Live News From Spain As It Happens

DonLochnagar said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 8:01 AM

About time someone felt O'Leary's cajones.

tillymint666 said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 8:16 AM

O'Leary is an obnoxious character - maybe his routes go back to traveller families in Ireland??? He certainly seems to adopt their philosophy of life - ie treat everyone he meets as a target to rip off!!!

HAWKINGS111 said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 8:55 AM

When travelling by plane from A to B especially with hand luggage only, check out the price of Ryanair, Monarch, easyjet, jet2 etc, and Ryanair will come out on top 90% of the time.

If you want more than Ryanair are providing you will have to pay for it.

When the others become cheaper they will be used more.

As far as "boarding passes" etc go, when you know the rules you must abide by them or accept the consequences. Simple.

DonLochnagar said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 9:02 AM

It used to be said that moving house was the most stressful thing you could do. However in recent years it has become trying to book a flight online with Ryanair. Remember the good old days when you went into a travel agent, bought a ticket, checked in and chose a seat. AAh! Bliss.

tillymint666 said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 9:08 AM

I agree that cheaper airfares seem to dictate how people are treated. But Ryanair seem to think cheap fares mean you don't have to treat people with respect. But maybe that is how the world is going!!! SAD!!!

Lizzie said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 9:19 AM

Ok. You get what you pay for. Just try and find fares at the same price - I never have. If you want to have more than Ryanair offer then go elsewhere and pay the price. It's a no-brainer.

isoldediva said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 9:23 AM

Do not use Ruanair. Even knowing all their "rules" the flight experience was one not to be repeated. I am happy to pay £5 more for my flight and not feel like I'm doing them a favour flying with them.

Bert said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 9:24 AM

You should have got it by now ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY.

The man just keeps playing the system and getting free publicity as a result. As someone just said when someone does flights cheaper then customers will use them, until then he will get your business. End of story!

hullensian17 said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 10:10 AM

It's a well known fact - lots of money can not buy respect!
How will most people remember Mr. O'Leary ?

Angry said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 10:47 AM

SPANISH APPEAL COURT RULES RYANAIR’S BOARDING CARD REISSUE FEE LEGAL



RYANAIR WELCOME THIS RULING


Ryanair today (11th Oct, 2011) welcomed the decision in the Barcelona Appeal Court, which ruled that Ryanair's boarding card reissue penalty is lawful and complies with Spanish and EU law. This final ruling overturns a lower Court finding that the boarding card reissue penalty did not comply with Spanish law.

Ryanair highlighted that less than 1% of passengers pay this boarding card reissue penalty which applies only in those rare cases where passengers fail to comply with their agreement, given at the time of booking, that they will web check in online before arriving at the departure airport.

Ryanair's Daniel de Carvalho said:

"We welcome this final ruling which we understand cannot be appealed and removes any confusion in Spain of the lawful nature of our boarding card reissue penalty. This is the first of a number of bizarre lower court rulings in Barcelona which we expect will be overturned on appeal. We urge all Ryanair passengers to ensure that they check in online prior to arriving at their departure airport, in which case no boarding card reissue penalties will arise. By checking in online passengers can also avoid check-in queues and minimise their dwell times at the airport."

carol said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 10:50 AM

Never had any problems flying with Ryanair, never been delayed. Know their terms and conditions and stick with them. Only problem was the most disgusting coffee ever last time we flew and that was entirely my fault for going against commonsense!

ziggyblue said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 12:39 PM

I have found lately that Flybe is cheaper than Ryanair and much more pleasurable. No cardboard cases when you are at the boarding gate to try and catch you out and send your blood pressure soaring.

Scott Morris said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 1:03 PM

Poor Ryanair! All they're trying to do is make an honest billion or two by ripping-off customers with their unique brand of salesmanship. Although some might say this is the unacceptable face of Capitalism, isn't this simply a demonstration of the "freedom" that western businesses crave - deregulated abuse?

ziggyblue said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 1:22 PM

Well he is changing. He is now allowing a small handbag or airport bag in addition to hand luggage. Plus other changes.

camposol said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 1:54 PM

It is a myth that Ryanair is always cheaper;I recently booked a flight with Jet2, cheaper and more user friendly;luggage allowance of 22kg!

Rachel Vauls said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 1:59 PM

I'd rather pay more than fly with Ryanair. I absolutely hate them and my husband, who is in the airline business, refuses to board their planes.....

Rachel Vauls said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 2:00 PM

I'd rather pay more than fly with Ryanair. I absolutely hate them and my husband, who is in the airline business, refuses to board their planes.....

ufotour said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 3:54 PM

Could someone force them to change their migraine inducing colour scheme as well? Also - that friggin' fanfare that goes off saying "another ontime flight" regardless of what time they arrive!

HAWKINGS111 said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 4:17 PM

Camposol.
It is not a myth that Ryanair are cheaper. If you are taking a suitcase of 22kg with Jet2 then it could well be cheaper than 15kg with Ryanair.

What i said was that with HAND LUGGAGE ONLY they ARE generally cheaper but the price rises when you take a suitcase.

Since probably 70% of Ryanair customers have a holiday home in Spain, they keep clothes etc there and only take HAND LUGGAGE.

Just thought i would point that out.

HAWKINGS111 said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 4:28 PM

You are correct ufotour about that friggin "On time flight". But they are often either on time or a bit early, and thats probably because they add a little time on your flight details so that they CAN be on time or early. A little bit of psychology i think.

Life inverter said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 5:04 PM

The fact that Ryan air is making less money at present tell me that a lot of people have woken up to the con of cheap prices. I am sure that anyone can find a flight cheaper with them from and to some destinations some of the time. However, they make lots of money because they are generally no cheaper than their rivals eg easyjet.

That o Learey has said that they are now looking to be more customer friendly tells me that more and more people have wised up to the marketing con he has run ie 20% cheaper than others , 50 % about the same and 30% more expensive achieved by spurious charges'.

Long live Ryanair because it means the rest raise their game.

ufotour said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 6:12 PM

Yes Hawkings 111 - I've noticed the 2 hours 40 minutes flight time for a flight that actually takes 20 or 30 minutes less!

ufotour said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 6:13 PM

So given the apparently successful appeal in Barcelona are we back where we were?

Pat Dean said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 10:08 PM

Airlines used to have sufficient staff at the Airport to check people in and print their boarding cards and have to complete check in 30 minutes before the flight. Then they told us we could avoid the queues by printing our own cards and checking in online - all good so far. But then they introduced a fee if we were unable to DIY and not a small fee. What a fec***g insult. They charge us for allowing them to have fewer staff at the airport and reducing their costs.

I hope the EU take on Ryanair and all the other airlines who have followed suit. Most of us are willing to pay a fair price for a decent service. I know if I have a choice of airline on a route I would pay more to avoid Ryanair. Perhaps if I had to travel weekly then I may take a different view like a lot of the people posting here.

David H said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 10:14 PM

You get exactly what you require and are prepared to pay for with Ryanair, which is how it should be with any business. People who complain tend to be the ones who are either a bit 'needy' or think their own terms and conditions should apply.
My only minor complaint is the number of times you have to tick the same boxes between booking your flight and printing-off your boarding pass; it's a bit tedious but it doesn't put me off.

Pat Dean said:
Saturday, October 26, 2013 @ 10:19 PM

I have a few main objections to Ryanair, they are:

1.A fee if you are unable to print your boarding card and do self check in.

2, Women not permitted to carry a small handbag orr bumbag/fanny pack on board with hand luggage - we are lost without it, where do we put our purse, passport, keys. phone & ticket.

3. They use a premium rate phone number to contact them about a problem.

4. If you make a mistake when booking the ticket and just need a name corrected, you pay them a huge admin fee not a fee that reflects the actual cost of the change.

Everything else I am prepared to accept as the price for cheap flights.

Marc Haley said:
Sunday, October 27, 2013 @ 12:30 AM

We have flown Ryanair a few times this year with no problems. on time and at cheap prices (the cheapest we found).
One good thing is they uphold the priority boarding seriously. We travel with two little ones and it makes things far easier having a couple of minutes to get on and get sorted. We had reserved seats so we sit together and that entitles up to get on first. We have flown others who let the whole thing degenerate into a farce and you are battling your way on!
The coffee really is the worst though!!

Bill said:
Sunday, October 27, 2013 @ 10:33 AM

If the only choice was to use Ryan Air for my holiday I would rather not go.

Brian said:
Sunday, October 27, 2013 @ 8:08 PM

If an alternative airline of a more civilised nature covered the route I use regularly but at a slightly increased price I would happily pay it. The worst part of Ryanair is the attitude reflected both in their website and by their staff. The airline is reliable, convenient and reasonably priced but the arrogance and rudeness of their staff and the heavy sell on the website is unacceptable. Have a look at Easyjet, very basic but at least civilised and businesslike.

GnG said:
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 9:50 AM

We reserved our seats, then had to put up with people that hadn't reserved taking advantage of no show reservation customers. These people were rowdy all the way home due to their excitement of getting a freebie, this shouldn't be allowed.

GnG said:
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 10:01 AM

We reserved our seats, then had to put up with people that hadn't reserved taking advantage of no show reservation customers. These people were rowdy all the way home due to their excitement of getting a freebie, this shouldn't be allowed.