Ryanair Rant - I Hates Em

[David Levine]

Has anybody else flown on Ryanair, attracted by their low prices and extravagant promises? This is my latest contact with them. Tom Driscoll and I wanted to fly from Shannon to East Midlands Airport to attend Mark Davies weekend concertina festival August 8-10.

(http://www.thesession.org/events/display/834)

We were advised to fly Ryanair, which is supposed to be the cheapest airline.

 

The first screen shows:

 

Depart: Regular Fare Adult 0.99 EUR Fri, 8 Aug 08

 

Return: Regular Fare Adult 12.99 EUR Mon, 11 Aug 08

 

I thought- great. That's certainly cheap. At that price I can fly over for lunch. No baggage to check, which would entail a larger charge.

-----------------------

Then you go to the second screen:

 

I find that Ryanair automatically includes an insurance charge and charges a lot for baggage hold check-in. You have to opt out of the insurance and tell them you won't be checking baggage. Still, I was surprised by the jump in price when I got to the second price screen, which showed (I thought) the final price. After all, it does say "Total Cost of Flight."

 

Going Out (Web Fare)

2 Adult @ 0.99 EUR 1.98 EUR

Taxes/Fees details 24.48 EUR

Coming Back (Web Fare)

2 Adult @ 12.99 EUR 25.98 EUR

Taxes/Fees details 71.82 EUR

Total Cost of Flight 124.26 EUR

 

That's a pretty big jump. The total for Taxes/Fees is €95.

So I clicked on the drop down to find out about "Taxes/Fees details"

 

We get:

59.84 Euros Tax and Fees

11.98 Insurance/Wheelchair/Aviation

 

I still don't know how much the taxes are. I still don't know what the "fees" means. I didn't want insurance. I don't have a wheelchair. And what is the extra charge for "Aviation"? What could "Aviation" possibly mean?

I thought the fee I was paying for the flight covered that. Maybe it's to make sure there's somebody aviating the airplane. So that we don't have to do it ourselves.

There's no way the charge for the flight going is .99 or returning is 12.99. It's really €62 each (or about $100 each), for an hour flight. Still not so bad. More than Southwest Airlines ($50 from DC to Manchester, NH) but less than Aer Lingus. Maybe. I'm not so sure at this point.

 

---------------

 

Then we go to the third screen, where they get your credit card and tell you how much they're billing the card for. Apparently I was mistaken in thinking that "Total Cost of Flight" meant the total cost, and was 124.26 EUR. Turns out I'm being billed an additional €16 for a handling fee.

 

Shannon (SNN) to East Midlands (EMA) 26.46 EUR

East Midlands (EMA) to Shannon (SNN) 97.80 EUR

Fees, Services and Travel Insurance

Handling Fee 8.00 EUR

Handling Fee 8.00 EUR

Total Payment Amount

Including handling fee

140.26 EUR

 

Just what are they "handling?" And why these fees, after charging above for fees? Now I understand how Ryanair can make a profit charging those ridiculously low fares: they don't really charge them! Next time there won't be a next time. I'll pay a bit more (maybe, maybe not) and fly Aer Lingus.

 

No wonder there are two large signs at the Ryanair desk telling the public that loud and abusive behavior will result in a call to the cops and possible legal consequences. I'm surprised there hasn't been anything in the papers about a madman with a gun having been driven to desperate measures by Ryanair's deceptive policies!

 

(Edited - unsuccessfully - to correct misspeling of Mark Davies' name)

Edited June 25, 2008 by cocusflute

[Stephen Chambers]

Next time there won't be a next time. I'll pay a bit more (maybe, maybe not) and fly Aer Lingus.

 

 

You'll be lucky, Aer Lingus no longer fly from Shannon to Britain, they moved the "slots" to Belfast!

[Leo]

As distasteful as it sounds, I would be pretty sure it's our governments at work. At one time, the advertised price included all the fees. After the industry was deregulated, all sorts of advertising schemes came into being, on of which separated the actual costs of the trip from the taxes and such that governments (both local an national) levied on an unsuspecting public. And then there is the fuel surcharge. http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?se...axesfeescharges

 

Not to defend Ryanair, but I would place the blame more to our bureaucrats at work.

 

Thanks

Leo

[David Levine]

As distasteful as it sounds, I would be pretty sure it's our governments at work. At one time, the advertised price included all the fees. After the industry was deregulated, all sorts of advertising schemes came into being, on of which separated the actual costs of the trip from the taxes and such that governments (both local an national) levied on an unsuspecting public. And then there is the fuel surcharge. http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?se...axesfeescharges

 

Not to defend Ryanair, but I would place the blame more to our bureaucrats at work.

 

Thanks

Leo

 

Thanks Leo -

That goes a ways towards explaining it all. But they're still pretty sneaky. Truth in advertising? Give me a break....

[Azalin]

... and meanwhile, I need to pay at least 600 euros to get anywhere near Europe.

[Stephen Chambers]

... and meanwhile, I need to pay at least 600 euros to get anywhere near Europe.

If it's any consolation, it costs me at least that to go and visit my girlfriend, in Idaho!

[wntrmute]

Getting to Ireland is easy; build a raft and catch the gulf stream. Only takes a couple of weeks.

 

It's the swim back that'll get'cha every time. Though if you can persuade some Swedes or Norsemen to build you a longboat, you can stop over in Iceland and Greenland and make it to Nova Scotia handily enough.

[Hooves]

Airlines everywhere are upping total fees by charging for just about everything: apparently even the tiny bag of peanuts will cost you extra, I wonder how much using the bathroom will cost in the future? Fresh air anybody?

 

Not to be doom and gloom, but its the end of an era. Which is a good thing, because you need an ending for a new begining.

 

When SUVs first started rolling out I said "They're building dinosaurs", and like so many things so easly explained by evolution, my little Honda civic is like a small furry critter at the dawn of the ice age.

[Dieppe]

Well, if you think about it, maybe the airlines should do something like that. The flight profit is the initial "price" but then once they break it down into what the real costs are for fuel, pilot, insurance, maintenance, ground crew, water, toilet, etc... you get to what the true cost is to the consumer.

 

Not that I'm defending them, just consider if you were to take a mate carpooling to some concertina event 100 miles away. You're driving in your car, but you agree to split the gas 50/50. But technically you have to pay insurance, registration, oil changes, maintenance, tax.. and if you were a jerk you could itemize it all and ask for the extra for his share...

 

Any more that's where the airlines are going. They don't want to raise the prices $2 per person to fly to pay for that $0.50 can of soda, so why not just charge only those who want to drink said can of soda? It's ridiculous I know, but it's bottom line as they try to avoid going out of business.. and that's really a good thing, because think of how horrible it might be if there were only one airline left.

 

Patrick

Edited June 26, 2008 by Dieppe

[m3838]

Not to be doom and gloom, but its the end of an era. Which is a good thing, because you need an ending for a new begining.

 

Funny that you say this.

Oil is more plentiful, than 50 years ago. US, Canada, Mexico have enormous suplies.

It's definitely not the end of any era, only an excellent example of what happens, when your presidents belong to Oil Cartels. Dubai port anybody?

And who dismantled the railroads in the US? And why? Is there anybody who is in doubt?

Anybody who believes the State is effective and our elected officials are our representatives? And we are idiots for voting for them, and completely and totally deserve every penny to be stolen from us. Get involved! I'm completely boicoting this election circus, it's not amusing, nor funny, the tricks are stale, and average IQ of our electorate seems to be below average, now that's a scientific problem.

If I only had time, I'd start a campaign for boicotting the elections and going for four years with empty chair for president.

[Jody Kruskal]

So what is the most economical way to travel from England to Ireland or visa versa? Are there ferries?

[Stephen Chambers]

So what is the most economical way to travel from England to Ireland or visa versa?

Ryanair...

 

Are there ferries?

Yes, but by the time you get from the west of Ireland to Dublin, and then from Holyhead to wherever you're going in England, they actually cost more and take an awful lot longer.

[Michael Reid]

I flew Ryanair last summer one-way from England to Ireland, after booking the flight on the web. I found:

 

1. I had to take every opportunity to decline the travel insurance that the site repeatedly importuned me to buy.

 

2. That I had to pay a hefty processing fee for paying by credit card--but that I could have avoided the fee if I had the right kind of debit card (it wouldn't accept my U.S. debit card).

 

The buying experience was somewhat annoying but I still saved a lot over the alternatives, so on the whole I was satisfied.

[wntrmute]

I find your views intriguing, and would like to sign up for your newsletter.

[m3838]

I find your views intriguing, and would like to sign up for your newsletter.

You'll have to wait a while. I need to make money to feed the family.

[Chris Timson]

Easyjet are better ...

 

... just not very much.

 

Chris

[Stephen Chambers]

Easyjet are better ...

 

... just not very much.

You might have to wait a while for a flight to Ireland though...

[hjcjones]

With all these "no frills" airlines, you get what you pay for - the bare minimum. Customer service is presumably considered a "frill". It's the price you pay, so to speak, for the low fare price - and it is low, even after all the extra charges. If you want limousines, lounges, in-flight meals etc there are plenty of airlines which will provide them, but you pay for the privilege.

 

My biggest problem with the budget airlines is their reliability - they do seem more prone to cancellations and delays. But it's usually something I'm prepared to risk in order to save cash. So far, I've been lucky.

 

The "wheelchair" charge, by the way, was introduced because Ryanair weren't allowed to charge a disabled passenger for providing them with a wheelchair to the gate - discrimination. So they apply a blanket charge to all tickets to pay for the cost of providing the service.