echo]

Look at MPs expenses. Push a good thing too far and the public get's unforgiveably pissed off. There *ARE* limits to how much people will put up with.

[Final 3 Greens]

Skipness 1E

I agree with your comments.

Public emotion and tipping points are unpredictable, but Ryanair have had a quite run of growth.

It remains to be seen whether the loco model is economically sustainable in the longer term and if not, whether the punters will continue to put their hands in their pockets for extra charges.

[Sober Lark]

Remember when you lads used to complain about British Rail and goodness I was soo fed up listening to whinging about the British Rail sandwich.

IF someone can fly to Malaga for macaroni its a bargain. If the next time they fly they pay a one-er they are still getting a bargain. Isnt it all about perception?

[GroundedSLF]

Munnyspinner - Thank you, you have given me a huge laugh this morning.

So much so that I had to read your post twice.

I am really surprised that you took the time to start this thread, defending FR, when you constantly complain on various threads about BA - everything to do with BA, service, rules etc, etc.

Can you explain why you attack BA and defend FR?

[Nicholas49]

Why not? Grounded SLF - you fit into the category I described above.

[GroundedSLF]

Nicholas49

Please let me know where in my post above I am "whinging"?

All I was doing was pointing out that the starter of this post has on many, many occasions in various threads on this site constantly complained about BA, and I would like to know how he can defend FR while attacking BA.

I work in the travel business selling airline tickets, and have sold to both the leisure and corporate communities.

My issue with all airlines (not just FR) is regarding transparancy of pricing. The headline fare should now encompass all non optional extras.

Then if passengers want to add on anything else, its up to them.

My specific issue with FR is regarding their attitude to their customers when things do go wrong. You are left high and dry. I have never heard (or read on here) about FR showing any compassion/common sense assistance when things go wrong.
FR do not do business with Travel Agents - they describe Travel Agents as "ticket touts who mark up fares and rip off our customers".
I believe people should have the choice - many business people do not have the time to book their own flights (or the patience to navigate the booking site to ensure they have "ticked" or "unticked" the right boxes)

Once FR announced their "ban" on Travel Agents, we obviously still had forward bookings in the system, which FR had to honour.
When calling their call centre to ask any type of question, once it was established that the booking was made by a travel agent, FR hung up.

Oh - and in my personal experiance, FR have lost approx £98k in bookings that have been switched to other carriers.
We clearly explain to our clients that we can not book FR as FR will not allow us to do so; we then give the client the choice of either booking with FR direct, or travelling with a different airline via ourselves. The vast majority choose an alternative airline.

[Capot]

I know a travel agent - in an area with a large number of private and corporate clients who prefer to pick up a phone to arrange all their travel - who reckons he diverts 15-20 seat/sector sales per day from Ryanair to other carriers, once the clients know that if they want to travel FR they must make the bookings.

He has charged his clients an admin fee for years for booking their loco flights on zero commission, and they are happy to pay.

Ryanair can - presumably - afford to lose travel agency business at the moment, even when that loss is extrapolated to the whole of Europe. But as times get harder it, just like Easyjet, will need the friends and customers it seems determined to lose when it doesn't need them.

Cash reserves can melt away alarmingly fast, and Ryanair is now just as vulnerable to rumour and consequent negative cash flow as the competitors it has tried in the past 18 months to destroy by rumour.

[GroundedSLF]

One thing that I have never understood is why FR wants to ban Travel Agents anyway.

So what if they charge a fee, if the client is happy to pay it.

If FR have a seat for sale at £X - why do they care who buys it?

[jimworcs]

There may be a point if Ryanair's charging was transparent and honest, but it is not. I have long ago stopped flying Ryanair and eventually so will others. O'Leary's hostility to his pilots, staff and customers is ok when you are the little guy fighting the big established legacy carriers. But he is now the big guy and becoming financially abusive.

I don't object to him charging whatever he likes, but his pricing is deliberately deceptive. It amounts to "bait & switch" and there is no legitimate reason for many of his practices. He is also a monumental hypocrite. For example, claiming the DAA and BAA are price gouging and also complaining about the mark ups on fuel and certain airports. His mark up's on using credit cards is at loan shark type rates, but when challenged states that Ryanair can charge what they like.

The most offensive part of Ryanair though is their contempt for the law and the fact that they get away with it. For example, internet based companies are required to have an email address for customer complaints or issues. Ryanair refuses to do so. If you have a legitimate complaint about Ryanair they charge you to address it. If you have to call them, you must pay them to fix the problem. If they fail to deliver the service and you need to claim it on your insurance, they charge you to provide evidence that they failed to provide the service. These are utterly indefensible and amount to stripping away from the consumer any realistic remedy. The only way to address this is to more strictly regulate them. It is a cowboy outfit, run by a cowboy who is making millions by ripping off people. He has set things up in such a way that he rips off large numbers of people with relatively small amounts per person and relies on the fact that most people will shrug and walk away.

[al446]

Reading this thread this morning since I posted has raised one question with me, was Munnyspinner setting out to be a troll or did that just evolve?

[EastMids]

One thing that I have never understood is why FR wants to ban Travel Agents anyway. So what if they charge a fee, if the client is happy to pay it. If FR have a seat for sale at £X - why do they care who buys it?

When Ryanair stopped the screen-scraping by the on-line booking engines, there were two main reasons:

1. If people booked via another website, they weren't exposed to Ryanair's other "offers" - i.e. Ryanair weren't going to get any ancilliary revenue for insurance, car hire, hotels, etc., etc. As this is now a very important part of Ryanair's income, it is in their interest to have everyone going through their website and being exposed to these [ahem] "offers"
2. On-line booking sites would quite lay out the fares, leaving the punter with a clear view of when Ryanair was not the cheapest. Ryanair depends to a significant extent on the ignorant believing that they will always be cheapest, and thus anything that exposes that myth as untrue is not in Ryanair's interest

For the same reasons as the above, it is not at present in Ryanair's interest to use travel agents. Travel agents are unlikely to offer insurance, car hire, hotels etc through Ryanair, and any good travel agent will earn their commission by offering alternatives, especially when there are better alternatives available. So, like I say, at present its just not in Ryanair's interests. Come the glorious day, things will hopefully be different!!!

Andy

[GroundedSLF]

Check out his previous posts - seems to take an objectionable view on a lot of issues.

[Munnyspinner]

Grounded .

Thanks for your comments. But, you have misread my thread. I do not come to praise FR, as I would happily condemn them.

No, I was simply trying to ridicule those who, disappointed by FR's dismal customer relations, don't vote with their feet but whinge about this and that not being fair, then turn up the following week to hand MO'L another wad of notes.

In fairness, since BA so royally P**sed me off I have tried not to darken their door - pretty successfully too. I have also transferred a pile of loyalty points that would otherwaise been heading for the Belligerent Aviators ( you know I wanted to say A**holes, but am too polite).

Whilst I have some ( very little) sympathy for those who don't have a choice of routes, unless you are deliberately trying to avoid a population centre, FR is not a particularly smart way to travel. Yes, its cheap but if that's all you want - don't complain. If you want cheap and good be prepared to pay a bit more, or book early or pick a big city where you will get a choice of airlines. - There are choices. Don't whinge - walk. FR will get message when it hurts them in the pocket.

[Munnyspinner]

I think he means objective view !!

[GroundedSLF]

MS - I dont believe I misread your post, the basic drift of which (in my understanding) was to stop moaning about FR on these forums.

What surprised me was that you have, on a number of threads, moaned about BA.

I couldnt understand why you object to others moaning about FR when you yourself moan about BA.

Pot...kettle...black...:confused:

[Nicholas49]

My specific issue with FR is regarding their attitude to their customers when things do go wrong. You are left high and dry. I have never heard (or read on here) about FR showing any compassion/common sense assistance when things go wrong.

When you pay £10 for a flight, you cannot expect an airline to send an empty aircraft out to get you when something goes wrong. I concede, however, that this policy is different from other lo-cos such as easyJet. When there was an almighty schedule cock-up they organised a rescue flight back to London from Geneva (although many other flights were just cancelled).

FR do not do business with Travel Agents - they describe Travel Agents as "ticket touts who mark up fares and rip off our customers".

Passengers have the choice: if they don't want to pay a travel agent's fee and are capable of booking a ticket online, then they can fly with Ryanair. After all, that is the whole point of Internet-based transactions. There is no need for Ryanair to do business with travel agents when their passengers are perfectly capable of booking tickets online.

Finally, as far as contacting customer services is concerned, I recommend taking the initiative and addressing a letter to Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive at their Dublin HQ. When I did this a few months ago I received a reply within a few days signed by the man himself.

Some of you really haven't the slightest idea how a business works! I am not saying Ryanair is the perfect company, but you really do need to be a bit more reasonable.

[Capot]

When you pay £10 for a flight


And that's the point; the average paid for an FR seat per sector (flight) is around 70 Euros (2007/8), plus the cost of genuine Government taxes, ie APD and the like. (This is from memory and unchecked).

On a typical flight, very few people in the aircraft will have paid a very low total price, say <£20.

About the same number, perhaps a little fewer, will have paid upwards of £175 - £200 each.

Part of the con is that most of the so-called "taxes" are simply elements of the cost to FR of carrying you from A to B that they charge separately and call a "tax".

Nearly all airlines (honourable exceptions include Air SouthWest) have picked up on this con trick so that they can claim "low" headline "fares" that appear competitive.

And some people stilll seem to get taken in, eg........ When you pay £10 for a flight

When did anyone last pay that, in total, for a flight on any airline?

[smala01]

I couldn`t Resist. (if you count a flight as a sector)

Looking back at the accounts;

2009
6 sectors to Dublin £10 or less
Return to Porto £15
Return to Riga 0.02p
Return to Milan £12

2008
Morocco £20 return
4 sectors to Dublin £5
Return to Oslo £0.02p
Return to Norway (somewhere) £0.02p

Plenty of others in the £25 to £45 return range.

Play the game, take hand luggage, get a visa delta card and be quids in.

Smala01

[GroundedSLF]

Nicholas49 - Hmm - let me look at your points;

1 - "When you pay £10 for a flight, you cannot expect an airline to send out an empty aircraft to get you when things go wrong"
Where does that come from? I never mentioned that scenario. What I would expect from a company who I had a contract with to get me from point a to point b on a specific date is some kind of assistance. Either placed onto another airline that had spare seats, or placed in overnight accomodation until the next flight.

2- In response to my assertion that FR do not do business with travel agents, you stated "Passengers have a choice: if they dont want to pay a travel agents fee and are capable of booking online, then they can fly Ryanair" - You miss the point. They dont have a choice - they have to book with FR direct. What about poor old pensioners who dont have a PC, or people that prefer to do business with an agent?

3 - "Some of you dont have an idea about how business works" - Really. Business works by making a profit. This can be done via transparent pricing if you have confidance in your product and service. There is no need to resort to underhand pricing tactics, to try and confuse the consumer into booking. Think about it this way, how would you feel if you went out to buy a washing machine, advertised for £25.00, only to get to the till and find another £400 in "optional" extras, such as hoses, nuts, bolts, etc...

[TightSlot]

Would you two either kiss and make up or take it outside please

[leisurelad]

In regards to Ryanair, they are their own worst enemy. As an independant agency, we use to book around £50k worth of ryanair flights each month direct on their website to match up with our contracted accommodation supplier from various UK airports.
We never screen scraped and because they are not agent friendly and don't want agents selling their tickets anymore, both of us loose out although we now use easyjet who are agent friendly.
I wonder how much revenue they have lost through agents not selling their tickets ???

[GroundedSLF]

Sorry Tightslot - didnt realise I was being "out of order" - just having a friendly debate - apologies if I offend.

[Nicholas49]

I too am only trying to put the opposite case because I am little tired of the Ryanair bashing that goes on here. I have no vested interest in the company but I do object to unfounded criticism. I think the comments on 'hidden costs' and 'customer service' above fall into that category. I would be happy to continue the discussion, but if it's not appropriate for the forum then I'll happily refrain!

[Capot]

smala010

OK, ever willing to admit I'm wrong, but are you sure those numbers are the total cost? I looked up some FR prices for late 2009 and early 2010, for weekday flights to places like Glasgow and Dublin fro STN, and from Bristol.

There were flights with NO TAXES, but never cheaper than £16.99 per sector, and with taxes for £0.49 but then never with less than £13.00 added, alhugh sometimes that was on one sector only of a return flight.

From BRS, this, for a flight in Feb 2010, is fairly typical;

Going Out (Web Fare)1 Adult@ 0.49 GBP0.49 GBPTaxes/Fees details (javascript:feesTaxes_breakDown('1'))32.83 GBPComing Back (Web Fare)1 Adult@ 0.49 GBP0.49 GBPTaxes/Fees details (javascript:feesTaxes_breakDown('2'))30.05 GBPTotal Cost of Flight63.86 GBP
Excluding handling fee (if applicable)
For a full list of Ryanair fees, please click here (javascript:infoWin('trvfee',0,0,'EN'))

My experience of FR in the past does not match yours, and from trhat bit of research it seems that I'm doing something wrong!

Can you tell us how you find flights on which FR evidently pays the APD for you?

[Seat62K]

Ryanair has been paying passengers' UK APD for ages. The airline has paid my UK APD (and more) countless times. I could get a list together but I'll simply cite a recent booking from memory: £4 return Stansted-Palma. I paid not a penny more.

Now, this was only possible because I used an Electron card, did not have hold baggage, did not take insurance etc., etc.

I see today (15 May) that similar trips to various destinations in Europe would be available at £6 return if I was interested.

[Munnyspinner]

Grounded , I know you are a bit pedestrian with the grey matter but the message was actually,

Stop whingeing and stop flyimg FR - vote with your feet. Half of the whingers regularly pay for the pleasure then moan about their crap experiences.

And I have. Whinge doesn't work

[Metro man]

Last time I ate in McDonalds I was not impressed. Unable to book in advance, not met on arrival and shown to my table (which had no table cloth or place setting !), had to queue up at the counter for food, no smoked salmon, fillet steak or even a wine list available.

Next time I eat out I'll go to a proper restaurant and pay six times as much for a meal. Now where is my Mitchellin guide ? :E

[Michael SWS]

Last time I ate in McDonalds I was not impressed. Unable to book in advance, not met on arrival and shown to my table (which had no table cloth or place setting !), had to queue up at the counter for food, no smoked salmon, fillet steak or even a wine list available.But presumably the price displayed on the menu was the price you paid? There were no additional fees for optional extras such as a tray or a straw? And McDonalds would undoubtedly have quickly and correctly dealt with any complaint you might have had about the food or service; they would not brush you off with a "well, what did you expect for £2?".

[Munnyspinner]

and michael,

if mcdonald's fleeced their customers so obviously - what should you do?

Whinge from the rooftops or go somewhere else? In either case I really can't see why you would ever go back and be right royally fleeced again. Which, it has to be said is what many folk do at RF. Hate the experience then queue up again and wonder whay they - hate the experience?

Crazy. The only place for MO'L is on an island counting is mountains of cash willingly given to him by the disgruntled pax at FR.

[smala01]

Capot,

Typically Ryanair release their promotional fares about 3 months prior to the departure date. If you book quickly after a new month tranche is released there is generally good availability, especially in the off-peak months.

As someone else alluded to, Ryanair have been subsidising the APD on a number of fares for years. You need to carry hand baggage only and pay with a visa debt card but the cheap deals are readily available.

I should also add that its not just price I’m attracted to - I must have taken 60 sectors in the last few years, none being delayed for more than 30 minutes.

Smala01

[raffele]

...pay with a visa debt card but the cheap deals are readily available

No - not a Visa Debit card, but a Visa Electron card. Yes it is a debit card, but Visa Debit and Visa Electron are two very different cards

Just thought I'd clarify

[Hombre]

I travel twice per month AGP/EDI. My choices are either FR or GSM. therefore I have a choice.

The FR flight times are better, however, I will gladly take the 5:55am (red eye) GSM flight every Friday to AGP.

I could list the reasons why but GSM customer service is the main one. In short, I and many others vote with our feet.

[MartinCh]

Hi guys.

Where does one go to bring up full scale complaint about Ryanair's website error not allowing person to print boarding pass when having chosen to check online, but the screen where it should appear (and it does with my booking, but not hers).

This incurring 40 quid 'charges' that were and going to be (inbound) enforced although this issue brought up. This is obviously technical glitch, but any responsibility refused (how else, ground staff have no idea or don't deal with it).

Another problem besides whom to call (outside usual CAB), who to deal with within Ryanair? I remember no normal ways to complain, only some premium booking numbers.

[Munnyspinner]

Vote with your feet.

Avoid Ryanair and save £40. That is the whole point of this thread - not an outlet for those who keep wanting to give MO'L money for Cr*p services then whinge about it.

[bealine]

For me, I have a personal dislike of all things EasyJet and Ryanair because these two jokers seriously bu66ered up the aviation industry, destroyed jobs and peoples' livelihoods and only got to where they are thanks to Terrorist Activity! (There is no way in hell EasyJet would have obtained BA's Gatwick Slots without Al Qu'eda's kind assistance in almost destroying the "Heritage Airlines"!)

Having said that, my wife an I flew Ryanair from Stanstead to Valladolid for a friend's wedding last year because the alternative would have been a 10 hour journey each way via Barcelona. The tickets were £60 each and we paid £5.50 to check in one suitcase. I can't remember how much we paid, but there was a "Countrer Check In and Priority Boarding" fee which we paid as well which was compulsory if you had checked baggage.

After reading all the shock-horror stories about Ryanair charging for everything, we scrutinised the Terms and Conditions.

Surprise, surprise! When we turned up at Stanstead with plenty of time to spare, the girl on check-in smiled sweetly and accepted our bag. The clean, fresh aeroplane boarded and departed on time and landed on time in Valladolid.

The return trip was equally hassle-free and, once again, pleasant ground staff (even if he did make me leave a couple of bottles of "San Miguel" behind as they pushed my bag slightly overweight! We had another clean, smart aircraft and pleasant crew and arrived back into Stanstead on time!

My wife and I would have loved to have a "shock - horror" story to tell you because we love anything which dishes the dirt on EZY or FR! Sadly, however, Ryanair did everything they told us they would and I am devastated to tell you that we would definitely choose to fly with Michael O'Leary's airline again - especially with some of the offers avalable! British Airways' Staff Travel can't touch his £1 fares!

Sorry Folks! Read the small print, don't turn up late, don't take over your bag allowance and don't expect to change your booking with impunity. Take your own small supply of "Scooby Snacks" and buy a bottle or two of water from WH Smiths or Boots airside in case you get delayed and your trip will be fine!

My guess is that the whingers are the ones who haven't checked up on the Terms and Conditions and these are the guys Michael O'Leary loves for they are a license to print money!

[Michael SWS]

The tickets were £60 each and we paid £5.50 to check in one suitcase. I can't remember how much we paid, but there was a "Countrer Check In and Priority Boarding" fee which we paid as well which was compulsory if you had checked baggage...So you quote the headline fare and admit that you can't remember exactly how much the additional charges were. Isn't that exactly the point that some people are making?

[Capot]

Michael SWS,

Why not read his post more carefully? It seems to me that the only additional charge he does not know is the Check-in and Priority Boarding fee. The £60 sounds like the seat price including all the so-called taxes, CC charge, etc etc.

[Icare9]

If anybody travelling by air now does not understand the simple rules about flying with Ryanair then they must be hermits.
The ticket prices are so low, that somewhere you have to understand that nothing comes free.
OK, low seat price..... then when confirming your booking, all the other wonderful add ons make it almost as expensive as a competitor that seemed at first to be charging twice the price.
Once you decide on the flight EVERYTHING else comes at a price. Priority boarding (puttting you on a bus that departs at the same time or later than the hoi polloi). Seats on a less than full aircraft are cordoned off so no time weasted clearing those for the next sector.
Bags....Charge for hold baggage with lowest weight allowance (of course). If there is pressure for revenue, then bag sizes are scrutinised to maximise revenue. Bag I cm bigger, tough, you read the size when booking. What about the others on the flight with steamer trunks? Shrug, we got you.... Want a seat together..... if you are prepared to bare knuckle fight .....
In flight sales.... almost desperate pleas from CC to buy something, anything. Bottle of water? that'll be £3 sir..... no, I'm not taking the p*ss, do you want it or not?
So, a shortish unpleasant flight where even shaking hands you then count your fingers or try and find an alternative which isn't much different at the final "click".
It's the lack of transparency where a £10 ticket offer ends up being over £60 by the time you get to confirmation.....
The trouble is, other loco's aren't publicising all these rip-offs by Ryanair. I f they did then they'd see a surge away from Ryanair.
Stand up and put comparison prices on your websites. yes, Ryanair look cheap (never a truer expression) but the loco's simply let them take potential customers away without highlighting all the add-ons.
Even the airports put Ryanair on the furthest pads, so it's a 2 mile route march to get to your aircraft, which then lands 20 miles away from the so called nearest town......
So, yes, I'll fly by Ryanair if the ticket price outweighs the inconvenience of going without food or water for a couple of hours, with minimal baggage.
I can work out that flying me to a destination in the sun for £10 can't be profitable, even adding on what other passengers pay, it's a close financial tightrope to see any profit.

[Munnyspinner]

Sense at last.

Play the game and you can benefit. Read the T&C and avoid unnecessary extras. This is all good advice and should be heeded. If you play MO'L at his own game you can win. But, remember, he will keep on changing the rules so be on your toes.

Ryanair are expected to announce a profit of C. £60M. And, even with all the little traps and ruses he couldn't make this without running an efficient low margin business.

I might not like it but you have to give credit where credit is due.

[PAXboy]

Icare9Seats on a less than full aircraft are cordoned off so no time weasted clearing those for the next sector.
I think that you will find that the usual reason for that is weight and balance calculations on the Boeing 737-800. There are many references to it in the main FR threads.

[MartinCh]

Vote with your feet.

Avoid Ryanair and save £40. That is the whole point of this thread - not an outlet for those who keep wanting to give MO'L money for Cr*p services then whinge about it.Yeah, the Chinese British (or vice versa) girl made up her mind.
I asked a question about info where to check/whom to ask.

This is not being stupid and not reading small print, being surprised about some of their 'additional charges'. This is plain website error/malfunction with this particular booking.

HTF are you supposed to print your boarding pass for flight for which you just checked in online, if it doesn't let you see it? Or trying later on 'reprinting' it.
Just because I don't like certain supermarket practices per se, pure necesssity/overall savings/convenience tell me to use it.
But when I was overcharged by checkout staff's mistake, I returned and demanded 'double the difference' refund. Uncompromisingly without being fobbed off by either that girl in question or her manager trying to fool me. It cost me 10mins of my life standing around and calmly repeating the same thing 15x, but it paid off. Literally and for feeling better. It's about principle.

If they err, you should get to them, be given refund/exchange/extra something.
Just like the 35 quid 'overdraft fee' I wasn't supposed to be charged (cheque cleared months later etc) I got back. If you don't ask/let yourself heard, you'd not win.
Life is what it is. Winning case/claim just thanks to be rightful isn't rule at all..

Short notice booking or not having time wouldn't exactly save anything.
Below's the boarding pass screen.

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs038.snc1/4339_86233118998_704998998_1882667_8262747_n.jpg

BTW, I play MOL's game to beat them, myself.
Also, when I was given booking number 'not confirmed', didn't see it charged to available balance on my account via online banking, I called up their 'premium' number for about 5p total cost to me. Just in case it would take a while to clear it. Just website/browser burp. Couple mins waiting on the line and about minute talking to the lady. One has to know some tricks :-D
Think I'll let her know how to so that she can bitch for almost free about this on their booking line.

[bealine]

The tickets were £60 each and we paid £5.50 to check in one suitcase. I can't remember how much we paid, but there was a "Countrer Check In and Priority Boarding" fee which we paid as well which was compulsory if you had checked baggage...

Please don't read into my post something that isn't there! The amount for "Counter Check In and Priority Boarding" was snall - GBP 5 or thereabouts, but we were fully aware at the time we booked and paid for it. When I clicked the mouse at the end of the booking, I was fully aware of the total bill and when my credit card statement came in, Ryanair had taken exactly the amnount we agreed.

In my opinion, the GBP140 I paid for both of us to go to VLL and back was a bargain. Believe it or not, we pay more than that for Airline Industry Discounted Staff Standby tickets!

As I said previously, I wish I could give some negative feedback on the Ryanair experience, but for us they did everything they said they would!

(By the way, the girl and the gentleman whose wedding we attended are both Spanish and air crew so many of the guests were aviation workers, mostly with IATA carriers, and most of us from the UK flew Ryanair for the first time. No one had a bad word to say about the airline - except that we do feel making workers pay for their uniforms, and even for water, is taking the mickey somewhat!)

[slip and turn]

MartinCh, haven't read your posts too carefully but if I understand you correctly you tried to print your boarding pass but it had not appeared on screen and there is an error message per your picture?

I have seen this a number of times - there is a long-term glitch in Ryanair's software which means under certain conditions the boarding card does not appear below the top section of the page you have shown.

The workaround is to go back / login again with your email address and flight date/destination detail and choose the "Reprint" option which you have alluded to.

Don't ask why, it's just something that happens often enough to confuse the hell out of some people :{

[Munnyspinner]

Begs the obvious question - why haven't FR tried to fix the glitch? Wouldn't be because there are folk who wouldn't have the confidence to stand their ground and pay up anyway?.

[Mr Quite Happy]

Begs the obvious question - why haven't FR tried to fix the glitch? Wouldn't be because there are folk who wouldn't have the confidence to stand their ground and pay up anyway?.

I suspect the business case is a bit dodgy

Cost 500 GBP per day per developer
Benefit 0.00 GBP or worse, Negative!

[Munnyspinner]

Mr. Quite happy - that was my point indeed. No financial benefit to FR but positive customer staisfaction. That's a dodgy business case alright!

Re toilet charges - lets's be honest, MO'L would tell you he danced with the devil in the pale moonlight - if he thought it would garner any extra publicity. The more controversial the better. Who on God's earth uses an a/c toilet if they can avoid it? What is the average FR flight duration and the average number of seats/pax. Do the maths - if you allow 10 mins either side of take off/landing on a 1hr 30 sector that leaves 70 minutes for toilet trips say 3 loos or 210 minutes toilet time available per 160 pax. a generous 1 minute and 20 seconds each. Now bear in mind you have a single aisle and some cabin services it would be impossible for more than a handful of folk on any flight to actually get to the bog - I don't know that stats but on shorthaul I would guess that less than 10 people actually use the loo on any flight. This makes it look like 3 loos are excessive, for use by the privileged few! - not an O'Leary thing. So he wants to charge - fair do, except CAA say that loos are essential - so he can't. Tough.

It's been a non starter from the off but it fairly gets attention - well done MO'L.

Re the reclining seats - I agree. I'm no giant but at 6' I don't ever need to recline on most flights. I did fly EZY and was really P'eed off to find the fat midget in the row in front ( a bulkhead seat) pushed his seat right back. I have also had this behaviour on BA and other full service airlines and just don't understand why anyone actually needs to recline on a short flight. If you don't get the option - you can't. That said, I suspect the seat pitch on FR would present me with a problem. Again, there is a simple logic that you can't fault FR for. It costs more for the seats if they recline, seat pitch can be kept to a minimum if they don't - if folk want recilining seats, pay to go eslewhere - you pays your money and accepts what you get.

[Hombre]

Ryanair just posted in excess of £140M financial loss. MOL suggested usual excuses. I am going to make a prediction: Ryanair have passed the tipping point on "customer loyalty:in-house customer derision - i.e. they won't be here this time next year.

Oh, by the way, GSM made circa £1million PROFIT this year. I wonder why:ok: (see my earlier post)...