Whats with this constant Ryanair bashing ?

Fulton Crown · 24-11-2008 09:30AM #1

I have no connection whatever to Ryanair and all things being equal would use other airlines where possible - but I do think that some people just have not "got" the cheap air travel concept.

Particularly the ones who whine to liveline or similiar programmes about not getting "even a cup of tea" if their flight is delayed or they miss a connection.

Part of the reason that Ryanair can offer such low fares is that in the event of a flight delay or missed connection you do not get a cup of tea / much communication / mollycoddling - be aware of this when you book with them.

In fairness they have brought air travel within the reach of most people and are to be commended for that.

They are also a point to point airline ie if you go from Dub to Stanstead and miss a connection - tough! You got what you paid for - a trip from Dub to Stanstead - missed connection - not their problem.

Do CIE give out free grub if the train breaks down on route to Galway - I think NOT !!

spadder · 24-11-2008 09:37AM

+1 , Ryanair have done more for tourism in this country than bord failte have ever done.

egan007 · 24-11-2008 09:37AM

Come on now. Be real
This is Ireland.

Somebody is running a business that makes a profit - take them down a peg.

Raiser · 24-11-2008 09:37AM

1. Bookings - Aside from certain [unproven?] allegations re. Ryanair dynamically pricing flights on a dizzying exponential escalation as people query availability - It is certainly true that their online booking system does attempt to add sneaky, insidious surcharges onto every conceivable booking angle - no integrity in sight, and needless, cynical sharp practice in my opinion.

2. Boarding Melee - Children learn to queue in the fcuking playground - they learn at an early age because their Mam tells them its civilised and makes life easier for both them and all the other kids - there's two options; order and harmony or elbows and gritted teeth - its not even necessary as it would be just as easy to do it in an organised way [?]

3. Where In the World am I now? -

Originally Posted by Airport PA System
Passengers you have reached your destination, please note that if you flew with Ryanair you will need to prepare to travel overland by bus, train or pack-donkey to actually reach your destination.

4. Mid-flight Marrakesh - Buy scratch cards, fags, timeshares in Benidorm, fcuk it O'Leary would have Bear Baiting, Bare Knuckle Topless Boxing and Dog Fighting on-board if he could only manage to hire the handling staff.

5. How Rude! - Henry Ford invented the production line and paid his workers high wages to maintain pride in their work and quality. JC Penney said pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap. Some might say that O'leary says sell 'em cheap and hang them out. No other Airline in my opinion so consistently disrespects its paying customers. Some compare it to a bad Bus Service? I'd disagree and say its more aligned to a winged cattle truck, just without the stun guns, although I'd say they're itching to pilot that scheme......

6. Cheap as chips - "Joe Murphy paid 1 cent to go to London - can't argue there mate" Well you can - this is only economically feasible because Mike O'Connor paid €240 the day before the flight because he was badly stuck, desperate, expensing it via work or plain stupid. Average out the fares for the two passengers and its ~€120 each. You can't have 1 cent flights without somebody paying for the insurance, aircraft leasing, content staff, well rested Pilots etc. etc. Somebody is paying because they feel they have no other choice etc. - its economically axiomatic.

7. P|ss on me for I deserve it. - A lot of folks are happy to get shat on subsequent to contributing more ca$h to a large, solvent, already comfortably established profit-making organisation. The Irish mentality whereby a poor understanding of and low expectations for an acceptable level of quality of service and respect to the consumer translates into people being more and more grateful to be offered less and less. Soon they'll be queuing with nothing more than a toothbrush in one pocket, toothpaste in the other and a banana in their lowly hand for sustenance while secretly being glad that they're allowed to wear their shoes......

8. A career with Ryanair? - I overheard a conversation when I was on the bus not so long ago where a weeping Mother said her son had commenced employment with Ryanair, she repeatedly sobbed that she had urged him to pursue a life of drug-abuse, wife-beating and petty crime instead - just so he'd have some security, cash in his pocket and a modicum of self respect at the end of each day.

Disclaimer: all of the above statements are intended to be received as being merely in jest, or humorous expressions of my opinion in keeping with the general tone of this discussion with no intent to malign Ryanair, its practices and procedures or in any way imply that Ryanair does not exercise the very highest standards in all of its dealings, or any other interaction with consumers/the public. I hold no responsibility for any retelling of overheard conversations and fully accept that such tales may be entirely groundless, misleading and untrue. I offer to withdraw any comment immediately should it happen to offend as it is not my intention to offend any party, group or organisation.

thebman · 24-11-2008 09:42AM

CIE should, they charge enough! :P

Ryanair on the other hand annoy people who have no other choice but to fly with them because the other airlines are too expensive for their budget.

I've flown Ryanair a good few times and Aer Lingus cross atlantic with meals etc... included and can honestly say the food isn't that bad but I'd rather not pay for it and just eat before I go and after I land if going on a flight for a few hours so I'm glad I'm not paying for it and that anyone that does want that stuff is paying for it.

The few things that annoy me about Ryanair are:

No assigned seating so massive queues to get on the plane 10 minutes before its even at the terminal and charging for priority boarding (who does this on a budget airline?).

The Yellow, why yellow everywhere on the last plane I was on?

The online check in system where you can't check in for your return flight before you leave so you have to find an Internet Cafe or ensure you book a hotel with Internet access to check in before coming back which isn't the most stress free thing if you didn't think of the above before leaving which would annoy me if I was holiday (never been caught out by this but it is a stupid policy).

None of the above stops me flying Ryanair though, got my last flights for free :P

spadder · 24-11-2008 09:45AM

I'm not a frequent flyer, but as mentioned, it's a flying bus, why do people expect silver service? I went on my hoildays to northern spain this year for €180 (two people) hired a car through their website too, good value. no problems, found the staff polite and efficent.

thebman · 24-11-2008 09:50AM

Raiser wrote: »

1. Bookings - Aside from certain [unproven?] allegations re. Ryanair dynamically pricing flights on a dizzying exponential escalation as people query availability - It is certainly true that their online booking system does attempt to add sneaky, insidious surcharges onto every conceivable booking angle - no integrity in sight, and needless, cynical sharp practice in my opinion.

Which airline doesn't do this?

6. Cheap as chips - "Joe Murphy paid 1 cent to go to London - can't argue there mate" Well you can - this is only economically feasible because Mike O'Connor paid €240 the day before the flight because he was badly stuck, desperate, expensing it via work or plain stupid. Average out the fares for the two passengers and its ~€120 each. You can't have 1 cent flights without somebody paying for the insurance, aircraft leasing, content staff, well rested Pilots etc. etc. Somebody is paying because they feel they have no other choice etc. - its economically axiomatic.

Thats great but he didn't plan in advance so fair enough I say given I did and was rewarded for it. Again every airline does this, Ryanair just does it better.

Not going to go through the rest of the post but most other airlines are starting to do this too to compete with Ryanair which tells me it isn't just the Irish that are glad they can bring less and less :rolleyes: Hint: They'll let you bring more but charge for it since nobody else is.

You could argue (and they do) that their concerns over fuel economy make them the most environmentally friendly airline. We all know its bollocks since no airline is environmentally friendly though :P

Mark200 · 24-11-2008 10:52AM

brim4brim wrote: »

Ryanair on the other hand annoy people who have no other choice but to fly with them because the other airlines are too expensive for their budget.

I can afford to fly with other, "better" airlines if I want. But I don't want to pay for the luxury of getting tea or polite staff. I just want to get from X to Y.

Too many people had the opinion that flying is this special luxurious mode of transport.....which is what allowed airlines to charge ridiculously high fares. But since Ryanair has come into the market, all of that has changed. If it wasn't for them, other airlines such as Aer Lingus would be charging fares 2 or 3 times the price of what they are now.

connundrum · 24-11-2008 11:06AM

I would fly regularly enough, and have found that most of my delays have been incurred whilst flying with Aer Lingus - while this is probably nowt to do with Aer Lingus i.e. weather, traffic etc, it did put the rumour to bed regarding Ryanair being crap for punctuality.

It cost more to get a taxi to and from the airport than it did for the flights and taxes to Portugal on one occasion. I will never complain about Ryanair*

*Except for the long walk up to Pier D

thebman · 24-11-2008 11:09AM

Mark200 wrote: »

I can afford to fly with other, "better" airlines if I want. But I don't want to pay for the luxury of getting tea or polite staff. I just want to get from X to Y.

Too many people had the opinion that flying is this special luxurious mode of transport.....which is what allowed airlines to charge ridiculously high fares. But since Ryanair has come into the market, all of that has changed. If it wasn't for them, other airlines such as Aer Lingus would be charging fares 2 or 3 times the price of what they are now.

I was talking about the people complaining about not getting tea and biscuits or whatever.

If you want tea you pay more, those people obviously can't afford to or they would.

Its like going to a Disneyland clone because you can't afford to go to the real thing and then complaining that its not the same thing. Of course it isn't the same thing. How people can think it would or should be is beyond me.

Fratton Fred · 24-11-2008 11:31AM

I think they are brilliant. OK, you get treated like cattle and have to pay for everything, but they do what they do very well, you just have to accept it.

Their advertising pisses me off and i know they have fallen foul of the UK advertising standards agency before, but you can and do get very cheap flights with them. OK, if you are stupid or desperate then you pay through the nose, but that applies to anything, not just Ryanair.

senordingdong · 24-11-2008 11:48AM

Mark200 wrote: »

If it wasn't for them, other airlines such as Aer Lingus would be charging fares 2 or 3 times the price of what they are now.

Hold the phone!
They are still doing this.

Ryanair had a sale a while back and I booked a return trip to Frankfurt for €50Ad on my bus fare to the city and that make the total trip €75

Aer Lingus had a sale at the same time (this is in 2008, mind) and a flight to Frankfurt cost €286, one way.

I don't understand how they can charge these fares, and how people can pay them.
I flew Aer Lingus to Munich a while ago just because Ryanair don't, and I was disgusted.
I still had to walk to pier D, the staff were 'friendly' but so fake, we were still asked to pay through the mouth for tea & snacks, and worst of all, the plane was filthy. It felt like it was ten years old and was used to transport grubby smelly children.

People who complain to/about Ryanair, are, I imagine, just complainers by nature, and would complain about another airline if they flew with one.

But then again, some people are just stupid.
My g/f works for Ryanair, and one day got a phone call saying 'I just missed my flight, what are you going to do about it!?'. The man threatened legal action when she informed him that it was his fault and Ryanair would do nothing.

asdasd · 24-11-2008 11:55AM

I dont understand the problem with ryanairs queing system. Seems to work whenever I am on it. Priority goes first, every one else comes after. And people do queue properly.

The only problem I have with RyanAir is the FisherPrice look. i know it is easier to clean, but it feels like a toy airplane inside.

That said they have never cancelled on me, if they did I would expect nothing.

Fratton Fred · 24-11-2008 11:59AM

asdasd wrote: »

I dont understand the problem with ryanairs queing system. Seems to work whenever I am on it. Priority goes first, every one else comes after. And people do queue properly.

The only problem I have with RyanAir is the FisherPrice look. i know it is easier to clean, but it feels like a toy airplane inside.

That said they have never cancelled on me, if they did I would expect nothing.

the huge queue that appears ten minutes before the plane arrives is what Ryanair want, it cuts down turnaround time. It has nothing to do with savings costs on the booking system, its all about getting a plane in, offloaded, reloaded and out again in 40 minutes. This also applies to charging you for checked in oluggage, the less checked luggage, the quicker the plane is to load.

If they could use cattle prods to get you on, or make you sit on your suitcase, they would.

spurious · 24-11-2008 12:00PM

While on a rare Ryanair flight from Birmingham the weekend before last, I was privileged to see Ryanair's priority boarding in action.

Cue the extra payers legging it down the tube ahead of the rest of us to have the pleasure of standing for about five minutes on the tarmac in the lashing rain beside the steps of the plane while something was sorted out. Much hilarity from the non-priority (but dry) cattle watching them through the window.

Faith · 24-11-2008 12:01PM

I used think Ryanair were crap until recently. I study in Edinbugh, live in Cork. The only direct flight is with Aer Arann. The plane is the size of a bus, literally, and is nosier than a tractor. It's slower than a normal plane so a 1 hour flight takes nearly 2 hours with Aer Arann. I only have a 15 kg baggage allowance and I don't get any free tea or coffee. The flights cost on average €100 one way.

Ryanair, on the other hand, have bigger, faster planes and the flights cost, on average, €10.

This year, I've been travelling home a lot for weekends. I fly from Edinburgh to Shannon. I check the Ryanair website on a regular basis, and when there's a good sale on (I mean flights for £10, £5, £1, or £0.01), I book them. So far I've been home 3 times since September and it hasn't cost me as much as a night out for each trip. So yeah, I like Ryanair.

asdasd · 24-11-2008 12:03PM

This also applies to charging you for checked in oluggage, the less checked luggage, the quicker the plane is to load.

Good for them. I dont check luggage. It saves time for both of us.

Snickers Man · 24-11-2008 12:29PM

Ryanair are a shower of bastards who feel no obligation to their customers and are utterly convinced that their promise (not always fulfillable) of a €0.01 flight entitles them to treat their customers with absolute contempt if anything goes wrong.

Having said which, I have flown them before and will fly them again but it is vitally important to know the sort of animal you're dealing with. You're not buying a cheap service when you fly with Ryanair, you're buying the likelihood of a cheap service. If anything goes wrong, it's your fault, you end up paying the extra costs and sure what did you expect, it only cost you €0.01. (Even if you bought one of the later seats for €240)

That's the rules of the game they play and you have to be aware of them. This is capitalism, it's not thank you, it's **** you.

It's not a question of whether you should "like" Ryanair. There is no obligation on anybody to "Like" Ryanair. Why should there be? Do they "like" their customers? I think not.

Those poor souls who ring up Liveline saying they have been apalled by the shoddy treatment meted out to them by O'Leary are basing their expectations on traditional service levels as adopted by other airlines. Such as putting you up in a hotel if your connecting flight is late, or allowing refunds on tickets you find you can't use thanks to changing circumstances. Etc. Etc

I get slightly annoyed with such people because if they want that level of service then there are other airlines and travel agents, who naturally have to charge a bit more, who will provide them. But if they take money out of those airlines' pockets by choosing Ryanair for a service that the airline makes plain (sic) it has no intention of offering, it's a lose lose situation for everybody except the Mullingar Meathead.

So yes. Fly Ryanair if it suits you. But be very aware of the contract you're buying into. And it doesn't include having to "Like" the bastards.

asdasd · 24-11-2008 12:36PM

So yes. Fly Ryanair if it suits you. But be very aware of the contract you're buying into. And it doesn't include having to "Like" the bastards.

Jesus , wept all the anger. Hidden within your tirade is the assumption that it is somewhat nasty of RyanAir to not put customers who are paying them 1 cent ( the taxes go elsewhere) up for the night at a fancy hotel if the one cent service fails to materialize. Said plonkers would probably expect a sweet shop to limousine them in to town to buy the penny sweets. The "traditional" arilines made profits, and much of them, so they could afford the odd hotel, it was priced in the average ticket.

Since Ryanair never fail to get me where I am going, and generally take me from a place where I have free accommodation to a place where I have free accommodation I could care less about that, and even when taking them on holiday they tend to have more than one flight per day to the same airport and are rarely booked solid I could care less about hotels since they will have to put me on the later flight.

If someday I have to boook my own hotel I will chalk that up to experience, and still be quids up across all my RyanAir flights.

24-11-2008 12:37PM

I have to agree with the OP, the one and only time I have ever felt like giving out about Ryanair was last week when there was no bus to take me from Beauvais to Paris but I was quickly told the bus is nothing to do with Ryanair, so hey, that's that!

I am afraid I can't feel any sympathy for people who don't fully check their itinerary before agreeing to pay, there was a guy on here complaining that he had been charged for airport checkin and bags when he didn't need either - so why did he agree to pay for them then?? It's people like this that make Ryanair sound bad.

You get what you pay for, I flew to London Stanstead (return) last year for 2 cents - including all taxes and charges, not even any credit card fee on top of that!!! I flew to Paris last week for €30 return!

I have been more places in Europe than I ever would have been without Ryanair before just because it's so cheap that I think, ah, feck it, why not!

Mark200 · 24-11-2008 12:46PM

Snickers Man wrote: »

It's not a question of whether you should "like" Ryanair. There is no obligation on anybody to "Like" Ryanair. Why should there be? Do they "like" their customers? I think not.

I like Ryanair

24-11-2008 12:50PM

Mark200 wrote: »

I like Ryanair

LOL

Snickers Man · 24-11-2008 01:01PM

asdasd wrote: »

Hidden within your tirade is the assumption that it is somewhat nasty of RyanAir to not put customers who are paying them 1 cent ( the taxes go elsewhere) up for the night at a fancy hotel if the one cent service fails to materialize.

No. That's your assumption. I never said that at all. What I implied was that it is foolish to fly Ryanair anywhere if you need a connecting flight that day. Don't do it kids!!

Anything goes wrong, as it did with a party of kids being taken to and from a football competition in Denmark about a year ago, Ryanair will wash their hands of you. And to be fair, it is no part of their promise that they accept any such liability. All I am saying is that it is important to know that and to be aware of Ryanair's strict adherence to its business model.

I said that such people should never have flown with Ryanair in the first place and should have paid the little extra up front that would have covered them against a scheduling malfunction not of their making. As things panned out, this would probably have cost them less in the long run.

asdasd wrote: »

Since Ryanair never fail to get me where I am going, and generally take me from a place where I have free accommodation to a place where I have free accommodation

In such circumstances I would probably take Ryanair too. What do you want me to do? Kiss them? Not likely. They'd already have my €0.01.

asdasd wrote: »

Jesus , wept all the anger.

Don't tell me who I can or can't like. That is absolutely my privilege.

I got screwed over by Ryanair on a Dublin Stansted flight some years back and have NEVER flown with them when going to London since. And I'm talking about trips that I pay for. Depending on where you want to go, flying Aer Lingus to Heathrow or Gatwick can be very cost effective. Not necessarily cheaper, just much better value for money.

Snickers Man · 24-11-2008 01:02PM

Mark200 wrote: »

I like Ryanair

I won't tell you who you can or can't like. That is absolutely your privilege.

B00MSTICK · 24-11-2008 01:05PM

Mark200 wrote:

I like Ryanair

Never had a problem with them either. I don't think that many people hate Ryanair its just the few that have had problems broadcast it.

Even if it was due to their own stupidity.

asdasd · 24-11-2008 01:15PM

No. That's your assumption. I never said that at all. What I implied was that it is foolish to fly Ryanair anywhere if you need a connecting flight that day. Don't do it kids!!

Maybe. On the other hand the thing to do if you have a connecting flight is to buy the entire trip ( i.e. point to point) via a travel agent, or online. I am not sure if RyanAir do that. If you book two seperate trips it means taking the luggage off, and back on again.
Nobody should ever really do that, certainly not with kids.

dfx- · 24-11-2008 01:16PM

I'll never pay to fly Ryanair and will grumble if someone will pay expenses for me to do so. I'm not going to put up with them.

In the last 6 months I've flown Aer Lingus, British Airways, South African Airways, Swissair, British Midland, Finnair, blue1 and Ryanair on expenses. Ryanair was the most inconvenient, not cheap, poor service and inadequate airline.

Finnair is outstanding, South African Airways are top class, Aer Lingus and BA are ok, Swissair wasn't great and blue1 outclassed Ryanair as the 'budget' airline. What BA, Aer Lingus and Finnair did to get me through LHR to Helsinki and then Oulu was well worth paying for instead of flying to Tallinn.

€160 to fly to Edinburgh at 6.15am and return at midnight..you have got to be kidding me. :eek:

To say nothing of the time they overbooked my flight to Stansted, cancelled the next flight and the following flight ended up 2 hours late. Cue the guy at the gate "Hi...yeah, these Stansted flights are all over the place". I arrived 8 hours late. Or the time at Blackpool with a very late aborted take-off, because the plane never reached take-off speed. Or...

robinph · 24-11-2008 01:19PM

brim4brim wrote: »

The online check in system where you can't check in for your return flight before you leave so you have to find an Internet Cafe or ensure you book a hotel with Internet access to check in before coming back which isn't the most stress free thing if you didn't think of the above before leaving which would annoy me if I was holiday (never been caught out by this but it is a stupid policy).

You can do the online checkin upto 14 days before your flight now which should be more than enough for any hand luggage only trip.

rossie1977 · 24-11-2008 01:27PM

spadder wrote: »

+1 , Ryanair have done more for tourism in this country than bord failte have ever done.

so true €30 in total (cc fees and everything) for a return trip to malaga next month for me

i dread to think how much air-travel in ireland would cost if ryanair never existed. i remember the fares to london before ryanair :eek:

P.C. · 24-11-2008 01:47PM

You get what you pay for.

You want service, pay for it.

dionsiseire · 24-11-2008 02:09PM

I dont mind the food prices and cattle prodding from ryanair especially when its free or dirt cheap flights, it just cant be argued with, for your 2 euro the dublin bus driver wont give you any pleasantries, for 1c why should ryanair

but the times i HAVE paid for a flight with them ive been disgusted

I booked a flight to manchester for the Newcastle versus Man U game start of the season at old trafford. Sky Sports decided to change the date to a sunday

So the 140 euro was gone (me and my mates fare) i rang and told them i would not be flying and would like a refund of my taxes, they told me to ring after the flight had taken place and i would be on the DID NOT FLY list.

so i rang after the flight and was told that refunding taxes was no problem, but that an administration charge applied and that the administration charge was more than the taxes thus i was owed nothing.

They never said how much the administration charge was, but im told its supposedly 20 euro yet my taxes were near 50 euro

its at this point when i have a problem with ryanair

i also dispise their 10 euro to book by credit card, with no alternative, im sorry but if dunness stores or superquinn started charging you 10 euro to use a credit card you'd whip out the cash fairly handy for your 5 euro worth of purchases.

Ryanair charge you to pay, and nobody seems to bat an eyelid, how can they get away with not offering a free method of paying for a flight with them. its a disgrace

Whats with this constant Ryanair bashing ?

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