Comments on: Reader rant: “Ryanair, the airline for the extremely poor or very lonely”

By: D. Scholtz

D. Scholtz — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:11:08 +0000

Thought I should add an account of my experiences with Ryan Air this past summer. Because I’d read the litany of online horror stories, it was with considerable trepidation that I booked a flight from Dusseldorf (Weeze) to Stockholm (but, as usual, my innate stinginess prevailed–and, besides, having been in business myself I knew that letters from complainers FAR outnumber those from satisfied customers). Nevertheless, In advance I read every bit of fine print so I’d know exactly what to expect, how much I’d pay for extras, etc. There was one glitch: My online reservation wouldn’t go through without checking the travel insurance box, even though it said for European travelers only. I paid it and then called their intl number (not toll-free but at these prices, why would it be?)expecting a long drawn-out hassle. Within seconds, I spoke with a real live, very pleasant rep who apologized, said she’d reverse that charge and credit my card. To conclude: Within days the credit showed up; at the Weeze airport every person was unfailingly friendly and helpful. The woman to whom I paid the higher, same-day price for extra luggage said, “Oh my dear, are you aware you could have prepaid this–I’m so sorry I have to charge you extra now.” I assured her that I had known that but mistakenly thought I wouldn’t need the extra bag. “Yes, hope springs eternal, doesn’t it?!” The flight went fine–and, even with the extra dollars (euros) spent getting to and from the out-of-the way airports used by Ryan Air, I saved a LOT of money and would do this again. My stance is this: If a company a)CLEARLY states all the conditions (no matter how austere), and b) provides friendly and efficient customer service, I can either buy in because of the savings (and shut up) or go somewhere else because of my need for certain amenities that I consider essential.

By: still asleep

still asleep — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:55:28 +0000

i say your money should be worth something to a business, regardless of how much it is that has been spent. you lot should lighten up a bit on the guy.

By: Sim

Sim — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:58:42 +0000

Jeez listen to the whining about paying the LISTED prices for luggage! I flew Alpi Eagles, an economy airline in Italy, and guess what? They told me ahead of time I would pay extra for any luggage over 15kg so guess what I did? I brought an 8kg suitcase. Can you guess what happened? I paid no extra fee!

If you want to bring 42kilo suitcases for “no extra charge” then pay a few hundred more dollars (pounds) in the ticket price!

I’m poor too buddy, but I’m not going to complain that a company charged me what they warned me ahead of time they would!

Sheesh…

By: akatsuki

akatsuki — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:07:51 +0000

Sorry, but you do get what you pay for. I don’t fly Southwest in the US because I want an assigned seats and not to feel more like cattle than I have to when traveling. I have paid more many times for flights on other airlines, sometimes only a little bit, sometimes a decent amount.

So either stop being cheap and spend more, realize that being poor means you don’t get to fly first class for economy dollars, or just suck it up and be grateful you can get a cheap flight.

By: Chi

Chi — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 19:51:57 +0000

Perhaps there isn’t a “cheap” ticket anymore, but it seems like Ryanair is just doing what folks want, which is a airline version of a no-frills (a.k.a. no-service) bus. Of course consumers DON’T have to give their business to Ryanair, but like that BBC investigative special showed a Ryanair pilot saying that “you pay nothing (or next to nothing) and you get nothing”.

And unfortunately, people “vote” with their money. It’s how Wal-mart and Target have been so successful here in the U.S. Sure we’d all like to buy “American” but given the price differences we cave in to the mega stores which drives out the mom-and-pop stores which utlimately brings down the economy of everyone EXCEPT those who are already rich enough that they can (and do) shop at nicer (and more expensive) stores.

This translates to airlines in that folks are always trying to get cheap tickets from point A to point B since the majority of us fly economy instead of business or first class (also explains why there are always more economy seats that first class/business class). Now I’m not saying that some of us don’t fly in first class or business class, just that we (the majority of folks) fly economy. Thus we vote with our dollars (or whatever currency) and as we continue to choose economy, airlines have to come up with ways to stay profitable. Lowering ticket prices helps attract folks to fly, but you can only go so low. Thus Ryanair takes a novel approach by going with ultra cheap (if not free) tickets with a HUGE but clause. The clause being that everything costs extra. From checking in bags to the “privilege” of using a credit/debit card to an pillow/blanket to even a cheap 8 oz can of soda, everything is billed a la carte.

Sure, most folks would be in arms against a Ryanair in the States, but look at what airlines have already done in the U.S. There have been size reductions to what you can bring as carry-on luggage, fees added to “overweight” check-in luggage, what used to be a complimentary service (beverages, headsets, snacks, meals) are now a charge by service. All in all, these are merely baby steps that our U.S. airlines have done compared to what giant steps Ryanair has done over in Europe.

Meanwhile, as readers of this blog have seen, airlines are also increasing service levels for business and first class (just look at Singapore Airlines’ Pods for instance).

Ultimately, it’s my personal opinion that airplanes will eventually be separated into two divisions. Insanely expensive “we treat you as Royalty” class and moderately cheap “we pack you like a can of sardines” class with new and improved standing seats (an ideal that was pitched by Airbus to Asian airlines).

Of course, if … nay when it gets to that point, I’m hopeful that the “have nots” will rise up and take over the “haves”.

By: TierFlyer

TierFlyer — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 19:20:58 +0000

Let me summarize: he bought tix on a notoriously skinflint airline - because it was hundreds of pounds cheaper than the alternative.

And then he expects what?

When I go to WalMart I don’t expect Nordstrom’s service.

-TF