An Open letter to RYANAIR

budgetflyer

The main point I think is Ryanair don't do compensation other than refunding the cost of the flight even if its a case of the captain sleeping in. It clearly states that in their terms and conds. It is one of the drawbacks of going no-frills. If they were to compensate £100 out of pocket expenses every time a 99p flight didn't take off they wouldn't be around for long.Its a sore one for you but thankfully quite rare.

MarkyMarkD

I don't think it's enough to say that Ryanair's Ts & Cs protect them from having to pay any compensation in the event of their failure to deliver.

Unfair Contract Terms legislation prevents companies from having blatantly one-sided conditions like this. Refunding the cost of a flight simply isn't sufficient - IF the decision to cancel is a commercial one, rather than one caused by inability to do so.

Incidentally, their Ts & Cs DO state that they will cover the cost of onward travel, if they divert a flight to a different destination airport (but that depends on you getting onto the flight in the first place)!

I fly low cost - but never Ryanair, yet anyway - and I don't expect gold plated service. But I think that to deem onward travel/alternative travel in the event of problems with a Ryanair (or any other low-cost) flight as beyond the call of duty is not what most customers would expect and not what airlines should be able to get away with.

andy88_2

peterbaker wrote:

I have since learned that some of the passengers from the cancelled flight the night before did not get flown to Stansted until 48 hours later. These were the passengers who apparently made no decision of their own to ensure control of their own destiny, and apparently chose to accept being treated like so many sheep in a field. That in my view is an unacceptable observation of the consequences of an airline with as many resources as Ryanair choosing not to fulfill a contract in the way most reasonable people would expect it to be fulfilled.

I have learned that Ryanair refused to pay even as much as a bus ticket on those two occasions for passengers who wanted to fly back from Ryanair's other Denmark destination, Esbjerg as I did. I learned there were generally even issues about feeding stranded Ryanair passengers as much as a sandwichl because Ryanair takes the view that there is no meal in the flight contract and therefore no responsibility to provide one for any reason (at least until the legislation changed a week or so ago).

These are the only germane and useful parts of your much longer post. Completely forget the rest, and all the added irrelevance from other posts. Maintenance standards, NHS (!?), tiny tailwind, fuel. What I said about fuel was to imply the professionalism of the pilot, but you have inverted it.

Concentrate your argument with them into about two-thirds of your words I quote above (if you use "treated like sheep", leave out the "apparently chose to accept being ..." - again, you may be right, but it's only your interpretive judgement - target the airline, not the other passengers)

ps between us, can we recommend a friend to fly Ryanair to Brno in July? I hope the snow will have stopped by then.

Galstonian

I think I would omit most of your points but add get travel insurance and if you fly somewhere that suffers from bad weather in the winter then make sure you are prepared for things not going to plan.

I have travelled hundreds of thousands of miles with many different airlines and found that Ryanair are certainly not (in my experience) the worst for service but if I were ever to complain I think no more than a single side of A4 should be used instead of a small novel.

andy88_2

peterbaker wrote:

Yeah what the hell, of course we can! Just make sure said friend understands he or she must
...
Hows that for a recommendation?

Passport and phone; I'll be meeting him at the other end; climb or descent of 3 or 4 kts is not bad

It sounds like you wouldn't recommend it to yourself!

If you are for token skirmishes which annoy for a moment and are then forgotten then a little lightweight single page number might suffice. If your eventual aim is to storm the parapets, get a full surrender in principle and make changes then some heavy nobbly device might first knock your assailant off guard before you overrun them!

I wish you luck, but I think the most you can hope for will be the difference in fares, say £60.

donnie_darko_3

I previously siad you must concentrate on the facts because if you send a long winded letter with minor inaccuracies that will give them the opportunity to prove themselves right and your 20 point argument then becomes a five point argument and it is probably the five points that bother you anyhow. But now you may have had to concede something.

Focus on the issue and lay your facts chronologically and clearly state your financial loss. (time cant be replaced unless tou believe in parrallel universe's.!)

I would avoid mentioning other passengers as it is up to them to complain and if they havent it will only fuel their argument. Clearly state on your "one page" letter How much you "expect" and a time scale for settlement.

Good luck.

andy88_2

I didn't describe it in Knots for any propaganda-type minimalising reason.

andy88_2

peterbaker wrote:

Have you misunderstood or do you disagree?

I wasn't really discussing it. I think you'll find all airlines are similar. Because the air is thinner higher, there are speed and fuel efficiency gains from staying higher longer. Without knowing for sure, I suspect that cabin differential pressure limitations may restrict descending the cabin earlier than the aircraft. Pinch your nostrils and blow into your ears.

Galstonian

Don't ATC have a fair say over who is where in the skies over airports?
I can't say I've noticed any difference with particular airlines but different airports is another matter...

mystic_trev

I think you've lost it dear boy! Peter Bonkers might be a better name.