Ryanair SHAFTS Munster fans who are already its customers

Snickers Man

This from Last Friday's Irish Times (Emphasis is Mine)

Stirring it up

Seemingly content to stir the pot, Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley has offered 1,000 free seats from Shannon airport for every point Munster beat Leinster by on Sunday.

Wait for it. The quote in yesterday's press release is even better: "We believe the best way to celebrate Munster's imminent victory over Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi-final on Sunday is to offer free seats to Munster supporters on flights from our Shannon base," said Cawley.



That;'s 24,000 free seats!!!!

Now as Ryanair, probably uniquely among publicly quoted companies, don't put their press releases on their Web site I can't check the veracity of this but hey, the IT is the paper of record. Why would they lie.

Checking the Ryanair site today, it is currently impossible to fly back from Bristol to Shannon on the Sunday after the game and if you wait till Monday you will be hanging around until the evening to get home.

Ryanair only flies from Cardiff to Dublin. Again all Sunday return flights are sold out.

Will be interesting to see if they try and welch (groan) out of this one like they tried to get out of their 'free flights for life' offer by using O'Leary himself to brow beat and bully the young lady who won it.

Though I reckon the average hairy arsed Munster fan is unlikely to be intimidated by a former Rockwell fancy pants trying to cut up rough.

Demand your free seats lads and lasses. And demand that they leave at a reasonable time to let you get to the match and get home again before Monday.

If you let him get away with this, you're all a bunch of lady boys!!!

testicle

Note....

He never said when the flights would be. He also never said where they would be to!

zeusnero

testicle's dead right - they just meant the free seats would be offered from shannon but could be to any destination in europe. (and they will honour it, jsut keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks - they'll generate as much publicity as they can when they make the seats free) And besides how in the name of god would it be possible to have 24000 seats available to cardiff in one weekend?

Snickers Man

Well I have been dealing with and observing Ryanair for long enough to know that you don't trust the bastards with the steam off your piss. But still, a public statement by a board member of a publicly quoted company has to be taken at face value.

They don't fly from Shannon to Cardiff but they do fly from there to various other destinations including:

Bristol - a short train ride away

Gatwick: about three hours (four to be safe) car ride away.

Luton: maybe four hours (five to be safe) car ride away

East Midlands: Only if you must

Biarritz: OK it's only an idea

24,000 seats is only about 50 Jumbos worth. Could be done.

I would just hate to see these feckers get all the positive publicity for this and then sneak out of it on some misleading twaddle.

Don't let them get away with it.

zeusnero

how long exactly have you being observing ryanair?

they don't have jumbo's, most of their fleet consists of Boeing 737-200 & 737-800's which have a max capacity of less than 200.

so 24,000 seats = a minimum of 120 flights...

anyway i don't see why ryanair get such a bad rep, i've flown with them over 100 times, and nothing has ever gone wrong (nothing within their control anyway). If you fly with Ryanair, you play by their rules... If you want anything else then go AL / BA/ AF

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Snickers Man

zeusnero wrote:

how long exactly have you being observing ryanair?

they don't have jumbo's, most of their fleet consists of Boeing 737-200 & 737-800's which have a max capacity of less than 200.

Ooer!!! Anorak alert!!!

With which other company was Tony Ryan, who put the Ryan into Ryanair, closely associated?
Guinness Peat Aviation

And what did they do?
Leased aircraft.

So if they need to get hold of some extra capacity for a short-term event, over and above their own fleet I'm sure they know how to go about it. (Yes Yes I know GPA doesn't exist any more but it's the concept I'm talking about)


I am relieved to see that there seems to be enough people here who are experienced enough in the ways of Ryanair to realise that Cawley is jumping on the Munster bandwagon to strongly imply, if not promise, something other than what he intends to deliver. 'Free Flights' and 'Munster Fans' clearly associates his offer with the Cup Final.

I think he should be held to account for it.

That's all.

zeusnero

And just to throw in a slight piece of synicism, of course they were probably offering those seats at 0.01 anyway, and why not offer them for free, if just for the positive publicity… it’s all about the marketing (then again when you lock a load of graduates into a room and deprive them of alcohol they sure do come up with some nice campaigns

jhegarty

Snickers Man wrote:

. 'Free Flights' and 'Munster Fans' clearly associates his offer with the Cup Final.

no , i think thats just you ..... he never said anything about the final...

Snickers Man

jhegarty wrote:

no , i think thats just you ..... he never said anything about the final...

He said 'Munster supporters'.

Does that mean you have to demonstrate loyalty to the Munster Team in order to avail of these flights, and that failure to do so will mean you get turned away at the gate?

I wouldn't put it past them.

You have to read the small print with these guys.

jhegarty

From the ryanair site

RYANAIR wrote:

RYANAIR BACKS MUNSTER TO WIN


Ryanair, Europe’s leading low fares airline today offered 1,000 free seats from its Shannon base for every point by which Munster beats Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi final at Lansdowne Road this Sunday.

Announcing the initiative Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley said:

“We believe the best way to celebrate Munster’s imminent victory over Leinster in the Heinken Cup semi-final on Sunday is to offer free seats to Munster supporters on flights from our Shannon base. We are making available 1,000 free seats for every point with which Munster beats Leinster on Sunday. These seats will be available for booking from Monday 24th April for flights from 15th May on many of our midweek services from Shannon to the 20 international destinations which we serve from our base there. Ryanair will this year carry 1.5 million passengers into and out of the airport, further evidence, that together with Munster rugby Ryanair is putting Limerick and Clare firmly on the map.”

Snickers Man

jhegarty wrote:

Originally Posted by RYANAIR
RYANAIR BACKS MUNSTER TO WIN


Ryanair, Europe’s leading low fares airline today offered 1,000 free seats from its Shannon base for every point by which Munster beats Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi final at Lansdowne Road this Sunday.

Announcing the initiative Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley said:

“We believe the best way to celebrate Munster’s imminent victory over Leinster in the Heinken Cup semi-final on Sunday is to offer free seats to Munster supporters on flights from our Shannon base. We are making available 1,000 free seats for every point with which Munster beats Leinster on Sunday. These seats will be available for booking from Monday 24th April for flights from 15th May on many of our midweek services from Shannon to the 20 international destinations which we serve from our base there. Ryanair will this year carry 1.5 million passengers into and out of the airport, further evidence, that together with Munster rugby Ryanair is putting Limerick and Clare firmly on the map.”

What I said.

Disingenuous or what?

jhegarty

So you think "These seats will be available for booking from Monday 24th April for flights from 15th May on many of our midweek services from Shannon to the 20 international destinations which we serve from our base there" = "Free flights to cardif for the final" ?

manonmir

Snickers Man.... basically.... you're wrong.

you're misreading the comment because you had it in your head that the offer was directly linked to munster and the final even though the press statement CLEARLY does not say that. Furthermore you are going on as if Ryanair are duty bound to provide free flights in the first place.

They are offering flights from Munster to Europe, 24,000 tickets. And by doing this they get to advertise the fact that they fly into it.

Don't let them away with it is right - Claim a free seat!!!!

kermitdfrog

So you think "These seats will be available for booking from Monday 24th April for flights from 15th May on many of our midweek services from Shannon to the 20 international destinations which we serve from our base there" = "Free flights to cardif for the final" ?

Exactly. Have to say Snickers, you are the only person I know who read the offer the way you have.

Snickers Man

From Dictionary.com

dis·in·gen·u·ous ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dsn-jny-s)
adj.
Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: “an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who... exemplified... the most disagreeable traits of his time” (David Cannadine).

kermitdfrog wrote:

Have to say Snickers, you are the only person I know who read the offer the way you have.

Me and the Munster fans I was talking to yesterday who first told me about this.

Hey, what the hell do I care. I'm at home that weekend.

Snickers Man

OK. I've just had a look at the Ryanair site and it's all very interesting. But as any further discussion on this topic has bugger all to do with rugby, I'll continue my diatribe on the transport forum.

PowerHouseDan

Bit of a hassle but Dublin to Birmingham 40 Euro Return.. get the Train down... Easyier for me cause i have free accom in Chelteham but even return its cheap....And get the Train from Birmingham to Cardiff.

Snickers Man

PowerHouseDan wrote:

Bit of a hassle but Dublin to Birmingham 40 Euro Return.. get the Train down... Easyier for me cause i have free accom in Chelteham but even return its cheap....And get the Train from Birmingham to Cardiff.

Yeah right. If you travel out on Thursday and back on Monday, maybe. Even taking the cheapest flight on Friday at 6:30 and even if you get up to Brum on Sunday morning for the 07:50 flight, it's still going to cost you €130 odd.

And that's going Ryanair. The same dates with Aer lingus are about 270.

Assuming we're talking about cup final dates here.

Unless there's a secret airline flying to Birmingham you're not telling us about.

Or do you mean boat and train?

PowerHouseDan

Ya sorry thats what i ment going on the Thursday and coming back on the Monday... accomadation free so it works out well for me... But just saying...

Snickers Man

PowerHouseDan wrote:

Ya sorry thats what i ment going on the Thursday and coming back on the Monday... accomadation free so it works out well for me... But just saying...

'Ryanair is cheap if your time is of similar low value'

Snickers Man

WOW!!!! Look at this posted on Ryanair's Website today (Wed April 26th)


RYANAIR ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF
DUBLIN – CARDIFF ROUTE

Ryanair, Europe’s leading low fares airline, today announced the cessation of its service from Dublin to Cardiff and the transfer of these services to Bristol International Airport with effect from Monday next, 1st May. Ryanair’s five year agreement with Cardiff Airport was due for renewal on that date but the airport has insisted on increasing its passenger charges by over 350%. In addition, the airport has reneged on elements of its current contract and is attempting to force Ryanair to pay extra charges for services which were covered under that contract.

Announcing the decision Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley, said,

“Cardiff Airport is pricing itself out of the low fares market. Cost increases of the order of 350% belong to an era when the lowest air fare from Ireland to the UK was €250. Ryanair has a wide choice of competitive airports available to it and, with effect from Monday next, 1st May, we will be transferring these services to Bristol International Airport. For those flights up to the 10th May Ryanair will provide coach services between the two airports.

In addition we will be offering refunds to any passengers who have already booked on these Cardiff flights and who don’t wish to travel to Bristol. We very much regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers but we are not prepared to tolerate these levels of cost increases on their behalf from airports whose only interest seems to be to gouge passengers with extortionate price increases. ”

The airport is reneging on its commitments?? How about Ryanair's commitment, secured by the advance payment of a tidy sum by each individual, to fly Munster fans to Cardiff on the weekend of potentially the biggest day in the rugby team's history? (May 20th 2006)

'On no matter' says Michael Cawley. 'We'll fly them to Bristol and bus them across, or we'll offer them a refund'

Well Gee thanks Mike, you're all heart.

Let's assume that there are NO Munster fans who will actually seek a refund given that they will want to be in Cardiff for the big day. How are they all going to be accommodated? I believe the Scheduled Ryanair flight to Cardiff takes off at 10:50 in the morning and gets in about an hour later. That would be loads of time to get to the ground for kickoff from CARDIFF AIRPORT but if they're all going to be rerouted through Bristol, that would leave things very tight.

Not to mention the existing scheduled services into Bristol from Irish airports which are also likely to be booked solid that day.

Is this the same Michael Cawley who jumped on the Munster bandwagon by announcing 1,000 free flights from Shannon per point margin of win to 'Munster supporters' less than a week ago? (to Paris, Bristol and East Midlands only, it seems) Then turns around and screws them all over because Cardiff Airport won't take it up the back passage any more?

Man's got a neck like a jockey's bollox.

Snickers Man

Look's like Aer Arann is stepping into the breach

Crash

Page 2 of the Mini Indo (not my normal paper but it was free this morning) has a good spread on it - Aer Arann putting on 9 extra flights that day? fair dues to em.

DaBreno

We have a lot of Ryanair employees posting on this thread. Id say most people who saw that would link the offer to the final. A cynical marketing ploy by Ryanair? I hope not, I hate to see their good name dragged through the mud like this.

Trojan

dis·in·gen·u·ous
Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating

That describes every marketing campaign ever conceived. Ryanair are pr!cks, but damn them for their real crimes, not for marketing like everyone else in the business.

I hate Ryanair and shall continue to fly them regularly.

RuggieBear

looks like i'm flying to Bristol then....

I could have chosen to fly to bristol in the first place and saved myself about 100 euro but i decided it would be less hassle just to fly straight to Cardiff:rolleyes:

Snickers Man

Trojan wrote:

That describes every marketing campaign ever conceived. Ryanair are pr!cks, but damn them for their real crimes, not for marketing like everyone else in the business.

No. There's marketing and there's marketing. To jump on the Munster bandwagon like that and then less than a week later to shaft a good load of them on their big day takes a particular breed of hard-nosed prick.

Actually I think Ryanair tries to deliberately cultivate this image of abusive, kick-the-walking-stick-away ruthless hard nosed operator. 'As long as the suckers are still paying, we'll keep abusing them.'

By all means fly Ryanair if they're the only people flying to where you want togo and if you can get it at a price and time that suits you. But be warned:
they will try and screw you,
so learn how they will try and screw you
and make sure that you don't give the bastards the chance to do so.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

sheepshagger

RuggieBear wrote:

looks like i'm flying to Bristol then....

I could have chosen to fly to bristol in the first place and saved myself about 100 euro but i decided it would be less hassle just to fly straight to Cardiff:rolleyes:

Ruggie - am in the same boat as you. . . flying to Bristol when I could of booked that myself.

I havnt received any email saying the flights chnaged though.

Rang Ryanair TWICE today, got the same response both times, this was 'Flights are only moving to Bristol May 1-10. . .and that my flight on Friday 19th returning Sunday 21st will still be into and out of Cardiff ?????

That makes no sense - the taxes only going up (which is why they are pulling the route) for the first 10 days of May.

Upside is theres plenty of trains avaliable (every 30 mins) at about GBP 20 return. . was going to book ahead but guess we may still end up going direct to Cardiff. . . .(I assume the outward flight times havnt changed??). . theres now a flight on both Friday and Sunday going to/from BRISTOL. . .is this an extra flight or my 'moved flight' (it has different flight numbers.

Has anyone had an email from Ryanair about the planned route change??

Can anyone who works for O'Leary comment ??

RuggieBear

sheepshagger wrote:

Ruggie - am in the same boat as you. . . flying to Bristol when I could of booked that myself.

I havnt received any email saying the flights chnaged though.

Rang Ryanair TWICE today, got the same response both times, this was 'Flights are only moving to Bristol May 1-10. . .and that my flight on Friday 19th returning Sunday 21st will still be into and out of Cardiff ?????

That makes no sense - the taxes only going up (which is why they are pulling the route) for the first 10 days of May.

Upside is theres plenty of trains avaliable (every 30 mins) at about GBP 20 return. . was going to book ahead but guess we may still end up going direct to Cardiff. . . .(I assume the outward flight times havnt changed??). . theres now a flight on both Friday and Sunday going to/from BRISTOL. . .is this an extra flight or my 'moved flight' (it has different flight numbers.

Has anyone had an email from Ryanair about the planned route change??

Can anyone who works for O'Leary comment ??

That's the thing. i've got no email about it. find it very strange. At least my girlfriends best friend will still be able to collect us in Bristol

sheepshagger

We'll just get the train, we are on the 9am'ish flight out Friday morning and back about 10pm on the Sunday.

Even when I go to check my booking on the website, it says im still confirmed aqs going to Cardiff (the same as the call centre said).

I'm assuming (which I dont like to do with Ryanair) that the flight times (leaving Dublin and Cardiff/Bristol) are the same ??

What flights are you on ?

RuggieBear

From Dublin(DUB) to Cardiff(CWL)
Thu, 18May06 Flight FR882 Depart DUB at 09:30 and arrive CWL at 10:25

PAYMENT DETAILS

GOING OUT
From Cardiff(CWL) to Dublin(DUB)
Mon, 22May06 Flight FR885 Depart CWL at 22:05 and arrive DUB at 23:00

TBH, i just reckon this is all BS so they can put pressure on Cardiff to give them a better deal.

I wouldn't be suprised if in a week everything is flying back to cardiff

sheepshagger

You have te same flights just a day earlier and a day later.

Thought that today myself. . .Ryanair are the specialists in drumming up free publicity.

DublinWriter

Snickers Man wrote:

This from Last Friday's Irish Times (Emphasis is Mine)
Wait for it. The quote in yesterday's press release is even better: "We believe the best way to celebrate Munster's imminent victory over Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi-final on Sunday is to offer free seats to Munster supporters on flights from our Shannon base," said Cawley.

That;'s 24,000 free seats!!!!
...
If you let him get away with this, you're all a bunch of lady boys!!!

Suck it down, because...

a) Ryanair's pricing model allows that the first 0% to 10% of an aircraft to travel 'free', plus airport taxes obviously.

b) The free tickets where not specified as occuring to a particular destination or during a particular period, so the 24,000 free seats will be delivered as part of their usual business practise between now and whenever.

c) by drawing attention to this typically cheap Ryanair publicity stunt, you are giving Ryanair the oxygen of publicity, whereas I wouldn't be happy giving Michael O'Leary the oxygen of oxygen.

d) Points (a) to (c) prove that Snickers man, you are indeed, a lady boy.

RuggieBear

Attack the post not the poster
Dublin writer
banned

istep

Looked at the cardiff / bristol option when I booked my trip 4 weeks ago for myself my wife and son also looked at ferry with car but all at the time were over priced so we just decided to get 99cent flights to stanstead on friday morning .... make a weekend of it in london .... travel up and down to cardiff on sat by train 2 hrs each way .... won't experience the craic in cardiff on sat night ...but i'm leinster so will retreat to london to lick my wounds and hopefully celebrate an irish win in the hc

Snickers Man

RuggieBear wrote:

Attack the post not the poster
Dublin writer
banned

Ah put the yellow card away, Ruggie.

There's far too much of this banning.

IMH(and very well informed)O.

matt-dublin

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=06&month=apr&story=pro-en-260406

Now promising 2000 seats for every point that munster beat biarritz