 Poster: A snowHead
|
| Quote: |
with a couple of exceptions I suppose who have manged to stay towards the higher cost end (BA?)
|
and how many of them are showing a healthy return on their vast investment?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
pam w, ya exactly, difficult to try to remain in "premium" segment these days while trying to attract volume i guess, BA have been pretty groundbreaking on the marketing front (business traveller stuff) so suppose see protecting that brand/image as critical
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
For me the good thing about RA is that they fly into some small very convenient airports in places I want to go. They increase choice. Of the airlines I use regularly. EJ are nicer, but less punctual. Swiss and AA are better. BA I can take or leave.
I don't believe anyone doesn't know what they are going to get from RA and MoL. Caveat Emptor.
And they are hugely better than flying with any of the charter airlines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Flown with them once or twice, felt like cattle... Won't fly with them again simples! Bunch of c*nts...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| Quote: |
| Won't fly with them again simples! |
Yawn.
Unless they happen to be going where I want for 99p....
When it comes to booking airline tickets people almost always book the cheapest fare that will get them from A to B.
People can moan all they want. However Ryan Airs ever increasing passenger figures and healthy profits tell a different story.
Is doesn't take a genius to work out that Ryan Air cant make money on 99p flights (or even 19.99 each way). Such low base fares dont even cover the fuel cost per passenger. The profit obviously comes from charging for the extras such as ski carriage / hold baggage / insurance / meals etc.
Its all part of the low cost buisness model - which primarily revolves around driving down base fares. Without doubt Ryan Air have changed the european aviation industry (for example 10+ years you would have always checked bags into the hold and got a 'free' inflight meal on every other airline).
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 27-09-11 21:29; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Haggis_Trap, Why yawn... I think I'm one of the few people who dont apply the caveat... I don't like the way they treat their cattle... I mean customers and thus won't use them... Would prefer to pay extra!
If you're tired you should get to bed...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
if you don't like them, then just don't use them. personally we have got some dam good cheap flights, and we treat them for what they are... a public bus in the sky. No mattetr what you are doing, you get what you pay for. If you want cheap you can't expect to be treated like royalty, and besides we decided that as long as the flight isn't longer then two hours how bad can it be??!! i've sat at desks in offices more cramped then the seats i've had on ryanair! My husband is 6ft2ins and every charter airline we have been on has been miserable and more cramped then a ryanair seat, plus if you are travelling off-peak days/hours we have often been on half-empty ryanair flights with a row to ourselves........... if we could afford to travel BA everywhere or BA etc went to/from the right airports we'd use them, but we can't afford it and they don't! we live within 30 mins drive of stanstead so are more then happy with crappy-ryan-air!
(said my bit - i await the backlash)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
cbowls30, Haggis_Trap, stoat of the dead, rock on, go Mikey! (though he dont care if you DO like him neither!) 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| Quote: |
| I don't like the way they treat their cattle. |
At the end of the day your still sitting on a plane for 2 hours breathing in recycled air what ever the airline. If people really hate Ryan Air so much why are their passenger numbers increasing year on year ?
Ryan Air is now the biggest airline in Europe (an amazing 8 million passengers a month).
The shrewd operator O'Leary probably love's forum topics like this as its yet more free publicity 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Haggis_Trap, I don't mind if you or anyone else for that matter wish to, never claimed otherwise, just saying I don't like it/then and thus don't do it...
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| barry wrote: |
| cbowls30, Haggis_Trap, stoat of the dead, rock on, go Mikey! (though he dont care if you DO like him neither!) |
Barry are you rimming M o'L? You seem to want to bum him?
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
The fees revealed:
Fees on the Ryanair Cash Passport include a whopping 5.75% foreign transaction fee - more than double the 2.75% typically charged on other prepaid cards - with an added £2 ATM charge whenever you use the card to withdraw cash.
Not only that, but if the card is unused for over six months, customers will face a £2.50 inactivity charge per month. And if a customer doesn't have the funds on the card to cover this fee, there will be a further £10 negative balance charge added to their bill.
Finally, anyone wanting to use the card to withdraw cash at a bank or bureaux de change will be hit with a £4 charge - again on top of the 5.75% charge if this is done overseas. And from April 2012, that will all be topped by a 50p fee on top for all transactions, excluding bookings with Ryanair.
To put that into context, if you wanted to draw £100 worth of local currency while abroad, you would be hit with a whopping £10.25 in charges (£4 standard fee, a £5.75 foreign currency fee plus the additional 50p charge).
Furthermore, and perhaps, most significantly, Ryanair's latest move means the airline's customers are left with absolutely no means to avoid fees altogether when booking.
That's because the Ryanair Cash Passport charges a £6 'cash out' fee on all closures - meaning even those who simply use the card once to book flights will have to pay out to close it or face even bigger charges for not using it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
^ Ha - so I wont be getting one of those cards then....
Seems that O'Leary wants to make money out of you even when you aren't flying with them.
No doubt some people will cry foul (and on this case they might have a valid point).
However at the end of the day Ryan Air are running a business.
Without doubt their lawyers will have looked over it carefully to ensure that its legal.
Even with a mandatory £6 'rip off' booking fee Ryan Air will still offer competitive fares I reckon ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
Maybe the problem is not the legality of forcing people to pay charges or the card charges on their own, but in the general view (whether correct or not) the RA is trying to circumvent the regulations - on chargeing and other "stuff"
RA (and M’Ol) seems intent on a aggravating not just the public with a Take It Or Leave It stance but, maybe slightly pertinently the regulators themselves.
It is well known that, to put it simply, regulators will forcibly stamp down on those they deem to be undermining their authority.
As an example. The recent court case in Spain where the tactic of RA charging people to print off a forgotten boarding pass was deemed an abuse and therefore illegal. This should have been the end of the matter. RA could have given the chap his money back and that’s it. But RA doesn’t do this; instead they make defiant rants against the Spanish system and proclaim they will appeal, etc, etc. Had they not done this I very much doubt the EU would have started looking at the whole Boarding Pass issue.
As an example (from the industry grape vine)
RA’s operations are governed by the Montreal Convention which states, (section 1, Article 3, s1) For the carriage of passengers the carrier must deliver a passenger ticket. Fair enough RA will say, we do that by e mail. But RA’s lawyers have maybe not (but I assume they have ??) read the full text which goes on to say: The absence, irregularity or loss of the passenger ticket does not affect the existence or the validity of the contract of carriage. Etc etc.
There is no regualtion that says you must have a boarding pass. Just a ticket and proff of identity
Note that the Montreal Convention take precedence over any T&C's the airlines may have made up.
There are “many” other aspects of RA’s (and other airlines) operations that are being looked at by the industry regulators at the moment.
The biggest threat to RA is not that they will go bust, as they make a “lot” of money. The biggest threat, which he really should take notice of, is that the “powers that be” could one day simply have had enough of him and withdraw his licence. Remember, no licence = RA can’t fly within the airspace, so it would only take 1 or 2 countries to do this and the whole pack of cards would come tumbling down. Imagine if they couldn't overfly French airspace, what routes would they have left
You can wind up some of the people some of the time, but don't think you keep getting away with winding up all the people all the time
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Ryan Air aren't daft and I dont think this is just a deliberate wind up.
There will almost certainly be a motive behind them wanting to make part of the cost of your flight a compulsory £6 booking fee. If I had to guess then reducing the actual fare probably has some kind of financial or tax advantage ?
Making passengers print their own boarding cards has similiar motivations.
It means that Ryan Air dont need to rent check in desks from the airports (so can charge less than other airlines). What they are doing might be hassle for passengers - but it does seem to be within the letter of the law and also well thought out.
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=589&pagetype=90&pageid=2449
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I flew to Murcia last month with RA, first time using them since it was owned by Michael Ryan. Aircraft left on time both ways which was about the only good bit.
Aircraft was about as far as you could get from the main terminal, obviously cheaper.
Seats had no seatback storage, which was a bit of a pain.
The luggage size and weight check at the gate was comical, RA staff carrying a cardboard box to slip over the hand luggage for size, others had to put it in a metal frame, with 2 getting stuck inside having two people fitting with the frame to get their bags out again, passed the time in the queue.
I did purchase hold luggage of 15kg for some exorbitant amount, managed 14.7kg, so got my monies worth.
Had to be some of the most unattractive miserable cabin crew I've ever seen.
Landing on the way out, felt like we'd been shot down.
I made sure by cabin baggage was spot on for size and weight, so they weren't getting me there.
I did have a shell ski jacket on, that fortunately has some very large pockets, I managed:
Wallet
Mobile Phone
Compact Camera
MP3 Player
Sunglasses
Reading Glasses
Pen
Digital SLR (broken down, body in one pocket, lens in another)
Magazine
Passport
Jacket weighed as much as my carry-on baggage if not more.
Would I fly with them again? Only if I had no other alternatives. They really treat their customers like rubbish.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
If you want to be treated like a cross between a lady's front bottom and a hostage then go for it, I choose not to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
jbob, I chose not to, but they were the only option for where I wanted to go from the airport of my choice, given the choice I would rather pay more with a decent carrier.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Spyderman, But what did you pay and how did it compare to other carriers?
Don't forget a good number of landings are automatic - so Mr Boeing may have been responsible for that or conditions may have dictated the requirement a firm landing.
PS Beware a feminist backlash for your comments on the atractiveness of the cabin crew 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
He didn't say they were female did he? 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love Ryanair. They're cheap. The planes arrive and depart on time and are clean and tidy. What's not to like?
Hidden charges? They're not exactly hidden, are they. Everybody knows what they are.
Having to walk to a distant terminal? Oh dear, you're going on a skiing holiday, surely your legs are up to it.
No in-flight catering? Not much of a loss on a 90 minute flight, is it.
But Rynair know that threads like this all over the internet remind people they can potentially fly for 99p (plus £6 credit card charges), what great, free advertising.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I don't remember anyone complaining about having to walk to the terminal or about the in-flight catering on this thread.
I love Ryanair for their concept of cheap air travel. I hate them for their poor customer service, of trying to hide the true cost of a flight, of charging for 'extra' services at above cost price and for punishing customer mistakes with exhorbitant 'fines'.
I suppose Ryanair also enjoyed the 'free advertising' in the Daily Mail yesterday. The headline read 'RYANAIR CASH CARD RIP-OFF'.
I hope Ryanair try to sue the Daily Mail for describing a Ryanair product as a rip-off. Then they can get more 'free advertising' when the case goes through the courts. Because, unbelievably, there are still some people who don't seem to understand what a sh*t company Ryanair really are in respect of how they treat their customers. Maybe people only realise when they, themselves, suffer a Ryanair 'shafting' (it is always lurking there in the background waiting to catch even those who think they know all Ryanair's methods).
Worst of all, those of us who are trying to warn the 'blinkered lemmings' of their potential fate, are derided. Ignore us at your peril!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| chocksaway wrote: |
Spyderman, But what did you pay and how did it compare to other carriers?
Don't forget a good number of landings are automatic - so Mr Boeing may have been responsible for that or conditions may have dictated the requirement a firm landing.
PS Beware a feminist backlash for your comments on the atractiveness of the cabin crew |
I couldn't compare the cost to another carrier, because there wasn't one, hence me flying with RA. The tinpot airport that is Murcia just happened to be closest to where I was going. I could have gone to GTW and flown EJ, but I hate GTW even more than RA. If there had been an alternative to RA i would have booked it.
Conditions were good, very light breeze, clear skies, this guy bounced it from a great height.
There were male & female crew, all of them miserable and looked like they were chewing a lemon. The stewardess that made all of the announcements I think was East European, couldn't understand a word of what she was saying on the PA, surely against CAA rules.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
| Conditions were good, very light breeze, clear skies, this guy bounced it from a great height. |
Funny you mention that....
According to a friend who works in aviation Ryan Air actually train their pilots to have a steeper average angle of approach / faster landing speed.
Seriously... Apparently it saves fuel! It is also well known they have a fuel league table for all pilots.
The RyanAir cash card is a blatant loop hole to transfer part of the total cost of a flight into a fixed booking fee that cant be avoided.
Almost certainly there will be some money saving or financial advantage for them doing this.
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Thu 6-10-11 13:27; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
Haggis_Trap, Errrr - Aircraft are designed by both accountants and engineers! The best parameters for fuel saving are well documented and generally involve as close to a glide approach (ie throttles at idle) as air traffic controllers will allow (they control height as well as left and right) so all companies will generally follow this. As for the final approach the majority of landings are completed following an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach which has a fixed glide slope - so all aircraft from all companies will fly the same angle. Most airlines have a league table for pilot fuel usage - including the so called full service ones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Last time I flew with Easyjet the pilot seemed to spool the engines down as he announced we were flying over Exeter and didn't use them again until he took us on a tour of the Runcorn bridge before landing in a stiff breeze at Liverpool.
Never flown with RA, mainly because there's always been a cheaper option elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just a note on the matter of landings. I regularly fly both Easyjet and Ryanair and it is quite evident that Ryanair landings are harder (often quite a thump) than Easyjet ones (often smooth enough you barely know you are down). What chocksaway tells us tends to confirm my assumption that it is not a difference in the pilots or landing procedures but in the planes. Ryanair flies 737s whereas Easyjet uses Airbus. Anyone know if this is likely to be the case? ie the Airbus quite simply lands more gently ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| ccl wrote: |
| Just a note on the matter of landings. I regularly fly both Easyjet and Ryanair and it is quite evident that Ryanair landings are harder (often quite a thump) than Easyjet ones (often smooth enough you barely know you are down). What chocksaway tells us tends to confirm my assumption that it is not a difference in the pilots or landing procedures but in the planes. Ryanair flies 737s whereas Easyjet uses Airbus. Anyone know if this is likely to be the case? ie the Airbus quite simply lands more gently ? |
A significant number of my family and friends work for Airbus so I should let the assumption go, but a "hard" landing won't be down to the plane. It'll be down to the pilot and/or prevailing weather conditions..
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| ccl wrote: |
| Just a note on the matter of landings. I regularly fly both Easyjet and Ryanair and it is quite evident that Ryanair landings are harder (often quite a thump) than Easyjet ones (often smooth enough you barely know you are down). What chocksaway tells us tends to confirm my assumption that it is not a difference in the pilots or landing procedures but in the planes. Ryanair flies 737s whereas Easyjet uses Airbus. Anyone know if this is likely to be the case? ie the Airbus quite simply lands more gently ? |
Easyjet definitely have at least some 737s.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
As of september easyjet only have airbus a319 and a320,s in service.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
Oh really? My last Easyjet flight was quite a while ago then!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Just realized that even if a get a cash-passport card I'll be clobbered by the exchange rate loading fee of 5.75% as I book quite a few flights starting from Austria to the UK. The booking system then treats the transaction as Euros and thus would apply a GPD to EUR exchange rate plus the 5.75% loading. So I've no way to avoid booking fee? I thought there had to be a means to pay without fees or is loading the exchange rate a loophole? Really is a kunstschnee of an airline, if I could avoid them I would and do when other options are available.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
I know its not really relevant but i want to book with ryanair from leeds to mallorca for a stag do in april, the cost is currently 90 quid without luggage flights only just released last week, will the prices come down or should i book straight away?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
mattiwilkin, - it is unusual for prices to drop unless the flight is not selling well. The automated yield management programmes open the pricing based on the historical uptake for the flight plus one off events (eg Easter/big footy matches) theythen monitor the sales and adjust accordingly. From frequent monitoring of a famous low cost airline based up north used to do this at the 30 day point. If there is a lot of you it may never go down - if they are popular dates in April eg Friday Sunday) I would say crack on. Also if you are booking a large group it may be worth tryinng booking a few at a time - again from experience - if you want 10 seats the yield management programme may hit its next step and charge the next tier price for all 10 - all depends how much time you have.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chocksaway,
very Interesting.
Are ienquires/hits on a particular flight monitored even if they don't convert into a booking?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The only time I would fly Ryanair is if by some bizarre happenstance their in the boondocks airport is ridiculously close to my final destination, or if someone else is booking and I have no say in who the carrier is. Once you're on the plane it's vaguely acceptable, but I don't like their policies, and I don't like my chances if something annoying were to happen (snow/fog) so would certainly not use them to a ski destination. Last couple of flights, one booked as part of large group and I wasn't paying, on booked by OH as a "package" online- I was rather worried that we were going to be stuck in Fuertevenura... and very relieved to get on the plane home!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
I love Ryanair. Personally wouldn't travel with them, even for about a £150 differential but they really are inventive. Surely the next step is paying for a porthole. But I'm the guy who will never have an Alliance and Leicester account again or take a phone contract with 3.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kruisler, There was some suggestion of airlines placing cookies so that a cheaper price was never offered for the same flight to the same computer. I suspect that the yiield management programmes only react to bookings. But as travellers we are quite predictable (think bank holiday traffic jams on the M5) so thats why some flights start at 1p some at 100 quid.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
