Ryanair-Questions, comments, bouquets & brickbats (Merged)
Join Date: Aug 2006
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anotherglassofwine has it right
Time is money
If you have lots of free time and can put it to no better use than sit around a airport or traveling to/from a remote airport just to save a few euros, fly with Ryanair
If your time is more valuable and you prefer to do other things as well, pay a bit more & fly a more reliable carrier....
how hard is this?
Time is money
If you have lots of free time and can put it to no better use than sit around a airport or traveling to/from a remote airport just to save a few euros, fly with Ryanair
If your time is more valuable and you prefer to do other things as well, pay a bit more & fly a more reliable carrier....
how hard is this?
I think that if you live near the departure airport and are going to the arrival airport's catchment area, then it can work. RYR's dispatch reliability is good due to them flying into (generally) smaller, less congested airports.
However, if anyone has had to book a flight under several weeks in advance, the fares quoted are very 'uncheap' indeed. It isn't realistic to travel without more than say 10-20kilos total(all-in) if one is holidaying/travelling/business tripping etc and if the airline is baulking at baggage, then it's not too clever. Most RYR passengers are, i'll wager, families travelling together, people visiting family, couples doing weekend/plus breaks, people doing sporting holidays/breaks and so on. ALL have baggage needs, it's normal..... Business clients will be in the minority, a niche market. However it is these 'hand-baggage warriors' who will benefit from RYR's policy and not the main group using the airline.
People are price sensitive and RYR obviously do offer very good fares if you can get them, but to gouge on generally accepted necessities is bad business IMHO. There is (was) too much 'fat' on the legacy carriers offerings, but being too thin is just as bad. With efficient handling I don't see why hold baggage needs to be a major hindrance, especially at smaller airports.
I've benefitted from crazy cheap fares (winter season 15.99 euro total return!) in the last few years and who would complain, but have also paid a decent amount and been left sleeping on an airport floor for 2 nights due to a late evening flight cancellation and left up the creek without a paddle (not RYR, but HLX) which definitely soured my relationship with that airline....
SHJ
However, if anyone has had to book a flight under several weeks in advance, the fares quoted are very 'uncheap' indeed. It isn't realistic to travel without more than say 10-20kilos total(all-in) if one is holidaying/travelling/business tripping etc and if the airline is baulking at baggage, then it's not too clever. Most RYR passengers are, i'll wager, families travelling together, people visiting family, couples doing weekend/plus breaks, people doing sporting holidays/breaks and so on. ALL have baggage needs, it's normal..... Business clients will be in the minority, a niche market. However it is these 'hand-baggage warriors' who will benefit from RYR's policy and not the main group using the airline.
People are price sensitive and RYR obviously do offer very good fares if you can get them, but to gouge on generally accepted necessities is bad business IMHO. There is (was) too much 'fat' on the legacy carriers offerings, but being too thin is just as bad. With efficient handling I don't see why hold baggage needs to be a major hindrance, especially at smaller airports.
I've benefitted from crazy cheap fares (winter season 15.99 euro total return!) in the last few years and who would complain, but have also paid a decent amount and been left sleeping on an airport floor for 2 nights due to a late evening flight cancellation and left up the creek without a paddle (not RYR, but HLX) which definitely soured my relationship with that airline....
SHJ
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Ireland
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Springheeledjack - a much cooler post than me and you are correct.
The route I mainly use is Dublin - Krakow, my other choice on this route is Aer Lingus. Only one airport to fly into, so no big deal for me. Over the past 12 months invariably the cheapest has been fr - with the exception of one occasion. I am only carrying handluggage and travelling alone.
That said, when I am going on my Hols with my partner and her son, I don't even consider flying Ryanair (or EI for that matter). I want the assurance that if something does go wrong, I am not going to be left stranded in some god foresaken airport for hours on end.
It does appear that I am in that "handluggage warrior" niche. (I love that term!)
agow
The route I mainly use is Dublin - Krakow, my other choice on this route is Aer Lingus. Only one airport to fly into, so no big deal for me. Over the past 12 months invariably the cheapest has been fr - with the exception of one occasion. I am only carrying handluggage and travelling alone.
That said, when I am going on my Hols with my partner and her son, I don't even consider flying Ryanair (or EI for that matter). I want the assurance that if something does go wrong, I am not going to be left stranded in some god foresaken airport for hours on end.
It does appear that I am in that "handluggage warrior" niche. (I love that term!)
agow
It does appear that I am in that "handluggage warrior" niche. (I love that term!)
One would prefer to fly with the GV, but you just can't get the staff these days.
SHJ
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Essex
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BA's introduction of a "lowest fare finder" tool on its website reminded me that Ryanair used to have something similar and useful it was, too.
Does anyone else find it much more difficult now to find the really low fares? For example, a "headline" fare of, say, £10 can work out more expensive than a £20 one which, on closer inspection (once selected for the "dropdown" additional charges) comes with free online checkin and no taxes/fees. So, your £10 can become £40 whilst your £20 remains £20.
I suppose it's Ryanair's way of making it as difficult as possible to locate the really good deals....
Does anyone else find it much more difficult now to find the really low fares? For example, a "headline" fare of, say, £10 can work out more expensive than a £20 one which, on closer inspection (once selected for the "dropdown" additional charges) comes with free online checkin and no taxes/fees. So, your £10 can become £40 whilst your £20 remains £20.
I suppose it's Ryanair's way of making it as difficult as possible to locate the really good deals....
Seat62K - I used to have exactly the same problem, finding it really difficult to search through fares on different dates.
Then I worked out the solution - write my own screenscraper !
And no, before anyone asks, I'm not going to email it to you
Then I worked out the solution - write my own screenscraper !
And no, before anyone asks, I'm not going to email it to you
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Seat62K - You could try skyscanner.net which shows price inc taxes & standard charges, impossible to consider variables like check-in, baggage, etc but close
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Off on 2 weeks holiday with Ryanair on 26 August at 06h45.
Still I always prefer to try an alternative when there is one available and often the cost difference is only around £20 which is preferable to pay to avoid the ryanair paltry weight restrictions.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Are they serious?
They want me to pay them to print their boarding pass from my PC using my printer and my ink.
I'm sorry Leo, but my intelligence quotient just won't let me do it.
They want me to pay them to print their boarding pass from my PC using my printer and my ink.
I'm sorry Leo, but my intelligence quotient just won't let me do it.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
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I know it seems a cheek to be charged to use one's own ink and paper but, as always with Ryanair, it's the final price paid by the passenger that counts. For the routes and dates I travel Ryanair is nearly always better value than any other airline, and often by a considerable margin. What I've lost on the swings I've more than made up on the roundabouts...
On another matter, the fact that easyJet have Stansted flights until the end of June, 2010 available for purchase now means that it, not Ryanair, has got some of my recent custom. It's a pity because I prefer to fly Ryanair, mainly (but not exclusively) because I can't bear the easyJet "boarding experience", but I can't afford to wait and see what Ryanair's fares will be before making a choice between the two.
Moreover, it seems to me that Ryanair has also tended to charge very high fares when flights are first made available, another factor which has put me off booking at this point in the past. This sort of pricing simply encourages some people (i.e., those aware of it) to wait.
On another matter, the fact that easyJet have Stansted flights until the end of June, 2010 available for purchase now means that it, not Ryanair, has got some of my recent custom. It's a pity because I prefer to fly Ryanair, mainly (but not exclusively) because I can't bear the easyJet "boarding experience", but I can't afford to wait and see what Ryanair's fares will be before making a choice between the two.
Moreover, it seems to me that Ryanair has also tended to charge very high fares when flights are first made available, another factor which has put me off booking at this point in the past. This sort of pricing simply encourages some people (i.e., those aware of it) to wait.
Join Date: Nov 1999
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OK, so here's a new one on me.
Thinking of travelling next month for a weekend with Mrs C and the two baby Cs. There's a promotion on, so the adult single fare is €15.99. Excellent. And the infant fare is...er, €20. Hmm.
I know they aren't allowed to sit in their own seats, but does anyone have any experience of infants being refused boarding on Ryanair because they have adult tickets?
Brgds
C.
Thinking of travelling next month for a weekend with Mrs C and the two baby Cs. There's a promotion on, so the adult single fare is €15.99. Excellent. And the infant fare is...er, €20. Hmm.
I know they aren't allowed to sit in their own seats, but does anyone have any experience of infants being refused boarding on Ryanair because they have adult tickets?
Brgds
C.
I know they aren't allowed to sit in their own seats, but does anyone have any experience of infants being refused boarding on Ryanair because they have adult tickets? 
Join Date: Jun 2007
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I sometimes go off on a trip - for pleasure or business - with just hand luggage, but then find I "acquire" ( = wife and kids buy, or cause to be bought) loads of extra stuff. Instead of stumping up for extra baggage charges on the way home, I parcel up either the new gear or the dirty washing and head for the local post office. Stuff usually arrives safely and cheaply within a few days. Top tip: Take a roll of parcel tape in your hand luggage on the way out.
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Horten, Norway / Bremen, Germany
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Just adding my two cents (mostly) in favor of Ryanair. Since 2005 (there was a girl..) I've been on at least one Ryanair flight every month, first to Hahn then to Bremen when they opened there/here. Flying from Torp, half an hour with car (traffic allowing) from where my family lives in Norway. Since I moved to Bremen last october I think I've logged just over 30 flights.
I've never experienced any sort of problem with any of my no-de/de-no flights but a few in-air delays due to severe weather. And usually at the cost of a Euro (pluss Visa-charges... but I'm sorting an Electron card next week when I'm in norway again.)
My Torp-Stansted trips were usually more problematic. After my first time in London and on my second flight with Ryanair, we got a bad seed of a pilot. Not sure what he did, but there wasnt a passenger on that plane that didnt suffer from severe ear-pains due to airpressure. Apparently the pilot was in a hurry as the flight was delayed before it started, and did his best/worst to make it up.
Second trip went fine.
Third trip was ironically my first real out-of-country vacation with my dad. After boarding the plane 8ish in the evening, we were eventually told that the aircraft was unable to start due to an oil-leak in the APU. The evening progressed as they tried to find ground-power-units, shortened out ground-units, woke up ground-unit-technicians and so on. After being shooed out of and into the aircraft more times than I can be bothered remembering, the flight was finally cancelled somewhere around 3 the following night. Not a problem for my dad and I as he lives 10 minutes from the airport, but the 150 or so other passengers there had few places to go. A new flight was scheduled 10ish that morning and this time it worked out without any problems as far as I can remember. I did make a halfhearted attempt at claiming the compensation offered for severely delayed flights, but Ryanair brushed me off just like I expected. Considering how many times I've flown with them for next to nothing, I decided any added expenditures caused by the delay would hardly make the average go up by any significant ammount. Trip back went fine though.
Still, the cabincrew have always been helpfull, if ever so busy. I cannot remember a single crewmember who didnt act reasonably professional. Considering what I pay, I just can't complain. The tramride from the airport to where I live in Bremen is usually 3 times the price of the flight, takes almost as long, often experiences delays and cancelations and theres never a neat stewardess around to offer me drinks, snacks or scratchcards there.
Until I get my PPL, I'll be flying Ryanair when theyre going the same way. And even with the license in hand it will be hard to justify renting a C172 when I can get a windowseat on a 738 at a thousandth of the cost, taking a fourth of the time..
That being said, I'm sure something will come up the very next time I'm flying with them... better find some wood to knock on.
Please excuse my english; juggling norwegian, german and english has left me somewhat linguistically confussled lately
I've never experienced any sort of problem with any of my no-de/de-no flights but a few in-air delays due to severe weather. And usually at the cost of a Euro (pluss Visa-charges... but I'm sorting an Electron card next week when I'm in norway again.)
My Torp-Stansted trips were usually more problematic. After my first time in London and on my second flight with Ryanair, we got a bad seed of a pilot. Not sure what he did, but there wasnt a passenger on that plane that didnt suffer from severe ear-pains due to airpressure. Apparently the pilot was in a hurry as the flight was delayed before it started, and did his best/worst to make it up.
Second trip went fine.
Third trip was ironically my first real out-of-country vacation with my dad. After boarding the plane 8ish in the evening, we were eventually told that the aircraft was unable to start due to an oil-leak in the APU. The evening progressed as they tried to find ground-power-units, shortened out ground-units, woke up ground-unit-technicians and so on. After being shooed out of and into the aircraft more times than I can be bothered remembering, the flight was finally cancelled somewhere around 3 the following night. Not a problem for my dad and I as he lives 10 minutes from the airport, but the 150 or so other passengers there had few places to go. A new flight was scheduled 10ish that morning and this time it worked out without any problems as far as I can remember. I did make a halfhearted attempt at claiming the compensation offered for severely delayed flights, but Ryanair brushed me off just like I expected. Considering how many times I've flown with them for next to nothing, I decided any added expenditures caused by the delay would hardly make the average go up by any significant ammount. Trip back went fine though.
Still, the cabincrew have always been helpfull, if ever so busy. I cannot remember a single crewmember who didnt act reasonably professional. Considering what I pay, I just can't complain. The tramride from the airport to where I live in Bremen is usually 3 times the price of the flight, takes almost as long, often experiences delays and cancelations and theres never a neat stewardess around to offer me drinks, snacks or scratchcards there.
Until I get my PPL, I'll be flying Ryanair when theyre going the same way. And even with the license in hand it will be hard to justify renting a C172 when I can get a windowseat on a 738 at a thousandth of the cost, taking a fourth of the time..
That being said, I'm sure something will come up the very next time I'm flying with them... better find some wood to knock on.
Please excuse my english; juggling norwegian, german and english has left me somewhat linguistically confussled lately
Flew yesterday on Ryanair - shortly after departure, cabin crew announced that they were terribly sorry but the trolley hadn't been stocked and thus food / drink weren't available.
Funnily enough, by vritue of not getting the hard-sell (yes ! buy some fruit flavour cigarettes - you know you want to !) made the flight a relatively pleasant experience.
Even the cabin crew seemed to be having a good time, as they were able to just relax and read through magazines for the duration of the flight.
Now if only the handling agent could forget to restock the trolley every time I fly with Ryanair....
Funnily enough, by vritue of not getting the hard-sell (yes ! buy some fruit flavour cigarettes - you know you want to !) made the flight a relatively pleasant experience.
Even the cabin crew seemed to be having a good time, as they were able to just relax and read through magazines for the duration of the flight.
Now if only the handling agent could forget to restock the trolley every time I fly with Ryanair....
Join Date: May 2004
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Ryanair - Bournemouth to Prestwick
I've just been on Ryanair website to look at flights from Bournemouth to Prestwick, but it does not come up as an option. Have they stopped flying that route? And if so, why?
Join Date: Sep 2003
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Yes they stopped flying it a couple of months ago.
Why, you had better ask them. It went from one per day to 2 per day back to once per day, changed times etc and the last times were not very good, almost like they wanted an excuse to pull off the route
Why, you had better ask them. It went from one per day to 2 per day back to once per day, changed times etc and the last times were not very good, almost like they wanted an excuse to pull off the route
Join Date: Aug 2005
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They shifted it from Glasgow Prestwick Airport to Glasgow Edinburgh Airport.
I wonder if and when they start their transatlantic flights where the landing site will be.
New York, Azores LPAZ or New York, Iceland KEF ?
I was recently back in Europe and flew TUF - STN and STN - LIG on Ryanair. The flights were both full, and the crew were busy but polite and efficient. On time ex TUF, 5 mins early into STN. About 5 - 10 mins late ex STN and also about the same into LIG which is pretty much OK I'd say.
My flights cost me around GBP120 for the return trip, thanks to all the ******** taxes, and I had paid for priority boarding and a check in bag.
Overall it did what I needed it to do at a price I was (mostly) happy to pay.
The only thing I would say against the whole experience would be the Chav-ville that is Stansted airport: I think I was the only person not wearing a shellsuit, tracksuit bottoms or a "hoodie". Next time I will have to investigate where else one can fly to ex LIG(!)
My flights cost me around GBP120 for the return trip, thanks to all the ******** taxes, and I had paid for priority boarding and a check in bag.
Overall it did what I needed it to do at a price I was (mostly) happy to pay.
The only thing I would say against the whole experience would be the Chav-ville that is Stansted airport: I think I was the only person not wearing a shellsuit, tracksuit bottoms or a "hoodie". Next time I will have to investigate where else one can fly to ex LIG(!)
