ryan air not cheap!! read this don't get stung!

peterbaker

Oh well ... either I'm talking to myself on this one or most MSE'ers have never heard of Dynamic Currency Conversion and fewer still will know what it means or notice they are poorer as a result!

Irish eyes are smiling I am sure:-)

budgetflyer

Last time I bought a ryanair ticket in Euros was Girona to Preswick.It was the same in euros as in £s . If Id bought it as part of a return it was priced in £s at 9.99. As a single it was 9.99 euro-saving aprox a 3rd. So their 3% skim on currency conversion wasnt really a concern.

Few would disagree with you regarding "dynamic currency conversions" rip off.
However I personally just accept its a small price to pay for the convienience of trading internationaly

peterbaker

budgetflyer wrote: »

Few would disagree with you regarding "dynamic currency conversions" rip off.
However I personally just accept its a small price to pay for the convenience of trading internationaly

But you don't have to accept it budgetflyer!!!

The least you could do is fill in a dispute form that your card issuer will gladly send you, and note all the DCC transactions from Ryanair going back way back when, and they will credit your card account with the difference and Ryanair and their merchant bank will receive black marks internally from VISA or whoever. They are in breach of the rules as far as VISA are concerned because an alternative to DCC has to be offered at point of sale by the seller. I have said before that it's not just a broken VISA rule - I personally reckon it's actually fraud - I know in percentage terms its a small one but just think how many thousands or tens of thousands or even more (who knows except Irish eyes) that it has reaped for Ryanair in the two years? or possibly longer that they have been doing it and concealing it.

PS I am not sure that there are many examples of a total Ryanair fare costing a certain number in GBP but the same number in EUR (i.e a 30% saving approx) ... that I do not believe is very common. I have noticed however that their checked in baggage charge has been a good 15% or more cheaper in Danish Krone (DKR45,00 versus GBP5.00 at one point!)

lokiman

It would be nice if Ryanair or Easyjet studied the business model of JetBlue in the US, which is a low-cost carrier that still has superb service and really goes all-out for customers. Without a doubt, JetBlue is the best carrier that I've ever been on (not the swankiest, but the best) and never for a moment have I felt like I was being treated like cattle, which too often seems to be the case with some of the European low cost airlines.

exel1966

JetBlue are currently trying to re-establish themselves as a serious loco airline after having their worst ever period for customer satisfaction. They have lost thousands of customers recently due to the events of a few months ago. Their actions would put any airline to shame.

lokiman

exel1966 wrote: »

JetBlue are currently trying to re-establish themselves as a serious loco airline after having their worst ever period for customer satisfaction. They have lost thousands of customers recently due to the events of a few months ago. Their actions would put any airline to shame.

Not entirely true, but I know what you're getting at - this relates to weather delays and cancellations during a particularly bad patch of weather that we had on the East Coast. They did not deal with it appropriately (they made the decision to take the planes, with passengers onboard, away from the gates to be prepared for clearance for takeoff. They screwed-up royally over that, and admitted it immediately. Within a couple of days of the incident, the CEO sent out letters of apology to all JetBlue passengers and I actually received a travel voucher, even though I hadn't been affected, simply because they knew they'd let down their loyal customers. Whatever may have happened over this one-off incident, I can only reiterate that they've always been superb with me and anyone I know.

exel1966

What's not true ? It's FACT according to them !

It was a PR disaster which cost the company millions of $$. Leaving passengers stranded on aircraft for up to 12 hours is no way to treat them. Admittedly, they did recognise their failings which perhaps some airlines may not have done, but they are still paying for it now.
I have flown with them numerous times and yes, their service is/was good, but I,ve also flown with the likes of AirTran, Southwest, Spirit, Easyjet, Ryanair and their service has always been good as far as I'm concerned.

Sam_Bee

exel1966 wrote: »

What's not true ? It's FACT according to them !

It was a PR disaster which cost the company millions of $$. Leaving passengers stranded on aircraft for up to 12 hours is no way to treat them. Admittedly, they did recognise their failings which perhaps some airlines may not have done, but they are still paying for it now.
I have flown with them numerous times and yes, their service is/was good, but I,ve also flown with the likes of AirTran, Southwest, Spirit, Easyjet, Ryanair and their service has always been good as far as I'm concerned.

You have to admire the CEO coming out so publicly and admitting that they cocked up big time. And offering compensation.

Could you ever imagine Michael O'Leary every apologising for anything ever?? If he ran over a young girls new puppy he'd still blame it on Gordon Brown.

lokiman

exel1966 wrote: »

What's not true ? It's FACT according to them !

It was a PR disaster which cost the company millions of $$. Leaving passengers stranded on aircraft for up to 12 hours is no way to treat them. Admittedly, they did recognise their failings which perhaps some airlines may not have done, but they are still paying for it now.
I have flown with them numerous times and yes, their service is/was good, but I,ve also flown with the likes of AirTran, Southwest, Spirit, Easyjet, Ryanair and their service has always been good as far as I'm concerned.

Calm down, dear! My point was just that it was hardly a sustained period of bad customer dealings. It was a one-off incident. Southwest, I agree, are very good, though I hate the unassigned seating. The difference between JetBlue and the other carriers cited is that they do seem to have created a business model that doesn't feel low-cost to passengers, which I don't think you can say about the others, certainly not to the same extent. I love the fact that you can book on their website and it tells you which areas of the aircraft have the best legroom (and how much that legroom is), as well as the bright and airy feel of the aircraft. TV junkie that I am, I also must confess that the individual satellite TV feeds in the back of the headrests is a nice touch. A five hour flight to Vegas certainly passes quicker when you're able to watch what you'd normally be watching on your TV at home. In fairness, JetBlue does have the advantage on being relatively new and having a very aggressive fuel-hedging strategy, so they gambled on fuel and are able to improve profit margins that way, rather than by cutting back aggressively, as some of the airlines have.

Big_Al51

Sam_Bee wrote: »

If you know what you are getting yourself into in the first place, they are fine. Educate yourself on the wonders of Ryanair luggage restrictions, then try and play an exciting game of 'lets not give Ryanair any more money' by compiling a ticklist of the following:

1) Luggage is all carry-on, and under the weight requirement in ONE bag
2) Speedy boarding not required, just sit near the front of boarding gate
3) Online check-in not required, just get there early
4) Untick 'insurance' multiple times, on every page
5) Pay by credit, erm, debit, erm Ryanair's credit, erm, !!!!!!, unable to get out of paying extra on this one
6) Don't buy rip-off food on board (smuggle a Pret sandwich & bottle of water, drink & eat when not being observed by sales staff / flight attendants)
7) Don't buy extras on board, avis car-hire, train tickets, bus tickets, unless you genuinely know they are cheaper than when you get off the plane (possible).
8) Don't ever buy a scratchcard. Save your money and buy a big issue instead, you get better karma.
9) Know your rights will be trampled on should you be delayed / cancelled. Save money on expensive customer service numbers by smiling, for many, many hours should you be delayed, treating it instead as an unexpected bonus stay at your holiday destination!

I believe that is a check-list on how to pay sod-all extra to Michael O'Leary, whilst getting a very good value flight.

Did I miss anything?

Hi

Yes. I believe you did miss something.

Just booked a Ryanair flight for a short break in Dublin for my wife and I. Total cost for return flights for both of us is just £80.38. To my mind this is excellent value for money and I applaud them for this.

What really irritates though is the devious way they hide charges and make it impossible to avoid them. I'm sure this annoys other customers as well. I wish they would adopt aJ more straightforward, transparent method of charging. I'm annoyed about a £4.00 charge. It's not the amount that annoys me but that it is impossible to avoid and should therefore be built into the headline rates.

Quite simply I wanted to book 2 return flights from EMA to Dublin. We only require minimum baggage so I pre-booked one checked in bag for me and wanted to choose 0 (zero) checked in bags for my wife. The problem is that if you choose zero checked in bags, the only option you get on the pull down menu is "Online Checkin/Priority Boarding (0 Bags)" and this is charged at £2.00 per leg of the flight - a total of £4.00.

Anyone travelling in a group where another passenger has checked in baggage cannot use the online check in facility so all you are left with is priority boarding. So my wife can have priority boarding, but presumably I can't.

Terms and Conditions clearly state that "Online Check-in/Priority boarding CAN be purchased by qualifying passengers for £2/€3 (per passenger/per one way flight)". It does NOT say that all passengers with no checked in baggage HAVE to purchase Online Check-in/Priority boarding. Unfortunately, it does seem that this is the case.

As I said earlier I believe I have paid a very good price for my flights. I just wish that Ryanair would be honest about their pricing and not try to fool customers into believing they have a choice when they don't. When you have a good, fairly priced product you shouldn't need to stoop to such levels!

The cynical amongst us might believe that the one thing that Ryaniar do not want is a clear, transparent pricing structure which enables customers to easily compare prices with their competitors.

Big_Al

PS.

Sorry for such a lengthy post - but this really did p*ss me off. Also I've just noticed that checked in baggage is charged at £5.00 per leg for us Brits but if you can pay in euros it is just 6 euros (approx £4.10). Of course we can't pay in euros - not allowed. I suppose it's just another case of the Brits having to finacially support the Irish.