Ryanair charged for case within size limit!

bundly

NFH wrote: »

I couldn't agree more. Flying BA is much less stressful. BA treats its passengers like valued customers, not as a source of additional revenue at every point throughout the process of booking, checking in, boarding and flying.

I agree with every word.

Recently I have flown to Poland with Ryanair, Easyjet, and BA, and BA is everything you say. Friends assumed it would cost more, but last time it cost us £80 each way, which was exactly the same as the budget airlines once you added up all the extras.

There is something clean, open and honest about charging £80 upfront.

I also felt safer on BA. Stupid, maybe, but I just did. I felt the staff were better trained and more "serious" and I felt really comfortable and looked after, and as though staff had time to see to me as an individual and look after my needs. The seats were allocated upon booking, at no extra charge. So my friend and I sat together. On a budget airline six months later we had to sit apart because we lost out in the scrum to get seats.

The only drawback is, travelling all the way to Heathrow and sometimes having to stay overnight there. I live in Sussex, so Gatwick is very convenient! And that means Easyjet.

B.

NFH

bundly wrote: »

I also felt safer on BA. Stupid, maybe, but I just did.

You were right to feel safer. Just before MH17, many reputable long haul airlines were flying over Eastern Ukraine with only a tiny handful avoiding the area. BA was already avoiding not only Eastern Ukraine but the whole of Ukrainian airspace (with the exception of its flight to Kiev), which cost it a lot of extra fuel. I believe that BA was the only airline to adopt such a costly safety policy.

Likewise before Germanwings 4U9525, BA was one of only a tiny handful of European airlines with a policy of two crew in the cockpit at all times. Surprisingly, Ryanair was another. US airlines already had such a policy for many years.

PolishBigSpender

Wait, wait... this was in Riga, right?

The gate agent would also have been Latvian, so why were they talking in English?

For what it's worth, with such photographic evidence, I'd expect Ryanair to pay up. I didn't see all the photos (only the first one, with the case outside) - but this to me seems to be an open and shut case.

NFH

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Wait, wait... this was in Riga, right?

No, it was not at RIX but at STN. See the above post.

PolishBigSpender

NFH wrote: »

No, it was not at RIX but at STN. See the above post.

I'm clearly having a bad day, because that's two pieces of important information that I missed.

Ryanair shouldn't protest about a refund, and I'd chase them all the way for it. If it fails, legal action is the only way forward. It very much seems to me as if the gate agent at Stansted (who are notoriously useless, and not Ryanair employees as such) was determined to pick on someone.

A friend had a bad experience in Stansted with security staff, and it was only the fact that the duty supervisor was Polish that the situation was resolved.

NFH

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

It very much seems to me as if the gate agent at Stansted (who are notoriously useless, and not Ryanair employees as such) was determined to pick on someone.

Could it be that the gate agent was short of money and wanted the commission? Do they still receive commission for this? If so, it's as bad as council traffic wardens being on commission.

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

A friend had a bad experience in Stansted with security staff, and it was only the fact that the duty supervisor was Polish that the situation was resolved.

I've noticed that Eastern Europeans in London are very grateful for their UK jobs and do their jobs with a smile and a customer-focussed approach. Whereas my compatriots doing the same low-paid jobs are disgruntled and take it out on their customers (or on passengers in an airport). I'd like to see UK airport security carried out by the public sector, for example like in France and Italy where this function is carried out by customs officers who have a sense of humour.

J_B

NFH wrote: »

.............. this function is carried out by customs officers who have a sense of humour.

But ... are there any of those in this country?

NFH

J_B wrote: »

But ... are there any of those in this country?

Yes, just look at the way that security is done by the police and military for events in London, e.g. military parades, visiting warships, 2012 Olympics etc. It's airport-style security but done with a smile and a sense of humour. Compare that with private sector employees at airport security who are often rude and difficult.

bundly

Pity it wasn't in Riga because being on home turf and arguing in her native tongue my friend might have been able to stand her ground and win the argument.

She speaks Russian, Latvian, Polish and English, the last being her weakest language, unfortunately!

Bundly.

bundly

Hey everyone!