I wanted to fly Ryanair, but...

Noxegon

Today I found myself with a need for a last minute flight on a route served by both Ryanair and Aer Lingus. I tried to book Ryanair, getting as far as entering my credit card and hitting pay, only to learn that Plus fares had sold out. The site dropped me back to the first page of the booking (where I could still choose Plus; go figure).

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Ryanair cabin baggage policy without priority is too tight for my backpack, which fits under a seat just fine, but is officially too big for the free bag.

I ended up booking Aer Lingus instead to avoid hassle – and this set me wondering. Do Ryanair's restrictive hand luggage dimensions cost them much business?

Locker10a

Short answer, no, the vast majority of Ryanair passengers don’t care about their luggage, they put up with being seated separate to their travel companions, in the past they put up with the free seating scrum, they put up with being qued up for 20 mins before boarding actually commences in the wet and cold and Ryanair passenger number grow every year. Their passengers just don’t care.

Markcheese

There was stacks of overhead luggage space on the 2 ryanair flights I took last week... Which was a total change from the last few times I'd flown with them, anyone who had a vaguely reasonable backpack or smallish bag bag didn't get asked to check the size,
But there just isn't the room in overhead bins for everyone to use carry on "luggage", so Ryanair culled it the way they normally do..

L1011

People, myself included, have predicted that X or Y will be the straw that breaks the passengers backs and stops them booking Ryanair. None of the changes have. The strikes have probably done more long-term damage than anything else (losing the reliable half of reliable bastards) else they've ever done.

kevinandrew

Locker10a wrote: »

Short answer, no, the vast majority of Ryanair passengers don’t care about their luggage, they put up with being seated separate to their travel companions, in the past they put up with the free seating scrum, they put up with being qued up for 20 mins before boarding actually commences in the wet and cold and Ryanair passenger number grow every year. Their passengers just don’t care.

Apart from when they actually get on board and then decide it’s time for musical chairs and there’s no space for cabin bags as has happened on all my recent flights with them.

The priority queue is now usually much longer than the general boarding queue, it really should be renamed the ‘carry on bag’ queue as that’s what everyone is really paying for.

billie1b

Locker10a wrote: »

Short answer, no, the vast majority of Ryanair passengers don’t care about their luggage, they put up with being seated separate to their travel companions, in the past they put up with the free seating scrum, they put up with being qued up for 20 mins before boarding actually commences in the wet and cold and Ryanair passenger number grow every year. Their passengers just don’t care.

Meeeeooowwww

L1011

kevinandrew wrote: »

The priority queue is now usually much longer than the general boarding queue, it really should be renamed the ‘carry on bag’ queue as that’s what everyone is really paying for.

I can see a further priority queue coming in if they can ensure there's gate space to do it (sometimes the two lanes is hard enough to fit). Many airlines in the US have more groups, up to 5, with lane dividers and strict application of the rules as it is.

0lddog

Noxegon wrote: »

........Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Ryanair cabin baggage policy without priority is too tight for my backpack, which fits under a seat just fine, but is officially too big for the free bag.

I ended up booking Aer Lingus instead to avoid hassle ........

Could you have bought the two bag 'priority boarding' option ?

if so, would it have satisfied your requirements ?

Limpy

I like from Dublin with Ryanair. The check in 10k bag can be any size as the automatic bag tag system just needs the weight to be in limit.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if the bag is on your shoulder they don't seem to tag it, or worry about the size of it. I have a 30litre regatta backpack and I've never had any trouble.

Phil.x

I find Ryanair's website too confusing for what it is and I think it's done on purpose.

wirelessdude01

In my opinion people who want to find fault with Ryanair will generally find a fault.

Noxegon

0lddog wrote: »

Could you have bought the two bag 'priority boarding' option ?

if so, would it have satisfied your requirements ?

It would, but it was sold out. That’s why I was surprised plus was available - I figured they were holding back some priority slots for the more expensive fare.

For clarity, I like Ryanair. It’s my preferred choice for short haul out of Dublin. However, the bag that I keep essentials in is over their non-priority dimensions.

billy few mates

Noxegon wrote: »

It would, but it was sold out. That’s why I was surprised plus was available - I figured they were holding back some priority slots for the more expensive fare.

For clarity, I like Ryanair. It’s my preferred choice for short haul out of Dublin. However, the bag that I keep essentials in is over their non-priority dimensions.

Sounds like you might need a new bag if Ryanair are your preferred choice for short haul out of DUB...

mikeymouse

Locker10a wrote: »

Short answer, no, the vast majority of Ryanair passengers don’t care about their luggage, they put up with being seated separate to their travel companions, in the past they put up with the free seating scrum, they put up with being qued up for 20 mins before boarding actually commences in the wet and cold and Ryanair passenger number grow every year. Their passengers just don’t care.

That's me , that is;
Minnie and meself are regulars-no choice.
I treat it like any public transport ,bus, coach ,train.
A pair of one hour flights for the equivalent of an hour's pay.
My first flight 50 years ago cost a month's pay for one one hour flight for the privilege of being treated with disdain by snobbish aer lingus 'hostesses'.
We opt for the 'pot luck' seats , which will invariably be middle front left and middle back right,
then take the option of paying to switch one of these seats to one beside the 'free' one if available,If not I get an hour's peace.

Noxegon

billy few mates wrote: »

Sounds like you might need a new bag if Ryanair are your preferred choice for short haul out of DUB...

Ha, I thought someone might say that

The problem I have is the size of my laptop; short of putting it in a bag with no padding, which I'm not about to do, I can't meet 40x25cm.

I'll stick with priority.

Idbatterim

When you are getting the exact same thing , I won’t pay more for Aer Lingus. No way. Time has price is all it comes down too ...

Del2005

Noxegon wrote: »

However, the bag that I keep essentials in is over their non-priority dimensions.

The bag I use is too big for Ryanair non priority, or 2nd bag if booking priority, but I've never had any issues with it. Once you only have 1 bag and it's not massive they don't seen to mind, people have got on with bigger bags than me.

Locker10a

Idbatterim wrote: »

When you are getting the exact same thing , I won’t pay more for Aer Lingus. No way. Time has price is all it comes down too ...

In my experience it’s not the same though

mikel97

Idbatterim wrote: »

When you are getting the exact same thing , I won’t pay more for Aer Lingus. No way. Time has price is all it comes down too ...

Delighted to read that. Why should you give a Spanish/British airline such as Lingus the money when you can and should support Irish all the way.
All the dramas with the Lingus new IAG colors made me and my other non Irish frends giggle.
Build a bridge

Credit Checker Moose

For some of us there are no other options, Ryanair is the only game in town.

Phen2206

Idbatterim wrote: »

When you are getting the exact same thing , I won’t pay more for Aer Lingus. No way. Time has price is all it comes down too ...

This is the beauty of competition. The more airlines the better. Some people will prefer FR over EI every time; some people will choose either depending on price and there are people who will downright refuse to fly FR and stick to EI only. Obviously there is a significant group of people out there who would argue they are not the same thing, which is probably part of the reason why EI is still in business.

Strumms

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

In my opinion people who want to find fault with Ryanair will generally find a fault.

Ryanair and the service they offer isn’t fault free, they CAN be a hassle to fly with. On the plus side when things are A1 they are great. You can get from A-B for significantly less then the competition. Their on time departure record is very good so when you HAVE to be somewhere at a certain time they more often then not get you there. My issue with Ryanair and how they fall behind most other carriers is reflected in my experience anyway of how poor and disinterested they can be when things go wrong for them and in turn the passengers.

It’s not finding fault it’s reflecting experience vs expectations.

Del2005

Strumms wrote: »

Ryanair and the service they offer isn’t fault free, they CAN be a hassle to fly with. On the plus side when things are A1 they are great. You can get from A-B for significantly less then the competition. Their on time departure record is very good so when you HAVE to be somewhere at a certain time they more often then not get you there. My issue with Ryanair and how they fall behind most other carriers is reflected in my experience anyway of how poor and disinterested they can be when things go wrong for them and in turn the passengers.

It’s not finding fault it’s reflecting experience vs expectations.

I had a flight cancelled by AerLingus and their answer to our and other passengers questions, like what about alternative flights or accommodation, was that we were no longer authorised to be air side so get out. When we got back land side they closed the service desk with about 100 people in the queue. So it's not just RyanAir that have terrible customer support when things go wrong.

Credit Checker Moose

I don't understand the pointless queuing up after a flight is cancelled.

Just get your phone out and rebook. Better advice is to go home.

Locker10a

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

I don't understand the pointless queuing up after a flight is cancelled.

Just get your phone out and rebook. Better advice is to go home.

Not every airline facilities that, Ryanair and Aer Lingus allow rebooking online, my friend got cancelled by Lufthansa and they didn’t facilitate online change of bookings options so she had to que for numous hours to be seen by an agent in the terminal

eagle eye

I've never flown with Ryanair and I probably never will. I've heard so many bad stories about them and the same people who told me the stories go fly with them again.
I'm not a wealthy person but I like a few little comforts when I fly so I'll always pick an airline I can trust.

JCX BXC

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

I don't understand the pointless queuing up after a flight is cancelled.

Just get your phone out and rebook. Better advice is to go home.

Which is grand when you live less than an hour away. Not so if you're stuck in a foreign country, or you're stuck in Dublin and living hours away.

Subcomandante Marcos

Unless it's a hard case your bag doesn't need to be the exact size of the requirements, it just has to be able to fit I to their tester thing. I fly with a backpack that's taller and wider than their limits but as it's not full it will still fit into their tester thing.

Subcomandante Marcos

eagle eye wrote: »

I've never flown with Ryanair and I probably never will. I've heard so many bad stories about them and the same people who told me the stories go fly with them again.
I'm not a wealthy person but I like a few little comforts when I fly so I'll always pick an airline I can trust.

I've flown with then.dozens if times. I've never had an issue. I follow the rules and I don't try chance my arm in regard to steating or luggage policies.

I've flown a lot less with are lingus and I've had way more issues. Being stranded in Madrid for 9 hours and only being issued a token for a bottle of water and a sandwich after 6 hours, having the flight information rolled back every 90 minutes to say it would be another two hours with no update from the airline. If they were just honest we could have just ****ed off until town for a few hours and enjoyed the city instead of staring at gate information hoping it wouldn't change this time.

Only luggage issue I've ever had was no airlines fault, a bag got lost in the space time vortex that is Heathrow but that's just Heathrow was flying virign Atlantic, but Heathrow is notorious for lost luggage. Showed up 3 weeks later in Heathrow and took another 7 days to get to me in Ecuador.

Had a lovely new wardrobe of clothes I bought in a gap outlet in Florida though!

Del2005

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

I don't understand the pointless queuing up after a flight is cancelled.

Just get your phone out and rebook. Better advice is to go home.

Because the EU law requires them to look after their customers and telling people who have are about to leave a country and have no accommodation that they are not authorised to be air side is not how you deal with customers.

If they cancel a flight when the customer is air side THEY are supposed to rearrange the flight or provide accommodation not the customer.

Del2005

eagle eye wrote: »

I've never flown with Ryanair and I probably never will. I've heard so many bad stories about them and the same people who told me the stories go fly with them again.
I'm not a wealthy person but I like a few little comforts when I fly so I'll always pick an airline I can trust.

Ryanair is fine once you obey their rules. It's the people who don't read the information when booking who run into problems, because Ryanair make/made it hard to avoid paying for the extras they are trying to bring on.

I got stung with a too big carry on and had to pay to put it in the hold. Was that Ryanair's fault because I did not have the correct sized bag when they have the dimensions allowed on their website?

Locker10a

Del2005 wrote: »

Ryanair is fine once you obey their rules. It's the people who don't read the information when booking who run into problems, because Ryanair make/made it hard to avoid paying for the extras they are trying to bring on.

I got stung with a too big carry on and had to pay to put it in the hold. Was that Ryanair's fault because I did not have the correct sized bag when they have the dimensions allowed on their website?

No Ryanair are exactly within their right, however it’s a much nicer passenger experience when you fly with a carrier who’ll do that for free!

DoctorEdgeWild

Absolutely love Ryanair. At one point I was flying with them twice a week, before I eventually moved to England.

Very happy that I can visit really cool cities, for about 20 quid, almost always on time, just by keeping up on their rules. I understand different people want a different style of travel but there's other airlines for that. Nobody is forced to book.

JCX BXC

Locker10a wrote: »

No Ryanair are exactly within their right, however it’s a much nicer passenger experience when you fly with a carrier who’ll do that for free!

The way I see it, other passengers ignorance subsidizes my fare!

Phileas Frog

Locker10a wrote: »

No Ryanair are exactly within their right, however it’s a much nicer passenger experience when you fly with a carrier who’ll do that for free!

For twice the price.

newcavanman

I love Ryanair. Im a lifelong planespotter and , during the early 80s i made many ferry trips to the UK planespotting. I couldnt afford to fly, due to the price fixing monopoly by EI, BA and others. Now i still travel quite a few times per year, and for considerably less than i used to pay for ferry trips. The only barrier to me hopping across to see friends in the UK, often just for the day, is having the time to spare . Ive seen most of the capital cities of eastern and northern europe , places i could only read about when i was a young man. I make sure i know the current FR rules , and have never had a problem with them.
Ive bumped into MOL several times while delivering to shops near Dublin Airport and feel like doing like the lads in Waynes World , when they meet Alice Cooper "We're not worthy "

TheDriver

The priority queue annoys me abroad whereby everyone ends up in the holding cell before boarding the plane. Priority only means cabin luggage now.

eagle eye

eagle eye wrote: »

I've never flown with Ryanair and I probably never will. I've heard so many bad stories about them and the same people who told me the stories go fly with them again.
I'm not a wealthy person but I like a few little comforts when I fly so I'll always pick an airline I can trust.

Give it a go and make your own mind up. I’m a regular Ryanair passenger. They get me from A to B at a time and price that suits. I rarely go priority unless I’m staying longer than a couple of days. I have a “Flying” coat with plenty pockets for sweets, water, book, passport, phone etc. Everything else fits in an average size backpack. I never check in until the last minute so I always get an aisle seat.

donkeykong5

eagle eye wrote: »

I've never flown with Ryanair and I probably never will. I've heard so many bad stories about them and the same people who told me the stories go fly with them again.
I'm not a wealthy person but I like a few little comforts when I fly so I'll always pick an airline I can trust.

I don't actually mind paying a bit extra to fly with aer lingus. At least you are safe and spoken to by staff like a human.

DoctorEdgeWild

donkeykong5 wrote: »

I don't actually mind paying a bit extra to fly with aer lingus. At least you are safe and spoken to by staff like a human.

Ryanair have a fantastic safety record unless I'm mistaken? The great thing is, other airlines cater to your needs, Ryanair cater to mine, that's the beauty of it all.

donkeykong5

DoctorEdgeWild wrote: »

donkeykong5 wrote: »

I don't actually mind paying a bit extra to fly with aer lingus. At least you are safe and spoken to by staff like a human.

Ryanair have a fantastic safety record unless I'm mistaken? The great thing is, other airlines cater to your needs, Ryanair cater to mine, that's the beauty of it all.

All time favourite was city jet. Treated like royalty. Travel and staff were superb.

billy few mates

I take dozens of flights every year, I never check in a bag but I like to keep my cabin sized bag and laptop case with me. I can't remember the last time I was on a Ryanair flight but possibly two years ago. I don't like the seats, I don't like the panic queues that form up twenty minutes before the aircraft arrives, I don't like the priority queue that's bigger than the normal queue and I don't like the hard selling or the cabin service.
That doesn't mean I won't use them if the price is right and I always check them out whenever I'm looking for a flight.
I'm going over to the UK for a family event shortly, Ryanair were asking for €100 for the flight including priority boarding, I decided to go with Aer Lingus for €120 without priority, both flights had roughly similar timings and I was quite happy to pay an extra tenner each way to avoid the hassle...

Credit Checker Moose

That's all well and good if you have a choice.

For many Ryanair is the only airline serving many destinations. No choice and no competition.

Noxegon

billy few mates wrote: »

I don't like the hard selling

I find EI is just as bad as FR in that regard.

A few years ago I was on a very late flight from CDG-DUB (it was the last one of the night, and a few hours behind schedule). I distinctly remember a spiel about perfumes that seemed to go on for ever when it should have been obvious to anyone with even 1/16th of a brain that passengers just wanted to sleep.

mikemac2

donkeykong5 wrote: »

I don't actually mind paying a bit extra to fly with aer lingus. At least you are safe and spoken to by staff like a human.

You can blast Ryanair for many things, their safety record is not one of them

Now if you mean safe from drunken stag/hen parties well you may have a point :pac:

Strumms

mikemac2 wrote: »

You can blast Ryanair for many things, their safety record is not one of them

Now if you mean safe from drunken stag/hen parties well you may have a pint :pac:

. More then one perhaps

dartboardio

Ive been flying with Ryanair for as long as I can remember (10 plus years) and only ever had one problem due to weather

Yeah their website can be slow but apart from that its really a no frills airline. Never had any issues.

Flying with Aer lingus in June for the first time in ages just because its an earlier flight for the same price.

seamusk84

Whats bothered me recently on Ryanair flights is when I sit down and then I have some parent beside me asking can their kid have my seat as they are seated away from them.
I mean just pay for seat selection when booking. Not my fault if you didn't!

seamusk84

seamusk84 wrote: »

Whats bothered me recently on Ryanair flights is when I sit down and then I have some parent beside me asking can their kid have my seat as they are seated away from them.
I mean just pay for seat selection when booking. Not my fault if you didn't!

Or even worse. You arrive at your seat to find it occupied by someone who expects YOU to willingly let them sit in the aisle seat you’ve paid for towards the front of the plane, while you take their randomly selected middle seat towards the rear.

Credit Checker Moose

The problem is that staff won't move them. A stand off develops and the departure is delayed.

ThunbergsAreGo

Phileas Frog wrote: »

For twice the price.

Once you add on baggage I find there is minimal difference in price between AL and Ryanair.

Ryanair are grand until something goes wrong and then they are awful. The lack of communication, honesty and caring displayed from Ryanair to their staff and in turn to passengers when I was delayed in Lanzarote means they are a fly if no other option airline now