Airport fees!

CKhalvashi

zagfles said:

There's a load of judgemental claptrap in this thread. It's easy for us regular travellers to sneer at those not familiar with Ryanair's almost unique way of doing business which we'll all be aware of. Airport checkin is perfectly normal and the vast majority of airlines don't charge, and those that do the fees tend to be fairly nominal eg £10 or so.

Yeah yeah, should have read the T&Cs, here they are, we all read every word of them before booking a flight don't we https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/terms-and-conditions

That's fine, however I don't believe I'm being judgemental.

In any event, OP would have been presented with the options when booking a flight (screenshot for a random flight next week), and more likely to read them if they don't fly regularly.

'Free check in at airport' would in some way signal to me that this optional service is otherwise paid.

eskbanker

CKhalvashi said:

In any event, OP would have been presented with the options when booking a flight (screenshot for a random flight next week), and more likely to read them if they don't fly regularly.

'Free check in at airport' would in some way signal to me that this optional service is otherwise paid.

But that really supports the point that @zagfles was making about how (un)clear this is - you (as a regular traveller) may have the inclination and capability to derive their policy from that but it's hard to argue that they make it obvious to an occasional traveller.

As I pointed out earlier, it's listed in their table of fees, but that's not particularly prominent when booking, and I can't find any record of a reminder the last time I flew with them - I also looked out the email confirming the booking and that makes no mention of the impact of checking in at the airport versus online, so it's easy to see how someone new to flying with them was unaware of their policy.

Pollycat

zagfles said:

There's a load of judgemental claptrap in this thread. It's easy for us regular travellers to sneer at those not familiar with Ryanair's almost unique way of doing business which we'll all be aware of. Airport checkin is perfectly normal and the vast majority of airlines don't charge, and those that do the fees tend to be fairly nominal eg £10 or so.

Yeah yeah, should have read the T&Cs, here they are, we all read every word of them before booking a flight don't we https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/terms-and-conditions

In your opinion...

Anyone who books a flight and 'assumes' anything about it is running a risk.

I can't remember the last time I checked in at the airport.
I have a reminder on my phone to do on-line check-in in 5 days time.
Nobody told me to do that.
I didn't assume anything.
I checked the website.

I'll do the same for my 2 later holidays.

You may call that being 'judgemental'.
I call it 'being prepared'.

CKhalvashi

eskbanker said:

CKhalvashi said:

In any event, OP would have been presented with the options when booking a flight (screenshot for a random flight next week), and more likely to read them if they don't fly regularly.

'Free check in at airport' would in some way signal to me that this optional service is otherwise paid.

But that really supports the point that @zagfles was making about how (un)clear this is - you (as a regular traveller) may have the inclination and capability to derive their policy from that but it's hard to argue that they make it obvious to an occasional traveller.

As I pointed out earlier, it's listed in their table of fees, but that's not particularly prominent when booking, and I can't find any record of a reminder the last time I flew with them - I also looked out the email confirming the booking and that makes no mention of the impact of checking in at the airport versus online, so it's easy to see how someone new to flying with them was unaware of their policy.

There are several in my inbox still, such as this one from December.

I flew on the 14th. My edit to hide personal information in pink.



I use a dark mode but it's probably clearer than that on a white background, I can check on request.

eskbanker

CKhalvashi said:

eskbanker said:

CKhalvashi said:

In any event, OP would have been presented with the options when booking a flight (screenshot for a random flight next week), and more likely to read them if they don't fly regularly.

'Free check in at airport' would in some way signal to me that this optional service is otherwise paid.

But that really supports the point that @zagfles was making about how (un)clear this is - you (as a regular traveller) may have the inclination and capability to derive their policy from that but it's hard to argue that they make it obvious to an occasional traveller.

As I pointed out earlier, it's listed in their table of fees, but that's not particularly prominent when booking, and I can't find any record of a reminder the last time I flew with them - I also looked out the email confirming the booking and that makes no mention of the impact of checking in at the airport versus online, so it's easy to see how someone new to flying with them was unaware of their policy.

There are several in my inbox still, such as this one from December.

I flew on the 14th. My edit to hide personal information in pink.

I use a dark mode but it's probably clearer than that on a white background, I can check on request.

Fair enough - I wasn't actually saying they didn't send reminders, just that I couldn't find any, but it is entirely possible that they went to my junk/spam folders and were automatically deleted!

zagfles

CKhalvashi said:

eskbanker said:

CKhalvashi said:

In any event, OP would have been presented with the options when booking a flight (screenshot for a random flight next week), and more likely to read them if they don't fly regularly.

'Free check in at airport' would in some way signal to me that this optional service is otherwise paid.

But that really supports the point that @zagfles was making about how (un)clear this is - you (as a regular traveller) may have the inclination and capability to derive their policy from that but it's hard to argue that they make it obvious to an occasional traveller.

As I pointed out earlier, it's listed in their table of fees, but that's not particularly prominent when booking, and I can't find any record of a reminder the last time I flew with them - I also looked out the email confirming the booking and that makes no mention of the impact of checking in at the airport versus online, so it's easy to see how someone new to flying with them was unaware of their policy.

There are several in my inbox still, such as this one from December.

I flew on the 14th. My edit to hide personal information in pink.



I use a dark mode but it's probably clearer than that on a white background, I can check on request.

OP said they didn't get one, nor apparently the PP, and I don't seem to remember getting them for Ryanair flights. Maybe, I know this might be controversial and unheard of, Ryanair don't always send them?

jon81uk

This is one big reason I don't fly with Ryanair.

Easyjet will still allow free check in at the aiport, but I have a flight in a month and got an email this week telling me I can check in now.

jimi_man

Pollycat said:

zagfles said:

There's a load of judgemental claptrap in this thread. It's easy for us regular travellers to sneer at those not familiar with Ryanair's almost unique way of doing business which we'll all be aware of. Airport checkin is perfectly normal and the vast majority of airlines don't charge, and those that do the fees tend to be fairly nominal eg £10 or so.

Yeah yeah, should have read the T&Cs, here they are, we all read every word of them before booking a flight don't we https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/terms-and-conditions

In your opinion...

Anyone who books a flight and 'assumes' anything about it is running a risk.

I can't remember the last time I checked in at the airport.
I have a reminder on my phone to do on-line check-in in 5 days time.
Nobody told me to do that.
I didn't assume anything.
I checked the website.

I'll do the same for my 2 later holidays.

You may call that being 'judgemental'.
I call it 'being prepared'.

Online checkin depends whereabouts in the world you go to. Some places don’t offer it. 

I tend to agree with zagfles. Airport checkin is very normal (the standard, in fact) and charging £55 for it is obscene. 

prowla

I guess this thread can serve as a reminder to others to be vigilant and assume that they are out to trick you into paying extras, so you don't get caught out.

CKhalvashi

prowla said:

I guess this thread can serve as a reminder to others to be vigilant and assume that they are out to trick you into paying extras, so you don't get caught out.

Nobody's really trying to trick anyone though.

It's clearly stated on the website in multiple places and there are, on some bookings at least, reminder e-mails being sent out.

jimi_man said:

Pollycat said:

zagfles said:

There's a load of judgemental claptrap in this thread. It's easy for us regular travellers to sneer at those not familiar with Ryanair's almost unique way of doing business which we'll all be aware of. Airport checkin is perfectly normal and the vast majority of airlines don't charge, and those that do the fees tend to be fairly nominal eg £10 or so.

Yeah yeah, should have read the T&Cs, here they are, we all read every word of them before booking a flight don't we https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/terms-and-conditions

In your opinion...

Anyone who books a flight and 'assumes' anything about it is running a risk.

I can't remember the last time I checked in at the airport.
I have a reminder on my phone to do on-line check-in in 5 days time.
Nobody told me to do that.
I didn't assume anything.
I checked the website.

I'll do the same for my 2 later holidays.

You may call that being 'judgemental'.
I call it 'being prepared'.

Online checkin depends whereabouts in the world you go to. Some places don’t offer it. 

I tend to agree with zagfles. Airport checkin is very normal (the standard, in fact) and charging £55 for it is obscene. 

That's not really the case either. Ryanair works on the basis that the user of the service pays for the service, with the basic ticket price buying a randomly allocated seat on a specific service only.

Those using optional extras like airport check-in and not choosing to self-serve increases the costs for the airline. It's therefore only reasonable that those wishing to utilise these additional and non-essential services pay for them.

Ryanair offer a (reasonably good) app for boarding cards, in addition to web check-in where the boarding pass can be printed on paper. At least one of these options will be available to most, if not all passengers.