How to avoid Mr O'Leary's £320 sting for the privilege of checking in
 

According to the Mail it's now 150 pounds to change a name on a return flight...

Link

So, you can't check in at the airport. You have to check in online. But wait! Thats an extra cost... I wonder if the usual card fees are included too..

When will it end? Not any time soon, guessing by this article I just found on the Ryanair website:

Ryanair - News : Passengers to Suggest Next Discretionary Charge

I wonder if there'll be hidden taxes and charges to pay on the prize money?

Well they certainly haven't done up till now. I fly regularly EMA-SFX and while the Berlin staff will always print my boarding pass if I tell them the website wasn't working, the UK staff have "no option" but to charge you - first £8, then shortly afterwards, £10 - to do it. They just can't get round it, followed by something about "Servisair".

The second time was following a last minute flight change which left no time to get to a printer except through an internet cafe the morning of the flight. However despite what they claim the Print Boarding Pass option isn't available once the 4 hours deadline for amending flight details has passed. It very easily could be - only a matter of copying and pasting a link onto a web page - but they choose not to provide it and thus rake in ... er ... must be £12 by now? - every time someone needs to do this.

From the article in Halfpint's link....

One of the best ways is to find another way of getting where you want to go, or changing where you want to go.

Ryanair's add-ons are now such that a Ryanair flight is very often a very expensive option.

Killed the Golden Goose, in so many ways, has Mr O'Leary.

For the Ryanair junkie, who is prepared to fly to whichever destination is currently on special offer, midweek, and get an Electron card to reduce the booking fees, there are some very good deals to be had on Ryanair.

But for most passengers, who want to get to a specific place on a specific date and don't want to get another debit card for the purpose of booking the ticket, the legacy airlines often work out cheaper than Ryanair. And at least they try to give the impression that they are pleased to have you as a customer.

Michael SWS
 

"Ryanair junkie" ..love it :ok:, and oh so true.

MOL has been very clever, he started services on point to point routes that no operator had ever served before - often the UK to a farmers field in La France profonde ( well not quite but....). The local Chambers of Commerce would help out with the fees, and thousands of Brits clamoured to buy second homes in these areas, attracted by cheap property prices and the promise of virtually no cost flights. Now they are committed to their "dream", and his airline, like all others, is feeling the economic pinch, he's going to squeeze the "junkies" for every last eurocent. Indeed they may even end up paying the going rate.

As you say he provides an acceptable service if you don't care when you travel, only have handbaggage (less than 10kg), and are internet savvy. Otherwise if you insist/have to use Ryanair you're now going to pay....I really don't blame MOL for all this, I blame the junkies for not realising what a good deal they were on and not understanding that Ryanair is a business, not a charity.

From memory (and at least recently) I was under the impression that persons who do not hold an EU country passport CANNOT check in on line with Ryanair and infact need to go to a check-in desk and probably get charged currently for that "service". Is that still the case?


Nivsy

Last August, I travelled with a friend who has a non-EU passport on FR. You check in so that they can check the validity of VISAs - then get a refund of the check-in fee at the ticket desk.

As to this latest, my admiration for FR continues unabated. For those that are irritated/angry/w'atevvu:rolleyes: just hold the thought that there is no such thing as a free flight.

Wiggy,
I think you'll find that Ryanair inherited many/most of its French routes when it took over buzz.

Nivsy,
Non-EU/EEA passengers can now check in online.

P.S. Ryanair has redesigned the Web check-in boarding pass. The cabin baggage allowance is much more prominently printed as is Priority/Non-Priority.

And very well said indeed TightSlot!

i avoid flying ryanair as i can normally get flights with mainline airlines for less after you add up all the extra fees that ryanair charge!

LAst time I flew back to the UK, I compared Ryanair, BA and KLM. Similar routes in terms of travel to the airports at both ends. FR was direct, the other 2 were via LGW.
The prices were just under 300, 750 and 1100 euros respectively.
If O'Leary just advertised the full cost up front, he's probably still be cheapest, but without pissing so many people off by making them feel they're getting ripped off.
Anything goes wrong though, and I know who I'd rather be with. Having said that, I've flown with FR many times and never, touch wood, had a problem yet. Still hate doing it, which says a lot about how they do business.

I was quite pleased with Ryanair when I used them the first few times but having been stung (perfectly legally of course - if you care read the terms & conditions ad nauseaum) last time, I have booked us to Alicante with BA from Gatwick in mid-April. At least now I don't have to worry that we will be charged extra for wearing the wrong colour clothes or whatever Ryanair's "Excess du Jour" happens to be on that day. Peace of mind and a reasonably civilised experience for just £43 more.

strake - you should enter ryanair's competition to win €1000 for the "next discretionary charge"! Specific charges for wearing different colour or style of clothes... :D

And indeed it was.....

But I'll forgive you.......

DUB-LGW I paid a total of €100 (£93.36) for 5 (yes five) persons return over the May bank holiday weekend.

Tightslot and Jamier, getting a deal like that would make one feel rather smug wouldn't it? I'm sure FR carry millions and millions of smug passengers.

Does that include taxes and airport / government charges, all online check in and no hold bags? If it does, it's an excellent fare and opens up two scenarios.
1) Ryanair HAVE to charge a Hell of a lot more to everyone else to use the same flight hence the extortionate new charges etc Yield management is having an off day?
3) The flight is empty and there are *WAY* too many seats on the market.

It's a bank holiday FFS. It's a time to MAKE money as people want to travel. Seems odd IMHO.

Yes, that all I paid. No baggage (10kg each x 5 gives us 50kg), no insurance (I have an annual policy), No priority boarding (never a problem if you're not late at the gate), no credit card charge, inc all tax etc. €100 is the total (I stress total) I paid for 5 of us return.

Bet the aircraft isn't half empty when we fly.

I agree, that's pretty much my method too. What was the fare / tax breakdown though? MOL is always moaning about high taxes so I guess you're on a 1p fare and just paying the taxes?
A true bargain but an unlikely one given the timing.

I don't see how you got 5 people on two flights = 10 legs for that price though as I would have thought the taxes were way more. I have paid that amount of tax / airport charge on TWO legs on Ryanair before. I am genuinely confused.