Improvements at Ryanair

wretcheddomain

Looks like some of my pet-hates have finally been addressed by Ryanair:

The "Recaptcha" security code, which appears on the booking page, will be removed from the website from next week.

Also from next week, customers who book directly on the airline's website will be given a 24-hour grace period to correct any minor errors.

Ryanair is to operate quiet flights prior to 8am and after 9pm.

During these flight periods, no announcements will be made on board other than required safety announcements. Ryanair will also dim the lights during these quiet flights.

From December, Ryanair will allow passengers to bring a second small carry-on bag, no bigger than 35cm by 20cm by 20cm, which will allow a bottle of wine or equivalent to be carried.

December will also see the boarding card reissue fee cut from €70 to €15 for customers who have already checked in online.

However, customers who fail to check-in online will continue to pay a €70 airport check-in fee.

From the beginning of next year, standard airport bag fees will be cut from €60 to €30 at the bag drop-in desk and from €60 to €50 at the boarding gate.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1025/482625-ryanair/

Very impressive announcements especially the boarding card re-issue and that really irritating Recaptcha Security Code which annoying the sh1te out of me.

Now, where are the Ryanair bashers?

nungesser

Not if you paid me!

A Primal Nut

Delighted they got rid of the Repatcha - they were especially difficult with Ryaniar. Apart from that the other changes are nice. So not to be negative on purpose, but didn't they just increase the bag fees from €30 to €60 (when O'Leary said he wanted to get rid of checked bags altogether) so they are really going back to what they were a couple of months ago.

http://news.sky.com/story/1122689/ryanair-raises-hold-baggage-charges-by-66-percent

Sort of like when shops raise prices for a couple of weeks then announce a big discount when they are restored to their original level.

gihj

A Primal Nut wrote: »

Delighted they got rid of the Repatcha - they were especially difficult with Ryaniar. Apart from that the other changes are nice. So not to be negative on purpose, but didn't they only increase the bag fees to €60 a couple of months ago (when O'Leary said he wanted to get rid of checked bags altogether) so they are really going back to what they are a couple of months ago.

http://news.sky.com/story/1122689/ryanair-raises-hold-baggage-charges-by-66-percent

Sort of like when shops raise prices for a couple of weeks then announce a big discount when they are restored to their original level.

Or like most Aer Lingus "sales":-)

Franticfrank

I think it's a really positive development. In fact, these announcements would prompt me to start flying with them once again. The Repatcha thing was really irritating and so was the strict baggage policy. A more relaxed airline will surely win back passengers.

irish_goat

Can see the second carry on bag causing a nightmare. People have trouble enough understanding they could only bring 1 bag on.

murphaph

If they introduced assigned seating along the Aer Lingus model (you can pay in advance or wait until 30 hours before departure to check in and select a seat from what's left, or take whatever the system offers) then I'd be inclined to give FR a go again. The scramble for a seat business is just so pointlessly annoying. It's also inefficient as people block the aisle. Assigned seating + strict zonal boarding can get pax seated faster than the free for all.

They won't change the tacky interiors in a hurry as that costs real money, but process changes can be implemented at low cost.

bikeman1

murphaph wrote: »

If they introduced assigned seating along the Aer Lingus model (you can pay in advance or wait until 30 hours before departure to check in and select a seat from what's left, or take whatever the system offers) then I'd be inclined to give FR a go again. The scramble for a seat business is just so pointlessly annoying. It's also inefficient as people block the aisle. Assigned seating + strict zonal boarding can get pax seated faster than the free for all.

They won't change the tacky interiors in a hurry as that costs real money, but process changes can be implemented at low cost.

You do know that you can book an assigned seat with Ryanair.

You can avoid the mad scramble, you just have to pay for it. I never do as it doesn't bother me, but my housemate buys it any time he flies with them and he said its the business. He just chills out at the gate and when priorty boarding is called, he just strolls up and boards the plane and finds his seat, just as if flying with Aer Lingus.

billy few mates

just as if flying with Aer Lingus.

If only.....

murphaph

bikeman1 wrote: »

You do know that you can book an assigned seat with Ryanair.

You can avoid the mad scramble, you just have to pay for it. I never do as it doesn't bother me, but my housemate buys it any time he flies with them and he said its the business. He just chills out at the gate and when priorty boarding is called, he just strolls up and boards the plane and finds his seat, just as if flying with Aer Lingus.

I don't want to pay extra for some better seat. I just want whatever seat I get to be assigned in advance of boarding, like Aer Lingus. They can still sell seats in advance to those who want them.

ballooba

bikeman1 wrote: »

He just chills out at the gate and when priorty boarding is called, he just strolls up and boards the plane and finds his seat, just as if flying with Aer Lingus.

Or just do this anyway. Unless you're flying with children (or someone else who needs your help) is it really that important to sit together. 9 times out of ten there will be two seats together even at the latest stage of boarding. There is a seat for everybody, probably more given the number of no shows and the requirement to not over sell.

IngazZagni

murphaph wrote: »

I don't want to pay extra for some better seat. I just want whatever seat I get to be assigned in advance of boarding, like Aer Lingus. They can still sell seats in advance to those who want them.

Unless you are assigned a seat beside a guy with really bad b/o like I was once then you would wish it was the ryanair free for all again!

Stovepipe

well, on my last Ryanair flight, they announced the priority boarding so those people stood up to board and moved to the gate. In the same breath, the ground staff member announced the general boarding so the rest stood up and advanced to the gate and everything turned to **** in short order, so maybe the rules have to be explained to staff as well, ie, give priority boarders actual priority (the headstart that they are paying for) instead of generating a mob scene...........@gihj, that's called "tactical" pricing as is practised by every airline, ie, jack prices up for public events and school holidays.

regards
Stovepipe

relaxed

murphaph wrote: »

I don't want to pay extra for some better seat. I just want whatever seat I get to be assigned in advance of boarding, like Aer Lingus. They can still sell seats in advance to those who want them.

Indeed if they randomly assigned seats at checkin time it would end the carnage.

And stick a large "Zone 1", "Zone 2" etc. on the boarding cards and enforce zonal boarding.

This should actually save time.

hurleronditch

murphaph wrote: »

The scramble for a seat business is just so pointlessly annoying. It's also inefficient as people block the aisle. Assigned seating + strict zonal boarding can get pax seated faster than the free for all.

It's not pointless at all, unassigned seats save something like 7-8 minutes per turnaround vs assigned. People also block the aisle more in assigned seating, as everyone rushes on Ryanair and fills the back and front first, and all the window seats. On assigned seating if the guy by the window likes to get on late, he has to move 2 people to sit down. On Ryanair the late guy just sits in an aisle seat, or more like a middle, moving only one body.

7 minutes per load is worth around 72000 crew hours per year to Ryanair, based on 6 flights per day on 280 active planes. Taking cabin crew at €12 ph, a FO at 30 and a captain at 50, that's €10m off the bottom line annually.

galwayjohn89

I thought the research showed assigned seating speeds up boarding

IngazZagni

Vuzuggu wrote: »

I thought the research showed assigned seating speeds up boarding

What research? The 25 minute turnarounds have generally worked fine at most airports for years now. No other carrier have proved that a different method would be faster, nor would there be a need for it to be any faster. The Ryanair argument is that if every seat was assigned then you would have that few that would wait by the bar finishing their pints until the queue is gone, then slowly stroll over just as the gate is closing. Having every seat assigned also dilutes the ancillary revenue aspect as it no longer becomes an "optional extra".

MuffinsDa

hurleronditch wrote: »

7 minutes per load is worth around 72000 crew hours per year to Ryanair, based on 6 flights per day on 280 active planes. Taking cabin crew at €12 ph, a FO at 30 and a captain at 50, that's €10m off the bottom line annually.

I thought Ryanair only pays their flight crew per *actual* flight time?

MuffinsDa

IngazZagni wrote: »

What research? The 25 minute turnarounds have generally worked fine at most airports for years now. No other carrier have proved that a different method would be faster, nor would there be a need for it to be any faster. The Ryanair argument is that if every seat was assigned then you would have that few that would wait by the bar finishing their pints until the queue is gone, then slowly stroll over just as the gate is closing. Having every seat assigned also dilutes the ancillary revenue aspect as it no longer becomes an "optional extra".

1. They can still enforce strict gate closure times, in conjunction with zonal boarding, to prevent late arrivals.

2. They can still earn ancillary revenue (like Aer Lingus and many other airlines do) by allowing people to preselect their seats (as opposed to getting a random one at checkin).

homerjay2005

im pretty sure that the amount of money they earn from people paying for their seats/priority boarding dwarfes the potential revenue they could earn from people who refuse to travel due to no assigned seating.

practically everybody i know who refuses to travel with ryanair, lists this as their number 1 reason.

bikeman1

But there is assigned seating with Ryanair. Like Aer Lingus if you want a particular seat in advance, you pay for it. Otherwise you are assigned the other seats at your choice.

For me as I mostly fly on my own or with one other person, having the option to avoid the noisy baby, smelly person, stag/hen group when I get on the plane is actually a plus.

I have often only been left with a middle seat with Aer Lingus when I went to check in as all the aisle/window seats had been taken.

murphaph

At the end of the day Ryanair are talking about changing how they operate to attract customers who up until now haven't flown with or only reluctantly fly with Ryanair. They will have to do the sums and see if a measure that saves x amount but also discourages y million potential passengers from flying with them is a net benefit to the company. Obviously they have already made that decision for some processes, like ticket name changes. They stand to lose money on the face of it but the change of heart is intended to win more customers overall. They will analyse every process and try to establish how much it saves and how much it costs in lost business.

Best of luck to them anyway.

bk

For those that say assigned seating is faster boarding, I'm afraid you are wrong.

Experiments have clearly shown that random seating as practised by Ryanair is actually 2 to 3 minutes faster to board then Back to front or block assigned seating.

Now there is a new mathematical approach to assigned seating that is faster then Ryanair, but it is a fairly complicated method and isn't currently practised by AerLingus or any airline.

Of course an assigned seating system like this wouldn't work for many Ryanair flights as they use buses, etc.

See here for more details:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14717695

MuffinsDa

bk wrote: »

For those that say assigned seating is faster boarding, I'm afraid you are wrong.

Experiments have clearly shown that random seating as practised by Ryanair is actually 2 to 3 minutes faster to board then Back to front or block assigned seating.

Now there is a new mathematical approach to assigned seating that is faster then Ryanair, but it is a fairly complicated method and isn't currently practised by AerLingus or any airline.

Of course an assigned seating system like this wouldn't work for many Ryanair flights as they use buses, etc.

See here for more details:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14717695

Interesting article!

The bottom line as murphaph says is whether the money saved in those 2-3 minutes (or more like 10) is worth alienating a number of passengers from choosing FR altogether. It's a question that only FR know the answer to, and so far it seems to be worth it for them to do it the random seating way.

relaxed

Assigned seating might generate money too.

At the moment a family of 4, for example, can be at the top of the queue and get 4 seats together or closeby for free.

If all seats were preassigned then the family could be randomly allocated seats all over the place, in which instance they would actually have to pay extra for seats together, generating revenue.

Cessna_Pilot

MuffinsDa wrote: »

I thought Ryanair only pays their flight crew per *actual* flight time?

Contractors get paid per planned BLOCK hour not actual. Doesn't matter whether flight time is more or less, or a turnaround is longer or shorter, they get paid the scheduled

ballooba

For all those talking about how Ryanair are missing out on customers because they don't provide the warm fuzzy feeling that Aer Lingus does... have a look at their relative passenger numbers for an indication of how much they should care.

murphaph

ballooba wrote: »

For all those talking about how Ryanair are missing out on customers because they don't provide the warm fuzzy feeling that Aer Lingus does... have a look at their relative passenger numbers for an indication of how much they should care.

It's not us saying that Ryanair could generate more business if they changed their ways a bit, it's Ryanair themselves! They wouldn't be at this if it wasn't going to increase revenue for them.

murphaph

relaxed wrote: »

Assigned seating might generate money too.

At the moment a family of 4, for example, can be at the top of the queue and get 4 seats together or closeby for free.

If all seats were preassigned then the family could be randomly allocated seats all over the place, in which instance they would actually have to pay extra for seats together, generating revenue.

Splitting families up intentionally would be terrible for the passengers sitting next to the out of control hyperactive kids. It makes no practical sense. Even 2 parents flying with a baby won't be split up because one parent can "shield" the adjacent passenger from the baby's cries.

ballooba

murphaph wrote: »

It's not us saying that Ryanair could generate more business if they changed their ways a bit, it's Ryanair themselves! They wouldn't be at this if it wasn't going to increase revenue for them.

I'm still not sure where this change in approach from Ryanair has come from. It's more likely that they're worried about the likes of Easyjet or other Low Cost Airlines than Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus are not really a threat to Ryanair.

Other possibilities:

• Political issues e.g. blocking of Aer Lingus takeover, blocking of Stansted buyout, other politcal challenges in Europe.
• Potential new markets wouldn't accept Ryanair way of doing business e.g. America

Stovepipe

@ballooba, Ryanair's way of doing business originated in the USA in the Sixties so it's not news to Americans, at all. Herb Kelliher of Southwest coordinated what was already practise at several small airlines into one airline and when it was seen to work, he invited all-comers to copy him, which Michael O'Leary did (and he has stated this publicly several times). Personally, I don't give a damn about assigned or unassigned seating as long as my ass is in a seat and we are taking off, reasonably close to on time and there are no French or Spanish ATC strikes ongoing. What pisses me off about Ryanair is their aggressive negativity and their treatment of both fulltime and contracted staff and the way in which they are touted as being the answer to all problems.
regards
Stovepipe

Mech1

bk

Stovepipe wrote: »

@ballooba, Ryanair's way of doing business originated in the USA in the Sixties so it's not news to Americans, at all. Herb Kelliher of Southwest coordinated what was already practise at several small airlines into one airline and when it was seen to work, he invited all-comers to copy him, which Michael O'Leary did (and he has stated this publicly several times).

Southwest however offers a much higher class of service then Ryanair. Southwest offers:

- Fully assigned seating which is free
- Normally board through air-bridges rather then steps like Ryanair.
- Free non-alcoholic beverages and pretzels/snacks
- Ability to book transfers, with luggage handled between transfers etc.
- Frequent flyer awards scheme
- wifi onboard and streaming TV and video on demand over wifi
- Nicely designed website and booking system, with non of the stupidity of the Ryanair website
- 2 free checked bags
- They allow two bags (laptop bag) for cabin luggage.

AerLingus is now far more like Southwest, then Ryanair is.

I see Ryanair heading more towards the Southwest/AerLingus model to attract more business travellers and to stave off competition from the likes of Easyjet, etc. which are also closer to Southwest model.

LoonyLovegood

I went to book a flight today on their site, I have to admit, it's so much nicer to book than before!

homerjay2005

CTYIgirl wrote: »

I went to book a flight today on their site, I have to admit, it's so much nicer to book than before!

nothing has changed yet apart from the captha verification is gone. still the s*it with car hire, bags, buses etc etc.

the site is closing for 6 hours later, hopefully all the crap i just mentioned is taken off.

LoonyLovegood

I know, but it's still so much nicer to not have that bloody captcha!

murphaph

homerjay2005 wrote: »

nothing has changed yet apart from the captha verification is gone. still the s*it with car hire, bags, buses etc etc.

the site is closing for 6 hours later, hopefully all the crap i just mentioned is taken off.

6 hours of downtime even in the wee small hours will cost Ryanair a fortune. Are you sure it's so long?

IngazZagni

murphaph wrote: »

6 hours of downtime even in the wee small hours will cost Ryanair a fortune. Are you sure it's so long?

It's down now until 4am. It's the booking engine that's down right now.

homerjay2005

site is not working properly. gives flights as 0 Eur but doesnt allow me to book anything.

Stinicker

The captcha is gone for me and they have this option box which calculates the fee if you pay by Credit Card or by Debit Card and a link to the baggage fee's table which means it is a hell of alot easier to navigate and no more jumping through hoops and having to go as far as "press pay" to figure out how much it will cost for everything all-in.

It was one of my pet peeves on Ryanair was that between the captcha and having to almost book the flight before you knew the exact cost.

So far so good, these are only minor differences but they make it much easier and more transparent.

RichieO

The website is cured ok but now it's knack-cured, been trying to get on it all morning....

Now, if only the seats were less like concrete slabs.....

Patrickheg

bk wrote: »

Southwest however offers a much higher class of service then Ryanair. Southwest offers:

- Fully assigned seating which is free
- Normally board through air-bridges rather then steps like Ryanair.
- Free non-alcoholic beverages and pretzels/snacks
- Ability to book transfers, with luggage handled between transfers etc.
- Frequent flyer awards scheme
- wifi onboard and streaming TV and video on demand over wifi
- Nicely designed website and booking system, with non of the stupidity of the Ryanair website
- 2 free checked bags
- They allow two bags (laptop bag) for cabin luggage.

AerLingus is now far more like Southwest, then Ryanair is.

I see Ryanair heading more towards the Southwest/AerLingus model to attract more business travellers and to stave off competition from the likes of Easyjet, etc. which are also closer to Southwest model.

Ryanair initially adopted southwests business model about 20 yrs ago when o'leary took over, since then ryanair have taken the original model and refined it by finding further cost efficiencies with the end result that both airlines have very different business models. neither of the airlines acknowledge that they have similar business models and haven't done so in many many years

Cosmo Kramer

Assigned seating for all passengers on the way, €5 to pick your seat or it will be picked for you. Question is, if you book multiple tickets for the same flight and don't pay the extra to pre-book seats, will they assign your group seats together or separate you around the airplane?

I actually didn't mind unassigned seating at all, it was survival of the fittest and it was usually the idiots who turned up late that didn't get to sit together and then moaned about it for the whole flight, vowing never to fly Ryanair again (until the next time they got a cheap ticket). Now there's little incentive for these types to hurry to the gate, so I expect a big drop in on time performance as a result of this.

bk

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Assigned seating for all passengers on the way, €5 to pick your seat or it will be picked for you. Question is, if you book multiple tickets for the same flight and don't pay the extra to pre-book seats, will they assign your group seats together or separate you around the airplane?

Really!!

I think this is actually bad news!

Firstly it will definitely increase boarding times. Random seating is actually faster boarding then most types of assigned seating.

Secondly I was almost always able to get an emergency exit seat, without booking under the current system.

whitebriar

I find paying extra to ensure I have the seat I want,makes for a more relaxing time at the airport.
This business of scramming to get to the head of a queue and sometimes standing for ages to keep your place in the queue is such a drudge.
So I'm delighted,Fr has joined the rest for this.

As for slower boarding,I'm sure Fr have done the maths on that one,they wouldn't be doing it if it was going to be affecting their on time record.

irish_goat

bk wrote: »

Southwest offers:

- Fully assigned seating which is free
- Normally board through air-bridges rather then steps like Ryanair.
- Free non-alcoholic beverages and pretzels/snacks
- Ability to book transfers, with luggage handled between transfers etc.
- Frequent flyer awards scheme
- wifi onboard and streaming TV and video on demand over wifi
- Nicely designed website and booking system, with non of the stupidity of the Ryanair website
- 2 free checked bags
- They allow two bags (laptop bag) for cabin luggage.

Most of those are not "free", they're included in the ticket price.

theteal

Excuse the source but this saddens me from a purely selfish slant. I quite enjoy being the last on the flight, getting a middle seat in the first few rows which thus enables me to get off very quickly upon landing. Getting an allocated seat on the belly of the plane may scupper/inconvenience my further travel plans :sadface:

bk

whitebriar wrote: »

I find paying extra to ensure I have the seat I want,makes for a more relaxing time at the airport.
This business of scramming to get to the head of a queue and sometimes standing for ages to keep your place in the queue is such a drudge.
So I'm delighted,Fr has joined the rest for this.

I never scrammed, instead the trick was to sit and wait until the end when all the other people have boarded and then stroll into the emergency seats.

apaynea

So I guess if customers wish to check in earlier than 24 hours before the flight then they will have to pay the 5 euro charge? Seems like they will make a lot from this as I would guess most of their customers check in well in advance of 24 hours. Basically forcing everyone to pay the charge.

LoonyLovegood

The way I take it is that if you don't pay the charge you get allocated a random seat.

wretcheddomain

CTYIgirl wrote: »

The way I take it is that if you don't pay the charge you get allocated a random seat.

When is this allocation made though? I mean if I print off my boarding pass 3 days before the flight, arrive at the boarding gate til the end, I assume that cabin crew just tell you on the way into the aircraft right?