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Member since:19.11.2003
Reviews:50
Members who trust:10
I used to travel with Ryanair eight or nine times a year (I travel for a living as a journalist), usually to Italy. They were until recently the only airline to fly to Sardinia from the UK, although Easyjet has started flights there, and Thomson flies there seasonally.
WHY I DON'T FLY RYANAIR ANYMORE
For the past 18 months I have managed to completely avoid flying Ryanair despite a packed travel schedule throughout Europe. Why? Lots of reasons, but the main one is that I refuse to condone their business practices by giving them any more of my money.
Examples of their dodgy business practices? Well, let's start with "low-cost". Yes, they can be cheap, but more often than not they are in fact quite expensive, or at least on a par with their competition. By the time you have added fees, charges, levies etc., you could fly BA with allocated seats and a free sandwich for the same price - or less. They make a big play about "no fuel surcharges". In fact, none of their major competitors have fuel charges
on their intra-European flights. Ryanair, on the other hand, charges those "fees, charges and levies", which go straight into their coffers - a fuel surcharge by the back door. Of the charges that Ryanair levies on top of the headline fare, only £10 is government tax. The rest is really part of the fare.
As an example, I have just booked a return flight from Birmingham to Dublin in August. Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have flights at about the same time. Aer Lingus was about £5 more expensive (they would have been cheaper if I had been flexible with my timings) and for that I get assigned seating and online check in I can use with checked bags. Worth £5 extra IMHO. Price isn't everything.
Then there is their complete lack of customer service. Defenders of Ryanair say, "What do you expect for 1p?" But of course, the vast majority of people pay far more than that, and in any event, it doesn't matter how little you pay - Ryanair is a scheduled airline, and it has a contract with you to provide a certain service. The airline holds its passengers to the letter of the contract (turn up even one minute late and you lose your flight), but frequently fails to uphold its side of the bargain. If your flight is cancelled or delayed, expect no or little help. That "bargain airfare" could suddenly cost you hundreds if not thousands.
I also have a real problem with other aspects of their business practices. They treat their staff badly, and there are been two incidents with pilots having breakdowns in the cockpit (one of whom had been threatened with the sack if he didn't fly a few days after burying his son). On my last flight, the Eastern European crew could not manage an intelligible safety briefing, and not one of them spoke Italian, despite the fact it was a flight from Italy and there were uni-lingual Italians onboard. The treatment that Ryanair metes out to their staff often leads to surly and rude behaviour.
FLYING WITH RYANAIR
Ryanair is a standard low-cost operator. Expect no frills on board, and no allocated seats. Food can be purchased but you are better off bringing your own. Comfort is acceptable for the short flights they offer. They fly mainly to smaller airports, which can be miles from where they say they are serving, adding to the cost. Always check the cost of getting to and from the airports when deciding if Ryanair really is the cheapest.
It's easy to book on their website, and they have recently introduced a "low-fare finder" which check fares 21 days before or after the dates you choose.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Check Ryanair if they fly where you want to go (being very careful to be sure the actually DO fly where you want to go) but then look at other options. They have lulled people into thinking they are always the cheapest when they are not. And if you do fly with them, expect no redress when things go wrong. One of my last flights with them was delayed two hours because of a technical fault on the inbound plane which had to turn back to Stansted. Surely Ryanair's fault. I missed the last train out of Stansted despite having left an hour and a half's margin, and my wife had to drive over and pick me up (two hours each way). I don't think anyone can deny that I deserve some compensation for that. Weather? Fine, not in Ryanair's control. But when their plane breaks down?
Also, watch excess baggage charges. Their weight limits are ridiculous, and there are complaints of letting excess weight pass on the outward journey (where items could be more easily left behind) and then being charged exorbitant amounts on the return. Also note that you are not allowed to "pool" your baggage allowance with those travelling with you. If you have one case weight 20kgs between two people, you will be charged for 5kgs excess baggage.
The most telling thing for me is that on Skytrax (www.airlinequality.com) Ryanair rates only 2 stars (Star Grading for a poor quality performance - falling below the industry average in each competitive market sector. 2 Star ranking represents a poor standard of Product across different ranking categories - or poor / inconsistent standards of Staff Service delivery in Onboard or Airport environments.) In this it joins such great airlines as Air Kazakhstan, Air Malawi, Air Slovakia, Air Zimbabwe, Armenian Airlines, Azerbaijan Airlines, Cameroon Airlines, Ghana Airways, Pulkovo Airlines, Sudan Airways, Syrianair, TAAG Angola Airlines. Tajikistan Airlines, Turkmenistan Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways and YemeniaYemen Airways.
If you can accept Ryanair's lack of ethics, then fly them by all means. I will keep my fingers crossed for you. But they will not get another penny of my money.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I've only used Ryanair and can't complain. My rule of thumb is: if it's really cheap then don't go expecting top quality service.
purpletea 16.01.2005 18:10
I don't trust a lot in ryanair. I have tried to fly with them sometimes but I couldn't find the fantastic offers they claim. I prefer easyjet, at least you know where you are going to land! xx. Ana.
bistro 18.11.2004 16:11
Gosh, at Desiree's message! Doesn't exactly install confidence does it! They sound to me like they're wriggling on the end of a hook. I shan't be bothering with them. Thanks for the info. Mandy.xx
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Nov 19th, 2003
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