Results of "Which?" Survey
 

Swiss came out as the most popular shorthaul airline in the survey.

That was very diplomatic of you Ms Wombat. :E

These surveys make me laugh. Ryanair bottom? But yet the pax keep on coming!
Ryanair ''does what is says on the tin''. It gets you safely from A to B, generally on time and normally for the best price when compared to other options. If they were that bad then people would choose other airlines. But yet they don't do they?
At the end of the day, money talks. Without the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet, we would still think that paying £200+ each way for a short flight in Europe was ok, like it used to be before the LoCo's and de-regulation in Europe came about.
But yet all everyone can do, especially on here, is slag them off.

What a nonsensical survey and idiotic conclusion to draw. A hugely successful airline with almost 80m passengers is the "least popular"?

eng123
 

Maybe if everyone paid what they should pay, Pilots :ugh:and crew would have better conditions !

I think you are living in the past unb.

Ayroplane: You know, my favorite restaurant doesn't serve miilions of tiny, dry hamburgers per year, but still I prefer it many times over the golden arcs.

So maybe Ryanair and them do have this in comon. You get it because an alternative is either not available or too expensive.

But once you're done with either, you feel like ****, and swear to yourself "never again".

Don't you just love statistics? The survey had such a small sampling as to be meaningless. Swissair came top with 59 responses. Ryanair came bottom with 563 which shows how popular they are. Even if all those people were negative, against 80 million it comes out at 0.0007% didn't like the airline.

Swiss' results were based on 59 responses, Turkish Airlines on 38, Lufthansa 74 and Aer Lingus 65.
Ryanair's results were based on 563 responses.

This is why the "Which" survey is very seriously flawed. How can you compile a survey with such small groups. 59 is less than one aircraft, 563 is about three aircraft. These would need to be corrected for number of flights/total passenger numbers amongst many many other adjustments and even then it would still be one very poorly compiled survey by people who really do not have a clue about statistics or any other form of data mining, :ugh: :confused:

I am sure people would enjoy the experience of travel in a luxury limousine, and all the pampering that that entails over a ride in a regular taxi ... right up until you pay the bill ... you cannot compare.

Ultimately the loco carriers provide what the passengers want, which is why they are so popular ... and that has to be the most accurate measure of which is best ...

Long live the loco's ..

But that's absolutely fine Admiral. You have the freedom of choice. Maybe there are lots of people who would rather pay the traditional airlines extortionate fares. But there are also an awful lot more who are savvy enough to go for the cheaper option! The amount of 'celebrities' (for want of a better word) who I see boarding Ryanair aircraft tells the story. These are people who can certainly afford a ticket with rip-off airlines but no-one likes getting ripped-off..even rich people!

Look, what do you want out of an airline?

You want to turn up at the airport, check-in (well this has already been done due to on-line check in), maybe queue to drop a bag off (ok, it cost £30 so either travel without one or look at the overall cost of the journey).

You want then travel to the gate and join the queue. If you are in a group you may want to buy priority boarding (another £6 but again, factor it into the overall cost). You then get on the aircraft, generally one of the newest out of all the airlines in Europe.

You want that aircraft to be maintained well, Ryanair do that to the highest standards around.

You want to leave on time, Ryanair do that better than most.

You want to then get there. Ryanair will provide you with a food/drink service. Maybe a bit pricey but why not just go without for two hours? Or bring your own? Or even buy something? The Hot Chocolate is nice! Failing that, just look out the window!

You then arrive at your destination and are off the aircraft in minutes. Through passport control and because it's a small airport (normally, but not always), your bags are waiting for you on the carousel.

There you have it. It's not rocket science is it? Honestly, what more do you want? Serious question, what more do you want?

"Maybe if everyone paid what they should pay, Pilots and crew would have better conditions !"

As a frequent UK flyer, £635 Sumburgh to Southampton, £500+ single Belfast to Sumburgh and they have the cheek to charge you £2 plus for a cup of tea.

Maybe if the Pilots and Crew didn't get paid as much, passengers would have better conditions.:E

LoL totally flawed but Agree with the small theory

I'm not surprised. People will buy (and eat) sh!t sandwiches, as long as they are cheap. Mick the Gyp is totally spot on when he says the that if he installs "standing seats" (a bit of an oxymoron) and sells them for a fraction of the price he sells the rest of his glorious, first class, super-deluxe seats, he'll sell them first. Have you seen how many people shop at Poundland, Poundstretcher etc.? Buy cheap, stack it high, flog it quick and cheap. Quality, Luxury, Exclusivity, value for money - who bloody cares as long as it's cheap.

But it appears that some of RYR's customers do care about quality. The 563 who responded for a start. The rest probably couldn't spell "X". And assuming that RYR carry ten times the passengers of Swiss (which they almost certainly do), they results could be considered representative. Yes RYR are cheap, but so is their product.

Cheap means just that. It may also mean value for money. But it could also mean that it's pretty nasty as well. The responders to this survey appear to have sent a clear message.

PM

eng123, I fly on legacy carrier's commuter arm at the same sort of fare as I would pay to fly to the same destination (but from a different airport) with RYR. I enjoy on-line check-in and get to select my seat without any extra charge. I enjoy a pleasant snack and drinks free of charge. The aircraft are new, comfortable and well maintained. On arrival I'm out of the airport and into a taxi within 10 mins.

I've had one cancellation and two short delays out of many dozens of flights made with them over the years. The cancellation didn't leave me stranded. They re-routed me and I arrived at my intended destination on the same day (unlike the fiasco a friend of mine experienced with RYR when his flight was cancelled).

So what more do I want? Certainly not RYR that's for sure.

Yes, we have a choice. I hope it stays that way :)

I am convinced that much of Ruinair's success is based on the fact that modern passengers cannot do mental arithmetic. Suckered in by the tempting base price, they fail do put together the drip,drip, drip of subsequent add-ons - including the onboard catering and the surface transport costs of getting from distant airfield to destination.. My advice has always been to check what the legacy carrier charges upfront and compare it with MoL's final price.

Surprising to see Turkish ahead of LH and BA. But in my experience all my flights through IST have been excellent. The only problem is TK is choking itself with so many flights in an old airport.

Is it any wonder FR are bottom with rude check in staff, horrendous baggage charges and cabin staff who couldn't give a t**s.

Any "survey" where the participants are self-selecting is valueless.

Before the days of Ryanair being re-invented as a loco, or Easyjet having been invented at all, I flew on Swissair from UK to CH. The fares were ineveitably way lower than the competition, and way lower than the train alternative. Since then, we have had Easy building a prescence in CH, and FR had a foray to Basel, but either fell out with the airport (or perhaps just couldn't compete in a market where there was price and service competitivenes). In that time, with very few exceptions, Swissair/Swiss International have continued to provide competitive fares UK-CH with a choice of flight times, and all of the advantages of flying on a full-service carrier (including a luggage allowance which just blows away the loco's). Admittedly, the catering is not what it used to be, but is still more than nothing.

The point I'm trying to make is that some legacies (including the one that came first in this survey) were not necessarily high-fare even before the loco's, and still provide competitive pricing and superior service today.

'which' v ryanair
 

It seems to me that subscribers to 'Which' are unlikely to be the natural market for Ryanair and vice versa.

Service with Swiss out of London City beats loco from Stansted any day. just wish the Swiss website featured a few more possible connections with Eidelweiss. I suspect they may be missing business - mine certainly!