Ryan Air Rip-Off

I fly wit Ryan Air most of the time as they are usually much cheaper especially if you can fly mid-week. I use a Neteller pre pay master card so I do not pay the fee.

I have a Net+ Prepaid Master Card which I got through Neteller.com there was no initial charge.  I top up through my bank ac the money usually takes 2/3 days to reach my account. I try to keep 200 euro in the account so that if I see a cheap flight I can book it immediately.  I then just replace what I have used ASAP.  I am in Ireland and so far I have had no problems with the Account. It is  worth having a look at as I do not think there are charges when you top up using Sterling.

Neteller also have a virtual card  but  do no get this one as it does not work!

Spanish residents can get a pre-paid Mastercard from Moneybookers.com

Thanks Redsam and everybody else for answers that I needed to clarify the situation.  My daughter and family want to fly with Ryan Air from Stansted to Malaga because they are cheaper.  Obviously there is no point flying with a cheap airline if you end up paying a £100 fee for a mistake.  But now that I can pass on some positive info she will feel a lot more confident to do so.

We've used Ryanair on numerous occasions through lack of choice........this time however we came by Ferry.....it's a whole new fabulous world and beats flying with Ryanair or any other carrier 100 fold ;-))

There's no doubt about it Ryanair are the worst airline in the business but they can be the cheapest.

You also have to watch for all the extras and especially the luggage charges. They police the hand luggage 1 bag policy per passenger and at some airport departure gates weigh and measure and demand as extra EUR35 if the bag in any way breaches measurements. Because they make you put everything (including hand bag, laptop, camera, magazines etc) that can push you over the weight limit also. So if they don't get you on the measuremenst (55*40*20 cm) they'll get you on the weight (10kg)

You need to bear in mind their measurements are less than that of other airlines so the flight case you always use on other airlines will breach Ryanair policy.

Their own handling staff are under instructions to shake down passengers for money and they say if you don't pay you have to leave the bag behind.

Once you are on board the selling starts - I don't know why they just don't hire lookie lookie men.

Also avoid their travel insurance policy as it has very little coverage compared to other policies in the market place.

 Providing you read their rules and stick to them you do not get charged for extras. We have been a number of times and always comply with their rules. Then you see others with 2 or more bags get away with it sometimes and then complain most bitterly when they get caught. You can always travel with someone else if you don't like their rules! I like the cheap fares but I always check to see what the others charge. If we want to take a lot of weight in hand luggage or a suitcase we go with Easyjet. 

Have to agree with Kev on this one, it's surely not too difficult to read the rules/regs/extra charges pages on the Ryanair website-and then if you don't like what you see-don't book it.

We have used them for the past 5years, taking approximately 5-6 return trips per year-and as we stick to the hand baggage weight/size rules have been glad to see the rules being enforced at last.

We got sick of seeing the p**s takers dragging on their jumbo sized sports bags-big enough to hide a Shetland pony in-and then trying to ram it into the overhead locker causing damage to anything that got in it's way.

Any body who's made the ferry crossing u.k. to Spain and then driven to Valencia region--could you give me an idea of how long the driving part of the trip takes? I realise it depends on which port you use. We can only take short breaks each time we come over, and were thinking of driving-but with a usual break time of 5--7 days don't want to spend 3 days on the road and ferry at each end of the journey !

Thanks, Ray

I agree with Kev and Costrad ...

My OH and I also travel over around 4 - 5 times per year and although we always check all the airlines before booking, Ryanair wins hands down (even with all the 'extras') every time.

We have always kept within the rules too and have been amazed that other people have in the past been allowed to board with 'hand luggage' that is clearly much larger than the maximum measurements allowed. Quite agree with the tighter checks on size and weight of hand luggage ......

We had to laugh last year when we were queuing up to get on the plane (BMIbaby). 

We sadly watched people who had bought goods from duty free and then came to put them in their flight bags, only to find they were over sized and were made to pay €35 extra.  However we did notice that Ryanair only chose to check the size of the flight bags just before getting on the plane, and not at the check in desk.  Also not everyone was checked.  People, who had overweight cases, were frantically putting on extra clothes on top of what they were already wearing.  Surely this defeats the object.

On our BMIbaby flight, we noticed that passengers were getting very frustrated, because there was so many cases in the top lockers, there was no more room, and they had to go further down the plane to deposit their cases.  It was rea real struggle to fit everyones case in.  So passengers were having to put coats, bags etc underneath their seats. This caused even more problems when they came to get off the plane, because people were pushing by people standing in the isle getting off trying to find their luggage from further back on the plane.  What a mess.  Surely if these airlines are encouraging people to take onboard luggage, they should make sure there is enough space in the overhead lockers first.

There IS enough room on the flights!! The problem is with the selfish halfwits who take the P!ss with large and oversized bags!! FACT!!

Totally agree with comments below,  Ryan air have been a god send to me and our family who live here in Spain, they enable us to make frequent trips back to the UK to visit family and friends.  We only have one moan to make about them,  why have they abandoned the Murcia and Alicante flights to Bournemouth during November - Feb inclusive ?

If airlines still continue to charge extortionate luggage prices to book baggage in the hold, it will only encourage more people to take on hand luggage.

If you look when passengers put hand luggage into the overhead lockers, you can only get 2 cases per 3 rows of seats, and that fills the locker bar space for someone to put their coats. How can you say there is enough room in the overhead lockers?  If that was true, and all cases allowed on the flights have been pre-sized, (those which were over sized had to go in the hold) there is still not enough room.  FACT!!!!  And for those so called “halfwits” who choose to take on board oversized baggage, they would have been stopped at the departure gate, paid the extra and made to put it in the hold anyway.

p.s. we pay to put our luggage in the hold.

Hi,  we were wondering the same thing. Our family had planed to come over for Christmas as the Ryanair flights in previous years have been very reasonable giving the best prices over the holiday period !  Last Christmas eve we had flights for less than 50 euros, no other airline came anywhere near that price. This year they have stopped flights from both Alicante and Murcia to Bournemouth from the end of October until early February. If there are any Ryanair staff reading this post perhaps they could explain why this has happened as the majority of flights always seemed to be well supported especially by expats living on fived incomes.  If you adhere to the terms and conditions and costs that are clearly detailed on the booking form then you shouldnt have any problems. On two occasions we have miss-spelt names and on both occasions have manged to correct the mistake with no costs incurred. So love them or hate them Ryanair do provide a good no frills cheap service.

My main gripes with Ryanair is that why is hand luggage dimensions sizes smaller than other airlines,  would it not be better to have a universal size for all airlines. But I think this because he now selling is own Ryanair flight bags!

The other moan being being the visa charges per person per flight.

In mean time have a look at this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc

We did notice on the last couple of flights with Ryanair earlier this year that the cabin crew as they gave their boarding chat were telling passengers to put handbaggage under the seat as well as in the overhead lockers.

I can see this becoming a problem as more and more people opt for carry on rather than in the hold baggage.I don't think I could manage much more than the 2 hour flight with my feet jammed up against my bag under the seat in front.

Now you know why you see Ryanair passengers lined up at the starting gate well before boarding time--not so as to get a good seat- but to claim some overhead locker space!

Some nights I have the dream where I turn up just before the gate closes, I saunter down the boarding ramp-hands in pockets, just a clip on carry pouch on my belt containing the mobile, the wedge and a few credit cards. Cabin crew escort me to the best seat on the plane and turf some protesting gap year traveller out of it so that I may sit in comfort.  A hot bacon roll and glass of Krug are placed on the tray in front of me. "Just push the call button if you need anything else Mr O'Leary"

Just a dream ...sob, sob ..just a dream.

Roddy 1

The video was well worth taking a look.

That was brill .......... couldn't stop laughing, just what was needed on a cold rainy day in the UK,

 The video was very good.

Re Winter flights to Bournemouth all the info is on Ryanair's site. http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/bournmouth-winter-schedule-announced 

Kevin

It isn't just Bournemouth affected, see this thread which also has a link to the article explaining the whys and wherefores.

Mark

Thanks for pointing out the info on Bournemouth flights, surely dont they have to pay this tourist tax all year round, seems a bit of a poor excuse !  Checking the flights starting from February many seem to be tax free and starting from 14.99, so why cant they operate a limited service during the winter months when many of us pensioners like to travel.  They could subsidize it out of the high profit they like to boast about !

You can always play Ryanair at their own game take a look at this!

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/travel/article.html?in_article_id=508371&in_page_id=1093