'Bog' standard Ryanair

[Truck2005]

I haven't read through all these replies but I seem to remember in my days of Ge-ing that if more than one toilet was out of use, (for whatever reason), then the amount of pax carried was limited, (on the VC10).

Do civvy airlines have the same rules?

[SXB]

Carr30 and Daz
You still don't get it, do you ? Those of us who choose not to travel by RYR are actually not that bothered about paying an extra £40 or more (sometimes a lot more) I choose to pay extra to obtain a better product. There are certain types of services and goods where one will be prepared to pay extra, for example, I choose not to drive around in a Yugo, though if I did I'm sure I would save some money. It would also be cheaper for me to eat lunch in McDonalds each day but I prefer to spend a bit extra and have something of better quality.

You can harp on all night about what good value RYR actually are, but as far as I'm concerned they are a bucket airline flying cattle trucks, point to point, over cherry picked routes and exploit some of their staff and, on occasion, their customers as well.

[CARR30]

I partly 'get it' SXB - it's about choice.

It's NOT about about spurious claims that new 738's are 'cattle trucks', or that e.g. Stansted - Carcassonne (or as some might say, nowhere to nowhere) is now considered 'cherry picking' or that 'only £40' is a notional saving. I certainly don't get this constant harping on about 'point to point' being a problem. Would a policy of making everyone change at Charleroi make some sort of sense to you?

It's good for you that can pay extra for everything but most of us have to make choices constrained by our income and personally I couldn't care less what car you drive or where you take lunch.

Therefore, I don't 'get it', that an airline that happens to be convenient and economic for me arouses such hostile emotion in people who never go near it and need never go near it.

[daz211]

Well said CARR
ryanair have one of the newest fleets in the world
but if others want to call them cattle trucks let-em
i for one would fly ryanair all year round and have done
for many years never a problem always early arrivals
good choice of departure times and always good transport
links at destination

the others on here know that BA wished it had kept
GO AIRLINES and i see they are trying the low cost
thing again so if BA have to copy ryanairs business
type they must be doing something right

[SXB]

Carr
That's right, it's about choice. RYR do operate cattle trucks, when the flight is called you are herded into 4 areas with little fences where you then await your fate. The aircraft RYR operate also cram more seats into the same area than a legacy carrier. When you travel with a real airline you get a boarding pass with a seat number, I always wait until everone else has boarded before taking my seat.

As regards your comments about point to point, again when you travel with a real airline you can choose any two places where that airline (or it's partners) flies to, and they will get you and your luggage to said place, with a legal responsibility. With RYR you can't do this, you can only choose destinations served, directly, by your departure point. You could buy two separate tickets but then RYR have no responsibility to get you, or your luggage, to your final destination.

My comments about cars and lunch, as you know full well, were to illustrate choice, which we all have.

I have nothing against RYR but their product simply isn't for me. If you and Daz like it then I wish you good luck and happy travels, should we meet in a departure lounge then you can both buy me a coffee with the money you've saved

[10secondsurvey]

I hadn't read this thread for a while, but honestly, what a lot of fluff you are coming up with carr30. So you like Ryanair, that's ok, but what I don't get is your extreme need to rise to the defence of Ryanair. It really is quite bizarre. Do you own the company?

As for Ryanair going to Madrid, will it be Barajas like proper airlines such as BA and Iberia, or something unrelated 103km away like they do with Barcelona?

[CARR30]

Originally Posted by SXB

Carr
That's right, it's about choice. ... should we meet in a departure lounge then you can both buy me a coffee with the money you've saved

Agreed SXB, except with the cattle truck analogy you obviously have no experience of UK terrestrial transport.

I'm sure that with the money I've saved the budget will stretch to dinner a deux at the hotel. Wear something nice. ...

[CARR30]

Originally Posted by 10secondsurvey

I hadn't read this thread for a while, but honestly, what a lot of fluff you are coming up with carr30. So you like Ryanair, that's ok, but what I don't get is your extreme need to rise to the defence of Ryanair. It really is quite bizarre. Do you own the company?

I've explained that I'm a customer of Ryanair. I've never had any trouble with them and they have been a god-send for allowing me to take time away from this blessed isle frequently and economically.

My 'extreme need' to defend Ryanair is as nothing compared to the even odder people who never use the company, find their routes of no interest and yet repeatedly churn out the same lazy accusations and secondhand sob stories.

So to paraphase, Mr Pot "So you don't like Ryanair, that's ok, but what I don't get is your extreme need to rise up and attack Ryanair. It really is quite bizarre. Do you own a competitor?"

[slim_slag]

So SXB, in your opinion it's only a "real" airline if it interlines your luggage and allocates you a seat. You cannot think much of Southwest then. Southwest are streets ahead of your favourite "real" airlne when it comes to giving their customers what they want. The times they are a changing, don't get left behind

[daz211]

10 secondsurvey

are you shocked by this coz BA,IB and EI were
ryanair will start flying to MAD barajas in feb at this
time you can only book it from dublin but watch
this space they have plans to turm MAD in to a base
they will then have flights to LPA FUE TSF RAK
and many more

so in answer to your question YES it will be MAD

[daz211]

what is it with people do you think that all passengers on a flight
all want to go to the same place once they have landed
have you ever thought an airport out of town is better if you
are staying away from the city
not all people fly to FRA to visit or work in the city
some use HHN as its closer for them
likewise LHR LGW and STN if you were traveling to london
from FRA you might be staying in cambridge so STN
would be better
as we all know LHR and LGW are not in london

[SXB]

So SXB, in your opinion it's only a "real" airline if it interlines your luggage and allocates you a seat. You cannot think much of Southwest then. Southwest are streets ahead of your favourite "real" airlne when it comes to giving their customers what they want. The times they are a changing, don't get left behind

In a word, yes. The vast majority of my trips involve multiple sectors so I expect my luggage to be transferred to my destination. For seat allocation I get to the airport early or checkin online to get the seat I want. BA are not my favourite airline, I simply use them as an example as most people on this forum appear to be UK based, though I do use BA, and like them. My favoured airlines change, at the moment most of my flights seem to be Lufthansa or Austrian and I am very happy with both companies. Over the last couple of months I've used AF quite a few times, historically I didn't like AF but my recent experiences have been postive, they have also been very good value.

As for Southwest I can't comment on this airline as I've never used them, that said my question would be - can they take me from a provincial french city and deliver me to virtually any major city in the world ? If the answer is no then I wouldn't be interested. The world may be changing but the vast majority business travellers are still choosing 'legacy'

Carr30
Picking the suit up from the cleaners tomorrow

[Ametyst]

Just flown around Europe with Ryanair doing about 15 flights. They were superb. All flights bar one were on time or early, the seat pitch is the same as any economy airline and the staff were professional throughout. The one flight that was late was only so by 30 minutes.

My nearest airport is Liverpool and if I only had BA and the likes as my choice of airline then I would always have to do a 70-mile round trip to Manchester every time I wanted to fly. In the North-West now. the largest carrier in terms of passengers carried is easyJet followed by Ryanair. BA has all but given up at Manchester.

I flew into Frankfurt Hahn as part of may tour and find coaches connecting with the Ryanair flights to take passengers not just to Frankfurt but also Koblenz, Luxembourg, Mainz, Mannheim, Saarbrucken, Trier, Wisebaden and Worms.

Of Ryanair's 16 hubs/bases only Frankfurt, Gerona and Stockholm are quite a bit away from the main cities they claim to serve. Charleroi is as close to Brussels as Stansted is to London and serves a large connurbation south of Brussels, Bergamo is actually closer to Milan than Malpensa and Prestwick has a superb rail link to Ayr and Glasgow.

I think easyJet and Ryanair are superb, but then again I think BA is a fine airline and I fly with them a lot. It is horses for courses.

[eidah]

Originally Posted by SXB

When you travel with a real airline you get a boarding pass with a seat number, I always wait until everone else has boarded before taking my seat.

Which is exactly what all other pax of the "real" airlines do, and which is why FR doesn't allocate seats. IMO everyone who work for the airline industry should be able to appreciate a company that can make its pax run to the gate on time, even if it's just to get a window seat...

[CARR30]

Originally Posted by SXB

I always wait until everone else has boarded before taking my seat.

Originally Posted by eidah

Which is exactly what all other pax of the "real" airlines do

Come on guys, only ONE of you 'real' airline' passengers can be last. No loitering at the back of the queue please, the gate has to close now.

I'm planning another trip to the Languedoc at the end of September. I looked at the BA site and they operate a service to Montpellier as GB Airways. They were much dearer going out but a deal breaking problem is that the service seems to finish for the year at the end of Sept, so there's no way back in Oct. Therefore it's laughable that Ryanair is being accused on here of 'cherry picking' whereas it's a so-called "real airline" cynically creaming off holiday traffic like this.

All the other points on here about Ryanair being very convenient for regional destinations are very well made and are quite important to me.

[alpine blue]

Have flown as a pax with Ryan Air and was inpressed, The fare was good and I do have standards that were not affected by flying 1 hour on a low cost airline. As for toilet paper it runs out on long haul flights on full fare airlines in business class, rather fly with Ryan.

[Pax Vobiscum]

Come on guys, only ONE of you 'real' airline' passengers can be last. No loitering at the back of the queue please, the gate has to close now.

Respect to SXB for holdng back to be one of the last to board the flight, but in my experience, there's always a mad rush to get on board ASAP. As soon as the 'body language' of the ground staff indicates that boarding is about to begin a queue (or if you're unlucky, a scrum) develops at the entrance to the gate. Once boarding is announced at least 75% of the pax will join the queue.

Even though I've got an allocated seat, I confess that I try to get on as early as possible too, simply because my experience tells me that if I'm one of the last to board on a flight that's reasonably full, I will find that there's no space left in 'my' overhead luggage area

[Final 3 Greens]

Come on guys, only ONE of you 'real' airline' passengers can be last. No loitering at the back of the queue please, the gate has to close now.

We do not "loiter", which when done with intent is a criminal offence.

We wait, with grace, to the end, 'cos we sit at the front and prefer the great unwashed to do their version of a ruck and maul, before we, in a gentlemanly fashion, take our place onboard.

Of course, the great unwashed love to ruck and maul and so feel very comfortable on certain carriers, where this process is encouraged per Eidah's admonishment that "IMO everyone who work for the airline industry should be able to appreciate a company that can make its pax run to the gate on time, even if it's just to get a window seat."

As to the fare difference, well we couldn't really care about that as we don't pick up our own tabs, so the Moet, Black Label, Widow or even the Trocken that our German friends serve tastes all the better for being gratis.

In fact, I actively encourage those of lesser standing to fly with certain low cost carriers, since it keeps the terminals at the major airports that little bit clearer, reduces the security queues and the hassle at the exec club reception, when foirced to wait behind some lesser mortal who expected access on a 2 bob ticket.... really

[slim_slag]

Ha Ha, F3G, very drole, you should head over to the BA flyertalk forum, they need cheering up over there and that humour would fit in well

Anyway, back to the thick of it. Good old SXB says it's not a real airline if you don't get a seat assigned. Southwest doesn't assign seats therefore cannot be a real airline. SXB has never flown them and by his own admission says he cannot comment. But surely SXB that is what some here are saying, which is one shouldn't comment on an airline if you don't fly them? And by your specific definition of what a "real" airline is, you have indeed commented on Southwest.

People on here constantly say "I'd never fly Ryanair but they are cr@p because people on the internet say they are". Best of all are the ones on here who say "Well I think Ryanair are rubbish, but I flew them once and I was pleasantly surprised, but I wouldn't fly them again because they are cr@p"

As for your desire to be able to depart from any "provincial French city" I think you will find FR flies to places in France that other airlines will not touch. Don't you read what is said on here, Ryanair go to out of the way places so they are cr@p, it sounds to me flying to provincial places is exactlty what you want from an airline!

I am with Pax Vobiscum on boarding. One advantage of status on in alliance is the ability to board when one wants, and I always get on early so I can stick my backpack in the bin. Another 20 minutes in an airline seat isn't going to annoy me, having to wait an hour for my luggage will.

Horses for courses.

[daz211]

I would be intrested to see pax number ( bums on seats)
stats for both airlines BA and FR I think that Ryanair is now
more popular than British airways and must have a more
modern fleet