Ryanairs charges - anyone else outraged?

Totally agree, Parchester, good point about the free media advertising!

Well, they do say 'no such thing as bad publicity', Parchy.

I can't see people voting with their feet happening in the next couple of years at least. People are happy they can fly cheaper, if booked well in advance, to destinations they wouldn't otherwise visit. A lot of people also, have very low expectations of dis-service they get from the airline, so they are not disappointed. Personally, I wouldn't fly with them as the airports they fly out of London are inconvinient for me.

You have it there HSP - keep your expectations low and you will be satisfied. Just remember there is no glamour in budget travel.

In their defence I have used budget airlines alot in my work related travel and occasionally for holidays and I have never experienced any problems with them at all.

Perhaps it's true to expect nothing but the worse and then be pleasantly surprised when you get something better than that!!

I suppose that is one way to look at it. I have just got off the phone to my father who was delayed 2 hours with Jet2 going to Malaga... he was delayed 5 hours with them coming back from Nice a few weeks a go and some friends of mine had a 7 hour delay with them trying to get to Tel Aviv! Budget airlines do have great uses and advantages but sometimes they can be such a pain in the backside!is it right of me to tarnish all with the same brush?

I have also found that airlines like BA and BMI offer very good domestic deals if you can book well in advance.

About 18 months ago I had to fly to Aberdeen and the deal I got flying with a reputable airline was better than those who flew with the budgets!!

I agree, Parchester, I've often had a good deal for booked in advance flights to Scotland from BA, price has beaten Easyjet.

Well said, Wendie, couldn't agree with you more!

I agree Wendiew - I don't think that the 'standing' idea will ever be allowed, but O'Leary got great publicity when it was suggested. I don't think that Ryanair is any worse than the other budget carriers - they all cut corners and thus comfort for the passengers and have dubious methods of advertising fares. But much as I dislike the way in which they carry out their business I don't find it any worse than travelling by train or bus in the rush-hour - and at least you (currently) get a seat for the duration which is often not the case on a long-distance train journey.

Well, here I am just back from Lanzarote (and feeling the cold despite this so-called heatwave). Flew with Thomson TUI for the first time and it was fine and at a decent price. Would have no qualms about booking with them again. I have a November flight booked with Jet2 and a further Jet2 in February and they're ok. Have often flown with Monarch and once with Thomas Cook back in May - never again, terribly uncomfortable seats for a mid-haul flight. I don't even look to see what Ryanairs prices are - I just won't use them.

Welcome back, Wendie! :-)

Quite apart from the fact that the standing idea sounds horribly unsafe, unless you were so poor that you really couldn't afford to fly anyway, why the hell would you want to???!!!!

So glad you're still with us, wendie>

You are so right about 'Come Fly With Me', ClearCash, that's exactly why it was so funny! Well, in a cringe-inducing way! Mind you, I'd watch anything with David Walliams in it...:-)

If anyone hasn't seen it, and is curious, there's lots of clips on the net and a BBC website for it here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/comeflywithme/hub/

ClearCash you say, "....until other budget airlines decide to reward clients with something apart from low fares." But isn't that exactly what most travellers want? I agree that Ryanair uses some airports well away from the advertised destination but surely passengers should use some common sense and check out where they are going to land and what onward travel is going to cost?
Ryanair is still very successful in spite of all the gripes that we all seem to have. What other benefits do you suggest that the competition uses to attract Ryanair passengers?

Clearcash - there are already airlines that reward passengers; they are called Full dis-service carriers. But people still choose to fly Ryanair. Sometimes I do wonder - the airline must be doing someting right if so many people travel on it; even as repeat custom.

What Ryanair etc do right is offer very cheap travel. You can get to Southern or Eastern Europe and back for less than £100 even in high summer. There's no way that you can do that by train, car or scheduled airline and when you take travelling time into account, well for me it's the best option in spite of having to grit my teeth every time I fly.

absolutely, despite our gripes, there is a place for them but i think they need to be more transparent with their fees. Yes, you can travel cheaply but the barriers are getting higher and higher whereby luggage allowance is strict, you get charged for checking in at the airport etc. Not all travellers are au fait with this and as such, are the ones that then get the charges!

re their destinations, yes common sense should be used but if someone doesnt travel much,then again, could be out of pocket!

also some airlines have a rewards programme - does Ryanair? free flights etc. Monarch and Jet2 do this (like the mainstream carriers) and if you use them a lot, can work out well

There is another reason for their flights usually being on time 0 the quick turnaround of the aircrafts. This they can do as they discourage passengers to check luggage in the hold by putting hefty charges on it. A lot of people complain about Ryanair pricing policies, but still choose to travel on it as it is usually the cheapest option to their destination.

Yes HSP - the Ryanair turnaround is very quick, often 20 to 30 minutes. It's why they also want the passengers to do all of the tidying and to put all of their rubbish in the black plastic sacks. As you say though, Ryanair is very succesful in spite of the whole thing being a pretty unpleasant experience.

I think the reason they ask passenger to tidy up is because they do not use a cleaning company at their destinations and the crew do it instead - makes the turn around quicker and saves millions per year - wouldnt like to be the crew member that draws the short straw and clean the loo's!!

And what about the ludicrously cheap prices they advertise that don't exist at all?

A friend of mine decided to test this out with Easyjet when they were advertising flights to Spain at £9 including all taxes. He rang and said he wanted to take one of the £9 flights, and was asked what date he wanted to travel. When he said he didn't mind about the date so long as he could go for £9 they had no answer for him

They obviously do this to suck you in then, whatever date you specify, the cheap price will not be available on that date.

Agree, Feline, I've seen numerous reports of exactly this happening!

It's war! From the Easyjet website:"To the extent that any activity of Fastjet, Sir Stelios or any company controlled by him infringes or would infringe those rights, easyJet will take necessary action to protect the rights of easyJet and the interests of its shareholders,"
There is nothing as yet on the Fastjet website.
This seems very strange as Stelios and family still own one third of Easyjet.

ye i know but this step may shake up the low cost airline industry and actually gice it some standard! I wonder if Fastjet will do the whole boooking fees malarky! Or offer different ways of paying such as PayPal, Prepaid MasterCard etc... plus a complimentary in flight meal....not like they are any good generally!

Oh, I don't know, ClearCash, I find the food doesn't taste quite so awful if you know it's complimentary! :-)

There are airlines that serve complimentary drinks and food - they are called Full dis-service carriers.

gone are the days of sweets when you board, free drinks, meal (fruitcake this is / was optional!!!) - but FREE! - Coffee was always rubbish though, I always thought they used mud!

Oh, how I miss British Airways wonderful service from the days of yore! :-)

When my son was at boarding school in Scotland, I used to hand him over at Heathrow to his BA personal minder, who would then deliver him personally to my parents at Edinburgh Airport. He was first on the plane and first off it. His minder would look after him on the flight, and he spent so much time being allowed in the cockpit with the pilot, he eventually decided to learn to fly himself, albeit just a glider pilot's licence. All of this wonderful service was provided absolutely free by BA.

The trouble is Feline, you get treated like cattle on the scheduled airlines as well unless you can afford business class or higher. It is partly the airlines but also the airports that make air travel so unpleasant and stressful. Queues for security checks, miles of walking to departures and poor quality and overpriced food are par for the course. And why do they expect us to check-in 2 hours before a flight? The whole experience is bad, so I just put up with another hour on a budget airline rather than spend more money on scheduled carriers.

what airlines need to do is employ staff who smile!

You're spot on, Sidesalad, you really do have to pay for non-cattle treatment, and most of us can't afford to, including me!

As for the 2 hour check-in, whenever I've questioned it, I've been told it's to allow time for the baggage handlers to deal with the luggage, but I suspect it's far more about you being so bored rigid waiting that you end up spending money in the airport!

Oh, and you're right too, ClearCash, they hardly ever smile, do they?!

or so you spend in the airport! who could resist a bap and a hot drink for £6!!

As for being treated like cattle, it does help when staff have common courtesy! words like hello and thank you and please dont cost anything.

While I am on here, when i was lucky to go to New York on Continental, they made economy passengers feel like regular first class travellers! Ryanair take note!

sidesalad your first sentence took words out of my mouth. economy class in the travel industry is quite often referred to cattle class.

TBH, the food available @ LHR is crap unless you are a guest at one of the lounges.

needs a Nando's in terminal 5!

Should be 5ft 9ins nice to see you are alert Omendata.lol but the percentage did throw youy a bit should compare the icons on the numbers.

He says he does it in the interests of consumer choice, beechform. He says consumers have the choice of what costs they wish to 'add on'. He's technically right, but it doesn't always add up (literally!) to the best deal, and it's full of traps for us to fall into!