Ryanair

[snooks]

It would be good to hear other views.

Sounds like you haven't:

• had the joy of watching your luggage stand on the tarmac below the departure gate window for 2 hours in torrential rain then.
  
• tried to fly with them for work when a 5p flight can cost over £60
  
• realised that easy jet are cheaper on the same routes if you have hold luggage
  
• flown to a destination with your luggage, and before you can fly back you've been charged excess baggage, because somehow your baggage has mysteriously got heavier
  
• had to wear full sailing kit through customs because you hold luggage was 1.5 kg over the limit
  
• had to spend another £350 because you wanted to change your flights to the next day - with easy jet it £10 + the difference with RA is a new ticket (the joy of dealing with italian builders, the boat will definitely be ready on the 17th...Hello? Mr Snook, it will now be ready on the 18th)
  
• had them change the hand luggage limit since the time you booked to the time you arrive at the airport
  
• spent £24 on two sandwiches and drinks for two people
  
• tried asking for a receipt for the food you've bought
  
• been on a delayed flight coming back to Stanstead and arrived after the last train has departed, after waiting an hour for your baggage to turn up
  
• watched the expression on peoples faces when they have realise they miles and miles away from Hamburg (lubeck), London (Stanstead) St Tropez (Hyeres)...that really is priceless

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Never had any problems (yet), i used them from east midlands to Reus and Girona airorts in spain, no problems as of yet, but i cant complain i paid 2p for my last flight back from reus...

i like hurricane will be booking all my yearly flights in advance and if i dont use them then no worries, they are as they say cheap as chips!

the airlines are only responding to customers wanting cheaper and cheaper flights... easyjet are slighty better with the admin side but how can you complain when ryair are as cheap as they are.. if i want guarented flights and flexibilty for business flights i go with BA and get mugged in the process, swings and round abouts i guess!

Anth

 

[snooks]

The problem is that if you want to take luggage, and don't have a VISA Electon card the flights will be about £40 each

Still cheap, yes, but hardly 1p flights

 

[FunkyMonkey]

i have a visa debt and it cost me £5 per person for the booking fee..

 

[Observer]

Never had any problems (yet), i used them from east midlands to Reus and Girona airorts in spain, no problems as of yet, but i cant complain i paid 2p for my last flight back from reus...

i like hurricane will be booking all my yearly flights in advance and if i dont use them then no worries, they are as they say cheap as chips!

the airlines are only responding to customers wanting cheaper and cheaper flights... easyjet are slighty better with the admin side but how can you complain when ryair are as cheap as they are.. if i want guarented flights and flexibilty for business flights i go with BA and get mugged in the process, swings and round abouts i guess!

Anth

Did you read any of the posts above yours? Do you really think you're paying the right value for what you receive? Or do you simply not care?

 

[Moodyjim]

Certainly the standards of training for the flight crew are very good indeed. RA have a very good perception of what is required of the Flight Deck especially with reference to the different nationalities that are employed. The question of safety of the operation does not arise; maintenance is carried out to the same standards as every other european airline under JAA requirements. It's all a matter of service and you get what you pay for.

 

[maxi77]

Never had any problems (yet), i used them from east midlands to Reus and Girona airorts in spain, no problems as of yet, but i cant complain i paid 2p for my last flight back from reus...

i like hurricane will be booking all my yearly flights in advance and if i dont use them then no worries, they are as they say cheap as chips!

the airlines are only responding to customers wanting cheaper and cheaper flights... easyjet are slighty better with the admin side but how can you complain when ryair are as cheap as they are.. if i want guarented flights and flexibilty for business flights i go with BA and get mugged in the process, swings and round abouts i guess!

Anth

The problem is they are not providing cheaper flights, they are reducing the headline cost and then dramitically increasing the hidden costs so in reality you pay more than you did before. The airlines should not be able to advertise prices without also showing all the additional charges that may be applied

 

[Hurricane]

The problem is they are not providing cheaper flights, they are reducing the headline cost and then dramitically increasing the hidden costs so in reality you pay more than you did before. The airlines should not be able to advertise prices without also showing all the additional charges that may be applied

But I dont think you and Observer are listening.

FunkyMonkey and I are only paying 2p (1 euro in my case) and we (to date) are actually getting a flight to where we want to travel.
I'd say that was excellent value.

We have everything that we want on the boat so there is no need to check any hold bags in and we pay with Visa Electron cards and follow Ryanair's rules whe we fly - online check in etc.

And even after that, I have been getting a better service than the BA flights out of Heathrow.

For me, the service is great - and they fly from and to the nearest airport both ends - no long car journeys at either end - what more could I want?

 

[ozcruiser]

If BA or other airlines were smart they could buy up all the 1 pence seats themselves for the next year (and not use them obviously.) Customers would then either have to fly Ryan Air using the remaining expensive seats or use another airline. Force them out of business.

 

[Shannoner]

If BA or other airlines were smart they could buy up all the 1 pence seats themselves for the next year (and not use them obviously.) Customers would then either have to fly Ryan Air using the remaining expensive seats or use another airline. Force them out of business.

Yes, good idea, let BA put Ryanair out of business, and then Easyjet. Then we will be back to paying €200 for a flight from Dublin to London.
That should make most of the posters on this thread happy.

 

[steve6367]

I don't understand......would we not then be back to paying top price? I am goign to Sant Carlos tomorrow -£52 all in for 2 of us return. Basiclly that means I can afford to go - if it was with BA I would be at home.

 

[ozcruiser]

No I am not wishing to lose cheap travel like anyone else but am looking it from the long term. Cheapo air travel cannot be sustained. Put it this way. If Ryanair drives BA and others out of business the next thing is Ryanair will hike its fares. Full circle. Then we are left wiith ****.
Monarch Boss has already stated the days of cheap travel are over. I have used Ryan Air but if there is another carrier I would rather pay a reasonable bit extra and avoid them like the plague. They seem to cater for backpackers and stag parties so there is a niche in the market I suppose.

 

[Observer]

Hurric and others, you're living in a fantasy land. You can't really believe that the entirety of air travel safety is encapsulated in an aircraft maintenance schedule. Safe air travel is not a commodity that can be manufactured in vast quanitites and sold on the cheap by exploiting economies of scale. Safety has a price and it's not being met by the fares of low cost airlines. The sums simply do not add up.

You may think this is alarmist nonsense but you may also have thought, two years ago, that warnings of financial crisis were alarmist. There are some striking parallels: external regulation replaced by self-regulation; aggressive marketing; 'too good to be true' deals; quantity not quality attitudes; prudence and caution distorted by self-interest; and so on.

You may dismiss me as a crackpot but my views have been shaped by others who have vast experience and knowledge. Take the following contribution, from a retired airline pilot with particular background in air transport safety:

...the level of flight safety in the industry is being taken for granted and this is because, as experience is lost (because it is expensive so the accountants highlight it as the first thing to go), the newbies assume that "aviation is safe now". That is because they have no concept, no idea of how aviation "got this safe".

To me it is as clear as the lines on my face and hands...the accident rate is going to rise because of this. The regulator in Canada is abdicating its responsibilities and handing safety over to private corporations: the airlines. It is the deregulation, and privatization of flight safety. An independent voice is disappearing from aviation and being replaced by compliant, ignorant, ambitious bureacrats both within the airlines and within the regulator.

Even if a serious aviation safety matter such as an airframe limitation exceedence occurs in Canada, the airline may "quietly" decide to fly the aircraft anyway if the regulator isn't around to oversee the decision-making process.

In Canada there is now no one to go to, to even inform of the fact let alone someone independent of the airlines to take action. In fact even if they knew, the regulator would not take action at this point in the development of SMS.

We cannot go to the Minister of Transport because it is to his benefit to have the responsibiity of flight safety off his desk and onto the airlines. The protection of the Minister is paramount. While complex, such dynamics fundamentally prevent an "open conversation" about flight safety issues under SMS as it is presently constituted. Thus there is no point in going to anyone under the Minister.

The industry is such that it can absorb such inattention for a period of time. Good processes have been built into the system and good flight safety work is done by all airlines in Canada. The failures of SMS will take a period of time to emerge; long enough that the original causes will be gone, along with those who made the decisions.

There's plenty more like that (although this is one of the most thoughtful contributors) from current and former airline pilots.

Bottom line - if we (the flying public) are not paying the price of sustaining the safety standards that air travel has built over decades, then those standards will surely fall, sooner or later. I don't believe that price is being paid. We're living off the fat built up during decades of incremental safety gains, but it won't last forever.

 

[andythilo]

There will always be a HUGE market for cheap air travel. How else could the young chav-letts get to Ibiza?

But there will also always be the market for main stream airlines where people wont have to worry about being charged £70 for going a couple of kilos over or paying £2 for a can of coke on board.

While there is a market for both, both will survive.

And with regards to maintenance problems leading to problems, well 95%+ of all air crashes have been down to Pilot error in one way or another, so I wouldn't worry about the plane, worry about the pilots!

 

[asteven221]

Jeeper is this still going!!!

Coincedently we always go on a winter break in Jan down to the Canaries. had a look last night at RA and see that they are offering fights on the days I want. Ourboud £34.99 and return £0, yes zero. So you would think that for the two of us it should be £69.98 in theory. So I went through the process and nearly booked it. Checking in 3 bags (they only allow 15kg max per bag (hmm another way of getting more money as almost everyone needs 20kg which other airline offer). The cost was over £310 by the time all the fees were added. It will be more once the credit card fees are added. I tried Globespan which were actually £90 more expensive the the same thing so RA still cheaper. I would probably pay the extra for Globespan, who are not brilliant, but compared to RA they are.

 

[asteven221]

Re the subject of safety vs price. I think there might be an issue for RA in the future on this. It's well known that RA have the newest fleet of aircraft in Europe, however they bought them in a job lot after 9/11 when Boeing and Airbus were desperate to sell planes. Remember the time you bought a new house and bought a new fridge, cooker, washing machine, drier and dishwasher at once? A few years later they have a nasty habit of all chucking it at the same time don't they? Will RA's aircraft all start to fall to bits at the same time? What happens to the RA low cost model then? Just a thought to ponder.

 

[Observer]

Apropos my last post, this is worth reading:

Capt Sullenberger's statement to the US Congress Transportation Committee

 

[Moodyjim]

They are in the process of taking 50 new aircraft this winter.

 

[Moodyjim]

"Hurric and others, you're living in a fantasy land. You can't really believe that the entirety of air travel safety is encapsulated in an aircraft maintenance schedule."

I think you are missing a point or two. RA make a good profit so the economics of avoiding maintenance schedules and safety training of crews etc. etc. does not arise. As the old saying goes "if you think safety is expensive - try an accident". maintenance is governed under the JAA and from them the IAA to strict standards and schedules. A large proportion of world wide aviation accidents are down to various forms of human error and poor flying standards. This is not the case with RA or Squeezy both of whom have very high training standards as good as any in Europe.

 

[Nick_H]

I'm staying out of the Ryanair debate, but i'm amazed that anyone puts BA forward as being the shining light of customer service. I've flown BA maybe 500 times, and I hate them with a vengeance, and if they ever die, i'll dance on their grave. What other business could reward a customer who has spent £25k with them that year by refusing them a seat on a half empty earlier flight to their home airport when they've finished a meeting earlier than expected? I've spent dozens of hours bored senseless in European airport terminals because of BA's contempt for its passengers, so if Ryanair offer the same shlt service, but at half the price, then they're twice as good in my book.

On the subject of safety and prices, RA makes a profit and BA (usually) doesn't, so who's most likely to cut corners?