Those Cheeky Blighters at Ryanair!!!

[Rob S]

I had to book a flight for my wife to Ireland this evening and after doing the usual searches (the flight is for tomorrow) Ryanair came out the cheapest by a long long way at £69 (BA wanted £960!!!! ) But doing the booking on their website is quite a minefield of additional charges. They charge £6 to check-in at the airport (it's free if you do it online), £18 for one checked bag and if you want prioty boarding another £6 on top.

 

But cheekiest of all is the debit/credit card fees. £1 per flight when payment made by debit card and £3 with a credit card. So although you only make one payment transaction when paying for the flight in full, they charge you £1 for the outgoing and another £1 for the return flight. What a blooming cheek!!!

[StudentInDebt]

I read in the paper that Ryanair is taking its' website down in the very near future to include taxes and charges in its' pricing structure. Ryanair has always insisted that its' pricing structure is transparent as you know what the airfare is and the taxes etc levied separately are itemised, the OFT (or similar organisation) disagreed.

 

BA make charges for using credit cards as well - £3.50 per ticket. Don't know how you got quoted £960 though, the most expensive I could make a ticket for tomorrow (returning same day) was £295 on their website.

[JOSH_IOU]

lesson 1 dont travel ryanair travel easy jet lol

[Guest 10110001]

This is the business model of low-cost airlines, getting you from A to B safely and cheaply.

 

Ryannair is good if travelling alone in pleb track, going local (to EU), no checked bag, no complimentary meals & paper, don't mind where you sit, £4 a cup of tea & buscuit, climbing airstairs/no jetbridges and dont mind using out of town airports with no onward connections. Its popular with backpackers laden with carryons and cant stuff them into the overhead bin.

 

Ditto easyjet, nicer fleet and better airports locations. [edited]

[Guest 10110001]

Distasteful it might but true, my partner flies for them.

 

Airlines do not check (they cannot check) whether a passenger's use of a wheelchair is medically legitimate, thus wheelchair users are fast-tracked through the terminal building and onto the aircraft regardless.

[JOSH_IOU]

Ryanair are a low cost airline.

 

I fear any attempt to make them anything more will be futile.

[Guest 10110001]

Some say Ryanair is an ultra-low cost airline. Heres a few Ryannair cost-cutting measures in use or considered.

 

Michael O'Leary explored the idea of removing onbaord lavatories from his 737's. He thought children can manage 2 hours without a bathroom.

 

The price of fuel is rising and cabin window shades add too much weight to the aircraft. Remove them.

 

Employees cannot charge their mobile phones at work - it increases the company elecrtricity bill. This set off a company rumour making its pilots deploy RAT power to conserve fuel during descent and final approach.

 

Removing inflight safety cards in the cabin and replacing them with stickers on the seat-back tray table.

 

Selling advertising space on the cabin walls.

 

Crews have 8 minutes to turn the aircraft around when the last passanger has deplaned without using APU power and conect to external power where possible.

 

One good idea from Mr O'Leary, doing away with illuminated no smoking sign in the cabin, since smoking is banned on all flights under the Air Navigation Order 2000, that's one less flightdeck switch for us pilots to worry about.

[JOSH_IOU]

my applogise ive been through airport security training and my defences were up.

[Guest 10110001]

How does a low-cost airline threaten airport security?

[petertork]

Hi Everybody,

 

New poster - relieved to have found this group - I sleep better at night knowing lots of other people baulk at everyday rip-offs.

Re: Ryanair - I took my kids to Belfast last week on Ryanair - previously had only used Easyjet - was gobsmacked that I would have to pay for the courtesy of priority boarding!.

In the end, O'Leary and Ryanair will run into serious trouble over cutting corners. I just hope it's a legal thing and not public outcry about corner-cutting on safety after a crash.

[ScarletPimpernel]

O'Leary does have some good ideas - his recent suggestion that airport security procedures have more to do with politics than security, for example - but whilst he revels in presenting himself as a rough-diamond, outspoken rebel, he usually comes across as an arse who thinks rudeness and lack of service are virtues.

 

I don't fly Ryanair for a variety of reasons; primarily because I am able to make an informed decision.

[Bookworm]

Distasteful it might but true, my partner flies for them.

 

Airlines do not check (they cannot check) whether a passenger's use of a wheelchair is medically legitimate, thus wheelchair users are fast-tracked through the terminal building and onto the aircraft regardless.

Which is why recommending what you did is nothing more than exploitation of the disabled and why I edited your comments.

[Guest 10110001]

Hi Everybody,

 

New poster - .

 

Welcome to CAG.

 

was gobsmacked that I would have to pay for the courtesy of priority boarding!.

 

All LCC's do it, and one un-named charter airline (priviledged information) is considering letting passengers pay £5 at the gate for priority boarding.

 

In the end, O'Leary and Ryanair will run into serious trouble over cutting corners.

 

He is criticised vehemently but his passengers just keep coming back.

 

I just hope it's a legal thing and not public outcry about corner-cutting on safety after a crash.

 

Compromising safety doesn't happen in aviation, and Ryanair has had no crashes, fatalities or injuries in its entire history, and last year Ryanair carried more passengers than BA. I'll give O'Leary credit where credit's due.

[Guest 10110001]

Which is why recommending what you did is nothing more than exploitation of the disabled and why I edited your comments.

 

My post was nothing to do with exploiting the disabled. It about passengers pretending to be disbaled by bringing a wheelchair with them to obtain fast-track service.

[Bookworm]

And who do you think will suffer when this abusive practice gets more widespread? The ones who are in genuine need of assistance. Thanks to this kind of dubious advice, the airlines will then start exercising stricter control whereas at the moment, the fairly informal way in which it is done is a great boon to some. And don't think they couldn't, all they have to do is implement something whereby you have to show some proof of entitlement to a disability benefit. If you haven't got it with you, then tough.

 

Disneyworld used to operate the same type of policy, thanks to the abusers who did what you so blithely advised, they no longer do so. So yes, it is exploitation of disabilities, and it is despicable.

[Guest 10110001]

the airlines will then start exercising stricter control.

 

Airlines are smarter than that. When a pax with a disability is pre-boarded they are assigned a seat near 2L or an overwing exit door, if he gets up and walks around during the flight, or springs out of his seat demanding his wheelchair the moment I turn off the seat belt sign, they will be the last to disembark because its stored elsewhere on the aircraft. Pax with genuine disabilities know to arrange fast track at the time of booking.

 

Disneyworld used to operate the same type of policy, thanks to the abusers who did what you so blithely advised, they no longer do so. So yes, it is exploitation of disabilities,

 

Disneyworld was also exploiting it. They blithely allow guests to jump the queue including those with disabilities. They called it a Q-Buster ticket and attractions had separate hidden queueing structures for them.

[Loubychew]

I'm a rep and I can concur re the wheelchair [problem].

I have seen many guests going about their holiday with vigour for 7 or 14 days then suddenly need a wheelchair and assistance in the airport.

We can't question it and it is a despicable thing to do. Sometimes there are no wheelchairs left and the folks that really need one suffer.

[Bookworm]

Airlines are smarter than that. When a pax with a disability is pre-boarded they are assigned a seat near 2L or an overwing exit door, if he gets up and walks around during the flight, or springs out of his seat demanding his wheelchair the moment I turn off the seat belt sign, they will be the last to disembark because its stored elsewhere on the aircraft. Pax with genuine disabilities know to arrange fast track at the time of booking.

Budget airlines don't have pre-assigned seats, so that's simply not true. And we are not talking about just wheelchairs, or do you think that only people in wheelchairs need assistance or qualify as disabled?

[Guest 10110001]

Budget airlines don't have pre-assigned seats

 

Only for able-bodied passengers. Bulkhead seats with extra legroom or near lavatories are reserved for pax with disabilities or those carrying infants.

 

do you think that only people in wheelchairs need assistance or qualify as disabled?

 

A wheelchair pax and a disabled pax have different handling procedures depending on the nature of the disability.

[Bookworm]

Again, not true at all. I travel extensively with both Ryanair and Easyjet and the extent of their disabled assistance is that they let you through first. All of which is irrelevant to the exploitation of the assistance policy by able-bodied people, by the way.

[Guest 10110001]

Again, not true at all. I travel extensively with both Ryanair and Easyjet...

 

OK, that gives you have more command experience than me on the A319 and Boeing 777, with my company it's always been the case with low cost and sometimes domestic routes. Unlike gate agents or crew, able-bodied pax never see disability pax being pre-boarded in the cabin, so this this is like having a passenger in K48 telling me how to fly the aircraft.

[Bookworm]

I *am* disabled, as is my 10 year old son, so yes, I would say that makes me pretty knowledgeable.

[JOSH_IOU]

Its stored elsewhere because it can be used to store explosives lol.

[Guest louis wu]

Only for able-bodied passengers. Bulkhead seats with extra legroom or near lavatories are reserved for pax with disabilities or those carrying infants.

 

I don't know who you work for, but most extra legroom seats (those by doors) are given to Able Bodied Passengers (ABP's) in order that they may assist cabin crew in the event of an emergency. This is standard procedure for most worldwide carriers. Non emergency row 'legroom' seats (more commonly found on charter airlines) can be set aside for disabled passengers, but sadly most are now sold at a premium price.

 

A wheelchair pax and a disabled pax have different handling procedures depending on the nature of the disability.

 

ALL disabled passengers have different needs, whilst most fall within standard practice, no two disabilities are the same and each treated differently by ground crew. An example of this is when a disabled pax is boarded via the service doors (aircraft right). To put disabilities into just 2 catagories shows a distinct lack of knowledge, both on the subject, and on procedure.

 

 

Airlines are smarter than that. When a pax with a disability is pre-boarded they are assigned a seat near 2L or an overwing exit door, if he gets up and walks around during the flight, or springs out of his seat demanding his wheelchair the moment I turn off the seat belt sign, they will be the last to disembark because its stored elsewhere on the aircraft.

 

Disabled passengers are seated where it is most appropriate. This is dependant on which doors are used, the extent of the disability and passenger load. As a rule, physically disabled passengers are seated away from exit rows, the reason being is that able bodied passengers will exit the plane faster, leaving a reduced number of fatalities show deaths occur.

A standard wheelchair would not fit down an aircraft aisle (except maybe first class charter), and although you may not realise, most disabled pax are well used to being last off the aircraft, as to disembark before hand is not practical and not desirable.

 

 

 

I think you may find things to be quite different, in the back, than you imagine.

[Guest louis wu]

Its stored elsewhere because it can be used to store explosives lol.

 

 

James, not very helpful to the discussion. Please note, this isn't the bear garden:mad:.