Fodder for the Ryanair haters...
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I don't know why people complain about this. You fly Ryanair, this is what you get. They are clear in the T&C, no point claiming stupidity and ignorance when they enforce the T&C you yourself acknowledge.
Ryanair is a cash machine, they have 3 Billion in cash on hand and will be here for a very long time, the shareholders love what MoL is doing and as long as he generates these kinds of returns it is not going to stop anytime soon.
They have more cash in the bank than easyJet is worth, now that would be funny, MoL buying eJ outright and having cash left over
Ryanair is a cash machine, they have 3 Billion in cash on hand and will be here for a very long time, the shareholders love what MoL is doing and as long as he generates these kinds of returns it is not going to stop anytime soon.
They have more cash in the bank than easyJet is worth, now that would be funny, MoL buying eJ outright and having cash left over
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they are great if you just stick with their rules and like others have said take advantage of their booking system. I use them over staff travel where I can because it's direct. £12 return all in I paid last time from Leeds to Barcelona. show me any other "LCC" that comes close to that. the service is no better nor worse than the east coast rail service from Leeds to London on a Friday night. and about the same duration.
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And of course if you turn up for one of those trains at peak time without the right bit of paper (or get on the wrong train with advance ticket) it will cost you a lot more than £60 per person just for getting the guard to print you a new one.
I don't know why MOL doesn't just go full circle and call his boarding cards "tickets". If you have to bring a bit of paper with you to the airport to get on the plane then that is what it is - a ticket. Lose paper ticket - no fly (or hefty re-issue fee if you are lucky) just like the old days.
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I have no experience of RyanAir from an employment perspective, but from a passenger point of view, I would rather pay more to fly with another airline than hand any money over to RyanAir.
I work at an airport and I see how they operate and it just doesn't fill me with confidence to want to fly with them.
As for the OP, 60Euro for a ticket print-out is just a rip-off...there is a line between running a successful business and just been greedy and sadly RyanAir crossed that line a while ago.
I work at an airport and I see how they operate and it just doesn't fill me with confidence to want to fly with them.
As for the OP, 60Euro for a ticket print-out is just a rip-off...there is a line between running a successful business and just been greedy and sadly RyanAir crossed that line a while ago.
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I'm sorry but let's face it FR is to aviation like megabus is to buses. they don't need bells and whistles just cheap fares and those that pay don't care how they are treated (and let's be frank they are use to being treated probably alot worse on the council estate).
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Thank you Highflyer40. I use Ryanair regularly. I was brought up on a council estate. I read all the Ryanair terms and conditions. I have a degree and an MA in linguistics. Kindly go back to the hole where you came from until you grow up a bit.
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dead on the side of a Spanish mountain because their aircraft ran out of fuel, really only have themselves to blame
Passengers can check-in online from 15 days up to 4 hours before each scheduled flight departure time.
Still, with a bit of imagination, there's always a hotel nearby.
I think it's pretty good going for MoL - rip this woman off to the tune of £300 for five scraps of paper, then publicly humiliate her for being stupid enough to get herself ripped off.
because her return flight was more than 15 days away
She then asked for her money back "as a good will gesture" and barfed all over Facebook - red rag to a bull.
If more people stopped complaining and started voting with their feet then this nasty little man would have to learn some manners
When he finally does drop a genuine clanger, and when revenues stop rising, maybe the board will find someone different to replace him, although I suspect he'll have his eyes on the Irish TS job by then.
As for O'Leary,hes bog Irish so it doesnt count.
He just happens to adopt a marmite persona, because he knows he'll never be Sir Mick, and the media buy his antics hook line and sinker every time.
His act is basically just Sir Beardie in reverse, and given the latter's Holier Than Thou antics of late (remember that his trains are just Stagecoach buses on rails too), who would you really want to sit next to on a 2 hour journey?
And referring to your customers as "Idiots" just gives the impression you just don't care about them - which I'm sure he doesn't.
Picking out one customer, who was clearly trying to make a meal of a stupid rule that she knew damn well was going to penalise her, and singling here out as an "idiot" was quite clearly just another part of a very well targetted ongoing plan to get time on the BBC and other media outlets for free. Remember - no ads on the BBC, except for Ryanair and Virgin Trains!
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I don't know why MOL doesn't just go full circle and call his boarding cards "tickets". If you have to bring a bit of paper with you to the airport to get on the plane then that is what it is - a ticket. Lose paper ticket - no fly (or hefty re-issue fee if you are lucky) just like the old days.
I'm giving MOL the benefit of the doubt here. I see his objective as being to reduce check-in costs by encouraging his customers to be fully prepared when they arrive at the airport. Charging something reasonable would encourage lazy pax while charging something outrageous has the opposite effect. This whole episode has reminded practically the whole planet that you should have all your paperwork in advance when flying Cryanair.
Calling the woman an idiot is completely in character and the media feeing frenzy following that is advertising for Ryanairs cheap flights that no amount of money could buy.
So he's killed two birds with one stone and ended up with a couple hundred euros to boot.
I'm not defending him, I would avoid FR unless his schedule and price met my needs, but I would also know his rules.
Last edited by ExXB; 6th Sep 2012 at 16:46. Reason: tipos
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Thank you Highflyer40. I use Ryanair regularly. I was brought up on a council
estate. I read all the Ryanair terms and conditions. I have a degree and an MA
in linguistics. Kindly go back to the hole where you came from until you grow up
a bit.
Sunnyjohn
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Remind me how much it used to cost to fly from Dublin to London before Ryanair arrived?
People are born different and each person is unique and most of us accept that. We really shouldn't be highlighting the ineptitude of this lady being incompatible with the rest of us in forgetting to print her boarding pass.
People are born different and each person is unique and most of us accept that. We really shouldn't be highlighting the ineptitude of this lady being incompatible with the rest of us in forgetting to print her boarding pass.
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We really shouldn't be highlighting the ineptitude of this lady being incompatible with the rest of us in forgetting to print her boarding pass.
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Many apologists for Ryanair miss the point.
I recently tried to book with Ryanair from either of my two nearest airports for a flight to Dublin; there was no alternative airline operating these routes.
The website was a nightmare to negotiate. I tried to find the box to opt out of “voluntary insurance” but failed. (I have disabled pop ups on my computer so maybe that was the reason but the website should be designed to cope with this). So after a wasted half hour, I gave up trying and went to the local travel agent.
Ryanair will not deal with travel agents. So in the end, a surface route train/ferry was used. (Thank you First Choice for making the arrangements).
Ryanair seem deliberately to make their website difficult to in order to catch out the unwary. That poor woman without the boarding passes – perhaps a first (and doubtless, last) time user of Ryanair - didn’t expect to have to read through pages and pages of small print. No customer should have to do that.
I was an Air Force QFI and later an airline training captain. If one of my students didn’t understand something, I didn’t call him an idiot; I looked to myself and wondered what I was doing wrong in not getting the message across. O’Leary has obviously overlooked this simple principle: if his customer found something difficult, he should NOT blame the customer (calling her an idiot). He should look to himself and his staff and question why the customer had made the mistake: was it perhaps that his airline hadn’t made things clear enough?
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this policy of obscurity is deliberate as it brings in much extra money and thus enables a headline air fare to be advertised. Presumably it is for the same reason that the company won’t use travel agents: travel agents would quickly become savvy and avoid all the hidden pitfalls and thus deny Ryanair a substantial income.
Not every internet user is capable of making the effort to look for all the hidden traps; in many cases elderly or disabled people simply can’t work the system and are fleeced as a result. I have a mentally handicapped daughter. There is absolutely no way that she could understand that a flight advertised as being say £25 actually costs four times that amount. Ryanair's policy discriminates against the less capable.
Ryanair’s hidden agenda shows utter contempt for the travelling public. O’Leary will one day, sure as eggs are eggs, push things too far. I would not bet against a prosecution at some point.
I recently tried to book with Ryanair from either of my two nearest airports for a flight to Dublin; there was no alternative airline operating these routes.
The website was a nightmare to negotiate. I tried to find the box to opt out of “voluntary insurance” but failed. (I have disabled pop ups on my computer so maybe that was the reason but the website should be designed to cope with this). So after a wasted half hour, I gave up trying and went to the local travel agent.
Ryanair will not deal with travel agents. So in the end, a surface route train/ferry was used. (Thank you First Choice for making the arrangements).
Ryanair seem deliberately to make their website difficult to in order to catch out the unwary. That poor woman without the boarding passes – perhaps a first (and doubtless, last) time user of Ryanair - didn’t expect to have to read through pages and pages of small print. No customer should have to do that.
I was an Air Force QFI and later an airline training captain. If one of my students didn’t understand something, I didn’t call him an idiot; I looked to myself and wondered what I was doing wrong in not getting the message across. O’Leary has obviously overlooked this simple principle: if his customer found something difficult, he should NOT blame the customer (calling her an idiot). He should look to himself and his staff and question why the customer had made the mistake: was it perhaps that his airline hadn’t made things clear enough?
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this policy of obscurity is deliberate as it brings in much extra money and thus enables a headline air fare to be advertised. Presumably it is for the same reason that the company won’t use travel agents: travel agents would quickly become savvy and avoid all the hidden pitfalls and thus deny Ryanair a substantial income.
Not every internet user is capable of making the effort to look for all the hidden traps; in many cases elderly or disabled people simply can’t work the system and are fleeced as a result. I have a mentally handicapped daughter. There is absolutely no way that she could understand that a flight advertised as being say £25 actually costs four times that amount. Ryanair's policy discriminates against the less capable.
Ryanair’s hidden agenda shows utter contempt for the travelling public. O’Leary will one day, sure as eggs are eggs, push things too far. I would not bet against a prosecution at some point.
Last edited by jackharr; 6th Sep 2012 at 19:21.
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Ryanair is a business, it is owned by its shareholder who choose to have MoL run it for them. The primary purpose of the company is to make money for said shareholders... it is a secondary matter the business happens to be an airline.
The only thing that matters is 'shareholder value', if the shareholders believe they are getting a good return then they'll leave MoL well alone to get on and make them money.
Confusing websites, tricky small print, scandalous fees for printing a boarding card, fuel load policy, et al ... are a means to an end (taking as much money as possible from each customer and reducing operating costs) and MoL will do whatever he believes he can get away with in pursuit of delivering the results his shareholders want ...
What amazes me is that passengers continue to choose to fly with Ryanair, despite the often adverse publicity and stories of 'rip off', however given that people must be making that choice of the their own free will then the business will continue to operate. Maybe there is a limit to what passengers will put up with, but the threshold has not been reached yet.
Personally I have never set foot on a Ryanair aircraft and I can see no good reason why I ever would ... there is a lot I do not like about the operation I choose not to be a passenger.
The only thing that matters is 'shareholder value', if the shareholders believe they are getting a good return then they'll leave MoL well alone to get on and make them money.
Confusing websites, tricky small print, scandalous fees for printing a boarding card, fuel load policy, et al ... are a means to an end (taking as much money as possible from each customer and reducing operating costs) and MoL will do whatever he believes he can get away with in pursuit of delivering the results his shareholders want ...
What amazes me is that passengers continue to choose to fly with Ryanair, despite the often adverse publicity and stories of 'rip off', however given that people must be making that choice of the their own free will then the business will continue to operate. Maybe there is a limit to what passengers will put up with, but the threshold has not been reached yet.
Personally I have never set foot on a Ryanair aircraft and I can see no good reason why I ever would ... there is a lot I do not like about the operation I choose not to be a passenger.
Last edited by avturboy; 6th Sep 2012 at 20:16.
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Sober, she didn't forget. She flew out to Alicante and spent 15 days in a
villa, and never left the house to go to town once, never popped round to the
neighbours to ask if they had a printer, never bothered to ask in one of the
hotels near ALC if they could print the passes for a small fee, presumably never spoke to anyone, zip, nada, all trip?
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A few people saying the Ryanair Website hides information or makes it difficult to see what you need to do. I can only assume you use a different Ryanair website to me.
Just that whenever I book, it won't let me continue unless I specifically click the little box stating that I agree with the terms and conditions of travel. I must be one of the few who actually read things before I agree to it, especially if money is involved. I guess I'm the idiot here. Just that if this woman ticked that little box, which she would have had to have done in order to proceed, then she surely read that she would have to pay £60 if she didn't print a boarding card off. No? Well maybe she should read things in the future, especially something called a contract, which is what she entered in to when she ticked that little box stating she fully understood Ryanairs conditions of carriage.
Now, let's assume she didn't read them, which would have been silly of her anyway. She would have been told at at least one stage in the booking and then again when she got to her confirmation page and then again in her confirmation email that she would have to print off her own boarding cards for all flights. Now, let's assume she ignored all the big red wording for whatever reason. In all of my previous bookings with Ryanair I have been sent numerous emails at various stages before my flights stating that I must check in online and print off my boarding cards. It's quite hard to miss, actually.
Now why should this woman be exempt because the charge is "a bit high?"
It's her own fault. She deserves no more sympathy than someone who turned up late for a flight on BA or KLM and was made to pay £60 for a new ticket, or someone who has brought £60 of overweight baggage for a flight on United. Airlines charge money when people don't stick to what they have been asked or told to do. The fact that this is a boarding card is irrelevant. It's a charge, a penalty for doing something wrong.
To kick up a fuss about it is idiocy. She's got nothing to stand on, she is totally in the wrong. FR could charge £1000 for a boarding card and it would still be the same story, especially as she blindly said she accepted the charge!!! She won't get a penny back from MOL and rightly so. FR didn't become one of the worlds largest airlines by refunding boarding card fees. If what he's doing is making him shed loads of money then for God's sake keep doing it man!
Just that whenever I book, it won't let me continue unless I specifically click the little box stating that I agree with the terms and conditions of travel. I must be one of the few who actually read things before I agree to it, especially if money is involved. I guess I'm the idiot here. Just that if this woman ticked that little box, which she would have had to have done in order to proceed, then she surely read that she would have to pay £60 if she didn't print a boarding card off. No? Well maybe she should read things in the future, especially something called a contract, which is what she entered in to when she ticked that little box stating she fully understood Ryanairs conditions of carriage.
Now, let's assume she didn't read them, which would have been silly of her anyway. She would have been told at at least one stage in the booking and then again when she got to her confirmation page and then again in her confirmation email that she would have to print off her own boarding cards for all flights. Now, let's assume she ignored all the big red wording for whatever reason. In all of my previous bookings with Ryanair I have been sent numerous emails at various stages before my flights stating that I must check in online and print off my boarding cards. It's quite hard to miss, actually.
Now why should this woman be exempt because the charge is "a bit high?"
It's her own fault. She deserves no more sympathy than someone who turned up late for a flight on BA or KLM and was made to pay £60 for a new ticket, or someone who has brought £60 of overweight baggage for a flight on United. Airlines charge money when people don't stick to what they have been asked or told to do. The fact that this is a boarding card is irrelevant. It's a charge, a penalty for doing something wrong.
To kick up a fuss about it is idiocy. She's got nothing to stand on, she is totally in the wrong. FR could charge £1000 for a boarding card and it would still be the same story, especially as she blindly said she accepted the charge!!! She won't get a penny back from MOL and rightly so. FR didn't become one of the worlds largest airlines by refunding boarding card fees. If what he's doing is making him shed loads of money then for God's sake keep doing it man!
edi_local - could I pick you up on just one small point ?
Actually no, they couldn't, because a last minute one-way fare on Ryanair is somewhere in the order of £250. Alternatively, one can go to the nearest major airport and buy a last minute one way ticket on a traditional network carrier. Thus, if one were to be charged £1,000 for a boarding card, many people would just opt to catch the next flight instead and possibly spend the £750 on hotel costs or use a different airline. Better to get some money, than a customer pays money only to the competition. Therefore, the maximum Ryanair can charge for a boarding card and expect people to pay is probably about £300 per person - allowing for the inconvenience of waiting for the next flight.
Still a lot of money though !
FR could charge £1000 for a boarding card
Still a lot of money though !
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 7th Sep 2012 at 01:15.
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edi_local is correct in principle even if the amount he mentions is unrealistic.
Much as I detest RyanAir, everything he has stated is correct and valid. There's a simple choice, one I made long ago, I won't use them. All carriers have terms and conditions. Earlier this year I bought a ticket to SA on KLM, I went on their website, booked and paid for the cheapest ticket for my trip/dates.
While I was down there I wanted to extend my stay. I rang them and they asked me if I'd checked the fare conditions. I said no, I hadn't ....... they told me it was non-changeable. So I bought a new return ticket from SA which covered the southbound leg of my next journey. My fault, my problem, I still fly KLM and I don't go round slagging them off. And as someone's who's been in that side of the airline industry I know more about fares than most people so I should have been more careful.
Much as I detest RyanAir, everything he has stated is correct and valid. There's a simple choice, one I made long ago, I won't use them. All carriers have terms and conditions. Earlier this year I bought a ticket to SA on KLM, I went on their website, booked and paid for the cheapest ticket for my trip/dates.
While I was down there I wanted to extend my stay. I rang them and they asked me if I'd checked the fare conditions. I said no, I hadn't ....... they told me it was non-changeable. So I bought a new return ticket from SA which covered the southbound leg of my next journey. My fault, my problem, I still fly KLM and I don't go round slagging them off. And as someone's who's been in that side of the airline industry I know more about fares than most people so I should have been more careful.
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But KLM don't charge you if you haven't checked-in online and non-changable/non refundable fares are CLEARLY defined as such on the KLM site. I think that most passengers are aware of restrictions on fares as that has been an industry norm since almost day one. Being charged for airport check-in is, I believe, exclusive to one carrier, namely Rob You Rigid.