Ryanair.

[cirC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc&t=9s

says it all really.

 

[KZNSeagull]

If I'm reading things correctly, they're canceling these flights to stop their punctuality sliding?

I would've thought that writing off the punctuality stats for this year, would be better than the fall out from canceling all these flights at such a busy time of the year?

Sent from my SM-G9350 using Tapatalk

I saw his press conference yesterday. The short version is that they would rather piss off 2% of customers by cancelling these flights, than piss off 40% of customers through delays etc, which is what they are saying would happen if they carried on regardless.

 

[beorhthelm]

I saw his press conference yesterday. The short version is that they would rather piss off 2% of customers by cancelling these flights, than piss off 40% of customers through delays etc, which is what they are saying would happen if they carried on regardless.

partially. its also simple case they dont have the staff levels for the period, due to holiday and lose of staff. they know there will be cancellations, its cheaper (refunds for most) and cancelled flights months ahead doesnt have same rage of people cancelled on the day.

 

[BensGrandad]

Since they bought in Carolyn McCall Easyjet has moved on to being a very slick, well run company that has really improved beyond belief.

Shows how much Stelios was holding the company back, always thought he treated the company like a hobby bearing in mind his Shipping Magnate Dad provided the capital to start it.

Will they fall back when she leaves soon to take over ITV?



I looked at Norwegian Airlines but it appears they dont go direct to many places most seem to mean a change at Copenhagen

 

[Yes Chef]

It will be interesting to see the impact on Ryanair once Easyjet and Norwegian commence their partnership, coupled with this PR disaster. I suspect they may make another approach for Aer Lingus and re-focus on transatlantic flights, and they'll almost inevitably start a price war, good news for us punters.

Flown with them plenty of times, sometimes holding my nose, but in all honesty their business model pioneered air travel throughout Europe, which led to many more interesting and previously unexplored destinations becoming accessible, which is something I'm grateful for. The most I ever paid for a flight was £47 return from Stansted to Tallinn, and when I had my passport stolen years ago in Italy they displayed a lot more sympathy then the British Consulate did.

As previous posters said, treat them as a means to an end and it makes things a lot easier.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

The other thing to come out of this is that Norwegian air have steadily recruited 140 Ryan Air pilots over the past 6 months. A friend who works in the industry told me some time ago they are a real threat at the moment. Seems Norwegian are growing into quite a big airline.

Norwegian have been offering the best deal from New York to the UK for a while - easily undercutting BA and Virgin. They fly into Gatwick unlike BA and Virgin and their fleet is probably one of the most modern.

 

[Simontheseagull]

The only guarantees you get when buying a Ryanair ticket is a low cost no frills ticket and a poor customer service. Don't know why people who bought a Ryanair ticket are complaining. They got what they paid for.

I have flown Ryanair in the past, and have chosen never to fly with them again.

 

[Birdie Boy]

Ryanair - the masters of relieving you of extra cash through stealth tactics! My favourite one being you can check in online 60 days before your flight IF and only IF you have purchased reserved seating from them. If you don't, online check in is open from 4 days prior to your flight. So....if you are going away for a duration of over 4 days, if you don't cough up for your seats and as an example you are off on a 7nt holiday, you can check in for your outbound flight before you leave, but will need to check in for your inbound flight whilst abroad. You can use their app to have a mobile boarding pass, but if you don't use that, your only option is probably to get Hotel Reception to print your boarding passes. If you fail to print your boarding passes, those lovely Ryanair check in staff will charge you a kings ransom for checking you in at the airport. Have known plenty who have been caught by that little gem!

Really?
So, you get a cheap flight but you have issues with not being able to check in whilst on holiday. So, you have no phone, tablet etc with WiFi, no computer in the hotel with internet, even if you did you can't be bothered to use the app on your phone or ask the hotel staff to print an email for you? I have done all of the above previously and very very happy to pay £40 return flights, which are cheaper than trains to an away game in the Midlands when Sky change the times late. Is it really an issue?

 

[Weststander]

I'm so lucky as a Brightonian to have Gatwick nearby with EasyJet, BA and Norwegian. My experience of all three has always been good. I can't be arsed to make my way round the M25 and M11 to get to Stansted and so luckily have never tried Ryanair.

 

[portlock seagull]

I can't recall if I ever have or not (I don't believe so, but couldn't be sure), but Ryanair's reach is so broad now that many people won't have much choice but to fly Ryanair on some routes.

The plucky little Irish loudmouth is making moves to buy Alitalia - the national flag carrier of Italy. I can't help but have begrudging respect for the success story they represent, largely driven by O'Leary.

Ow I don't disagree and good luck to him (and his customers!) I just wouldn't fly with them and have a choice between Operators like you because we live in SE of England so can easily fly from 4 major world hubs surrounding London. Even if didn't I'd still probably drive to another airport to get a choice of airlines if Ryan Air was the only one. People forget these days they aren't owed cheap flights to multiple destinations and were frankly naive to condem budget airlines pulling routes to provincial hubs after they'd bought a 2nd home nearby. It's completely unsustainable as it is and incredible how soon everyone's got used to 'popping over to Prague' for the weekend, to the point of expectation. Anyway, that's a different tangent altogether. Good luck if 'you' like and have enjoyed Ryan Air's service to date without a hitch. Equally, people should expect to get burnt at some point in some way and when they do, remember that's tacitly part of the bargain prices so take, in good heart, all those hotel cancellation, car hire costs etc that aren't covered by your compensation. That's if (IF!) you get any from good old Michael (and many travel commentators are doubtful.

 

[portlock seagull]

I'm really intrigued by this Ryanair reputation for cheapness. For years I worked for a couple of companies whose policies were that any flights made by staff members HAD to be the cheapest. As someone who (or whose staff) made a dozen or so trips every year, I dutifully searched for the cheapest flights, usually to a destination served by Ryanair. On not one single occasion was Ryanair the cheapest.

Maybe Ryanair's not so good at commercial destinations but, in about 12 to 15 searches for a holiday flight, Ryanair's not been the cheapest either.

I hear stories about people buying Ryanair flights for ten bob or something, but in perhaps 50 or 60 searches, I've never seen a cheap flight. Are there just a handful of cheap flights every year or have I been spectacularly unlucky?

I think it's a classic case of perception is reality. Marketing in other words. We live in a world of bottled water after all when everyone's literally got it on tap.

 

[Balders]

Really?
So, you get a cheap flight but you have issues with not being able to check in whilst on holiday. So, you have no phone, tablet etc with WiFi, no computer in the hotel with internet, even if you did you can't be bothered to use the app on your phone or ask the hotel staff to print an email for you? I have done all of the above previously and very very happy to pay £40 return flights, which are cheaper than trains to an away game in the Midlands when Sky change the times late. Is it really an issue?

I have my own travel business and belong to trade forums etc.. where I see, amongst other things, how people have been caught out by it. All I would say is never compare yourself to other people, you would be amazed at how many people struggle with what you and I would think were simple things. As an example you wouldn't believe how many people struggle with online check in with all airlines, let alone Ryanair! Think of it this way, if Ryanair knew everybody would cope with their strange criteria, what's the point of doing it?

 

[Springal]

I have my own travel business and belong to trade forums etc.. where I see, amongst other things, how people have been caught out by it. All I would say is never compare yourself to other people, you would be amazed at how many people struggle with what you and I would think were simple things. As an example you wouldn't believe how many people struggle with online check in with all airlines, let alone Ryanair! Think of it this way, if Ryanair knew everybody would cope with their strange criteria, what's the point of doing it?

How do you deal with Virgin or BA when you can only check in 24 hours before ? Or do you still wait till you get to the airport?

 

[Balders]

How do you deal with Virgin or BA when you can only check in 24 hours before ? Or do you still wait till you get to the airport?

Virgin/BA are different because they don't charge you for checking you in at the airport - Ryanair used to charge £70 but have reduced this to £45 (under their new "customer friendly ethos!") That's the issue, if you don't utilise online check in, Ryanair will charge you, others won't. I'm seeing a shift away from customers purchasing seats with BA/Virgin and them waiting for 24hrs prior to select their seats or waiting until they get to the airport. Even Emirates are now charging for seat selection! In my experience it's been very rare that people/families are split up on a flight. The other thing customers don't know is that most airlines hold back a % of the seats that can't be reserved prior to check in (obviously not Ryanair as that's another can of worms with their pre allocating of seats) I had a family of 4 that went onto online check in with a popular northern low cost airline and they could only select 4 seats in different parts of the plane as it was 48hrs before and busy - quick call to their Ops Team and got them all seated together........for no charge!

 

[Nigella's Cream Pie]

I'm so lucky as a Brightonian to have Gatwick nearby with EasyJet, BA and Norwegian. My experience of all three has always been good. I can't be arsed to make my way round the M25 and M11 to get to Stansted and so luckily have never tried Ryanair.

Ryanair fly from Gatwick to Alicante and Ireland

 

[Bozza]

I'm really intrigued by this Ryanair reputation for cheapness. For years I worked for a couple of companies whose policies were that any flights made by staff members HAD to be the cheapest. As someone who (or whose staff) made a dozen or so trips every year, I dutifully searched for the cheapest flights, usually to a destination served by Ryanair. On not one single occasion was Ryanair the cheapest.

Maybe Ryanair's not so good at commercial destinations but, in about 12 to 15 searches for a holiday flight, Ryanair's not been the cheapest either.

I hear stories about people buying Ryanair flights for ten bob or something, but in perhaps 50 or 60 searches, I've never seen a cheap flight. Are there just a handful of cheap flights every year or have I been spectacularly unlucky?

Here you go - a round Europe trip on Ryanair, starting in London, visiting 8 cities and returning back to London for £81...

http://www.secretflying.com/posts/around-europe-london-uk-visiting-8-cities-81-roundtrip/

 

[BensGrandad]

How do you deal with Virgin or BA when you can only check in 24 hours before ? Or do you still wait till you get to the airport?

We went to Alicante recently with Monarch and checked in 30 days prior to departure and returned via BA at 0120 so had to wait until 0120 on the previous day to check in. Seems silly to me if Monarch Easy jet etc can do it 30 days before departure why cant BA?

 

[The Rivet]

Mr O'leary so 'bad' he is actually 'good'. Gives me a laugh all the time.

 

[Bozza]

Another 400,000 cancellations between November and March have just been announced.

 

[dazzer6666]

Virgin/BA are different because they don't charge you for checking you in at the airport - Ryanair used to charge £70 but have reduced this to £45 (under their new "customer friendly ethos!") That's the issue, if you don't utilise online check in, Ryanair will charge you, others won't. I'm seeing a shift away from customers purchasing seats with BA/Virgin and them waiting for 24hrs prior to select their seats or waiting until they get to the airport. Even Emirates are now charging for seat selection! In my experience it's been very rare that people/families are split up on a flight. The other thing customers don't know is that most airlines hold back a % of the seats that can't be reserved prior to check in (obviously not Ryanair as that's another can of worms with their pre allocating of seats) I had a family of 4 that went onto online check in with a popular northern low cost airline and they could only select 4 seats in different parts of the plane as it was 48hrs before and busy - quick call to their Ops Team and got them all seated together........for no charge!

Just seen (on a booking for the Mrs) that BA charge (£68 in this case) to choose a seat more than 24 hrs in advance in even on a business class booking for non-members or those below bronze. Hadn't realised - previously we've always been on the same booking so covered by my card I guess.

I know, first world problems and all that................