Beat Budget Airline Charges Discussion: Ryanair

MSE_Jenny

What’s this about? They’ve more bolt-ons than Frankenstein; outrageously, budget airline ‘extras’ include taking bags, checking in or even just paying. Yet be it Ryanair, easyJet, Flybe or BMI Baby, this guide has tricks to beat those nasty charges, from special payment routes to baggage allowance busting.

The first point of call is read the full Beat Budget Airline Charges guide. Then having found the best survey sites, this discussion is specifically to talk about feedback and tips for the survey site

Ryanair

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richardw

Don't forget that at peak times, even though you paid to check in a bag, it may not actually be possible to do so, hand luggage only seems the way to go http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article6736349.ece

peterbaker

I recently returned from a Ryanair launched summer holiday. Those of you who read my posts will know I kind of saw much of what was coming before the summer rush actually started and dropped by in the vain hope of hearing how it all might work nicely from someone who had actually been there and done that. My fears had been fed by many mixed messages rom Ryanair themselves in emails and on their website.

After my holiday, I came back here to MSE to look for a suitable place to publish my actual experience of the bag drop fiasco, but found that a newspaper had beat me to it. Who better than the Times to tell it how it actually is?

Evenso, I could hardly believe that 2-August-2009 TimesOnline story. The first really busy day at Stansted was Saturday 18-July-2009 exactly two weeks earlier than he day the Dimbleby's were stuffed. Checking-in with Ryanair at Stansted was a joke on the first day of the school holidays, so why was it an even poorer joke on Saturday 1-August? Why hadn't the situation been improved?

The most believable explanation I think was provided by a BAA security employee who confided that BAA were of course afraid to say much to Ryanair, their biggest customer, about the woes we endure at the airport.

BAA should have ensured an adequate check-in service at their airport by enforcing sound contractual arrangements. They didn't, so I hold BAA equally to blame for allowing cowboys to operate unhindered in their airport.

I have a feeling they let people-traffickers more or less do what they like there too, but that's another story.

This country gets more like the wild west every day.

And before the "bored with Ryanair criticism" crew jump in again with both feet, I suggest this time they go and sample exactly what we are talking about here. This 'when is a bag drop not a bag drop?': it's when it's a free-for-all-bundle-with-customers-on-their-knees-with-open-bags-strewn-all-around-the-desk-because-one-weighs-14kg-and-their-partner's-weighs-16kg-so-in-the-absence-of-any-customer-demographic-type-A1-gumption-to-effectively-tell-the-check-in-assistant-not-to-be-so-silly-there's a good-chap-chappess-so-I'll-have-to-move-a-pair-of-shoes-or-Keely's-giant-folded-dinosaur-inflateable-or-something-from-one-bag-to-the-other-won't_I_or-they-will-charge-me-with-no-promise-about-actually-ever-checking-in-me-or-the-tv-personality-behind-me-on-time-at-all-type-thing truly is the most ridiculously mismanaged implementation I have seen from them in their entire history of carrying me around Europe.

At least the 30 Euros charge in Spain on the way back if you are unwary enough to get caught trying to pass through the final gate with your laptop or your ladies handbag in one hand and your 50x40x20 cabin bag in the other is just one-of-those-things by comparison.

My own mildly exasperating experiences which I was going to write about actually pale into insignificance compared to those of the thousands of passengers it seems O'Leary has truly wound up while I have been away. I can't compete with punch-ups so I won't even bother :rotfl:. I wonder how many people he has killed already by causing them stress leading to heart attack at airports? _pale_

richardw

But don't BAA and Ryanair know the maximum likely number of passengers at peak times?

pennystretcher

...surprisingly Ryanair fees are the same now in Euros and in Pounds, so if you have to pay extra and if you have a Nationwide Flexaccount or the c/card with the "no additional exchange fees" option, you can pay the fees in Euros to save money...

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=CHARGES&view=email

ps. in order to see prices in Euro, change the country to Euro-country e.g. Portugal, on the left hand side click on the offers that are listed in Euros and then you can do the search that will return flight prices in Euros. Obviously you will have to work out whether or not the actual flight price is more expensive in Euros... I haven't gone through the full booking process, so if anyone tries this, can you let us know how you get on please....

Roger1

pennystretcher wrote: »

... ps. in order to see prices in Euro, change the country to Euro-country e.g. Portugal, on the left hand side click on the offers that are listed in Euros and then you can do the search that will return flight prices in Euros.

I tried that, thinking you had discovered a way of booking ex-UK fares in € rather than £. It didn't work. The prices were in £.

It does show prices in € for flights departing Euro-currency airports, so the optimum could be to book outbound in £ and inbound in €.

Beware that you lose protection in the event of a flight cancellation. On a return booking, if one of the flights is cancelled, you have the option (amongst others) of cancelling and a refund. On separate reservations, you'd only have that option for the cancelled flight so could conceivably be stranded in a place you can't spell let alone pronounce.

pennystretcher

Roger1 wrote: »

It does show prices in € for flights departing Euro-currency airports, so the optimum could be to book outbound in £ and inbound in €.

- - On separate reservations, you'd only have that option for the cancelled flight so could conceivably be stranded in a place you can't spell let alone pronounce.

:rotfl:I have heard of people booking cheap flights and turning up with wrong currency...but I have never booked tickets to an airport that I couldn't spell :rotfl:...maybe try a random booking next time!!

Shame it doesn't work for ex-UK flights...and about cancelling the flights - I think travel insurance would pay for new flights etc...

Thanks for posting your reply Roger1 - greatly appreciated!

Rachael_S_2

I am really worried now after reading Martin's post about check ins. I am travelling end of august and can't remember what I booked. I know I have priority boarding. Can I check in online? Have I already paid for that? Or will I be charged when I do?

Rachael_S_2

I have just found my itinerry. Can you believe this..... Total Fare is £1.96......... Total paid is £191.42!!!!
But it is noted that I have paid £19 for airport check-in. So I assume that I will not pay any extra at check in?

Edinburghlass_2

Rachael_S wrote: »

I am really worried now after reading Martin's post about check ins. I am travelling end of august and can't remember what I booked. I know I have priority boarding. Can I check in online? Have I already paid for that? Or will I be charged when I do?

If you go into Manage My Booking on the front page of the Ryan Air website you can book in online there and print out your boarding pass up to 15 days before your flight. I'd do this even though you have paid for airport check-in as its one less thing to worry about when you check in your bags.

peterbaker

I agree with Edinburghlass - it's what we did and it is closest to the way Ryanair are now geared up (sic).

Ryanair's website will now generally accept 'online check-in' from any customer with any booking reference irrespective of when they booked or what service they paid for. There will be no further charges for you unless you want to book extras at this stage.

By using the website to get the boarding passes you get the reassurance of numbered boarding passes before you even leave home and all you then need from the Bag Drop / Check-in desk is for them to put baggage labels on your hold bags and take them off your hands at least 40 minutes before your flight time. If you haven't reached the head of the bunfight (sorry - queue) and handed over your passports and boarding pass prints before 40 minutes to flight time, they will turn you away.

So do remember to arrive early and have your wits about you when finding the correct general queueing area for bag drop for your flight. There are generally no single desks for single flights anymore. Just one or more general bunfights. The information board should tell you which one (e.g. if using Stansted recently you would have been directed to one (only) of two areas known as Row F or Row J ). Queue in the wrong one at your own peril. Double check at every opportunity and don't just stand there politely while the clock counts down to 40 minutes. At one hour to go, if you aren't almost at a desk being sorted you should be vocal and making fuss enough to be heard and helped immediately