'Ryanair, time to come clean: The latest rises are a step too far.' blog discussion

Claireinfrance

I've used Ryanair alot in the past, when it used to be a low-cost airline, but my last 2 trips back to UK I have used BA.

The first time the price was similar counting in the motorway toll and the hassle of driving to an airport 2 hours away rather than the one 5 minutes away, but the timetable was much better.

The most recent time was for Christmas. For the same dates (21/12 - 01/01) I had a quote from Ryanair for 1050 € :eek: , NOT including the baggage charges and "hidden" extras once you confirm the booking (this is for 2 adults and 2 children of 10 and 13 yrs).

With BA I paid 505 € all-in for the 4 of us, and a much more civilised timetable. I had 23 kg of baggage allowance per person (much appreciated at Christmas !), and a snack provided on the flight. The car park for 10 days cost 40 € and the motorway probably about the same.

Ryanair just isn't worth it anymore. It would be very handy for us, but I deeply dislike the feeling of being "taken for a ride" :cool: It might be ok for a cheap weekend away, but we'd never have managed with a whole load of Christmas presents, and with children, taking only hand baggage would be very difficult.

It used to be the guaranteed cheap option, but now you really have to shop around.
Claire

faineant

I agree in principle that if something is advertised for a particular price it should be possible to buy it for that price and not be required to pay more for any reason. Having said that, it is possible to avoid paying the £1 - if you choose to pay £3 instead!

When I have booked with Ryanair I have been conscious that I could be tripped up into paying more than I need to and the most worrying aspect is the need to be so careful that one could miss something really important that would mean my ticket being void or having to pay much more at the airport. Transparency is good but not to the extent that there is so much to consider that it is difficult to fathom.

alared

Last September I flew from E.Mids to Dublin return with Ryanair for the grand price of 1p each way.

That`s it, no taxes or other fees

---

2p TOTAL

Over the course of this winter I`ve had many £12 return flights to Spain.

Even TODAY I can go to their site and find return flights to Majorca and mainland Spain in April for £20 return plus a £2 debit card fee.

So what people are complaining about is beyond me.
I cannot get a £22 return ticket on the train to London which is only 70 miles away!!!!!!!!!!!!

MSE_Martin

MEA CUPLA

I've changed the blog... it does still allow you to pay via Electrn for free.

Martin

d.gilly

dmg24 wrote: »

This is getting petty now. Has a whole article been written just to argue over £1?!

Surely there are far more important things to be looking into, than why Ryanair don't increase their fares by £1?!!

I booked four flights last week for this August. My husband will be flying over to Ireland to collect our two boys from his mother's. This saves us loads in childcare cost, and the flights are cheap in comparison. Anyway, because my husband is flying out by himself it cost £1 to pay with a debt card, no problems with this. The return flights are charged in euro - a seperate booking because of different number of people for return journey - and because I have to pay with a credit card, as I don't have a debt card they accept for euro payments, I am charge £3, but this is £3 per person! So I'm paying a total of £9 for using my credit card and have no other option.

I wonder if this is lawful, charging £3 per person rather than £3 for using a credit card. At the end of the day it is one booking and one credit card transaction so how can they charge per person?

LittleMoo

Paul_Herring wrote: »

What about cash?

(As in the piggy bank you just emptied of coppers especially for the occasion?)

We've returned today from Rome with Ryanair. Can't fault the flight, especially as it was a 1p + taxes deal (thanks Martin!) but when we were told we had to pay the check-in fee (which we weren't aware of) and we tried to pay in cash we were told 'cards only' and then charged for the privilege!!

lic

Ryanair are fantastic!
I regularly travel to Spain, and for the last 6 months or so have always used Ryanair. Their website is easy to use and understand. I have never encountered any rudeness from their staff, and always found them pleasant and helpful.
As for on line check in, I think it's brilliant. O'Leary used to charge people for this, but now it is free.
Pay extra for checked baggage. Why not! How is it some people need to pack the 'kitchen sink' to go on holiday for a week or two?
As for charging to use credit/debit cards, I agree it's a bit off; but don't rival airlines do this?
I'd rather pay Ryanair more to travel, than pay the 'rip off' taxes HMG charge on flights.
Slightly off topic, but why do we have such stringent security checks on outward flights (one 1 item of hand luggage), when on return flights there is no restriction?
Answer. To justify war on terror!

Alfie_E

I’ve just seen today’s edition of the BBC’s Working Lunch programme. It seems you can redirect your ire at Jet2.com. They do charge to pay with any type of bank card.

And, what’s a ‘fuel supplement’, apart from a joke? Jet2.com’s definition is that it’s ‘the variable difference between the basic fare and the price the company pays for its fuel.’ I would have to say that fuel is one of the less optional extras. In my example, it seems to be a very exact figure. So, presumably, it changes from day to day. £2 one day, £5 the next, then back? Even if you look at the headline price and add in all the known extras, like baggage and the fee to be allowed to pay, you still have no way to know the final amount, without going all the way through the booking process. Also, there’s much less incentive for Jet2.com to be fuel efficient. Maybe there’s some costly change they could make that would make them 20% more fuel efficient. If this doesn’t show itself in your headline prices, there’s much less incentive to carry it out.

My £19.99 flight costs at least £23.83 – a 19% difference. If I could have found one of the flights with Jet2.com’s lowest advertised price of £9.99, we’re talking nearer a 40% difference. I don’t see how it can be legal to fail to include the cost of fuel in the headline price. The payment card fee I don’t know about. I don’t know if there’s a way you can pay that doesn’t use a bank card, but I can’t see one.

Working Lunch also pointed out that BA have a booking fee and fuel surcharge. But, these are fixed by route and appear in the headline prices. After you select your route and date, the first price you see is what you pay.

habibi_2

Well I just got "caught". I didn't realise that baggage was extra to the quoted price until I went to pay for it. I don't feel it was made clear. I still paid a reasonable price but it went from 2p to £15 (inc taxes) to £35 (inc baggage and check-in). This is not transparent pricing!

Also, I just booked a charter flight with Thomson's, who also charged extra for baggage right at the end of the booking process. Is there anyone that just takes hand luggage for a minimum holiday period of one week?

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

I work for a agents that sells ryan air flights, it is £4 to check in online isnt it?

if you book say 5 people, but only one bag, they all have to check in at the airport and all have to pay the £4