Beat Budget Airline Charges Article Discussion

BusPass_2

Rosie

I don't know where to start with this one.

Ryanair has been done to death on here many times.

First, cards on the table. My wife and I are frequent flyers with Ryanair. We are very staisfied with all aspects of the service. We play by their 'rules', booking oline,checking in online, paying with Visa Electron, flying when the special offers are on, only taking hand luggage conforming to weight and size requirements etc etc.

What frequently irritates me is that while I meekly and conciously adhere to all their rules it never fails to amaze me the definition some people have of the number 'one' when it comes to taking luggage on board. You are allowed one piece of hand luggage conforming to the size 55cm x 40cm x 25cm weighing no more than 10kilos. Full stop. What bit of 'one' don't you understand?

The whole ethos is arrive, get on, travel, get off. How many times are you held up in the gangway because someone is loading all their 'goodies' overhead? They want to get into the air to keep their puncuality record first among their peers.

Read their rules, abide by them, or go somewhere else.

Sorry if this appears brutal but Ryanair have converted me to their way of thinking and if they can get me to Marseille and back for a fiver (which they have done frequently) I am quite happy to play their 'game'.

rosie383

Fair point Buspass. I know there are some people who 'take the mickey' with their 'one' piece of hand luggage. I, like you, am very careful what I take, make sure I am within my allowance etc. However, I have on occasion bought a bottle of water, snack and maybe a newspaper when waiting to board my flight. If I am then forced to try to make room for them in my hand luggage as well, then it could be difficult. I also would point out that, on every other airline on which I have flown, including Ryanair in the past, unless you happen to be seated by the emergency exits, that you can place an item under the seat in front of you. So, to my mind, unless you have really gone overboard with the duty-free and have more than a few items, they should be able to fit in this space, no problem. So, I'm afraid I do think it is a way of making more money out of people.
All I wanted to do here, was to bring it to people's attention that it is likely to happen if they are flying soon.
As far as punctuality goes....... you know the fanfare they play telling you at the end of a flight that they have arrived on time? Well, they seem to be very flexible with their interpretation of what 'on time' means. They are known to have played it even when 20 mins late landing.

BusPass_2

Rosie

It looks as if we are on the same wavelength and there will always be irritations and things with which we don't agree.

Maybe I have just been brainwashed and the Ryanair sheepdogs have herded me into line and I am now as meek as the proverbial lamb.

I too remark about the elasticity of their punctuality and the wee tune irritates me but not enough to prevent me from flying with them again.

It's sometimes like a kid who is on one of these fairground rides which makes them sick and as soon as they get off they want to get back on again.

I have trips to Paris and Malaga lined up and as soon as next year's Marseille timetable comes up I'll be dipping into that. Touch wood I've never fallen foul of their 'rules' so far, and if something does happen, on the law of averages I, for one, feel as if I have not had a bad run but I'll be trying my hardest to keep my nose clean

rosie383

I'm a bit like you are, but with easyjet. I have always had great flights and customer service from them.
Mind you, in the past few years I have flown quite a few times with BA, and I have to say there really is a vast difference in the way you are treated, and their customer service, compared with the lower cost airlines.
I think if you are flying alone as adults, it is easier to cut costs as much as possible, but if you are travelling with babies or toddlers, it really is frustrating as you cannot reasonably pack everything into 1 bag for Mum and baby. And you have to pay all the check in charges, card payments etc for each family member for each flight. It really does add up.

BusPass_2

Rosie

Once again on exactly the same wavelength.

My wife and I are lucky, we can travel to suit Mr O'Leary's wishes. On the other hand our elder son, daughter in law and grandchildren cannot and have never used Ryanair. They are restricted to school holidays and can't meet Ryanair's luggage restriction requirements so they are not in the target market Mr O'L is currently aiming at.

To be fair to Ryanair as far as I am aware they have never advertised themselves as ' the family airline'.

PolishBigSpender

rosie383 wrote: »

Can you believe they have come up with this? I thought originally the one piece rule for hand baggage was brought in to cut down on security queues. This is making a mockery of us all surely.

I'm more amazed that people think ONE PIECE OF HAND LUGGAGE means "one plus handbag plus duty free bag".

Certainly it's not Ryanair's fault if people are unable to read.

rosie383

OK. I know in the T&C when people are booking, that it states only one piece of hand baggage. Everyone knows this. Have you ever had your hand luggae so that it is full, and fitting their exact dimensions for hand luggage? Good on you. So what then happens if you decide to buy a paper and a bottle of water, or maybe a book while you are waiting? If you thought for a second that you wouldn't be able to bring them on your flight, would you waste money on them?
Surely we need to bring this to peoples' attention that this will happen. Otherwise, what is the point of buying things 'duty-free' only to end up having to pay to check in a bag at the last minute.
I can't think of any other airline which does this.... can you? And I have flown on around 300 flights in the past few years with various airlines.

canguro

This may be a stupid question as i believe no credit check is performed if you apply for one of these basic bank accounts in order to get an electron card. But! There are no stupid questions so they say!
Would the fact that you have an electron card negatively impact your existing good credit rating?
Anyone have any ideas about that?

Tall-trees

I recently booked cheap flights from Manchester to Faro with Monarch. Near to the travel date they send an email saying you can check in online and pre allocate your seat. I think it costs £17 (can't remember exactly). There's no mention in that email, or on their website of how to check in without paying for an allocated seat. Decided to risk it and turn up at the airport without having checked in. Turned out doing it that way there was no charge and the flight was half empty anyway! Confusing cos other airlines like Ryanair etc, are doing things the other way round and punishing you for NOT checking in online.

yorkie69

just a aquick question -- does easyjet charge to check in at the airport as you can not check in online ?
Thanks in advance
Yorkie.