Airline Charges Rip Off Discussion

lufcgirl

Looking at the Ryanair website today, beneath where it advertises the extended £1 sale, it says (in what must be size 10 font, so quite readable)...'Fares don't include optional fee's/charges' and an option to click for more info.

So that, all in all makes sure that Ryanair is not misleading anybody in the slightest. It says the fare is available providing you don't select any of the optional extras. If people do that then Ryanair have made it clear on the front page you will pay extra.

It's a person's choice if they want to pay extra or not, Ryanair don't make you take an extra bag or pay with a credit card, resources are available for a cheap flight. People just need to get the gumption to book using Ryanair's rules rather than moaning about it.

Moonchild

richardw wrote: »

You say you don't pay the average fare on BA, bmi and easyJet, so someone else is subsidising you or if pay above average you are subsidising others, a difficult one to perfect perhaps.

Not really. If you fly from Stansted to say, Faro there will be something along the lines of £50 compulsory taxes and charges (i.e. UK departure tax, PSC and similar in wherever). The airline has to pay that irrespective of how much they charge you. So if you really do pay £1, Ryanair is paying £49 to the airport / government for you travelling on that flight. Somewhere along the line they have to reclaim that off someone else, and they do in a quite aggressive manor. But such is the nature of loss leaders.

However, if I fly on one of the other airlines mentioned, I might pay £8 or £54 to the airline (which are actually BA flight prices to Manchester and New York), revenue from which the airline is benefitting if I fly in most cases.

This is obviously very simplified, but i'm happy for anyone to pay whatever they want as long as they are happy.

MrSmartprice

Albro wrote: »

The reality is that the system is Ok if one is wise enough to understand what is going on here. We recently had a return trip to Dublin for 2 for £40...but it did cost us over £30 for snacks at the airport, over £12 to park for a day and around £10 for fuel to get to and from the airport!

None of those charges are anything to do with any airline. I agree that airports charge top dollar for everything, and the chances of us paying £30 for airport snacks are as remote as Ryanair flying to the moon! Take a few sandwiches, for heaven's sake! Lots of people do.

Albro wrote: »

However, in principle, I agree that all unavoidable charges should be included and that includes any charge that can only be avoided by taking out a card one wouldn't typically have any other reason to have.

There seems to be some mystique about an Electron card. But in truth it is a card that absolutely anyone can get with minimal effort. Mine has saved me a fortune, more than I have paid for the flights! Why wouldn't you have one?

Albro wrote: »

Of course, whilst we are complaining about airlines, how about theatre tcikets where it is impossible to buy them at face value because they have to be bought through a ticketing agency. I once complained to Trading Standards about this and got told that legally the charges have to be separated - what a system?

Here we will certainly agree! There are many instances where theatre and concert tickets are unobtainable without paying 'booking fees'. Yet the prices are quoted without them. It is an offence under s20 of the Consumer Protection Act for that reason. It is distinct from the Ryanair situation since all of their charges can be avoided.

I have suggested to Martin Lewis that this issue would be a better one for MSE to pursue, and there would be a greater chance of success. No reply as yet.....:o

DrGreg_2

I use Ryanair a bit to visit relatives and am savvy enough to avoid all the optional charges, but have a look below at the total for us to visit the kids' grandparents
Going Out (Web Fare)
2 Adult @ 0.79 GBP1.58 GBP1 Child @ 0.79 GBP0.79 GBP1 Infant @ 20.00 GBP20.00 GBPTaxes/Fees [URL="javascript:feesTaxes_breakDown('1')"]details[/URL]80.79 GBPComing Back (Web Fare)
2 Adult @ 6.99 GBP13.98 GBP1 Child @ 6.99 GBP6.99 GBP1 Infant @ 20.00 GBP20.00 GBPTaxes/Fees [URL="javascript:feesTaxes_breakDown('2')"]details[/URL]80.88 GBP
6 x (Web Check in)30.00 GBPTotal Cost of Flight255.01 GBPIts staggering how fares that start off being advertised at 79p and £6.99 end up costing £250. Our baby often costs more than the rest of us (£40 plus other fees/taxes).
Look at the web check in fees, this is now the only way to check in yet they charge all this money for a few keystrokes, all done by me! They used to do this for free, saying that those of us insisting on using the check-in desks were costing the web checkers money. That was clearly untrue since they now charge everybody the same.
They have now axed the Bournemouth to Prestwick flight (the above quote is for Edinburgh) so I'll be using them less, I suppose. Before anybody jumps up and says if you don't like them, don't use them, we have no choice when they are/were the only carrier serving Bournemouth from Scotland.

stoneman

inflationbusting wrote: »

You must be very young if this is the case.

I am 52

Back in the 80's, everything was cheaper or much the same - fuel, labour, food. Yet flight prices were much more expensive. Adjusted for inflation, even more so, with short-haul much more so.

I remember flying transatlantic on Laker airways for £50 return, and then on Peoples express for about the same back in the 80's. even in the late ninties and early part of the new century I could take my family on a weeks holiday to portugal for less than £100 per person.

Like or loathe the LCC's one thing they did do was force the flag-carriers prices down to a level where they are pretty good - otherwise the likes of BA, Aer Lingus would have no customers.

no, i think you have to thank Freddie Laker for that.

carla_smith

We have travelled with ryanair many times over the last 3 yrs, they have always worked out the cheapest..people with luggage that are over weight will say they wont fly with them again, but at the end of the day we know the allowance and if you stick to it, it's fine.i even got a refund off them because i spelt a name wrong and booked the flights again as one was a child, it was cheaper to pay 10 pound each again as to pay 100 pound name change on line, the only thing that are expensive are the drinks, in a matter of months tea and coffee went from 2.00 to 3.00 pound,but at the end of the day they get us to these places, for 5 or ten pounds, so they have to make their money on other things.

PolishBigSpender

Something I feel the need to point out -

A family of three get Ryanair £1 each way return tickets to Europe. If they were to pay on a debit card, take a suitcase each (not pre-booked) and need to get boarding cards at the airport, guesstimate the total 'additional' charges.

Paying on a debit card is fair enough. But not pre-booking suitcases when the website clearly instructs you to do so, along with not printing out boarding cards when the website warns you quite clearly is nothing but the family's fault.

lufcgirl

Excellent.....PBS is back

Chester85

I can't knock Ryanair.

BA and Aer Lingus long abandoned my local airports so they are my only choice but they've stuck in and opened new routes and put investment in.

Does what it says on the tin really.

Tojo_Ralph

.....
Well it looks like Martin [STRIKE]moneysavingexpert[/STRIKE] "Lord Of The Wings" Lewis has taken the advice and dropped the Rip Off claims.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/lifestyle/442417/Martin-Lewis-Lord-of-the-Wings-How-to-avoid-hidden-costs-of-budget-airlines.html