Ryanair Flight Report

smurfjed

Sorry mods.... With the new format I can't find the Travel Hints thread that used to be a sticky...


Ryanair Business Plus.

Staff standby travel is great fun unless you actually need to get somewhere, so I found myself traveling on Ryanair from Dublin to Gatwick. I opted to try put the business plus fare as they were offering special fares ( 59.99) and it included one bag plus, seat selection, priority boarding and fast track (usual cost 5.95)
There was no way that my bags were going to be under 20 kgs, so I purchased a 2nd bag at a cost of 25.
Checkin with the APP was a doddle, I was impressed with the new self service bag drop, and I was extremely curious as to how it would treat my 23 kg suitcase, in the old Ryanair I would have to bring this down to 20 kgs regardless of the weight of the 2nd check in bag. However the system didn't have a problem with the weight, this also meant that I didn't have to check in my trolley bag. It's worth nothing that I didn't get a baggage receipt as this would be available to me online.
Fast Track security took about 5 minutes. Boarding was started early and I walked straight onboard with priority boarding.
The seat that I selected offered extra legroom, I don't know the tail number but this was a new aircraft with the slimline seats, Sky ceiling and less yellow. They also changed the overhead lockers to a smaller size, my trolley used to fit on its side, but now it would only fit lying flat, the old lockers could probably take 6 of these trolleys, the new style might take 2! I know that this is a cunning plan to have less luggage in the cabin, but to me it's a bad idea and has to cause confusion on a full flight.
No WIFI which surprised me.
They had some announcements about scratch cards, onboard sales etc, but these were limited and relatively quiet. But unfortunately they still played that obnoxious arrival trumpet.
Bus ride to the terminal, climbed up 6 flights of stairs and my bag was waiting for me
All in all, excellent value for money and an extremely pleasant flight.

Shannon Control

smurfjed wrote: »

Sorry mods.... With the new format I can't find the Travel Hints thread that used to be a sticky...


Ryanair Business Plus.

Staff standby travel is great fun unless you actually need to get somewhere, so I found myself traveling on Ryanair from Dublin to Gatwick. I opted to try put the business plus fare as they were offering special fares ( 59.99) and it included one bag plus, seat selection, priority boarding and fast track (usual cost 5.95)
There was no way that my bags were going to be under 20 kgs, so I purchased a 2nd bag at a cost of 25.
Checkin with the APP was a doddle, I was impressed with the new self service bag drop, and I was extremely curious as to how it would treat my 23 kg suitcase, in the old Ryanair I would have to bring this down to 20 kgs regardless of the weight of the 2nd check in bag. However the system didn't have a problem with the weight, this also meant that I didn't have to check in my trolley bag. It's worth nothing that I didn't get a baggage receipt as this would be available to me online.
Fast Track security took about 5 minutes. Boarding was started early and I walked straight onboard with priority boarding.
The seat that I selected offered extra legroom, I don't know the tail number but this was a new aircraft with the slimline seats, Sky ceiling and less yellow. They also changed the overhead lockers to a smaller size, my trolley used to fit on its side, but now it would only fit lying flat, the old lockers could probably take 6 of these trolleys, the new style might take 2! I know that this is a cunning plan to have less luggage in the cabin, but to me it's a bad idea and has to cause confusion on a full flight.
No WIFI which surprised me.
They had some announcements about scratch cards, onboard sales etc, but these were limited and relatively quiet. But unfortunately they still played that obnoxious arrival trumpet.
Bus ride to the terminal, climbed up 6 flights of stairs and my bag was waiting for me
All in all, excellent value for money and an extremely pleasant flight.

Glad you had a nice flight, nothing better than having a pleasant one at a relatively cheap price. The business model in general for RYR is a win-win for both pax and the management.

Strumms

60 quid is a pretty sweet deal for priority boarding, one bag and fast track. Must keep a closer eye on those fares when I fly them next. Has anyone else got any opinion's on the new interiors of the aircraft such as the comfort of the seats and the overall layout ? Have had a few flights with them recently last couple of months but always unlucky enough to get the older aircraft... thanks...

Tenger

Loving the fact that no wifi was a surprise!!

Norwegian have gone with WiFi on their B737s. EI (under Mueller) had planned to trial wifi on A320s in 2015..but IAG have stopped all projects.
Personally I see aircraft wifi as a logical step for airlines. Either as a product (like JetBlue/Norwegian) or as a revenue stream, as in hotels.

I also think onboard streaming IFE is the logical step forward. Allow the pax to carry their own "screen" onboard. They connect to the aircraft server and stream the content they want. Saves the airline weight, purchase and maintainance costs.

A Dub in Glasgo

smurfjed wrote: »

Sorry mods.... With the new format I can't find the Travel Hints thread that used to be a sticky...


Ryanair Business Plus.

Staff standby travel is great fun unless you actually need to get somewhere, so I found myself traveling on Ryanair from Dublin to Gatwick. I opted to try put the business plus fare as they were offering special fares ( 59.99) and it included one bag plus, seat selection, priority boarding and fast track (usual cost 5.95)
There was no way that my bags were going to be under 20 kgs, so I purchased a 2nd bag at a cost of 25.
Checkin with the APP was a doddle, I was impressed with the new self service bag drop, and I was extremely curious as to how it would treat my 23 kg suitcase, in the old Ryanair I would have to bring this down to 20 kgs regardless of the weight of the 2nd check in bag. However the system didn't have a problem with the weight, this also meant that I didn't have to check in my trolley bag. It's worth nothing that I didn't get a baggage receipt as this would be available to me online.
Fast Track security took about 5 minutes. Boarding was started early and I walked straight onboard with priority boarding.
The seat that I selected offered extra legroom, I don't know the tail number but this was a new aircraft with the slimline seats, Sky ceiling and less yellow. They also changed the overhead lockers to a smaller size, my trolley used to fit on its side, but now it would only fit lying flat, the old lockers could probably take 6 of these trolleys, the new style might take 2! I know that this is a cunning plan to have less luggage in the cabin, but to me it's a bad idea and has to cause confusion on a full flight.
No WIFI which surprised me.
They had some announcements about scratch cards, onboard sales etc, but these were limited and relatively quiet. But unfortunately they still played that obnoxious arrival trumpet.
Bus ride to the terminal, climbed up 6 flights of stairs and my bag was waiting for me
All in all, excellent value for money and an extremely pleasant flight.

What?

Bazzy

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

What?

You know the rules you cant post a fully positive post about ryanair

Dardania

Tenger wrote: »

Loving the fact that no wifi was a surprise!!

Norwegian have gone with WiFi on their B737s. EI (under Mueller) had planned to trial wifi on A320s in 2015..but IAG have stopped all projects.
Personally I see aircraft wifi as a logical step for airlines. Either as a product (like JetBlue/Norwegian) or as a revenue stream, as in hotels.

I also think onboard streaming IFE is the logical step forward. Allow the pax to carry their own "screen" onboard. They connect to the aircraft server and stream the content they want. Saves the airline weight, purchase and maintainance costs.

Was on a United flight a few weeks ago with WiFi and streaming - very easy and effective to use. Definitely the way to go. Rather than potentially ratty IFE.

scudzilla

smurfjed wrote: »

The seat that I selected offered extra legroom, I don't know the tail number but this was a new aircraft with the slimline seats, Sky ceiling and less yellow.

Not sure my fat arse likes the sound of them :pac::pac:

jimbis

Tenger wrote: »

Loving the fact that no wifi was a surprise!!

Norwegian have gone with WiFi on their B737s. EI (under Mueller) had planned to trial wifi on A320s in 2015..but IAG have stopped all projects.
Personally I see aircraft wifi as a logical step for airlines. Either as a product (like JetBlue/Norwegian) or as a revenue stream, as in hotels.

It's definatly a must have for airlines these days and I'm surprised it's been this slow to take off with them. People are mad for wifi, anywhere you go it's the question everyone is asking. Go to a different country and you'll be sure to walk into the bar/cafe that has wifi than the one that doesn't.
Paying for it on a short flight would entertain many though so the number crunchers in Ryanair need to work out as you say, give it as a product or as revenue. I'd say the latter but who knows with the new Ryanair.

Noxegon

I flew FR to Amsterdam a few weeks ago and got the new interior.

I didn't bother posting this at the time, but since we're on the subject, I've got to say a few things:
- The new interior is an enormous improvement.
- Leg room was excellent.
- Boarding experience getting on the plane was a bit crap (walking about ten miles to the gate, then walking across the apron in the rain...)
- ...but the experience loading up once up the stairs was much nicer (no repeated PA bull about "completely full flight" etc, no crew shouting at me to put my backpack at my feet, etc)
- Speaking of PAs, the volume was at a sensible level so it didn't disturb. I vaguely heard the lottery ticket one but it didn't bother me. That's a huge contrast to EI.
- Speaking of EI, the price was about 1/4 of what it would have been with them.
- Flight was on time. New jingle is a lot less offensive than the old one.

Ryanair have really pulled their socks up of late, just as EI have let them slip. I'm about to fall out of Gold Circle despite about two dozen flights in the last two years because I've not been to the USA in that time, and once that happens I think I'm going to transfer the majority of my business to FR.

smurfjed

You know the rules you cant post a fully positive post about ryanair

Have you ever flown on JetBlue? That's my personal benchmark for low cost carriers. Ryanair are trying to evolve with a new more friendly business model and while they have improved tremendously, Im still surprised that they didn't install WIFI.

arubex

Noxegon wrote: »

- Flight was on time. New jingle is a lot less offensive than the old one.

Do they still play that at touchdown, rather than the actual arrival time at the gate?

Pat Dunne

arubex wrote: »

Do they still play that at touchdown, rather than the actual arrival time at the gate?

Just about as soon as you hit the ground. Well it did for me last weekend.

Still bloody irritating. :rolleyes:

homerjay2005

smurfjed wrote: »

Ryanair are trying to evolve with a new more friendly business model and while they have improved tremendously, Im still surprised that they didn't install WIFI.

is Wifi really cost effective on short haul? i doubt it. i flew with emirates on 4 flights last week and Wifi was only on one of them. for the first 2 hours and last 30 mins of the flight, it was switched off so i imagine it has something to do with height/restrictions and i cant see that taking off if 70%-80% of Ryanair flights are not longer than 2hours/2 hours 30.

if you charge for it, which i am sure they will, then i doubt they will make it back as people wont pay/need wifi for 30-60 minutes.

or ill put it another way, if they knew it would make them money, they would try it so it must be worth their while doing it at all.

eusap

On the new FR Sky interior i find the overhead bins to be bigger and with the new design easier to place the bag in there. Also since it opens from Top to Bottom instead of the door opening up there is a lesser chance of luggage falling out and hitting you on the head.

smurfjed

On the new FR Sky interior i find the overhead bins to be bigger and with the new design easier to place the bag in there

I have to disagree with you, I have a standard Delsey trolley bag, on most aircraft it fits in the overhead bin sidewards, in the new FR aircraft it had to go length wards, therefore you could fit maybe two of them per bin rather than 5 or 6.

Del2005

arubex wrote: »

Do they still play that at touchdown, rather than the actual arrival time at the gate?

It's to cover the sound of people clapping, as annoying as the music is people clapping on a commercial flights should be banned for life.

smurfjed

Maybe it would be nicer if the passengers expressed their appreciation by tipping the crew :)

Tenger

homerjay2005 wrote: »

is Wifi really cost effective on short haul? i doubt it. i flew with emirates on 4 flights last week and Wifi was only on one of them. for the first 2 hours and last 30 mins of the flight, it was switched off so i imagine it has something to do with height/restrictions and i cant see that taking off if 70%-80% of Ryanair flights are not longer than 2hours/2 hours 30.

EK currently use a satellite based wifi system (I think they use T-Mobile/Panasonic?) This only operates above 10,000 ft. It csn also be intermittant if the onboard receiver cannot get a clear signal to the satellite. Hence your lack of connection.

A shorthaul European airline could use a ground based system (as used by US airlines) This only has a restriction during flight crtical phases I believe and is a lot more reliable as you are using multiple 4G relay stations below the aircraft.

smurfjed

[


Compared to Easyjet A319

tommyphelan

I've been flying over and back from Dublin to Gatwick for the last 11 months using a mix of Aer lingus and Ryanair and the last couple of trips I've gotten Ryanair with the new planes and they are a huge jump in comfort. Extra legroom is great and the new seats are pretty comfy also. Prices still pretty good. I just booked for the wife and 2 kids to travel to Gatwick return for long weekend end of may for total of 160 euro!! That includes carry on only with picking a seat and priority boarding

munchkin_utd

tommyphelan wrote: »

I've been flying over and back from Dublin to Gatwick for the last 11 months using a mix of Aer lingus and Ryanair and the last couple of trips I've gotten Ryanair with the new planes and they are a huge jump in comfort. Extra legroom is great and the new seats are pretty comfy also. Prices still pretty good. I just booked for the wife and 2 kids to travel to Gatwick return for long weekend end of may for total of 160 euro!! That includes carry on only with picking a seat and priority boarding

regarding the cheap prices, Ryanair has a couple of billion euro in cash in the bank. This was not accumulated with prices like you quote.

indeed, its great to have it and definitely use it when its there, but Ryanair also know how to charge damn steep prices,

i.e. June bank holiday week when they have 3 flights to Malaga on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday, where for a family of 4 its between €240 and €330 - per person one way to Malaga and that only gets you to Spain.
Coming back the next Saturday, for your family to spend a week in Spain would be from €1419 to €2049 for Ryanair flights (before extras) depending on times.

trellheim

No offence but thats cos a lot of people want to go there then ?

Pat Dunne

munchkin_utd wrote: »

regarding the cheap prices, Ryanair has a couple of billion euro in cash in the bank. This was not accumulated with prices like you quote.

indeed, its great to have it and definitely use it when its there, but Ryanair also know how to charge damn steep prices,

i.e. June bank holiday week when they have 3 flights to Malaga on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday, where for a family of 4 its between €240 and €330 - per person one way to Malaga and that only gets you to Spain.
Coming back the next Saturday, for your family to spend a week in Spain would be from €1419 to €2049 for Ryanair flights (before extras) depending on times.

What were the opposition charging for the same flights?

Bazzy

smurfjed wrote: »

Have you ever flown on JetBlue? That's my personal benchmark for low cost carriers. Ryanair are trying to evolve with a new more friendly business model and while they have improved tremendously, Im still surprised that they didn't install WIFI.

Flew jetblue a few times to be honest I find ryanair better but I wouldn't have the best experience/opinion of the americans

The jet blue experience has to be done at least once by everyone who complains about ryanair

Peppa Pig

Pat Dunne wrote: »

What were the opposition charging for the same flights?

Four people return on those days are from €1748 to €2096 with AL.

homerjay2005

Peppa Pig wrote: »

Four people return on those days are from €1748 to €2096 with AL.

but ssshhhhh, lets not let that get in the way of a good old fashioned grudge at Ryanair.


Ryanair make their money through getting bums on seats, cheaply - this then brings massive auxiliary revenue.

JCX BXC

Comment Removed- Bad attempt at humour on my behalf.

questionmark?

OP good to hear a positive review of Ryanair. You hear so much negativity about Ryanair online but if they were that bad would they have 100 million plus passengers a year. As a regular short haul flyer I use Ryanair quite a bit, good prices, regular flights, normally on time and I have noticed they are a lot more friendly these days which all helps. They ain't perfect but the positives of the overall service they provide out weigh any negatives for me.

Fagashlil

eusap wrote: »

On the new FR Sky interior i find the overhead bins to be bigger and with the new design easier to place the bag in there. Also since it opens from Top to Bottom instead of the door opening up there is a lesser chance of luggage falling out and hitting you on the head.

They're definitely smaller, we have problems with bag space more than usual when on the sky interior, needing more bags to be stopped at the gate.

eusap

Fagashlil wrote: »

They're definitely smaller, we have problems with bag space more than usual when on the sky interior, needing more bags to be stopped at the gate.

It would be interesting to Measure the bin dimensions to compare it with the bag size limits? to see if the bin is too small for the bag size limit

smurfjed

to see if the bin is too small for the bag size limit

The bin is the right size for the bag size limit, however as the front of the bag is now facing the cockpit rather than the window, it will hold less bags.

arubex

The slim seats are clever but from reading about other airlines that have adopted them, such as Lufthansa, the cushioning compacts quite quickly. It will be interesting to see how long they last in revenue service before having to be replaced.

Also bear in mind that the generous seat-pitch on the slim-seated B738s is only due to certification limits, which will be 'fixed' when the 8MAX comes into service I can imagine that in the future people will be picking particular flights to try to score an 'old' B738!

smurfjed

Just got another Business fare from MAN-DUB-MAN for 60 pounds, the non business fare was 20 pounds but quickly went up to 99 pounds once i added in all of the perks of the business fare.

I sure that these great business fares will disappear by June, so enjoy them if you can

billie1b

The business plus fares are doing very well, its an awful pity they wouldn't configure the aircraft to have a few Club Europe type seats like BA have

Locker10a

arubex wrote: »

The slim seats are clever but from reading about other airlines that have adopted them, such as Lufthansa, the cushioning compacts quite quickly. It will be interesting to see how long they last in revenue service before having to be replaced.

Also bear in mind that the generous seat-pitch on the slim-seated B738s is only due to certification limits, which will be 'fixed' when the 8MAX comes into service I can imagine that in the future people will be picking particular flights to try to score an 'old' B738!

The same will apply with the A320neo, I dread the introduction of them to airlines fleets, more seats, less locker space, less toilets per passenger, tighter seats etc.
Enjoy every minute of the current 737s and A320s, they will be missed !

Uboat

Hello,

nowadays wifi is so usual, basic thing in our lives, in my at least, so I am very surprised to read that there is no wifi on Ryanair planes. :-(

JCX BXC

Uboat wrote: »

Hello,

nowadays wifi is so usual, basic thing in our lives, in my at least, so I am very surprised to read that there is no wifi on Ryanair planes. :-(

Its not exactly cheap to put WiFi on an aircraft, very very few airlines have it, especially few in Europe, Norwegian are the only ones that I know of having short haul WiFi in Europe.

homerjay2005

travelled with Ryanair 6 times in the last 2 weeks -

flights cost much cheaper than anybody else.
checked in online, printed my boarding pass.
arrived at airport.
got on the plane.
arrived on time at destination.
got off.
happy with service, as usual.
rinse and repeat X 6.

the end.

Noxegon

I'd use Ryanair far more often if my American partner didn't have to queue up landside (sometimes for 30+ minutes) to have her passport looked at before each flight. No other airline we fly requires that.

delta_bravo

For about the last three years, I've avoided flying Ryanair for any of my holidays or trips abroad. I would generally pay an extra thirty or forty to fly aer lingus.

Last month I flew London to krakow and krakow to Dublin. Limited choice meant I flew easyjet to krakow and Ryanair back to Dublin.

Have to admit I was very happy with the Ryanair flight compared to previous times with them. Got a priority seat with good legroom, comfortable seats. Staff were very friendly.

It was a far more pleasant experience than easyjet and I'd probably choose them over aer lingus if the fare was less in future.

A Dub in Glasgo

delta_bravo wrote: »

I would generally pay an extra thirty or forty to fly aer lingus.

That was money wasted

delta_bravo

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

That was money wasted

Well I think that's the general point of my post.

Have flown Ryanair several times over the last couple of years. Service is always consistent, staff are always consistently pleasant. When flying solo, I just get the cheapest ticket and go. The App is perfect and just as good as the Lufthansa app. I would fly Lufthansa more than Ryanair simply because of flight connections.
When flying with the kids, I book priority boarding and advance seat selection as it's not a lot extra but it's hugely convenient when travelling with children.
I have never had a bad experience with Ryanair.
I can't say the same for Aer Lingus. There is such a phenomenal change in Aer Lingus in the last 10years. I dislike flying with them and will only fly with them if absolutely necessary. Their app is rubbish as well. They seem to be trying to lose customers. Hopefully BA will start teaching then about good customer service.
However! If only other Airlines had the headrest that is on the Aer Lingus seats, life would be glorious.

Noxegon

Deleted User wrote: »

I can't say the same for Aer Lingus. There is such a phenomenal change in Aer Lingus in the last 10years. I dislike flying with them and will only fly with them if absolutely necessary.

I have to agree with this. Aer Lingus has really gone downhill over the last few years while Ryanair has pulled their socks up.