# Ryanair



## rocky (26 Nov 2005)

Hi All 
I booked two return tickets on line with Ryanair last April to travel end of October. Checked On Line 24 hours before at stated on booking and arrived at airport only to find that we missed close of check In by 1-2 mins. (spent my time getting the car parked instead of getting to check in desk on time).

The Close Of Check In Time Was Not Mentioned On My Booking Form And Was Only To Be Found In Small Print On Website Which I Did Not Think To Look Out For. Because We Are Not Regular Flyers My Concern Was Departure Time. Anyhow We Lost Our Flight And Had 2 Choices Either Go Home And Return 2 Days Later For Next Available Flight Or Get A Connecting Flight With Easyjet Via Gatwick Which Is What We Did. Cost? €600 And Lost Time Of About 7 Hours. Do I Have Any Case Against Ryanair Or Do I Write It Down As An Expensive Lesson When Booking Over The Net.

< Capitalisation corrected by ajapale in for first paragraph. >


----------



## onekeano (26 Nov 2005)

Hi Rocky,

Sadly I don't think you have a case. Ryanair do tend to very VERY strict with the check in time so I would think you have no comeback.

Sorry
Roy


----------



## RainyDay (27 Nov 2005)

Hi Rocky - Can I make one suggestion;

When you capitalise the first letter of every word, it makes your posts difficult for me to read. I presume it affects others in a similar way.

For example, can you try 'I booked 2 return tickets on line with Ryanair last April to travel end of October' instead of 'I Booked 2 Return Tickets On Line With Ryanair Last April To Travel End Of October'.

Regards - RainyDay


----------



## Marie (27 Nov 2005)

From experience of being in the same situation on a number occasions - not only with Ryanair but with other budget carriers - no you have no redress if you arrived after specified check-in time closed!  If you check the information given at time of purchase you'll find this is clearly stated.


----------



## onekeano (27 Nov 2005)

RainyDay said:
			
		

> Hi Rocky - Can I make one suggestion;
> 
> When you capitalise the first letter of every word, it makes your posts difficult for me to read. I presume it affects others in a similar way.
> 
> ...



Thanks Rainy, same here. It might have the effect of making people flick onto another topic.

Roy


----------



## rocky (28 Nov 2005)

onekeano said:
			
		

> Thanks Rainy, same here. It might have the effect of making people flick onto another topic.
> 
> Roy


Hi all
I have got a few posts about this.I did not do this on purpose as it would take me too much time.How can I prevent it happening again?
rOCkY !!


----------



## brodiebabe (28 Nov 2005)

rocky said:
			
		

> Hi all
> I have got a few posts about this.I did not do this on purpose as it would take me too much time.How can I prevent it happening again?
> rOCkY !!


 
I think it might naturally happen if you post in block capitals.  Did you do this in your first post?


----------



## RainyDay (28 Nov 2005)

rocky said:
			
		

> I have got a few posts about this.I did not do this on purpose as it would take me too much time.How can I prevent it happening again?


Looks like you got it sorted out now - however it happened, it's not happening with this last post of yours.


----------



## JaneyL (29 Nov 2005)

The lesson is: don't cut it so close next time. You won't (and shouldn't) have any redress against Ryanair. One of the reasons that they are such good value is because of their tight turnaround times. If you don't make it to the gate - tough !


----------



## ZEGAR (1 Dec 2005)

Guys.

 When you cancel a flight with Ryan air you lose what money you paid but are you entitled to tax back ?? I am sure I read this on another board ???


----------



## ClubMan (1 Dec 2005)

Yes - but as far as I know _Ryanair_, like several other airlines, impose an administration fee on reclaiming the taxes on unused tickets which means that it's not worthwhile in most cases.


----------



## emb (4 Nov 2006)

Ryanair will 'get you' anyway they can. 10 of us recently booked a return flight within Ireland. One of my friends is in a wheelchair and, as she did not declare this when booking, she could not get on the flight. Three of us went to a Ryanair desk, as directed, to see if there was any way we could overcome this. The remainder of the group stepped aside to allow other passengers to book in. As we were checking to see could we take a later flight the desk closed without informing the group they were doing so. A little politeness costs nothing. We, especially the person in the wheelchair, were treated very badly. Firstly the employee on the desk asked my friend was she in a wheelchair (daa!) and then pointed at each one of us saying 'you can get on the flight' and to one friend: 'you can not'. When we went to the Ryanair desk the employee did not even direct the conversation to my friend who put the query to her. She also refused to get her manager for us. We ended up getting public transport to the location. I have never experienced such rudeness. Perhaps Mr. O' Leary should realize that a little courtesy goes a long away and he'll be happy to hear that it costs nothing!
So if you could tell me their customer service email that would be great........then again they'll probably charge me per character or word.


----------



## Guest127 (4 Nov 2006)

friend of mine arrived at dublin  for ryanair flight to paris few mins late ( broke down on motorway and had to get a taxi to airport) the ryanair staff were willing to let him and his partner go to paris  but - no luggage- as the flight was closed. he declined and claimed off his insurance instead- which was also booked through ryanair. the insurance refused the claim as it was his responsibility to be at the check in desk in time. He even knew one of the employees at one of the airport shops and the ryanair check in crew even 'suggested' he get a plastic bag and fill it with necessary items and leave the check in luggage with his friend, but thinking the insurance would stump up he declined. so two mistakes, 1) he should have gone on the weekend with the min luggage ( great excuse for shopping ) and 2) taking out insurance for the weekend.  either take out yearly insurance or insure yourself ie dont bother with weekend insurance.


----------



## z107 (4 Nov 2006)

A couple of years ago, we just made it to the check-in desk with about 5-10 minutes to spare. We queued up behind these people that were having quite an in-depth descussion with the check-in staff. By the time we got to the top of the queue, they said check-in had closed.

They were selling our seats to the people in front!

It was the last time I flew (well booked a flight with) ryanair. I can't stand them, and would rather not fly at all.


----------



## mell61 (5 Nov 2006)

well on the flip side of all the stories here, I found the ryanair have been very flexible in changing flight if you were in a position to arrive for an earlier flight.  On a couple of occasions i've been to meetings that finished up earlier, as I was fairly familier with the area around the airport I figured I'd go shopping, have a meal before going to the airport, but on an off chance went in to see if I could book in / offload my bags / get boarding card for the flight I was booked on.   In both cases they let me book in for an earlier flight than i was scheduled to go on, at no charge.   
I think a lot of people have missed the point of the Ryanair business model, its a bus!   If you're not at the stop in the  morning the no. 10 isn't going ot wait for you, neither is Ryanair!     We get exactly what we pay for, cheap seat, a bit of inconvenience and more spending money!


----------



## Guest127 (6 Nov 2006)

travelled back from isanbul two weeks ago with turkish airlines. in dublin there was a dedicated check in desk but in instanbul you just joined the turkish airlines queue ( to anywhere) and it was a rope system like the banks and post offices here and there was about 8 desks open and moving fairly quickly and when it was your turn you just went forward to the vacant one and they took it from there. course such a system wouldnt work in dublin as it would reduce the queues and mayhem, especially during the rush periods and we wouldn't want that now, would we? also ryanair couldnt sell off seats as they wouln't necessarily know who was in the queue at any one time and what flights they were queueing for. thought it was a brilliant system and probably universal by now ( except in ..........)


----------



## soy (7 Nov 2006)

cuchulainn said:


> travelled back from isanbul two weeks ago with turkish airlines. in dublin there was a dedicated check in desk but in instanbul you just joined the turkish airlines queue ( to anywhere) and it was a rope system like the banks and post offices here and there was about 8 desks open and moving fairly quickly and when it was your turn you just went forward to the vacant one and they took it from there. course such a system wouldnt work in dublin as it would reduce the queues and mayhem, especially during the rush periods and we wouldn't want that now, would we? also ryanair couldnt sell off seats as they wouln't necessarily know who was in the queue at any one time and what flights they were queueing for. thought it was a brilliant system and probably universal by now ( except in ..........)



Aer Lingus use this system in Shannon for the US departures


----------



## Guest127 (7 Nov 2006)

glad to hear that but how many departures would a/l have to the us at any given time 2 or 3 at most I suspect. dont now how many flights turkish airlines had but I would guess over 10 anyway in the 2 hour time zone( most to germany)  why not implement it at dublin airport and say all flights by a/l to britain in one queue, all ryanair flights to britain in another, all a/l flights to europe in another and so on. just make sure enough desks are open to keep the q's moving. the smaller airlines could then have dedicated check in desks just for their own flights or maybe even amalgamate and run one line of desks between them. (out of curiosity I checked departures from ataturk airport just now and theres 15 turkish airline flights out in the next 2 hours, which means thats theres one queue for those 15 flights, which is pretty efficient in  my book anyway)
cheers


----------



## DirtyH2O (7 Nov 2006)

Currently Ryanair use one person to check in each flight. Aer Rianta are blaming this failure to use a minimum of two staff like everone else in tandem with Ryanair's use of manual check in system to save money for the enormous queues they generate around the airport. It's one of the reasons they are being moved to the basement (dungeon). If they were allowed to pool check ins I wonder if they would hire more staff or use it to cut costs further.
I thought Aer Lingus already used this system on a limited basis i.e. US flights, UK ex London. So long as an airline has a dedicated closing flights desk I'm happy. BTW I thought check in desks couldn't sell tickets, only the ticket desk did this?


----------



## Guest127 (7 Nov 2006)

your are probably correct. probably the min number of staff to keep a pooled checkin moving. thought you couldnt buy tickets at check in either but umo says they were selling them.
slightly off topic. at dublin you are approached by security staff who ask you if you packed your bags and if they were out of you sight at any time. anyone going to the airport by bus ( ie dundalk/drogheda motorways services are now via the airport, and very handy too I acknowledge) has to put their cases into the luggage compartment of the bus. if travelling from dundalk the bus stops in drogheda and the driver opens the luggage door for the new passangers, but you are on the bus and cant see your luggage and therefore its out of your line of sight. course the answer in dublin airport doesn't reflect this.


----------



## Meccano (7 Nov 2006)

O'Learys ultimate aim is to abolish the necessity for man-power in the whole check-in process.
By pushing internet check-in, no seat allocation, no check-in baggage, no wheelchairs, no acceptance of late arrivals - all this is 'educating' the customer to *expect* *nothing* from him and indeed to *get nothing* from him.

Of course by eliminating all staff he can make even more money for himself and his boss Tony, and sure, the tickets might get even cheaper. 
But as several posters above have realised through bitter experience - cheap is fine until something goes wrong. Then he has you by the short and curlies. Another chance to milk the customer is presented to him, and he just can't resist taking it.

The best solution?
Don't fly Ryanair.

And by the way - no other LoCo Carrier treats people half as badly as Ryanair. Which proves this exploitation is completely unnecessary in creating efficiencies.


----------



## ClubMan (7 Nov 2006)

Meccano said:


> Of course by eliminating all staff he can make even more money for himself and his boss Tony


And the _Ryanair _shareholders. This is his job! 


> But as several posters above have realised through bitter experience - cheap is fine until something goes wrong. Then he has you by the short and curlies.


So if somebody wants a full service with backup for when things go wrong then they should go elsewhere. Simple.


> And by the way - no other LoCo Carrier treats people half as badly as Ryanair. Which proves this exploitation is completely unnecessary in creating efficiencies.


So why are they one of the largest and most successful airlines in the _EU_ if some people are not happy with the price:service ratio?


----------



## RainyDay (7 Nov 2006)

Meccano said:


> Of course by eliminating all staff he can make even more money for himself and his boss Tony, and sure, the tickets might get even cheaper.


If you are referring to Tony Ryan, it's a long time since he was boss of Ryanair.


----------



## Bgirl (7 Nov 2006)

If there was no Ryanair then we wouldn't be flying to half the destinations we are now at such low prices.  Its a bus service people.  Either get on or off the bus.


----------



## rabbit (8 Nov 2006)

Meccano said:


> no other LoCo Carrier treats people half as badly as Ryanair.


Do you really believe half of what you write Meccano ?  Or do you just work for their competitor i.e. on the losing side ?

In fairness to Ryanair - and I do not work in the airline industry , and neither does my family - it can be pointed out that Ryanair has a very good record for safety, punctuality, value for money  etc.   It would not have enjoyed such growth if it did not.   I have found the Ryanair staff / hostesses friendlier than Aer Lingus of late.  If you want to talk about a carrier that treated people badly , think of how Aer Lingus treated its customers ( £ 200 to fly to England in the early 80's ) and shareholders....until it was forced to remodel itself and try to become a little bit efficient, at least.


----------



## Meccano (8 Nov 2006)

ClubMan said:


> And the _Ryanair _shareholders. This is his job!


If that were the case - why has he sworn he'd never pay a dividend to them? 


> So if somebody wants a full service with backup for when things go wrong then they should go elsewhere. Simple.


Not so 'simple' if O'Leary gets his way and creates a monopoly in Irish aviation!


			
				Rainyday said:
			
		

> If you are referring to Tony Ryan, it's a long time since he was boss of Ryanair.


Read it again - I said HIS (O'Learys) boss. 


> If there was no Ryanair then we wouldn't be flying to half the destinations we are now at such low prices.


Nonsense - there are dozens of LoCo carriers, and Aer Lingus is steadily expanding its routes too.
Besides - there's too much flying going on already. Its bad for the climate and the unfettered growth needs to be restrained. It is unsustainable. Rising fuel prices will eventually kill of this madness anyhow. Enjoy it while it lasts.


> Its a bus service people. Either get on or off the bus.


I agree. Tell it to mr.rabbit - he wants us all on the bus.


			
				rabbit said:
			
		

> I have found the Ryanair staff / hostesses friendlier than Aer Lingus of late.


I suggest you re-read the original post on this thread by *Rocky*. Then read again the comments of *emb*, *cuchullain* and *umop3p*.
Meanwhile keep taking the medicine.


----------



## ubiquitous (8 Nov 2006)

Three or four years ago, the AAM moderators took a decision to ban all discussion of Ryanair. 

At that time, every time that Ryanair was discussed in a topic, the thread seemed to descend into bitter and pointless argument. A small number of posters seemed to pop up all the time in these discussions, generally taking extreme positions and regularly going out of they way to be belligerent and annoying to others. These people appeared to (and iirc admitted occasionally to) have vested interests within the non-Ryanair airline industry. They contributed little or nothing to any of the other AAM discussion forums and it was felt at the time that if we stopped discussing Ryanair for a while, they might go away.

Sounds familiar?


----------



## CCOVICH (8 Nov 2006)

In the first post, the OP asks



> Do I Have Any Case Against Ryanair Or Do I Write It Down As An Expensive Lesson When Booking Over The Net.


 
Can anyone else advise them on their rights in the case they have outlined?

Please take rants/general dicussion/opinion to _Letting Off Steam_


----------



## Guest127 (8 Nov 2006)

jeeez I'm bet.Meccano is using me as a witness for the defence.


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2006)

Meccano said:


> If that were the case - why has he sworn he'd never pay a dividend to them?


Some stocks/companies target capital appreciation over income generation (for shareholders). Nothing new there.


----------



## Guest111 (8 Nov 2006)

Am being callous in asking why don't these people get there on time?

I'm no fan of Ryanair...I'm a pretty frequent traveller yet I only lost my Ryanair "virginity" recently. 
As a rule I fly with Aer Lingus because I think the price premium is worth it.
O'Leary is an offensive character but a successful one.
If you choose to go the Ryanair "lowlife" route expect to be treated like lowlife if you deviate from their rules.
Get there on time...don't mess around with luggage...and don't complain if it all goes pearshaped.


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2006)

Andy Doof said:


> As a rule I fly with Aer Lingus because I think the price premium is worth it.


Certainly not worth it on _US _flights in my opinion which is why I am going with _BA _rather than _AL _to the _US (SF) _next week for example.


----------



## Guest111 (8 Nov 2006)

ClubMan said:


> Certainly not worth it on _US _flights in my opinion which is why I am going with _BA _rather than _AL _to the _US (SF) _next week for example.


 
Why do you say that?
I'm going to NY next week with Aer Lingus...did you have a bad experience?


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2006)

Yes - most recently _Dublin-Chicago (AL) _and _Chicago-SF (AA) _which was crap all the way (over and back). In contrast _Dublin-Heathrow _and then _Heathrow-SF _with _BA _(maybe somebody else on the first leg) was always much smoother.


----------



## Guest111 (8 Nov 2006)

ClubMan said:


> Yes - most recently _Dublin-Chicago (AL) _and _Chicago-SF (AA) _which was crap all the way (over and back). In contrast _Dublin-Heathrow _and then _Heathrow-SF _with _BA _(maybe somebody else on the first leg) was always much smoother.


 
There's a logic there alright...a short flight and a long one better than 2 long ones.

Flying on my own dollar to NY for 330 all in so I can't really complain!
Have a safe trip anyways!


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2006)

Yeah - the short hop and long flight rather than two long flights is better and I prefer to avoid the (heretofore at least) normal chaos at _Chicago_ if possible (e.g. huge queues at customs and first arrival point in _US _so need to identify baggage). Of course the job is paying so I can pick and choose to some extent! Good luck with _NY _- I'm sure it'll be fine. Some day I'll make it there.... Is that €330 return?!?


----------



## Guest111 (8 Nov 2006)

ClubMan said:


> Yeah - the short hop and long flight rather than two long flights is better and I prefer to avoid the (heretofore at least) normal chaos at _Chicago_ if possible (e.g. huge queues at customs and first arrival point in _US _so need to identify baggage). Of course the job is paying so I can pick and choose to some extent! Good luck with _NY _- I'm sure it'll be fine. Some day I'll make it there.... Is that €330 return?!?


 
Yeah...return and inclusive of all the rip-off extras. Booked them during one of their online sales months ago.


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2006)

Good price. Even I would probably fly with _AL _for that if I was paying myself!


----------



## Guest111 (9 Nov 2006)

ClubMan said:


> Good price. Even I would probably fly with _AL _for that if I was paying myself!


 
Indeed...it'll be interesting to see how this open skies thing will pan out. Maybe cheap transatlantic flights will be the norm?


----------



## DirtyH2O (9 Nov 2006)

I still have nightmares about flying via Chicagpo O Hare regardless of carrier, it's the busiest airport in the world. Twice missed connections due to delays, co-worker slept in a fold up cot in the airport, another spent a weekend in St Louis thanks to diversion, he went for a booze up and landed in a dry state  Another missed a family funeral in Ireland. Once they discovered that the metal detector was switched off so whole airport was evacuated (about two months after 9/11) and re screened Five hour security queue! I arrived in Albequerque at four am instead of 8pm with work four hours later in Santa Fe. Got two hours sleep in a hotel. 
We all switched to flying via Atlanta with Delta. I never enjoyed going via LHR due to immigration, the crap security queue during transfer from T3 to T1 plus I just don't plain like the airport. Also psychologically flying in the wrong direction at the start of a journey just feels wrong. Really wish Dublin had more direct flights available both east and west.
I didn't care for the Aer Lingus tranatlantic planes but didn't find BA, Delta or United to be much better. Guess they are all broke. Switched to Asia Pacific projects afterwards so Singapore, Cathay, Thai and co really looked good by comparison. Almost enjoyed flying.
Happily left that job now so no more lowly commercial traveller lifestyle for me. Won't even miss the gold cards!

I only flew Ryanair once - a last minute 400 euro one way flight from UK - Blackpool. It took off, landed and I got my taxi home, end of story. Middle aged English hen party on board but it was only a 35 minute flight so didn't care. Reckon I was subsiding the whole group with my fare. 
I'd fly with anyone if it was the easiest option but I'd take the best available too, especially when someone else is paying.


----------



## ClubMan (9 Nov 2006)

DirtyH2O said:


> Also psychologically flying in the wrong direction


Bad acid trip?


----------



## DirtyH2O (9 Nov 2006)

ClubMan said:


> Bad acid trip?


 
It's all in the mind alright. It just feels like going backwards. Could be a way for Ryanair to improve the flying experience although the emergency drill would need the drill part heavily emphasised and I'm not sure if I'd buy drugs from that man.


----------

