Beat Budget Airline Charges Article Discussion

jpsartre

arielbelilo wrote: »

another easyjet sneaky trick (which i am surprised MSE or anyone else hasnt mentioned) is to NOT allow you to add hold luggage for only one leg of a return trip.

Call them, they are happy to add it manually over the phone. Alternatively it's possibly to add it to the inbound flight online after the outbound part has been flown.

allanguest

Just been reading the advice re booking seats and agree that, in my experience,it is not worth paying as it normally offers little advantage.
The two experiences that support this are being a priority boarder, due to having children with me,and being left at the back of a long queue after stopping to take child out of buggy and the latest where on both legs of the flight,with Ryanair to Palma,the plane was some 200 m away so all passengers were bussed out which meant that any priority was lost. Even worse those who boarded the bus first were last off and so last onto the plane!
Much as this situation is unwelcome,it certainly puts my wife off this type of travel,I suppose it is the price,or the desire for a lack of price, that you are 'paying' for.

BusPass_2

allanguest

You have just illustrated why I never take priority boarding.
It is pointless.
At the sharp end there are so many things which can go wrong.

If you are not at the gate when the priority queue starts to board you have lost your chance.

If you get bussed to the plane you lose your chance.

A non priority can walk faster than you from the terminal to the plane.

The plane may board front and rear. Simply walk to the rear and you can be on before the priority boarders.

Some airports just begin boarding when the flight is called and if you have gone to another gate from where that service normally leaves- tough.

I am sure there are many other reasons not to take priority boarding.

I would be interested to hear someone's views in support of buying priority boarding and the benefits it has brought them.

HelenaHandcart

arielbelilo wrote: »

another easyjet sneaky trick (which i am surprised MSE or anyone else hasnt mentioned) is to NOT allow you to add hold luggage for only one leg of a return trip.
if you ask for hold luggage, it forces you to pay for hold luggae for the way there and for the way back.

Jet2 does this also. If the only reason you need to check baggageon the outward journey is because you are taking gifts that you will leave at your destination you still have to pay for checked baggage on the return even though you won't have any.

fionapain

I would like to draw attention to the reality of trading regarding Air Travel.

My wife and I have recently booked a holiday to Greece and came across a condition that I believe to not only be illegal but also a complete rip off “unfair” form of training We were asked about seating arrangements and we were offered seating guarantee to be placed together at a cost of £6.99.


Firstly what administration fees are accumulated with regard to setting up this so called convenience? Secondly, should I decide not to choose this option does this mean that the Airways staff will go out of their way to ensure that we do not sit together, of course not as it would be quite absurd. Finally surely if airway staff were to go out of their way to ensure that passengers not having paid the surplus do not sit together then it would take more effort to put this into place and effectively ensure that certain passengers were not placed together.

Also I chose to pay extra charges for sitting with my partner does this mean I have the right to challenge a couple/family being placed together just in case they have not paid the surplus fee. Look forward to other peoples thoughts on this ...

111KAB

fionapain wrote: »

Secondly, should I decide not to choose this option does this mean that the Airways staff will go out of their way to ensure that we do not sit together, of course not as it would be quite absurd.

Many a time on BMi baby my wife and I sat on different rows (or at least were allocated until surrounding passengers realised we were together) as I was given the last seat on row 15 (15F) and my wife 16A basically because seats were allocated in order. Staff had not gone out of their way however the computer did!

callum9999

fionapain wrote: »

I would like to draw attention to the reality of trading regarding Air Travel.

My wife and I have recently booked a holiday to Greece and came across a condition that I believe to not only be illegal but also a complete rip off “unfair” form of training We were asked about seating arrangements and we were offered seating guarantee to be placed together at a cost of £6.99.


Firstly what administration fees are accumulated with regard to setting up this so called convenience? Secondly, should I decide not to choose this option does this mean that the Airways staff will go out of their way to ensure that we do not sit together, of course not as it would be quite absurd. Finally surely if airway staff were to go out of their way to ensure that passengers not having paid the surplus do not sit together then it would take more effort to put this into place and effectively ensure that certain passengers were not placed together.

Also I chose to pay extra charges for sitting with my partner does this mean I have the right to challenge a couple/family being placed together just in case they have not paid the surplus fee. Look forward to other peoples thoughts on this ...

Under what basis could that possibly be illegal... There is no such law saying that companies are only allowed to charge you an amount based on the fees they incur. Should they really want to they could charge £10,000 for choosing your seat.

No of course it doesn't give you the right to challenge anyone... What on earth are you planning to do - walk up and down the plane trying to work out if people sitting next to each other know each other then demand to see their booking confirmations? While the £6.99 guarantees you can sit together, not buying it doesn't therefore guarantee you won't be sitting together.

Debzlanz

QUOTE=Paddy O'Moron;23949123]Hopefully the (rather useless) EU will take these airlines to task and penalise them for their blatant disguisal of Flight charges - I no longer believe that I can fly somewhere for a tenner (or less), I just go to the Airline's website, key in all the details and see what the bottom line is (remembering to add in Card Charges, online check-in charges etc). This makes it a bit more real, and puts a different slant on 'cheap' flights.
I have a particular loathing of Ryanair, as they seem to have an utter hatred of their customers - when did you ever see a happy, cheerful Ryanair employee? The last time I saw some of them smile was when they were telling a man how much extra baggage charges he'd have to pay.

I get a little bit of revenge - maybe you'd like to try it. First of all I NEVER buy anything from them (apart from flights). Their tuck trolley I totally ignore. Also, if I am flying to a place where I need to show my passport, they usually shout out to have your passport open at the photograph page. I refuse to do this, informing the Ryanair grump that I make a £10 charge for doing this. Childish or what? Yes. But Ryanair treat us like kids, why shouldn't we act like kids? Michael O'Leary has brought Customer Service to a new low. No point in arguing about 'cheap' flights - firstly they are not 'cheap', secondly, rude and ignorant service cannot be justified by allegedly lower prices. That's a bit like Tesco saying 'we are giving you good value, so we can be rude to you'.

Other companies have learned that if you treat customers badly they will go elsewhere. I hope and pray that one day, that will happen to Ryanair, and O'Leary gets a virtual kick in the nuts from the thousands he's ripped off and abused over the years.[/QUOTE]


RYANAIR rip off!!!Rude/sour faced staff,0 customer service skills..Never again..:mad:

[Deleted User]

This is what sould happen when you book a flight:

You find a time and a price and you book a seat. End of story. Everything else is just trickery.

It's not a great experience anymore. Years ago! as a student you could hang around at the airport waiting for last minute seats and get really good bargains. It was a risk but they were hardly ever full and that applied to scheduled flights as well. if you were not a student you could also find last minute prices on scheduled airlines. I never complained back then even though I didn't have a lot of money. Everything was more reasonable and flying was fun. And if your hold luggage was overweight they quite often let it through because they balanced out the extra weight from me with the fact that some passengers didn't have any hold luggage. How reasonable was that!

Once on board you got a complimentary drink and some peanuts. Then you got a meal. All included in the ticket price. You didn't have to just about strip off and be searched and scanned.

Things have NOT improved over the years. Now with over the top government taxes flight prices are not reasonable anymore unless you are lucky enough to live near one of the bigger airports when you might get a bargain. If you live near Stanstead you might get bargains.

stevemvs

Hi.

I am new to this forum, so please excuse if this has already been reported (not noticed it in any of the tips) or if it turns out to be incorrect (someone else please check). I was looking at various options and costs for booking flights for two with JET2, including one hold bag each. It appears to work out £4 cheaper to add 2 bags for one person and none for the other person, who then does not get charged for online check-in. I know the question gets asked, 'did you pack your own bag, etc'. The answer would be, 'yes, my wife gave me her belongings to pack alongside mine in MY two bags'. £4 saving isn't a lot, but every little helps.:)