Ryanair delayed flight baggage

Mimikyu

We had flights yesterday back to Dublin with Ryanair and due to the madness at Dublin airport our flight ended up being delayed 6 hours.

Between checking the Ryanair app and tracking the incoming flight on Flightrader we where able to keep up to date with the latest departure time.

We arrived at the airport 3.5 hours before the new departure time just to make sure we where there and didn't miss any new info. When we arrived all the baggage drops where closed. We found a member of staff and they told us we could just go through security with our check in cases. This wasn't ideal as we had liquids we had to dump but just did it as there was no other option.

When we eventually came around to boarding we where told we had to pay €140 oversized bags charge. I tried to explain to the staff member at the gate that we where told to bring them through and had already paid for checked in bags but they where having none of it and insisted we either pay, leave the bags there or not fly.

I paid because I didn't really have any other choice. It was the middle of the night and we had young kids with us. When pushed they said to us the baggage drop closes 40 minutes before the original departure time. This makes no sense to me, why would Ryanair send out notifications of a new departure time but still expect you to arrive at the airport for the original time?

Am I missing something here or was this bad form?

Upon checking the Ryanair site after I arrived home it says "The Bag Drop desks close strictly 40 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. If you miss this deadline your booking could be cancelled without refund and you could be prevented from boarding the plane." The messages we got from Ryanair gave us a new departure time which as I mentioned we where there 3.5 hours before.

This is on top of their generous €4 vouchers not working at the only shop open in the airport for people who had been there all day and then not having any water or soft drinks on the plane. Tea, coffee or a can of Heineken where the only options available for a thirsty 6 year old.

walterking

The new departure time is effectively your contracted time from that point and Ryanair should have had the baggage drop open until 40 minutes before that time.

The staff were following a strict policy, but a supervisor should have been called and sorted it out.

I'd be tweeting them

Mimikyu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119984274#Comment_119984274

That was my thinking too. Why give a new departure time if they wanted you to arrive at the original one. To put it in the extreme, if the flight was delayed 24 hours would they expect me there a day early?

Funnily enough the woman who claimed to be a supervisor at the gate and refused to let us board without paying was the same woman who told us to go through security with the bags.

I've sent them a message on Twitter. Not expecting a reply anything soon, they're getting slammed over there with people's delayed and cancelled flights.

DoctorEdgeWild

A scheduled departure time is the original departure time for the flight. So you should have been there to drop your bags based around that time.

I'm definitely open to correction on the above but that's always been my understanding.

Mimikyu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000520#Comment_120000520

To be honest I never actually thought about it before because I've always already been in the airport when a flight is delayed, and it's unusual been an hour or two.

We got a new estimated departure time hours before we where even due in the airport for the original departure so it wasn't a last minute delay. We were waiting on the flight from Dublin, it's over 4 hours and the plane wasn't even in Dublin yet to leave.

DoctorEdgeWild

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000619#Comment_120000619

I've always erred on the side of caution and turned up at the scheduled time to be safe. Unless directly contacted to say otherwise. Although I've never travelled with kids so I can see the extra hassle involved for you guys there.

walterking

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000520#Comment_120000520

But they say the flight has been "rescheduled" - hence the new time is the new scheduled time.

DoctorEdgeWild

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120004850#Comment_120004850

Sounded to me like it was delayed and got a new departure time, not rescheduled.

Can't speak for Ryanair, I just do a lot of flights a year so offered my experiences.

walterking

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120007598#Comment_120007598

I'd agree if it was just delayed and no notification on the app and you found out an hour or so beforehand. But in this case the departure time changed by 6 hours and notification was given in advance of the original departure time, hence I would argue that the schedule time of departure had been changed and the new time was the new departure time.

Also the delays were caused by two (of 3) of Ryanair's deicing machines being unavailable, so entirely their fault.

Airport and runway was fully open and operational. On this occasion there was no fault whatsoever with DAA

Mimikyu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120008341#Comment_120008341

That's my thinking too. I thought they sent out the notification of the delay so early to stop people going to the airport and then crowding the gates and looking for meal vouchers and having people constantly on to their staff wondering about the delay. The plane being used was delayed since the first flight that morning. It hadn't even arrived back at DUB when they delayed it.

The airport was only a €10 taxi away, it never even crossed my mind to go at the original time because if there was even a niggle of doubt in my mind I would have dropped the bags at the original time and left again to save being charged €140.