Useless Lo-cost Airline Websites
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Useless Lo-cost Airline Websites
I have just spent nearly an hour trying to book a flight on Ryanair within 10 days, and another on Easyjet within 2 weeks. I need to confirm both urgently so that other people can make arrangements to fit.
Dear God, what a performance. Ryanir's website seems to have lost all the flights in the system. I tried a large number of different combinations of valid routes and dates, and got the same response each time. No flights offered.
So I turn to the telephone. Yup, you guessed it, the numbers on the Ryanair website are wrong, so you pay to hear a message giving another number. Then you pay to hear a recording saying that they are open Monday to Saturday (yes that's right, it IS Saturday) and you've got to call within those times. Email? Forget it, no address offered.
OK, so give upon Ryanair, start on Easyjet. Download the Winter timetable; yes, that's good, there are flights on the days I want them in November. Start the booking process; you've got it again, no flights on the days the timetable says there are. Try, just in case the flights I want are full, to book at any time up to March next year. No flights available.
Back to the telephone. Ah, £1 a minute; that's a nice little earner; set the website up to frustrate people and then charge them £10-£15 to call to get a booking. No thanks; I'll call a "Customer Service" number for only 10p per minute. No matter what I do, I end up having a conversation with a sodding robot. So I send an email asking which is wrong, the timetable or the system, and get a response promising an answer IN 5 DAYS time!
Now, everyone's website can go wrong from time to time, especially if the cretins in charge of it get it wrong.
But it takes a special kind of genius to do that, and then set up a "system" that treats your customers with such total, absolute contempt.
I would like to fly on these airlines because it's cheap. I know exactly what to expect in terms of treatment while checking in, boarding and on board, and I accept it; it's what I've paid for. If I want politeness, competence and good service from booking to landing I will pay 4 times as much and go BA. If I want to save money and be herded around like a sheep by a lot of spotty teenagers with no interpersonal skills or indeed training I'll go loco or Flybe, the hyco loco. It's my choice.
But why do the locos have to make it so unpleasant even to get a booking without hassle?
WHY CAN'T THEY SORT OUT THEIR AWFUL, LABORIOUS DISFUNCTIONAL WEBSITES AND/OR PROVIDE SOME KIND OF REASONABLE SERVICE WHEN THE WEBSITE DOESN'T WORK?
Pause.
Rant over. And I've booked BA for both flights. And it wasn't that much more expensive.
Pppppphew.
Dear God, what a performance. Ryanir's website seems to have lost all the flights in the system. I tried a large number of different combinations of valid routes and dates, and got the same response each time. No flights offered.
So I turn to the telephone. Yup, you guessed it, the numbers on the Ryanair website are wrong, so you pay to hear a message giving another number. Then you pay to hear a recording saying that they are open Monday to Saturday (yes that's right, it IS Saturday) and you've got to call within those times. Email? Forget it, no address offered.
OK, so give upon Ryanair, start on Easyjet. Download the Winter timetable; yes, that's good, there are flights on the days I want them in November. Start the booking process; you've got it again, no flights on the days the timetable says there are. Try, just in case the flights I want are full, to book at any time up to March next year. No flights available.
Back to the telephone. Ah, £1 a minute; that's a nice little earner; set the website up to frustrate people and then charge them £10-£15 to call to get a booking. No thanks; I'll call a "Customer Service" number for only 10p per minute. No matter what I do, I end up having a conversation with a sodding robot. So I send an email asking which is wrong, the timetable or the system, and get a response promising an answer IN 5 DAYS time!
Now, everyone's website can go wrong from time to time, especially if the cretins in charge of it get it wrong.
But it takes a special kind of genius to do that, and then set up a "system" that treats your customers with such total, absolute contempt.
I would like to fly on these airlines because it's cheap. I know exactly what to expect in terms of treatment while checking in, boarding and on board, and I accept it; it's what I've paid for. If I want politeness, competence and good service from booking to landing I will pay 4 times as much and go BA. If I want to save money and be herded around like a sheep by a lot of spotty teenagers with no interpersonal skills or indeed training I'll go loco or Flybe, the hyco loco. It's my choice.
But why do the locos have to make it so unpleasant even to get a booking without hassle?
WHY CAN'T THEY SORT OUT THEIR AWFUL, LABORIOUS DISFUNCTIONAL WEBSITES AND/OR PROVIDE SOME KIND OF REASONABLE SERVICE WHEN THE WEBSITE DOESN'T WORK?
Pause.
Rant over. And I've booked BA for both flights. And it wasn't that much more expensive.
Pppppphew.
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In Johannesburg I had same problem with easijet. Must make reservation on telephone. That is not so cheap. Also-had to pay money for making booking on telephone - £20 I think more to fly from Munich to Stansted.
KLM not more expensive to Amsterdam and London but loose bag in Amsterdam. Next time I drive?
KLM not more expensive to Amsterdam and London but loose bag in Amsterdam. Next time I drive?
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Why bother with the timetable for Easyjet website?
Just enter the route and approx date of travel and tick the flexible box and it gives you the price of flights over a two week period. Simple.
Just enter the route and approx date of travel and tick the flexible box and it gives you the price of flights over a two week period. Simple.
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Air Mail and V800
Thanks for the responses but I only looked for the Easyjet timetable after entering a route, date etc produced "NO FLIGHTS". In the timetable section I discovered that the Winter timetable starts around the end of October. However the flights shown on that are not offered when you try and book them in November.
Cookies (and pop-ups) are not blocked; I checked that and other sites work perfectly well. The pages which should have the flights appear OK, it's just that there are no flights offered on them.
Thanks for the responses but I only looked for the Easyjet timetable after entering a route, date etc produced "NO FLIGHTS". In the timetable section I discovered that the Winter timetable starts around the end of October. However the flights shown on that are not offered when you try and book them in November.
Cookies (and pop-ups) are not blocked; I checked that and other sites work perfectly well. The pages which should have the flights appear OK, it's just that there are no flights offered on them.
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I can't understand Ryanair and Easyjet websites. Sometimes they are totally simple and easy. Other times they are utter sods. I've wondered if sometimes I catch them during maintenance or update activity. Could that be the reason? I also expected Ryanair to work better now that travel agents don't monopolise them all day. Not the other day though. Got into a silly guessing game with it trying to find a return trip. Totally user unfriendly. Like you I'm amazed they are not benchmark quality in view of their importance to their business.
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All those problems seem strange to me : I frequently book flights on Ryanair website, and it nearly always goes without any difficulty - and the same on easyJet website ...
Paxing All Over The World
I have never had the kind of problem described by Capot. The problem with the RYR site is that it is (in my personal view) deliberately confusing and you have to read each page very carefully to avoid making a costly mistake. The pages are too densely packed and it looks very messy. By comparison, the EZY site is much better - although it also has some 'money traps' in it.
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You don't say !! What the hell has that got to do with this thread or anything else?
If Ryanair or Easyjet fly where you want to go at the times and days you want, you use them, ---- then, like has been said sometimes the websites can be useless. Like booking me twice, that caused a phone call, like hanging for an hour after taking my payment details, that was another, costly, phone call. I agree--usually fine. Sometimes a sod.
If Ryanair or Easyjet fly where you want to go at the times and days you want, you use them, ---- then, like has been said sometimes the websites can be useless. Like booking me twice, that caused a phone call, like hanging for an hour after taking my payment details, that was another, costly, phone call. I agree--usually fine. Sometimes a sod.
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Capot, you might be surprised, but where did you get the idea 'low cost' was necessarily cheaper than BA? A tip- always try BA as well. You might be surprised.
Rainboe, I would be really surprised if my baggage arrived with me if I were ever to travel with London Airways again.
'Bunch' and 'tossers' spring to mind. ( and thats the polite version).
Rainboe, I would be really surprised if my baggage arrived with me if I were ever to travel with London Airways again.
'Bunch' and 'tossers' spring to mind. ( and thats the polite version).
