Wow, he really is a tool. As I’ve said before, I’ve never had any particular problem with Ryanair’s service and even the slightly underhanded presentation of charges only irks rather than enrages me. I do wonder though if Stephen genuinely believes ‘our onboard advertising and yellow livery are much beloved by our passengers, which is why 67 million of them prefer to fly with Ryanair rather than any other competitor’? The leather seats are an improvement certainly but the yellow livery would make me wish for blindness if only Ryanair weren’t so apparently unfriendly to the disabled. I genuinely respect their business model and it is borne out by their passenger numbers but again have to wonder if their deliberately boorish attitude will ultimately be their downfall

Conor,

You’re wasting your time, they just don’t get it… It’s like arguing against creationism with the religious nuts, or the Obama birthers. Instead of reasoned debate, they stick their fingers in their ears and shout ‘la la la la la la’ at the top of their lungs.

I don’t know Jim, looking forward to Pure Mule – The Last Weekend!

Conor,

why are you so mean to Ryanair when it is patently clear from the above response that EVERYTHING they do they do to benefit the customer & not themselves? Take no. 7, ok you pay an extra €40 for a bit of paper, but sure isn’t that better than not flying at all? It’s all for the customer’s good, not to line O’Leary’s pockets.

They’re are gas though aren’t they? As Hetch said, very entertaining….or at least it would be if I actually existed and wasn’t a “claimed reader”

Keep up the good work.

“Our passengers are not charged any web check-in fee if they travel on one of our four lowest promotional fare classes.” – What if you’re not on a promotional fare? Would he care to elaborate how many of the 67 million passengers every year are promotional and non-promotional.

“Lack of communication during rare flight delays is equally untrue when any flight delays are updated in real time on our website and on airport flight information boards” – Ever tired using WiFi in an airport (that is if you can bring your laptop in your single piece of carry-on luggage) – the eye-watering prices are nearly more costly than Ryanair’s charges. Additionally, airport information displays are not always the most reliable. I have heard of people jogging from Pier D to Pier B in Dublin airport with minutes to go due to flight change. Anyone who is familiar with the airport will know how far that is.

and finally…

“The claim that Ryanair “does not provide what the consumer wants” is absurd when 67million consumers will fly with us this year” – Actually, Ryanair is not what the consumer wants. It is, however, one of few choices, so it’s more a case of the consumer being willing to suck it up in return for cheapish fares.

Ha! That was entertaining indeed.

Since point 2 may apply to my complaint about absence of information during a flight delay in Edinburgh airport, I will be delighted to (re-)supply Mr.McNamara with photo evidence of the departure boards displaying the flight as “on time”, four hours after it was due to leave. I can also send him photographs of the co-operative art project created during that delay; all the passengers wrote their thoughts about Ryanair on the display board at the departure gate.

However he will have to prove to me that he exists first, perhaps by engaging in some actual Communication.

Stephen, please let me know where I can get my Electron card that you and “thousands” of others apparently are using without having to open an offshore bank account.

“Why is a free of charge payment mechanism a “fault of Ryanair”?”
Because you dont offer Laser which is actually used by hundred of thousands of Irish residents.

Stop been a tool and treating your customers like eejits. Just acknowledge that:
1) Ryanair engage in price gouging at every available opportunity.
2) Charging €40 for a boarding card is effectively discriminating against the elderly.
3) All flight times are overstated so that nearly every flight manages to arrive “on time”. Amazing how some airlines travel the same routes in 30mins less time.
4) The offensive yellow livery is probably “much beloved” by the blind and noone else.
5) There is zero communication during flight delays. If you’re lucky the flight might be labelled as “delayed” on the departures board.
6) The name fee, costing ryanair zero, is just more price gouging.
7) Ryanair actively deceives customers with airport names that are miles from the name. eg “Frankfurt”

I managed to fly with five different airlines this year. None of them ryanair. One thing flying ryanair has done for me is made me appreciate the little things with other airlines – helpful staff, allocated seats, no bull**** charges, arriving at my destination and not 30mins drive away, stress free travel ….

I’ve seen the future. And its not yellow.

I’m interested in the comment from DG above- how is the €40 check-in charge discriminatory towards the elderly?

@Tom Ennis – I guess that’s where DGs comments were heading – but I wonder how did the poor old non-internet savvy dears get their Ryanair tickets in the first place if they didn’t book online?

I’d probably take issue with a few more of the points raised by DG, but first I’d be interested to know the 5 other airlines that they’ve flown with this year that are angelic enough not to contravene any of the points raised – particularly point 1 (price gouging = supply & demand = profit making = good business?).

@DG – So Ryanair are really discriminating against you, as you’ve to do two things for your aged parents now, instead of just the one?

It’s actually easier for them now since they don’t have to check in – just take the boarding pass from you and go straight to the gate rather than standing on their aged feet for ages in the check-in queue.

Ryanair are not a charity. They are a business. They offer a very basic service for a reasonable fee, with non-essential add-ons being charged considerably higher.

You want features that Ryanair charge extra for… either pay the extra or go with an airline that includes them in the ticket price.

If you object so strongly to Ryanair’s way of doing business then simply don’t do business with them, that is your perogative. If you object strongly yet still choose to do business with them then you put quite a cheap price on your principles.

Personally, I generally avoid doing business with Ryanair… but when I do, much like when I choose to buy a hotdog from a street vendor in the early hours of Saturday morning, I know what I’m letting myself in for. And I embrace it.

He’s at it again…

”While I do not expect any editorial favour to be shown to Ryanair I request that our good news stories be given the same consideration and space in your business pages as those of other leading Irish companies or small regional airlines such as Aer Lingus” says the right honourable McNamara..

Didn’t they want to move to eastern Europe to save on minimum wage costs? The Irish flag is no more than a flag of convenience to these people.

Ryanair clearly know that not many people have Visa Electron. What they are doing is creating a veil of decency by saying “Well if you chose this way of paying then you wont be charged” even though it is virtually unavailable in virtually all states, including Ireland. We also know that Ryanair, always desperate to find extra charges would probably end this if they needed to increase their revenue stream.

There was a time when their mantra was about increased efficiency. The baggage charge was implemented they said to quicken turn around times. However it is now a vital revenue stream for them. This has resulted in fact in slower times when getting on the plane as people desperately attempt to stuff bags into overhead lockers.

Charging for online check in is absurd and a blatant means to extract more revenue. It is again diluted somewhat, like the visa electron by Ryanair saying “You should go on one of our promotional fares”. Sometimes there are none, simple as that. End this farce please at least.

What really irks me about Ryanair is the horrendous amount of spin that is involved in attempting to justify nonsensical extra charges. If they would just be a bit more honest about things, then people would not be so annoyed.

Finally all these extra charges have been at the expense of customer services and the general experience of traveling with Ryanair. AS stated in the news a few weeks ago concerning the debacle of Stansted August bank holiday weekend, Ryanair at the best of times has not enough bag drop off points and a horrendous lack of people at their desks to cope with people forgetting to pay one of their myriad of charges. If service was increased, more bag drop off counters open, more people at the desks things could-shock horror!-be tolerable.

There’s the exact point- if you don’t like the price, book with another airline. There are virtually no destinations Ryanair flies to that are without an alternative carrier (which probably goes to a more convenient airport). If you find that a non promotional fare, booked with a CC and checking luggage on Ryanair is more expensive than another carrier then book it. I haven’t personally ever had a problem with their punctuality but equally would be lairy about relying on Ryanair either to get me there on time or help if they don’t.

If I was the DAA I would install printers in the departures area of Dublin airport and I’d charge two euro to passengers to log on to the internet, enter their booking details and print their boarding card. That would really really annoy Ryanair and would allow DAA to get one over on them. It would be hilarious to listen to Ryanair spewing froth on the subject of the DAA ensuring they couldn’t make a pure forty euro profit on re-issuing a boarding card.

Ryanair are an enigma.
The basic service they provide of cheap European travel is wonderful and has gone a long way to making the true integration of Europe a reality. But they do so in manner that is both antagonistic to and dismissive of their customers.
The combative stance they take to all critics, be they individuals or governments, is regrettable and surprising. For all their success they can still improve and the first step would be to stop shouting and listen.
I am a real customer who spends a considerable sum annually traveling between Sweden and Ireland. Their discontinuation of the Goteborg route for ‘political’ reasons has caused me, and many like me, great inconvenience. For the last year I have been trying to get an answer from the company as to whether they intend to re-instate this route but to no avail.
A simple question but simply no reply.

Mr McNamara states: “Lack of communication during rare flight delays is equally untrue when any flight delays are updated in real time on our website and on airport flight information boards”

On Wednesday Aug 6th, Ryanair cancelled many flights from Pisa airport because of a routine runway system technical check which they had been informed about on the 31st July by Pisa Airport. No other airline that day had to cancel their flights. The flight to Dublin due to leave at 17.30 was delayed for six hours.

Fortunately for me I wasn’t flying that day: I had checked the Pisa Airport web and Ryanair’s site because I was flying to Dublin the next day and it’s always good to check when travelling Ryanair because they are never bothered to tell you anything.

Next morning, the day of my flight, I checked the Ryanair site first thing. Everything OK. At midday before setting off to Pisa from Florence, I checked again. Everything fine. I arrived in Pisa at 3.30pm to find a six-hour delay announced on the flight to Dublin. What a coincidence! Suited them, I suppose, for some reason. Scammed once again by Ryanair.

Ryanair’s response: a drink and a snack (please queue for voucher) at 8pm. No offer of re-routing (fat chance) or provision of free phone calls was made as should have been according to EU regulations applying to delays on flights of more than five hours.

I travel frequently with Ryanair because it gets you from A to C which is sometimes quite close to B where you want to go. Mostly the flights are on time but I have never left a Ryanair plane without feeling slightly tainted and sour. And when a flight goes wrong, one thing is guaranteed: Ryanair does not care about you and, to put it rather crudely, has you by the knackers and intends to swing you about a bit. Frequent passengers are used to this and accept it stoically but that does not make the humiliation any less – the realisation that you cannot afford a proper airline.

Ryanair’s airline code is FR. Clearly this is another error: it should have been FU

Rob Burke seems confused about the purpose of hot dogs, can we trust his judgement on airlines?:
‘when I choose to buy a hotdog from a street vendor in the early hours of Saturday morning, I know what I’m letting myself in for. And I embrace it.’

Agree with Laura, that would be a fantastic idea for DAA (or is it The AA, as I keep thinking the radio advert is saying )

Also, thanks to person who mentioned the Entropay Visa Electron card.

Stephen McNamara has proven himself to be Michael O’Leary’s Rottweiler – I remember his comments after Ryanair staff had engaged into the online bullying of Jason Roe, something about “that’s what you get when you mix the big boys” – truly obnoxious.

We’re flying to Italy soon – not with Ryanair of course. Having to look at their “morning-piss” yellow and “blurple” (blue-purple) decor was just too much to contemplate. With all the ads, and ridiculously low-spec seats, their planes more closely resemble a LUAS – now complete with idiots on their mobiles.

If Ryanair are so bad why are so many people flying wth them? Surely we all have free will

I have to say considering all the “faults” Ryanair have they are good at one thing. Forcing 67 Million people to buy there tickets and board the planes must be very difficult but they seem to be doing an amazing job!

I am no fan of Ryanair, and have enough experience of their foibles (on on flight they had no spoons and I had to stir my coffee with a biro!!) but… when I buy tickets for Ryanair no one is holding a gun to my head. You know what you get (or don’t get in many cases) when you book Ryanair so I think it’s pretty rich to criticise them afterwards, if you want better service, etc then use some other airline… that said there is an opportunity for an airline that charges higher fares but gives a better service!

Go on Stephen. You get it into them…, they just don’t get it!
I on the other hand ‘get it’ and never use your airline or never will; no hard feelings I’m sure? I would rather chew off my own arm and use it as a flotation device – your airline really is that bad. But then, I don’t eat at McDonalds either.

@Neil it’s the high price of the charges for the extras that Pees people off. Making everyone on a booking check in when there is only one bag to check in thats €80 return for a family of 4. If your printer is low or out of ink €40 euro for them to reprint it. it’s this kind of extortion that everyone objects to. The charging to the aircraft to ensure you can sit with family or friends. No helping of passengers with young children and charging extra to help someone to the boarding gate with a wheelchair (a charge we all pay for now no choice). And if some one else tries to charge for extra services at the airport who’s the first to complain Ryanair. Take the bag for gels and shampoos the DAA where issuing them for free and then started charging €1 who was the first to complain.

stephen McNamara says because 67million passengers fly with ryanair and This is a sign of they love Ryanair. millions Smoke does this make it healthier

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Stephen McNamara and Michael O’Leary are not the only obnoxious tools in the shed; this whole “stop whining and don’t fly Ryanair” excuse is ridiculously obnoxious BS.

Allow me to draw an analogy: you have to get your appendix out and can’t afford private healthcare / don’t have insurance. You do it via the State and the hospital is dirty, the doctor is rude and the aftercare is non-existent. Are your complaints null and void because you “could have voted with your pocket”?

Some people have little choice but to fly with Ryanair unless they want to stay stranded in Ireland for the rest of their lives and read about travelling via AA Gill and various IT journos who seem to spend an awful lot of time going to Berlin.

It hardly seems too much to ask that you be treated with some respect, and that there be some transparency from Ryanair itself. We all know that they’re going to attempt to drain every last drop of money from you; why can’t they just admit it?

The last time I flew Ryanair, it was right after the “one bag to include handbag” rule came in – previously, you were allowed to bring a handbag and one item of hand luggage. At no point were we alerted to this (although it was in the fine print which we neglected to read but really, life’s too short) and my Mother got quite irate when she was told she’d have to put her handbag into her suitcase, which was really not looking very viable.

I then put it into mine, swapped some items around and we checked on one item of luggage – not before the air hostess knelt on my luggage (without my asking for help), hopped up and down a few times and zipped it up for me (how I prayed she’d broken something expensive) and another Ryanair employee told me: “If we let you on with two bags, I’ll get fired. It’s a recession, I need this job.” Thank you for that enlightening pep talk but your job is not my problem. I used to work in retail and now realise how well I could have done if I’d bullied people into buying. “If you don’t buy that €2,000 Mathew Williamson dress, I’ll get fired.” Yeah.

And doesn’t that McNamara fella sound like a real whinger? “Wah, wah, wah, everyone talks about Aer Lingus when we’re doing well too.” Pass the tissues.

@Rosemary- your analogy is flawed. If I have appendicitis, treatment can only be considered optional if I consider death a viable alternative. People justifiably debate equal access to healthcare as a fundamental human right. I don’t ‘need’ to fly to London for a shopping trip.

@Tom, you’ll notice I didn’t offer you a choice of having your appendix removed, the choice was in the amount of money you choose to pay to do it. Flying isn’t a necessity for everyone, that’s not what I was saying.

My point is this: if you are treated badly, regardless of how much you pay for it, or the “standard” of the service you’re using, it’s pretty ridiculous to deny you a right to complain.

And all analogies are flawed, are they not? One thing cannot be another. People get all angsty when it comes to healthcare so I possibly should have chosen something else, but it seemed a useful way to compare standards of treatment of human beings.

Have been flying commercial airlines the last 30 years mostly as a business traveler, and have seen many changes in the airline industry. I think most people would agree that the Ryanair business model of low fares has had a positive impact on reducing air fares in general, on short haul routes, and for that they should be commended.

However, the choice of whether to fly with Ryanair or not, is just that, a choice.

I choose not to travel with them.

My reasoning has little to do with cost, and more to do with customer service. Ryanair are a transactional airline only interested in the fare; my view is that they are not interested in providing you with a pleasant flying experience, they presume that a low fare will continue to attract your business irrespective of customer service. The relationship with you the customer for repeat business is based solely on a low fare nothing else. And a low fare structure which changes periodically, as they try to change customer behaviour to meet to their needs, where you the customer are effectively fined if you fail to comply. Acceptable to some, unacceptable to others, of which I am one.

While the head of the airline is something of a character; I struggle to understand why everyone else in the organisation has to try and emulate his style of arrogant bullying communications as is evident in the reply from Mr McNamara. I would also add that in my view his reply is also insulting and juvenile to the readers of Price Watch, who are in effect his customers.

Re fault # 2. Sunday August 16. Luton to Dublin, due to leave at 8.25pm. Flight delayed… plane probably late landing from what i could see. Meant to arrive in Dublin at 9.25pm… arrived around 10.25pm. Total joke – no explanation, reason, excuse or apology. But at least we didn’t have to listen to that on-time jingle! Oh, the Dublin-Luton flight was also delayed by about 15/20 mins on Friday evening

Well all, see Ryanair at it again inconveniencing there passengers by leaving Manchester because they wont drop there fees to suit Ryanair and now forcing passengers to travel to other English airports costing them more in Bus/Train fares to get to there destination Manchester.

Alan,

You can fly Dublin to Manchester daily with Aer Lingus for anything between 40 and 90 euro. So what’s your problem?

Is it my imagination or are Ryanair moving the rows of seats closer together by about an inch or so every month to get more in? I’m six foot and it sure seems like it. I’ll have to get roll-up legs