Ryanair set for £8 flights to US

Frugal_Moose

laughing_cow wrote: »

I'm not sure I've been looking at prices to New York with BA. The flight I want is £278 but the looking at the price breakdown the flight is only £43 - the other £235 is made up of "taxes, fees, charges and surcharges". It will be interesting to see how much Ryanairs taxes and fees are.

I have just booked to go to Boston from Heathrow on BA and the return "fare" is £53 exclusive of taxes and charges. I will be fed, watered (soft drinks AND alcohol) have the ability to check in 2 x 23 kg bags per passenger, together with a personal entertainment screen with many films,tv channels etc. The plane at least has a chance of being clean too.

I flew Ryanair a few times in the last few years and they are okay for short flights but who will pay approx £250 return when you add in the basics plus goodness knows how much for drinks,meals, bag check in, priority boarding (to avoid the scrum to get a decent seat)

The headline fares might be cheap but I don't think this will take off (no pun intended)

Paddy2eyes

If you were a business executive who is used to flying Club World on BA, would you but a "very expensive" business class flight from Ryanair? I can see there being demand for the cheap tickets, but if tickets are in a similar price bracket to the full service carriers, I think I would be unlikely to choose Ryanair. The thought of an eight hour flight with them constantly trying to sell me lottery tickets is just too much.

cardiffforthefacup

I can't wait it will be absolutely brilliant. Nothing like this has happened since Freddie Laker took on the big boys in the late 70s',alas I wasn't ever able to take advantage of his fares being too young and skint at the time. It will be a good day for little people when these flights get off the ground and the scrum for the seats just adds to the excitment. Give the man a knighthood.

Tojo_Ralph

Paddy2eyes wrote: »

If you were a business executive who is used to flying Club World on BA, would you but a "very expensive" business class flight from Ryanair? I can see there being demand for the cheap tickets, but if tickets are in a similar price bracket to the full service carriers, I think I would be unlikely to choose Ryanair.

To be honest, even if the price of a ticket were markedly cheaper than the majors, I'd still never consider using Ryanair for business travel unless they were able to match or better the likes of Skyteam and One World on the following fronts.

1. The most important one..... Getting me there and getting me back with minimal delay. From what I understand of Ryanair, when a plane goes T!ts up, the !!!!!! really hits the fan with folk expected to wait 24 hrs, 48hrs or more. With the likes of Skyteam or One World you are simply shifted to a later flight, re-routed, whatever it takes and thus you get there or get home with minimal delay.... How are Ryanair going to be able to offer the same with minimal flights and routings?

2. Perks. With Business travel comes perks and creature comforts, so Ryanair are going to need to consider looking at offering business travellers the usual airmiles, lounge access, priority boarding, extra luggage allowances, etc?

3. Customer Support. I don't believe Ryanair are even familiar with the concept, however, what business traveller is going to choose an airline that cannot offer an instant response if they need to change their plans?
.....

sturll

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

To be honest, even if the price of a ticket were markedly cheaper than the majors, I'd still never consider using Ryanair for business travel unless they were able to match or better the likes of Skyteam and One World on the following fronts.

1. The most important one..... Getting me there and getting me back with minimal delay. From what I understand of Ryanair, when a plane goes T!ts up, the !!!!!! really hits the fan with folk expected to wait 24 hrs, 48hrs or more. With the likes of Skyteam or One World you are simply shifted to a later flight, re-routed, whatever it takes and thus you get there or get home with minimal delay.... How are Ryanair going to be able to offer the same with minimal flights and routings?

2. Perks. With Business travel comes perks and creature comforts, so Ryanair are going to need to consider looking at offering business travellers the usual airmiles, lounge access, priority boarding, extra luggage allowances, etc?

3. Customer Support. I don't believe Ryanair are even familiar with the concept, however, what business traveller is going to choose an airline that cannot offer an instant response if they need to change their plans?
.....

I agree here. Currently with the airlines i use to fly to the US should i miss a connection or indeed the flight be delayed then i can be sure that ill be on my way within no time on the next available flight - which usually would be within a few hours or the following morning at the latest. I just cannot see this with Ryanair and im not sure id take the chance.
I mean hopping on a cramped flight to Venice is one thing, but getting on a flight to the US - specifically somewhere like LA is another thing all together. It would take a lot to convince me to change to a budget airline for my long haul travel. Especially in the current climate, look at Zoom, Oasis, XL et al.

I would rather (not MSE i know) spend a few hundred extra flying my family and i to the States on VS or BA etc confident that any potential problems will most likely be sorted out swiftly and efficiently.

richardw

Prestwick to Gander, St Johns or Bangor, doesn't sound as convenient as Glasgow to Boston.

wept

Did anyone hear Michael O'Leary on GMTV this morning he seemed to be backtracking on this route a bit IMO.
There certainly seemed to be lots of references to "if we can get the planes" type of comments.

dzug1

cardiffforthefacup wrote: »

I can't wait it will be absolutely brilliant. Nothing like this has happened since Freddie Laker took on the big boys in the late 70s',alas I wasn't ever able to take advantage of his fares being too young and skint at the time. It will be a good day for little people when these flights get off the ground and the scrum for the seats just adds to the excitment. Give the man a knighthood.

Remember what happened to Freddie. He very quickly went bust.

ginvzt

I am not keen on flying Ryanair short-haul after my experience with them, I wouldn't even think of flying with them long-haul!!!! What about leg space, drinks and snacks? You can't just wait without any drink for 8+ hours as people do on the European flights. You HAVE to drink, and that means that is one more area for Ryanair to cash in! Just the thought of taking Ryanair for long haul scares me off!!!

El_Wood

I just booked two flights to Dublin with Ryanair as it was £4 for two people return (bargain).

If you add baggage, airport check-in, insurance etc on, it can be expensive but thankfully it was a day trip. All was not lost for Ryanair though as when I went to pay my £4, they whacked a £16 card transaction fee on

I should've rang them up and asked if they would accept a postal order :-0