Ryanair singlehandedly putting people off traveling...

samsemtex

Anyone else feel Ryanair are doing long term damage to the airlines/travel industry? Ryanair often claim to be this great company who have broadened air travel to a vast array of people and how people who would never have travelled before have gone to such and such place.

This may be the case for a number of people but they have made travelling a nightmare. They prey on customer mistakes, take the piss when you do make a mistake and hang you out to dry when you are in a vulnerable position in a foreign country. I hate the thought of booking flights now because im just paranoid about making a mistake. I know if i have made a tiny mistake I will be absolutely raped to get it repaired.

Ryanair always play on this nonsense of you only paid €5 for your flight dont expect any service. However I have never paid less than €90 for one of these so called €5-10 flights not to mind other arrangements i have made on the basis of getting the flight. And on a few occasions i have paid up to €300 for return flights.

At this stage almost everyone I know has had a terrible experience with Ryanair. I have, my brother has almost all of my friends have. A few years ago i, like most people, would have said they were grand but now they are really taking the piss.

€100 charges for changing a spelling mistake, €40 to print a boarding pass, mandatory online check in which they inexplicably shut off 4 hours before departure, airports in the middle of nowhere that have no facilities/information services (eg Beauvais is one of the most disgraceful airports ive ever been in 22 seats between 600 people in the departures lounge and internet either so you cant make alternative arrangements). A customer service line that is premium rate and can only be contacted via fax/letter and will respond "within 10 days". Those credit card charges...

I actually dread going places now because of how air travel has become. Aer lingus are now almost as bad, so are easy jet and all the other low fares airlines. They are scamming people and they do it to so many people it is bound to be causing long term damage. Its now an ordeal and there is absolutely no joy in Air travel any more.

The majority of my friends who have travelled with Ryanair have now had a very bad experience. I dont see how this behaviour by airlines is sustainable in the long term.

And yes...I am aware that all of this is in their terms and conditions before one of the usual holier than thou board members points it out. That doesnt mean they are fair.

flikflak

I use them 2 to 3 times a month. Never had a bad experience. Had not complied with their rules a few times but that was my own fault.

You read the rules and comply with them. No one forces you to input your c/card details.

I never pay over €50 for a flight. You have to keep looking and know in advance when you want to travel.

If you can book yourself a flight then you should be well aware of the rules of that flight. People who dont check in online only have themselves to blame. Its not rocket science is it - they even send you e mails telling you to check in online NOW for your flight.

In the same vein you can also use the destinations facility on their website to see where the flight lands and then go to google maps to see exactly where the airport is. All takes approx 2 minutes.

You dont want to fly with them - then dont. The days of glam and fully serviced air travel are long gone.

Tis nothing more than a flying bus.

samsemtex

flikflak wrote: »

Tis nothing more than a flying bus.

I dont ever remember having a 10kg baggage limit on my bus or having to go through 4 security checks to get on it, or having to arrive hours beforehand so I dont agree with this "you should treat it like a bus" mentality. A bus is a much more pleasurable experience. Never thought id say that.

onemorechance

Ryanair have policies which allow them to be the most efficient airline in the world.

They charge E40 to print a boarding pass so that they don't end up with a queue of people wanting to get their boarding pass printed and thus delaying the flight. Print your own boarding pass and bring it with you, along with your passport. Would you expect them to call the passport office for you if you forgot your passport?

They fly to airports in the middle of "no-where" as they offer Ryanair the best prices for using their airport. Blame the "central" airports for their charges, e.g. DAA.

You may need to arrive at an airport early but this is due to security checks that are nothing to do with Ryanair. Ryanair flights leave on time and if you arrive at the gate at the time is says it is closing, you will have a half hour wait.

They have a simple, precise model that works and is cheap. Go on the site now and you can get thousands of seats to many places in Europe for E10. You could hardly get to the Airport on Bus Eireann for that. Credit card charges can be avoided, easily, top up with an Entropay card. I got two return flights to Luton last year for a total of four cents. I paid less than E5 to get E100 credit on my entropay card, leaving the possiblity of getting over 9500 flights with Ryanair.

samsemtex

onemorechance wrote: »

They charge E40 to print a boarding pass so that they don't end up with a queue of people wanting to get their boarding pass printed and thus delaying the flight. Print your own boarding pass and bring it with you, along with your passport. Would you expect them to call the passport office for you if you forgot your passport?

A €10 charge would be more than enough to put people off.

They fly to airports in the middle of "no-where" as they offer Ryanair the best prices for using their airport. Blame the "central" airports for their charges, e.g. DAA.

Well maybe they should start using Waterford airport and advertise it as Dublin then. Do you think that is a good idea? because that is essetially what they do in Paris, Brussles, Oslo, Barcelona, etc. None of these airports are anywhere near where they claim and are an ordeal to get to and from.

They have a simple, precise model that works and is cheap. Go on the site now and you can get thousands of seats to many places in Europe for E10. You could hardly get to the Airport on Bus Eireann for that. Credit card charges can be avoided, easily, top up with an Entropay card. I got two return flights to Luton last year for a total of four cents. I paid less than E5 to get E100 credit on my entropay card, leaving the possiblity of getting over 9500 flights with Ryanair.

No, it is not easy to avoid. It is quite a lot of hassle to get that card and they have their own significant charges. Sure they used accept Visa Electron but then too many people got it so they changed it. What an absolute farce. Everything about them is a scam for sneaky money. No one would complain if they were up front about their charges but they arent.

flikflak

samsemtex wrote: »

A €10 charge would be more than enough to put people off.



Well maybe they should start using Waterford airport and advertise it as Dublin then. Do you think that is a good idea? because that is essetially what they do in Paris, Brussles, Oslo, Barcelona, etc. None of these airports are anywhere near where they claim and are an ordeal to get to and from.



No, it is not easy to avoid. It is quite a lot of hassle to get that card and they have their own significant charges. Sure they used accept Visa Electron but then too many people got it so they changed it. What an absolute farce. Everything about them is a scam for sneaky money. No one would complain if they were up front about their charges but they arent.

Its very easy to avoid. Took me about 5 minutes to get my prepaid master card. A few clicks on Entropay and you are done. Ok it might cost you €2 or €3 to load but a normal credit card will cost you if you dont pay it off on time.

Regarding the charges being upfront is having all the information on the website not enough for you then? Along with a table of charges there that anyone can click on - hardly sneaky.

rossie1977

ryanair give you 2 weeks to print out your boarding card online, thats plenty enough time for anyone

if you don't like some of the airports ryanair fly into then don't use them on that route, simples, ryanair fly into the main airports in budapest, berlin, madrid, nice, malta, tenerife, lanzarote, gran canaria, salzburg, krakow, edinburgh, malaga and use campino which is closer to rome than the main airport, it takes 5 seconds to check an airport location online, washington dulles is nowhere near where it claims to be either, that ryanairs fault too

and no prepaid mastercards are not a hassle, you can get one in most stores in dublin

dario28

samsemtex wrote: »

Anyone else feel Ryanair are doing long term damage to the airlines/travel industry?.

Not really

Ryanair Grows 13% With 65 Million Passengers in 2009

7 MILLION ADDITIONAL PASSENGERS OPTED FOR RYANAIR’S LOWEST FARES AND GUARANTEED NO FUEL SURCHARGES

Read the rules,learn to type and spell - chill out and relax until everyone is on the plane and everything will be ok, no queues or stress...simples

Ya cant blame ryanair for security checks....thanks alot bin laden

samsemtex wrote: »

I know if i have made a tiny mistake I will be absolutely raped to get it repaired.

O'Leary does some crazy stuff but raping people for making mistakes is prob a bit extreme, cant see that being approved if he didnt get the standing area through !

People like this wreck my head

onemorechance

samsemtex wrote: »

A €10 charge would be more than enough to put people off.

E40 will put 4 times as much people off!

samsemtex wrote: »

Well maybe they should start using Waterford airport and advertise it as Dublin then. Do you think that is a good idea? because that is essetially what they do in Paris, Brussles, Oslo, Barcelona, etc. None of these airports are anywhere near where they claim and are an ordeal to get to and from.

It is very possible that they will move their Headquarters out Dublin airport to Belfast due to the charges. As Rosie pointed out, they fly to the central airport in many places, and an even more central airport in some cases. They fly to many destinations that NO OTHER airline flys to direct from Ireland. Like Rosie said, if the destination doesn't suit you, pick another one or another airline (enjoy your stop-over!).

samsemtex wrote: »

No, it is not easy to avoid. It is quite a lot of hassle to get that card and they have their own significant charges. Sure they used accept Visa Electron but then too many people got it so they changed it. What an absolute farce. Everything about them is a scam for sneaky money. No one would complain if they were up front about their charges but they arent.

It depends on what you consider hassle, it would have taken you more time to write your initial post than it would be go to the Entropay website and get a card number to use. You could probably have booked one of Ryanair's current flight offers of E10 to Europe also. These cards do not carry significant costs as they are less than 5%, thus E100 could get you 9 flights with Ryanair right now, assuming they are also waiving their check-in fees as they often do with these offers. Ryanair changed from Visa Electron because it was not availabel in all European countries, e.g. Portugal, wheras the prepaid MasterCard is. (It may also be that they are their own card issuer too!)

Fr Tod Umptious

I love the way Ryanair fly to more remote locations

Gives one a chance to hire a car and visit places away from the hustle and bustle

neilthefunkeone

Never had a problem the few times we flew with them.. If you can read and you have a weighing scales in your bathroom then you will have no problems..

I cant understand what the problem is... if im ever going anywhere Ryanair will be always the first site to check...

Edit: If your looking for sympathy or people to agree with you this should be moved to R&R

mikedragon32

Great post, OP. As one of those who is as you call us, the "high and mighty" my experience of the majority of threads complaining about Ryanair is that the poster's complaint is down to them not reading conditions, but that's a discussion for another day.

The point you make is very good and well made, but I disagree. Ryanair has single handedly revolutionised the airline industry, perhaps not for the better. It is true that more people travel nowadays and figures are down lately more as a function of moneygeddon than the sins of O'Leary.

They have definitely lowered the expectations of the travelling public.

Personally I use ryanair when travelling alone or with friends. If I'm with my wife and child, I wouldn't use them as I see the stress of other parents using them and how they can and do target parents with infants with handluggage. I've seen parents who've paid for priority boarding being barked at by cabin crew because they're taking time to take seats. When it comes to travelling with my family I won't use ryanair, and if nobody else goes where I need to be, then I'll fly elsewhere and hire a car.

I guess what ryanair offers is choice. You ultimately choose how you travel.

Consider also the baggage issue. Many airlines have followed this, including transatlantic operaters who impose it for second and subsequent bags. This is also the case for other charges. The other airlines monitor what Ryanair do and in time replicate where they can. Where they don't replicate, they market that as quality service.

My view is that Ryanair is not killing the airline industry, it IS the airline industry. A bit of a shame really.

enzo7

I have to say i love ryanair, lastyr i went on 2 extra holidays because of them both to france first flight cost me 110euro for 3 of us including 2 checked cases, the 2nd cost me 130euro for 4 of us including 2 checked bags also priority boarding aswell. What other airline would get us there for that??

shanagarry

I actually had a conversation about this at Christmas with my folks and they were raving about Ryanair, talking about times when Aer Lingus basically had a monopoly and it would cost you IEP200-300 for a return flight to London. This was probably 25 years ago, so that was a hell of a lot of money, probably at least E500-E750 in today's prices, and even more expensive when considered as a proportion of monthly wage back then. Ryanair completely opened up travel to the general public.

I'm currently living in SA and I miss Ryanair so much. I go on far less weekends away than I used to, and would like to, because flights are so expensive. There are some ‘budget’ airlines, but even they aren’t necessarily that cheap. Flying Joburg-Cape Town with the main airlines can often cost R2,500 (E220) pp! So think about what you would do without Ryanair before you rush to criticise them.

For me, flying Ryanair is all about cost-benefit analysis – I weigh up all the factors such as airport location, my luggage needs etc and then consider if the total price is sufficiently low to justify any compromise I might need to make, simple as.

I fly a lot, business and pleasure, and I’ve had way more issues with the likes of Aer Lingus and BA than Ryanair.

robinph

samsemtex wrote: »

I dont ever remember having a 10kg baggage limit on my bus

This is more than pretty much every other airline will let you take as carry on, not that other airlines always pay attention to carry on though.

samsemtex wrote: »

or having to go through 4 security checks to get on it,

Nothing to do with Ryanair, that is what you have to do for any flight.

samsemtex wrote: »

or having to arrive hours beforehand

Nothing to do with Ryanair, same for every flight, and it's not hours anyway, 40 minutes is plenty of time in most airports unless it's at peak time.

TheNibbler

Moved to London 4months ago and without Ryan Air I could forget about flying home every 3weeks or so. Travelling with Ryan Air is no fun but it gets you where you need to go for very little money. You just need to see it as a means to an end and follow all their rules to the letter.

samsemtex

robinph wrote: »

This is more than pretty much every other airline will let you take as carry on, not that other airlines always pay attention to carry on though.

Nothing to do with Ryanair, that is what you have to do for any flight.

Nothing to do with Ryanair, same for every flight, and it's not hours anyway, 40 minutes is plenty of time in most airports unless it's at peak time.

I know its nothing to do with Ryanair but the reason I mentioned that is because people are saying treat it like a bus. I will not treat it like a bus because of these reasons. If it was as hasslefree as hopping on a bus then I would have no problem treating it just like a bus.

robinph

samsemtex wrote: »

I know its nothing to do with Ryanair

So what was the reason for the thread title then?

samsemtex wrote: »

... but the reason I mentioned that is because people are saying treat it like a bus. I will not treat it like a bus because of these reasons. If it was as hasslefree as hopping on a bus then I would have no problem treating it just like a bus.

It is as close to a bus service as your likely to get when that bus is restricted to working from within airport and all their associated security issues and such like.

amcalester

I fly with Ryanair quite a lot (10 times in the last 3 months) and from my experience the only people that have any trouble are those that cant/dont obey the simple rules.

If you do, it is as hassle free as you can get. If you dont then you will get "raped" but you'll deserve it.

P. Breathnach

amcalester wrote: »

... If you dont then you will get "raped" but you'll deserve it.

That is a repulsive metaphor: nobody ever deserves to be raped.

EI111

This is like asking if McDonalds is putting people off ever eating again.

Ryanair offer flights to certain airports at a certain price. If you don't want to go to that airport use another airline to go to another airport and pay their price.

It's simple, how could it put you off flying?

MagicMarker

It's not Ryanair's fault if you can't read or double check your spelling before confirming the flights ffs!

Ryanair are up front about all their charges, if you don't like it, don't fly with them, simple as. I for one am delighted to have an airline on my door step that will charge me less to fly anywhere in Europe than a taxi will charge me to get to the fúcking airport in the first place.

Ponster

MagicMarker wrote: »

It's not Ryanair's fault if you can't read or double check your spelling before confirming the flights ffs!

In slight defence of samsemtex, that is easy when you're a computer-literate 30-something but the same doesn't apply when you're a perhaps older person with less computer skills and not aware of the severity of potential mistakes.

Ryanair have changed the relationship between the common person and airlines and the industry have followed suit. I understand why they do some of the things they do (from a profit-making pov) but others would argue that it should be possible for Ryanair to offer great value for money without giving the impression that the system is rigged towards making people pay for their mistakes.

I rarely fly with Ryanair these days. I used to for 7 years about 4 times per year from Paris to Shannon and the odd time from East-midlands to Cork (now serviced by BMI baby). When I first moved to France I had to pay £180 for a single ticket with Aer Lingus and that was the cheapest option available. If it hadn't have been for Ryanair I would never have been able to afford so many visits home and therefore would unlikely have stayed over here for very long.

samsemtex

It really is hilarious the way people on boards always seem to have a completely different attitude about everything to people you speak to in reality. I can hardly find anyone who doesnt despise Ryanair or at least acknowledge they are backstards. Yet on here they are more popular than Jesus in Mississippi. Its the same here about everything which concerns rules or terms and conditions.

On the motors forum when someone mentions that they got penalty points and are not happy (sometimes justifiably) you just get a load of people on their high horse about how you not should have been doing whatever depite the fact it is something they would do themselves all the time.

"Just obey their T&Cs and you are fine", "no ones fault but your own"

I guarantee very few of you react like that when its yourself involved. What a tedious place this is. Anyhow I'll be off.

cue more predictible boards response.

samsemtex

Ponster wrote: »

Ryanair have changed the relationship between the common person and airlines and the industry have followed suit. I understand why they do some of the things they do (from a profit-making pov) but others would argue that it should be possible for Ryanair to offer great value for money without giving the impression that the system is rigged towards making people pay for their mistakes.

Thank you...a reply which actually adds something to the thread.

EI111

Well you asked if Ryanair was singlehandedly putting people off travelling. The answer is no, it's not.
It may be putting people of flying ryanair, but how on earth could they possibly put people off travelling. If you could answer that it would really add to this thread.

mikedragon32

You can't start a discussion and then throw your toys out of the pram when folks disagree with your opinion.

There are plenty of folks here who have made errors with their bookings but don't come crying to boards when they get hit for extra charges to rectify the mistake. I've made mistakes on group bookings and just paid up. Why get worked up about it?

That's the beauty of our free market economy, you can always spend your cash elsewhere.

samsemtex

mikedragon32 wrote: »

You can't start a discussion and then throw your toys out of the pram when folks disagree with your opinion.

Ah, it is always the same here. You post something about making a mistake and a load of people here attack you for not being able to read rules. You would never receive a reaction like that if you were talking to someone in person. I know this is the internet and should be expect but boards.ie is particularly bad for these tedious replies.

EI111 wrote: »

Well you asked if Ryanair was singlehandedly putting people off travelling. The answer is no, it's not.
It may be putting people of flying ryanair, but how on earth could they possibly put people off travelling. If you could answer that it would really add to this thread.

I was basing it on my own experiences. Most people i know do not enjoy air travel at all anymore and its nothing to do with security checks. Its the stress of checking everything is okay, sqeezing everything you need into one bag and how you are treated when you have made a mistake/something unfortunate happens. While I appreciate many people have never made any mistakes here a lot of people I know have and hate the thought of air travel because all the other airlines are copying Ryanairs crap attitude and will be just as bad to deal with.

EI111

samsemtex wrote: »

all the other airlines are copying Ryanairs crap attitude and will be just as bad to deal with.

sorry not convinving
Maybe you mean airlines are becoming more efficient in order to cut costs, reducing the cost of flying?

scout353

I have often made the same points as the OP. Ryanair, for better or worse has changed the airline industry. IMHO I think they have destroyed the business. In reality, they have stripped out every charge that made up the price of the flight and made it "optional". However, you rarely end up with some of these so called cheap flights.

I believe that Ryanair actually base their model on getting at least €50 for each seat, regardless of how that is achieved. They have forced people away from the travel agent to online, they now insist on online check-in but charge for it, they charge a lot for changes that are done online and require no input from any Ryanair personnel so there is no cost involved. (in fact I bet nobody in Ryanair would realise that Mary Murphy is now on the flight instead of Mark - but Mary has paid €100 to change that typo!) You have to print your own boarding pass - you pay for the paper and ink!

You pay a credit card surcharge per person rather than per transaction`- why should 2 people pay when only one person is paying!!!!

How many times has Ryanair cancelled a flight to a destination beacuse it had sold seats at €1, €2 or €3 only for a major sporting event to be announced and miraculously the flight is reinstated 24 hours later with the cheapest flights being €200 EW?

The biggest issue for me is that they have forced other airlines to follow suit and we now have a dumbed down airline business where the customer is never right and the Michael O Leary attitude to customer service means that you never get any satisfaction!

If it were a hotel or restaurant you wouldn't put up with such shabby treatment!

EI111

scout353 wrote: »

You pay a credit card surcharge per person rather than per transaction`- why should 2 people pay when only one person is paying!!!!

Credit card charge is ridiculous, that is true. It should be illegal i think.

If it were a hotel or restaurant you wouldn't put up with such shabby treatment!

Not true. People still go to Mcdonalds despite their lack of service, charging for sauces etc.

How many times has Ryanair cancelled a flight to a destination beacuse it had sold seats at €1, €2 or €3 only for a major sporting event to be announced and miraculously the flight is reinstated 24 hours later with the cheapest flights being €200 EW?

That's demand I'm afraid. You don't have to take the flight if you don't want. Find alternative arrangements. Demand drives up the price of every good and service, not just ryanair flights.

The biggest issue for me is that they have forced other airlines to follow suit

They must be doing something right, although I don't know what you mean by this. Maybe they have made aer lingus follow suit, but there are hundreds of airlines nothing like ryanair. I don't think emirates for example would have any similarities whatsoever. Again, it's your choice who you fly with.

LavaLamp

I've been using Ryanair regularly for around a year now, I've managed to bag myself some of their legendary €0.01 flights, and with a bit of ducking and diving managed to avoid all extra charges. Yes you do have to know what you are doing, and yes you do have to read the T&C's carefully every time you book a flight, just in case they changed something (which they do, regularly) but if you can be bothered, it is totally worth it.

If I was presented with a fare of €300 to fly somewhere with Ryanair I would be straight off looking at other airlines that have some frills - no WAY would I EVER pay that much for a flight with Ryanair, that is just stupid.

I love Ryanair for the cheap flights they offer, without them seeing my parents regularly wouldn't be possible. I may utter the odd expletive about them when a new charge is introduced, but then take great pleasure in finding a way round it, flying with Ryanair is like a game, and you have to be sure you are the winner or your wallet will hurt

rossie1977

samsemtex wrote: »

It really is hilarious the way people on boards always seem to have a completely different attitude about everything to people you speak to in reality. I can hardly find anyone who doesnt despise Ryanair or at least acknowledge they are backstards. Yet on here they are more popular than Jesus in Mississippi. Its the same here about everything which concerns rules or terms and conditions.

from my experience the people who complain about ryanair don't actually fly with them

in 2009 i flew with ryanair to the algarve for €6 (would have been €1 had i known about entropay when booking in october 2008, i flew to zadar in croatia for €15, budapest for €17 and pisa for 1 cent, why would i complain about ryanair if i am getting deals like that

cynder

in all fareness ryanair is very handy, well WAS very handy until they cut the flights out of shannon and said it was down to the gov's 10 euro tax, bull****. i now have to travel to dublin at an extra cost of at least 200 euro for 2 adults and 3 children train fares and accommodation, or car drive up and cost of leaving car there and accommdation depending on flight times. so on top of 50 the gov's tax for the 5 of us for flying out of dublin we have to add the 200 quid to get up there.

so what do i do? i book wih ryanair to fly to france from dublin 3 days later they say they are cutting 20% of flights from dublin and we wont find out till march if ours is affected. we have 3 weeks accommodation booked and 3 weeks car hire booked, we fly into 1 airport , travel around france and fly out of another. fingers crosses we will be ok. :mad:

after all my complaining it wouldcost 1200.00 to fly with anyone else and were paying 750.00 for flights and 200 for exras to get to dublin so 950.00 still cheaper than the others.

enzo7

Ya it sucks how many flight they have cut, i hate flying from dublin it not even the extra cost for hotel/travel it the thought of the drive home after:(.

yashinya

You can get a cheaper Pre-paid Mastercard through www.neteller.com
Easy to get and only charge 1.75% for bank transfers,

Latchy

The mention of the name Ryanair now fills people with dread. Like your waiting for the next unexpected wammy to be thrown at ya by them

pretty-in-pink

My only problem with Ryanair is the tiny bagge allowance. and the far awayness of teh departure gates. but thats more DAA then Ryanair to be fair.

TFS is working out bout the same as aer lingus at the moment, but lets see cpme march, when its booking time & the april/may sale is on how it goes!

undo

The baggage situation has greatly changed in favor of Ryanair recently:

Carry-on:
Ryanair: 10kg, €0
Aer Lingus: 10kg, €0

Both are equal...

First bag:
Ryanair: 15kg, €15
Aer Lingus: 20kg, €15 (€12 to UK)

... Aer Lingus is winning by a 5kg margin...

Second bag:
Ryanair: 15kg, €35
Aer Lingus: 0kg, €15 (€12 to UK)

... suddenly, Ryanair comes out on top. Notice that with Aer Lingus, you can purchase an extra bag - but you can still only bring 20kg total. Anything above that and you pay €9 per kg. With Ryanair, the second bag is more expensive (€35) but you can bring an extra 15kg.

Breaking it down by weight, we get:

* Carry-on only: Ryanair €0, Aer Lingus €0
* 1kg to 15kg: Ryanair €15, Aer Lingus €15
* 16kg: Ryanair €35, Aer Lingus €15 (note 1)
* 17kg to 20kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €15 (note 2)
* 21kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €24 (note 2; note 3)
* 22kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €33 (note 2; note 3)
* 23kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €42 (note 2; note 3)
* 24kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €51 (note 2; note 3)
* 25kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €60 (note 2; note 3)
* 26kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €69 (note 2; note 3)
* 27kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €78 (note 2; note 3)
* 28kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €87 (note 2; note 3)
* 29kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €96 (note 2; note 3)
* 30kg: Ryanair €50, Aer Lingus €105 (note 2; note 3)
* 31kg: Ryanair €70, Aer Lingus €114 (note 1; note 2; note 3)
* 32kg: Ryanair €90, Aer Lingus €123 (note 1; note 2; note 3)
* 33kg: Ryanair €110, Aer Lingus €147 (note 1; note 2; note 3; note 4)
* 34kg: Ryanair €130, Aer Lingus €156 (note 1; note 2; note 3; note 4)
* 35kg: Ryanair €150, Aer Lingus €161 (note 1; note 2; note 3; note 4)

Note 1: for Ryanair, pay excess of €20/kg
Note 2: for Ryanair, book two bags
Note 3: for Aer Lingus, pay excess of €9/kg
Note 4: for Aer Lingus, book two bags (no bag may weigh more than 32kg)

As you can see, Ryanair and Aer Lingus are equal for carry-on only and 1kg to 15kg. From 16kg to 23kg, Aer Lingus wins. But if you really have lots of luggage, Ryanair actually charge less than Aer Lingus for 24kg up to even 35kg. At that point, the situation would reverse but I am not even sure what the absolute maximum per person is... more than 35kg per person seems somewhat unlikely for a holiday .

AntiRip

Have flown with Ryanair for years to Alicante. I've never had any problems whatsoever. Granted the e10 credit card charge is robbery but I got to go see Paris a week or so ago for e18 return. Spent longer in the bus from Beauvais to Paris but I enjoyed sitting down looking out at the French countryside go by. Would have paid e400 with Aer Lingus. Once you know the rules and obide them there's nothing at all wrong with them.

yashinya

AntiRip wrote: »

Have flown with Ryanair for years to Alicante. I've never had any problems whatsoever. Granted the e10 credit card charge is robbery but I got to go see Paris a week or so ago for e18 return. Spent longer in the bus from Beauvais to Paris but I enjoyed sitting down looking out at the French countryside go by. Would have paid e400 with Aer Lingus. Once you know the rules and obide them there's nothing at all wrong with them.

You can get a cheaper Pre-paid Mastercard through www.neteller.com
Easy to get and only charge 1.75% for bank transfers,

collegemum

Fly with them all the time. The last flight was in September when we actually paid €5 each way for the flights to Spain

When you see a bargain you gotta book.......sure that's cheaper than a taxi to my local supermarket

Zatman

I think the OP is one of the snobbish people that look down on people that use Ryanair and want us to pay more to use Aer Lingus. I know your type i work with one of them.

Ryanair is a no frills airline and gets you were YOU want to go. You dont have to use them and if you do you know your not expecting first class services but gets you to your location cheaper and most of teh time faster than other airlines.

ilovelamp2000

mikedragon32 wrote: »

Ryanair has single handedly revolutionised the airline industry, perhaps not for the better. It is true that more people travel nowadays and figures are down lately more as a function of moneygeddon than the sins of O'Leary.

They have definitely lowered the expectations of the travelling public.

What Ryanair have done is follow the business model of SouthWest Airlines. It's not revolutionary. All they've done is cut costs repeatedly by becoming a ****tier airline over time.

Flying Ryanair is generally an unpleasant experience IMO and one I usually avoid as much as possible.

schween

samsemtex wrote: »

And on a few occasions i have paid up to €300 for return flights.

€300 for a Ryanair flight! :eek: Thanks for paying it, keeps it cheaper for the rest of us

I can see where your coming from. They have a ridiculous amount of charges that are becoming increasingly harder to avoid. They say that the Prepaid Mastercard is free, yet when I pay with my Mastercard Debit card, it won't recognise it. They have charges for online check in which are unavoidable.

But, this doesn't bother me as they are still cheaper, and sometimes you can get great deals. I got 3 return flights not so long ago for €5 each, which was great! But I wouldn't use Ryanair to go to the likes of Paris or Barcelona as Aer Lingus aren't that expensive and go direct. I would use Ryanair to go to lets say Madrid, as it's cheap and direct.

I wouldn't use the airline, going places I don't want to go or paying prices I don't want to pay and then complain.

mikedragon32

Rosco1982 wrote: »

What Ryanair have done is follow the business model of SouthWest Airlines. It's not revolutionary. All they've done is cut costs repeatedly by becoming a ****tier airline over time.

Flying Ryanair is generally an unpleasant experience IMO and one I usually avoid as much as possible.

Ryanair did indeed follow SWA's model, however that was a long time ago and they've "developed" a lot since then. If you can call it development....

mikedragon32

Zatman wrote: »

I think the OP is one of the snobbish people that look down on people that use Ryanair and want us to pay more to use Aer Lingus. I know your type i work with one of them.

warning sent... No need for this.

robinph

schween wrote: »

They say that the Prepaid Mastercard is free, yet when I pay with my Mastercard Debit card, it won't recognise it.

Prepaid Mastercard and the Debit card are two different things.

schween wrote: »

They have charges for online check in which are unavoidable.

I didn't pay for checkin on one of the two flights I just booked last week, was only an offer flight admitedly and there isn't a normal way of avoiding the charge. All airlines charge you for checkin though, just Ryanair list a lot of their separate costs out to the customer where other airlines just call the flight cost as a higher number.