Ryanair ups baggage charges for holidays

I don't feel there's any denying that Ryanair is a successful airline, or reasons why.

I have never seen Ryanair for anything more than what they are, a Dublin Bus of the sky, and when it comes to air-travel, I've never really needed anything more than that. All I've ever wanted, is to get from A to B, in a timely manner, while still having some money in my pocket.

Ryanair has always fulfilled this need for me, and for years I had been somewhat fond of them.

But lately, this has changed. I no longer like the airline like I once did. No one thing has made me feel this way, but for the most part I think it's me noticing the rather devious nature in which Ryanair add charges to their main flight product.

The credit card charge is particularly nasty. For a single transaction, you can be charged a handling fee, per passenger, per flight. Thus, if I fly somewhere with the OH, for example, I am charged 4 times for one card transaction. Ryanair need only pay the card company once for that transaction, the rest is pure profit.

Their 'insurance' began as an optional extra product, to something the website would select by default for you, and then something that became difficult to de-select.

Their compulsory 'wheelchair' charge, which I believe came about as a result of a fight they had with BAA, is emposed upon all. Even if there are no wheelchair users on the flight.

Their baggage practices have begun to make taking one of their flights un-necessarily painful. You are charged plenty for checking in luggage, apparently to discourage you from doing so. However, Ryanair's tightly regulated cabin baggage policy mean that unless you are traveling very light, you will need to check something in. There seems that there is a definite effort by Ryanair to get a baggage tarrif off the customer, right up to the moment of boarding.

Finally, the prices themselves. Ryanair regularly claim to sell low-cost or nearly free flights to their customers. They are certainly cheaper, however you will never actually pay only 1 Euro for your travel. As a consumer, I am not interested in the cost of the 'flight'. I am however interested in what the final cost of the air-travel is to me. It would be much better if they would say for example, 'Flights from 20 Euro...' That is still cheap, and close to the truth.

Despite all this, I do still regard Ryanair as proper airline like any other, and I do understand that they are trying their best to make cash where ever they can. However, from beginning to end, the simple task of paying them for Air-transit becomes a gauntlet of trying to avoid unwanted charges and dealing with bag-nazis. I miss the Ryanair of only 2 years ago, somehow back then, it seemed so much easier.