Reader rant: “Ryanair, the airline for the extremely poor or very lonely”
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Readers are always invited to send in questions, comments, or, as the case of Neale H. exemplifies, their rants. Neale is one unsatisfied Ryanair customer. His e-mail demonstrates that people don’t just want a cheap fare — sometimes absurdly cheap if you buy far enough in advance — they want to be treated with a modicum of respect.
Neale’s requests: The chance to sit together with his kids, and a pooled-luggage policy that doesn’t charge him the equivalent of $100 for going overweight. His e-mail, below the fold, outlines his objections in all their righteous detail.
Ryanair doesn’t come out smelling too clean after Neale is done with his assault. And he doesn’t even mention their skimpy legroom (photographic proof!). And indeed, it sounds like they don’t want kids onboard. But I disagree that Ryanair therefore appeals to the “lonely.” Hey, I’ve got no offspring, either, but that doesn’t mean I’m lacking affection or a social life…
Think Neale is right on? Think he’s being unreasonable? Sound off in comments. And if you don’t think this could happen in the U.S. of A., I have one word for you: Skybus. Click “Read more” to see Neale’s rant.
Reading about Ryanair’s new forthcoming in-flight gambling, its latest wheeze to screw more money out of its poor, unsuspecting passengers (while ignoring what they really want from an airline) after my latest experience I have decided never to fly with them again, and would urge everyone to do likewise.
From 1st November they have introduced two new rules, both of which send a clear signal that they do not want children on board:
1) no longer is any priority given to passengers with children when boarding the plane. A Ryanair official explained to me that if a family is consequently split up, they will then ask other passengers to move. For an airline which does not preallocate seats, and originates from Ireland, where families are larger than many other European countries, this change does not make any sense. I also do not see why anyone would agree to moving, having just “battled” to get his or her seat, with hand luggage stored overhead etc.
2) having already introduced a £5 charge per suitcase, each item of luggage for the hold is now limited to a maximum 15kg in weight. Passengers cannot “share” the allowance, i.e., 30kg between 2 people, nor can you pay “per 15 kg” e.g. pay the same for one 30kg case as two 15kg cases. Any hard case will weigh at least 5kg on its own; putting a soft case in the hold will simply guarantee all the contents are destroyed; and since you are now severely restricted in what you can take on board, the only option for the average family is to use at least 3 cases, which will be virtually impossible for any single car to handle along with 5 passengers, other than estates or people carriers. Not to mention how a family with kids is supposed to “handle” at least 3 large cases (= two trolleys) in and out of busy airports, God forbid they try to use public transport as well!! Our two suitcases for one week’s visit weighed 12kg and 25kg, so we were charged £55 excess (£5.50 per kg) even though there was four of us travelling! Again, this makes no sense, since I do not mind paying double for one suitcase if it is heavy, because it is more convenient than splitting it between two suitcases. But to get charged £55 for a total of 42kg between 4 people, plus only one piece of hand luggage, is just outrageous. Their only suggestion was for us to purchase a new suitcase in the airport, then repack our bags and come back…. yeh, right — with two young kids and the huge queues through Security, we would have missed the flight altogether!
All these rules from Ryanair are the same… making everything more complicated in the hope to catch people out and get them to pay more, while seemingly offering cheap tickets. It is bad enough that they charge you £3.50 per ticket just for the privilege of paying by debit card (credit card is even more) as though anyone is going to pay any other way via the Internet??
It is a waste of time complaining because they just do not care… even the Ryanair staff at Stansted told us how outrageous it all was, so even they are not listened to.
On top of all that, we were queuing at the check-in for nearly an hour, probably because many people like us were also having to pay excess charges which all takes extra time to administer. And then another half an hour through Security meant we had no time to buy any drinks for the kids for the plane, so had to pay the extortionate Ryanair prices.
And it could have been even worse… there was a group of about 30 very angry Italians who had been queuing in good time at the check-in counter for another Ryanair flight, only to be refused check-in and thus miss their flight because Ryanair had run out of time to check them all in!
It all reminds me of how BA was run a few years ago, when they decided to ignore economy class and focus all their efforts and attention to business class travel. Unfortunately for BA, they forgot that many business class passengers use economy when cashing in their air miles, particularly when travelling on holiday with the family. Consequently I know of many business colleagues, who like myself, refused to fly BA for a long time after. Fortunately for BA, they got rid of their chairman and this absurd strategy, and thus I am pleased to say it is once again a pleasure to fly with them.
Ryanair: the airline for the extremely poor (not having any personal possessions to take with them) or for the very lonely (no offspring).
Why not just be honest and admit what we all now know: there is no longer any such thing as a “cheap” airline ticket, Mr O’Leary?
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November 16th, 2006 at 1:20 pm |
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
November 16th, 2006 at 1:51 pm |
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”.
November 16th, 2006 at 2:07 pm |
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.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:58 am |
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…
November 21st, 2006 at 7:55 pm |
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.
December 6th, 2006 at 8:11 am |
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.