Ryanair - Comments & Feedback Thread

Steve_xx

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

It's actually a very fair system - many of Ryanair's charges are optional (avoid check-in fees by buying promotional fares, only take hand luggage to avoid baggage charges, use Electron to avoid card fees, etc etc). Compare the transparency to an airline like BA, which will a published fare with absolutely no transparency as to where the money is going.

I didn't say it was unfair. I implied that it was misleading.

That's your choice not to be happy. Tesco in this case would be clearly publishing their terms and conditions, and it would be up to you to decide whether the bar of chocolate is actually worth it. But a more realistic scenario would be the bar of chocolate costing 10p, with a 10p charge for using a basket, 20p charge for using a trolley, 20p credit card fee, 20 pence toilet fee and so on. In which case, who could argue? The price is the same, just that you can clearly see the individual variables that make up the final price.

I was trying to emphasise the nightmare that would ensue if all retailers behaved as per the Ryanair model.

The problem is that Tesco will rely on fast movement through the tills - and time spent arguing with idiots that cannot understand a clear charging policy (like Ryanair) will waste valuable time. I suspect the removal of check-in desks is exactly that reason - less time wasted on arguing with people who cannot understand basic instructions.

So customer service, towards those who are not able enough to easily understand the compexity of Ryanairs model, isn't your strong point?

Funny, IKEA here don't levy anything. But IKEA, as far as I know, is well known for charging quite a bit more in the UK than in mainland Europe.

Yes they do levy something. They levy is as I have told you.

You don't have to be experienced to get low fares with Ryanair. It simply requires reading about their various policies and being flexible enough to get their lowest possible fares. If you can't be bothered, then you pay more - it's that simple. It's a rather effective policy, as it punishes idiocy - and for that reason, I encourage it.

Very public spirited of you - not. Let's hope you don't ever get elderly and a tad frail of mind then.

yorksrabbit

trisontana wrote: »

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/business/-ryanair-urged-to-seek-professional-help-200905141761/

Enjoy!

Great link, trisontana, and a good laugh -- well, were it not for the fact that it's more fact than fiction.

Only an idiot would run an airline in the way this one is, and only an idiot would consent to have his / her intelligence insulted by actually opting to fly with it.

MoronAir. You know it doesn't make sense.

benjus

trisontana wrote: »

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/business/-ryanair-urged-to-seek-professional-help-200905141761/

Enjoy!

Why did no-one thank me when I posted the same link on this thread the other day?

Feeling unappreciated... :sad:

trisontana

benjus wrote: »

Why did no-one thank me when I posted the same link on this thread the other day?

Feeling unappreciated... :sad:

I have thanked you now, both on here and on your original posting!

benjus

trisontana wrote: »

I have thanked you now, both on here and on your original posting!

Thanks! Feeling better now :j:j

omelette451

Steve_xx wrote: »

Yes they do levy something. They levy is as I have told you.

I think PBS was talking about IKEA in Poland, which does not charge extra credit card fees.

omelette451

semolina wrote: »

This is pure theft - and salt on the wound since Ryanair are the ONLY airline flying to my destination - CARCARSSONNE

So what exactly would you have done before Ryanair started flying there? Seriously, it's only in the last ten years that Ryanair has flown there, and I simply don't believe that no one went there before they opened the route. Depending how far back you go, people would have got the ferry and train or flown to an alternative airport and transferred locally (e.g. Toulouse, which is 41 minutes by train from Carcassonne). Indeed you can still go this way, but I suspect you don't because it would cost a great deal more than Ryanair, even with all the charges you choose to pay.

stoneman

omelette451 wrote: »

So what exactly would you have done before Ryanair started flying there? Seriously, it's only in the last ten years that Ryanair has flown there, and I simply don't believe that no one went there before they opened the route. Depending how far back you go, people would have got the ferry and train or flown to an alternative airport and transferred locally (e.g. Toulouse, which is 41 minutes by train from Carcassonne). Indeed you can still go this way, but I suspect you don't because it would cost a great deal more than Ryanair, even with all the charges you choose to pay.

Along the same lines, Mr. O'Leary is on record as saying that anyone buying a holiday home near where his aircraft fly to will get no sympathy from him if he decides on a whim to stop flying there. Think carefully before buying at one of the more remote Ryanair destinations (God knows why you would want to anyway with only goats and sheep as neighbours with any intelligence) because if the airport authorities stop the back handers he will pull the plug without a any feelings towards anyone.

omelette451

stoneman wrote: »

Along the same lines, Mr. O'Leary is on record as saying that anyone buying a holiday home near where his aircraft fly to will get no sympathy from him if he decides on a whim to stop flying there.

Very true, though I take issue with your use of the phrase "on a whim". Whatever Mr O'Leary is he's not capricious, and if he decides to stop flying somewhere it will be for a good reason (most likely because he's stopped making money out of it, in which case he's right not to feel sorry for anyone... why should he pay to fly people?).

PolishBigSpender

steve_xx wrote:

I didn't say it was unfair. I implied that it was misleading.

What's misleading about a website that clearly sets out the charges at each step and shows the total price payable at the end?

stevexx wrote:

I was trying to emphasise the nightmare that would ensue if all retailers behaved as per the Ryanair model.

Online and offline retailing is two different things. You cannot compare Ryanair's almost exclusively-online offer with something that is mostly offline.

So customer service, towards those who are not able enough to easily understand the compexity of Ryanairs model, isn't your strong point?

Look at the basic figures. Ryanair try to cut costs in every aspect of their operation, except maintainence. This model means that they have to aggressively chop costs everywhere they can, and means they don't provide free customer service to people that are clearly idiotic and cannot read instructions. It's a sensible approach, and I wish more would follow that path. I've lost count of the amount of times that valuable time has been wasted by someone arguing over something trivial.

If you can't understand it easily - fly someone else. It's really simple.

Very public spirited of you - not. Let's hope you don't ever get elderly and a tad frail of mind then.

They don't have to fly Ryanair. They can easily fly other airlines - the point is that Ryanair is not a monopoly operator. I'm too young to remember, but I've heard stories about the behaviour of many airlines before deregulation kicked in across Europe. Some of the stories make O'Leary look like a saint.

yorksrabbit wrote:

Only an idiot would run an airline in the way this one is, and only an idiot would consent to have his / her intelligence insulted by actually opting to fly with it.

Only an idiot would make the huge profits that he's been making for Ryanair, eh? The fact that 'only an idiot' would go from a couple of old planes to a very new fleet of 183 planes and rising in the space of what, 20 years? What about the fact that 'only an idiot' would still be making a profit when airlines throughout the world are crashing and burning at the moment?

O'Leary is many things, but he's no idiot. The fact that he's quite easily the most talked about airline boss in the world is testament to his skills in promoting Ryanair effectively and cheaply.

stoneman wrote:

Along the same lines, Mr. O'Leary is on record as saying that anyone buying a holiday home near where his aircraft fly to will get no sympathy from him if he decides on a whim to stop flying there. Think carefully before buying at one of the more remote Ryanair destinations (God knows why you would want to anyway with only goats and sheep as neighbours with any intelligence) because if the airport authorities stop the back handers he will pull the plug without a any feelings towards anyone.

Why are they backhanders, may I ask? It would seem prudent financial sense to offer cheaper landing fees in return for the traffic Ryanair bring - Ryanair have revolutionised many Polish airports in this way. My local one was nothing but a shed until Ryanair turned up - and now it's growing quite quickly. If someone offers to bring you a load of customers in exchange for you giving them something, wouldn't you agree?

But why should Ryanair have any feelings towards those with holiday homes? His airline is out to make a profit - it doesn't run routes for sentimental reasons, or to feed traffic into a mainline hub. Many airlines throughout the world would've been in better financial condition if they had been as ruthless as O'Leary has been.

I cannot understand why people think that Ryanair should give charity to people or indeed do anything that detracts from the main aim - making a profit.

Incidentally, I did a quick check to see who was more expensive on an average flight from an average city. I selected 17th July 2009 as a random date, with London Gatwick as the origin and Madrid as the destination. With one bag...

35 pounds - Ryanair
64.98 - Easyjet

Who's exploting who? Ryanair are clearly cheaper, and that's with all costs considered. You can even fly Iberia on the same route - for nearly 600 pounds! The easyjet website is also much less clear than the Ryanair one - particularly when it comes to travel insurance.