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Ryanair - "Go To Gate" directly to "Closed"

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Hi Guys,

I was booked in for a flight from Dublin airport last week. I went through security about an hour and 30mins before departure time and then as a priority pass(lounge) card holder, went to the DAA lounge.

From the moment I went through security, the departure screens said "go to gate", for my and every other flight that was not boarding. I waited in the lounge in front of the departure board waiting for it to go from "Go to gate" to "Boarding". Ryanair boarding always takes at least 10minutes(and usually up to 20) and I was confident that I would have no problem making the longish journey in <10mins once they started boarding.

Admittedly I started to get nervous about 15mins before the flight departure time as the screen still said "Go to gate" - but then Ryanair flights are often boarded last minute so I wasnot that concerned. I decided however to start my way down to gate to be safe, but in between leaving the lounge and going down the stairs(a 2min journey), the flight had changed from "Go to gate" to "Closed".

In short the departure screen had gone from "go to gate" directly to "closed" without ever having advertised that it was boarding, let alone final call.

I went to gate and even though the plane was still there with door open and stairs beside it, I had no hope of getting on board. I had to pay Ryanair 110Euro for a later flight. Ryanair of course blamed DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) for the boarding screen issue as "they run them" and DAA blamed Ryanair for not advertising their flight as boarding.

Obviously my boarding pass lists a time to be at the gate (about 30 mins before departure) and it is my obligation to be there at that time. However the lounge and other parts of the airport are designed to be used for passengers waiting for their flight to start boarding. I think it is very unfair to do this to a passenger - to close a flight without ever having marked it as boarding.

Am I absolutely without hope of achieving anything by contacting DAA and complaining about this? I could contact Ryanair but I know that is a waste of time as they probably did nothing illegal and they would never make a goodwill gesture.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Robert

p.s. all other Ryanair flights went through the normal "Go to gate" to "boarding" to "final call" statuses, as far as I could see.

Comments

  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,459 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    enigma368 wrote: »
    However the lounge and other parts of the airport are designed to be used for passengers waiting for their flight to start boarding.

    Does it say this in your Ryanair confirmation?
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • mad_rich
    mad_rich Posts: 868 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Inconvenient, expensive and unfortunate, but I'm afraid you shouldn't waste any time following this up. The gate closing times are clearly shown, and they could easily argue that this was reinforced by the 'Go To Gate' message. If you'd obeyed that, you would have been fine.

    If it's any consolation, it drives me insane when they mess people about like this (I've seen 'Boarding' when it wasn't, and 'Final Call' before the aircraft even arrived on stand). On the there hand, I've also had my name called after I hesitated a couple of minutes in the Lounge after 'Boarding' was shown, and I nearly missed a Ryanair flight that was packed up and ready to go 28 mins before departure.
  • claire16c
    claire16c Posts: 7,074 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    mad_rich wrote: »
    Inconvenient, expensive and unfortunate, but I'm afraid you shouldn't waste any time following this up. The gate closing times are clearly shown, and they could easily argue that this was reinforced by the 'Go To Gate' message. If you'd obeyed that, you would have been fine.

    If it's any consolation, it drives me insane when they mess people about like this (I've seen 'Boarding' when it wasn't, and 'Final Call' before the aircraft even arrived on stand). On the there hand, I've also had my name called after I hesitated a couple of minutes in the Lounge after 'Boarding' was shown, and I nearly missed a Ryanair flight that was packed up and ready to go 28 mins before departure.

    I agree, it was your fault, but those screens are definitely irritating.

    We were waiting for a flight before, and it said 'Please wait' or whatever it says before the Gate no. is shown.

    It was getting closer and closer to our flight and the gate still wasnt showing up. When it finally came up we went straight there. Only to see a load of passengers already there, and we are pretty fast walkers so we were really confused.

    I cant rememeber if we then talked to another passenger or staff, but anyway it materialised that some of the screens in the airport were wrong/slow. But only some which I really dont get as surely they are just tv screens not individual computers? anyway, since then I always check a few screens!
  • mad_rich
    mad_rich Posts: 868 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    claire16c wrote: »
    I cant rememeber if we then talked to another passenger or staff, but anyway it materialised that some of the screens in the airport were wrong/slow. But only some which I really dont get as surely they are just tv screens not individual computers? anyway, since then I always check a few screens!

    That would surprise me, to be honest. They're usually fed from a single central source, but it wouldn't surprise me if an airport had a couple of systems running, one of which is running thirty year-old software and needs somebody to press a button and pull three levers every time something needs updating!

    Which airport was this, BTW?
  • rrf494g
    rrf494g Posts: 371 Forumite
    annoying event but . . .

    having been a business air traveller for many years, I have to confess that us regular travellers used to "try it on" in terms of waiting for the last minute (in lounges usually) at every stage because we knew the "full-price" airlines would try not to leave us behind. Even if it meant multiple calls for, "the final passenger for flight..." . Nowadays, what with massive security and cheap flight airlines, the world has changed. If we are late or ignore calls (such as GO TO GATE) we get left behind.

    Air travel going to the dogs I say.
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