Ryanair ---- Now Too Much Hassle?

johne2010

Question: You pay into the Ryanair Bank £150 (minimum top up) spend £75 on a flight, you don't need another flight for 8 months, Ryanair bank get interest on remaining £75 for 8 months, you then are charged inactivity charges, you then need to book another flight for £75, but not enough £'s on card to pay for flight therefore you need to top up with another £150 leaving at least £100 in the Ryanair bank for them to make more interest on. Is this the way Ryanair is raising interest free loans?

MrSmartprice

2010 wrote: »

I`m not going to jump through hoops for O`Leary and his endless obstacles and he can stick his latest card as well.
I already got the Electron and then the Fairfx but enoughs, enough.
I`ll search for a flight and compare it to other airlines after adding on the £12.

A thing not mentioned very often is the cheapest flight may not be the cheapest overall deal.
There`s other things to consider such as parking, or other transport to where you`re flying from.
For me, because of the parking, Birmingham is cheaper than Luton or Stansted.
The flight is not the only consideration.

mervyn11 wrote: »

Thats exactly what I intend to do 2010..........
There is absolutely no way that I am going to get his latest card.
I agree, enoughs, enough now.
I will compare flight prices at the bottom line, then book with the cheapest offering.
I have been an avid supporter of Ryanair for a few years now....but this latest round of p*ssing about
has really annoyed me.

Take note Ryanair cos we 'ain't the only ones !!!

I'm of the same mind as both posters.

We have been regular flyers on Ryanair for several years and have probably flown with them over 50 times. We too have had some excellent deals, including flights for £1, €1 and even 1p. I have defended Ryanair on MSE, even against some of Martin Lewis's criticisms.

We have been happy to use the Electron card, then the FairFX card. We have checked in online, complied with the requirements for cabin baggage, and generally jumped through O'Leary's hoops without complaint because we have been happy with the value for money.

But O'Leary cannot get away with pissing off his passengers for ever. We haven't bothered with this latest card yet, and I'm not sure we will. There is a tipping point of value against inconvenience and we may just have reached it.

O'Leary: You can only annoy people and push them so far. Eventually they will push back.

stoneman

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

And the other problem with Easyjet is all that orange, I keep thinking I'm in Sainsbury's

Oh and the subtle colour of the inside of a Ryanair jet makes you think you are in a soothing spa?

miamoo

I used to check Ryanairs website quite regularly, even with the taxes and charges the flights were the cheapest by far. I have found the the gap between Ryanair and Easyjet has been closing for a while now, and I think they are now similar prices. I would choose Easyjet over Ryanair without a doubt, the hand luggage has no weight limit, and I only travel with hand luggage plus Easyjets website is so much easier to use.

Steve_xx

MrSmartprice wrote: »

But O'Leary cannot get away with pissing off his passengers for ever. We haven't bothered with this latest card yet, and I'm not sure we will. There is a tipping point of value against inconvenience and we may just have reached it.

O'Leary: You can only annoy people and push them so far. Eventually they will push back.

Ironically, this is exactly what Ryanair wants to happen, ie you refuse to jump through anymore hoops and either give in and pay the debit/credit card charge or fly with another carrier.

I think at the end of the day it must come down to comparing the total cost of the flights with other carriers and then if Ryanair still come out cheaper, despite the plethora of charges, then you fly with them.

On here we're all quite obsessed about the £6 debit/credit card charge. And I too feel angry to have to pay it. But if we look at the overall cost of a given flight, and it's still cheaper with Ryanair, then I guess that's ok.

I think that it may have been the case that when they were offering 1p fares that we were all becoming far more savvy than Ryanair reckoned we could be and without a doubt, it would not make sound business sense to fill an aeroplane with a few hundred 1p fare passengers.

budgetflyer

I think thats where Im at Steve_xx. I wont be getting the card- its too much hassle loading £150, then spending balance etc etc.
But by booking singles, for European flights, the Europe to UK sector can still be paid with a PP Mastercard, so effectivly halving the payment fees.

Steve_xx

budgetflyer wrote: »

I think thats where Im at Steve_xx. I wont be getting the card- its too much hassle loading £150, then spending balance etc etc.
But by booking singles, for European flights, the Europe to UK sector can still be paid with a PP Mastercard, so effectivly halving the payment fees.

Yes, you're right. This new card is just too complex and fraught with traps. I can't quite get my head around how one goes about sorting the Europe to UK flights with a prepaid card. I have a Fairfx prepaid card, got it especially for the Ryanair thing and it is in pounds sterling.

2sides2everystory

antenna wrote: »

Dont be coy.....it's not your style......did you pay more?

I honestly don't know, because I didn't check it. And as I said before, I really couldn't care less because the deal I bought was the deal for me.

What I can however tell you is that Easyjet permitted me with no intrusion whatsoever to travel with my cabin bag stuffed to maybe 15kg AND to pick up a crate of beers in the airport duty free and to bring both into the cabin no questions and no fees.

And I also noticed that parents travelling with kids under 5 were given automatic Speedy Boarding which is the civilised way to do it.

Later I heard that one of our party who was transiting via Stansted (returning home from Stansted) was challenged at the gate by the Ryanair baggage police because his cabin bag (much smaller than mine so which had attracted less than zero attention from Easyjet earlier in the day) was to Ryanair's baggage police looking a bit fat mostly because he'd stuffed his 100ml liquids bag into the outer pocket so he could take them out easily at security.

The cardboard box treatment proved inconclusive so after a little bit of repacking it was apparently agreed to use the metal frame. He escaped the £40 charge ... just!

Two completely different experiences.

2010

miamoo wrote: »

I used to check Ryanairs website quite regularly, even with the taxes and charges the flights were the cheapest by far. I have found the the gap between Ryanair and Easyjet has been closing for a while now, and I think they are now similar prices.

I tend to agree with this because O`Leary has finally realised you can`t sell flights for 1p and a fiver and maintain profits.
RA flight prices have definitely increased as well as his "made up charges" (such as ash fee), bringing them more inline with Ejet and Monarch.

I searched for flights for the end of Jan beginning of Feb to Malaga.
Ejet from Luton £48
Monarch from Birm £47
RA from Birm £47 PLUS their £12 card fee.
OK, you will still find cheaper fares with RA but only to unpopular destinations.

There`s been a massive downturn for flying in the winter months.
RA used to fly to Reus (Salou/Barcelone) every day of the year from various airports but now there`s none at all.
They extended Reus airport on the strength of RA everyday flights but now in winter it`s deserted.

People won`t be put through the mill getting a RA flight when it`s no cheaper than other provders.
O`Leary, you have been warned.

Steve_xx

2sides2everystory wrote: »

I honestly don't know, because I didn't check it. And as I said before, I really couldn't care less because the deal I bought was the deal for me.

On here we're all going on about the Ryanair charge for paying. I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that you have booked a flight, cost conscious as you are due to the fact that you're posting on a money saving site, and you don't know what you paid for it.

I understand your points, ie that the deal was the right one for you, and that's ok of course. I understand your frustration at the Ryanair "baggage police" too.