Flights Getting too Difficult

So, has the bubble finally gone pop and are low cost flights a thing of the past?  Why do we search around and try to get bargains which appear to have vanished into thin air?
A short while back, flights could be booked for a very reasonable price.  It would appear that these have disappeared and a one way flight will now cost as much as a return flight just a few short months ago.  We generally fly from East Midlands and have a good choice between EasyJet, BMIBaby, Ryanair and Thomsonfly.  At a pinch, it's not too far to Coventry or Birmingham which brings Monarch into the equation.
Have been trying to book East Mids to Alicante or Murcia in September for over a month.  Prices range from 30 to 105 pounds each way depending on the days you pick.  We flew this trip in February for £74 for two, in May for £87 for two and in June for £124 for two.  Cheapest price lately works out at over £235 for September.
And then the joys of booking.  Do you want insurance?  NO.  Do you want to take bags?  Of course I do.  How else can I bring back all the goodies and what's the point of going if you can't bring the stuff back.  Do you want to sit together?  NO.  etc etc
Even then the price jumps up to a minimum of £275.  Do you want to pay by credit or debit card?  Not particularly but, as this is an internet booking site and I still haven't found a way of stuffing used fivers down the phone line, I suppose I'll have to.  Just add another 8 to 20 quid on top for the privilege.
But what's this?   Ryanair have an offer and it's only 10 quid from Alicante to East Mids with no taxes!!! Give me some of that.
Go through the whole system again - insurance- NO etc etc.
Find they only have 15 kg of luggage but, at only 10 quid to come back, I'll just cut down on a bottle of vodka of two to bring back.  They also charge 4 quid each per flight for a debit card booking, but again, only 10 quid.
Total cost?  £184  -  hmm, not as good as I thought but beats the others hands down and click the purchase button even though the flight times are at silly o'clock (What's Alicante airport like at 4 o'clock in the morning ----- are there really two 4 o'clocks in a day??)
Bingo -- oops, what's that?  Your booking cannot be made at the moment.  Please try after 60 minutes.
OK, give it a couple of hours and try to book again.
What?  The 10 quid flights have disappeared and now it's £49.99 plus taxes AND the outgoing flight has gone up £10.
Cost of booking now is £243 before credit/debit card charges are added.  Forget the suitcase at £13.99 each way, I'll do my normal with just one pair of underpants, after all, we do have a washing machine over there.  The wife, ahh, there's the problem.  She needs half of M&S lingerie department just for a long weekend.  Buy some over there, I say, the markets are cheap.
OK.
Now the car hire.  Only going for a week.  Last time we got a tiny French or Italian thingy for €85 and couldn't get the suitcase in the boot.  This time, just hand luggage so should be OK.  €130 for the week - plus €70 petrol, plus €21 for tyre/window/clutch insurance.  Hmmmm Round about £500 for the week including flights, car, car parking at the airport. 
FIVE HUNDRED QUID!!!!! 
Back to square one -  try October instead.  I'm sure the garden in Spain won't be that overgrown, will it?
Oh, look.  First choice are offering a week in a hotel in Benidorm for £149 each including transfers.  Good Lord, that's cheaper than doing it individually...... Maybe better to do it that way.
Ho Hum......keep looking,  keep booking.

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bobaol,

Funny...........but true.

Regards,

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 bobaol .... but  €21 for tyre/window/clutch insurance ? You're being done !!!

Would this interest you ?

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Try driving through France.

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Anyone who will be using Ryanair should open up a basic cash only account with either the Co-op or Halifax.  Both can be opened on-line and you'll receive an Electron card which is the only debit card to be free of charges.  With the Co-op you can top the account up at any Post Office.  Unsure if the Halifax could be topped up on-line if you had another account with them.  The idea is to use these accounts purely for booking flights and beating mr o'leary at his own game.

That's the serious side, now why not just take handluggage and wear all the clothes you want to take with you.  Once through security you can take them off and pack them in your case

Ages ago I read about a man who wanted to get an extra case out to Spain, the excess baggage charge was horrendous but he found a company who charged £28 or £32 for a 28kg suitcase.  It took about 5 days but it was delivered shortly after he arrived home.  I think the website was something like Bags2go, I did keep the articule but it's someone in my filing system and it may never turn up  If you calculate what the charges would be it might work out cheaper, the bag is delivered door to door so quite a unique way of travelling.  It probably works both ways as well.

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Bags2go, eh? At those prices, probably worth popping the missus in with her undies and sending them door to door together.

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Semi, do you mean http://www.parcel2go.com/ which is what I recommended Trish & John Dyson (they post here occasionally) use to take John's heavy toolbox to Spain ? They used them. 

European Delivery Services

• Euro Parcel Delivery Up to 10kg £19.99 + vat - DHL
• Euro Parcel Delivery Up to 25kg £26.99 + vat - DHL

Other rates see site.

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Well I was close, not bad for someone who has difficulty remembering her own name at the moment

And I can't even blame alchohol as I very rarely drink

The only thing I remember was the weight as we are regular travellors to Florida, he golfs and I shop.  We come back with our full quota of bags around the 28 kg mark and when we live in Spain I thought this would be the ideal solution to get the goodies over there.

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I just booked return flights to UK for 'er indoors with easyjet in a couple of weeks time. Or, at least, I thought I did.

I have booked countless flights with them, and my details are registered with them, so the booking process is usually pretty quick. Not any more. How many options do you have to cancel now if you don't want them? My God, you have to be really on the ball. 
When it got to entering the passenger name, I noticed the bit which says make sure the name is exactly as it appears on the passport, so I went and got her passport to check (never can remember her name) and proceeded to enter the details. Went to next stage, checked times and dates etc. before clicking "confirm". Then I was just about to print out bording passes, when she wanders in and looks over my shoulder, and says, "why does it say your name?" 
Now, I know I entered her name, as described above, so at what point the website decided I didn't really mean her, and put my name down as the passenger instead, I don't know. The only thing I do know, is that it will be pointless trying to argue the point (who with? my computer?) so I am faced with having to make a name change, at €30 per flight (plus debit card fee). 
So I proceed grudgingly to do so, only to discover the cost of the flight has also gone up €22 during the time I've been doing all this. Amazing, since I first checked the fares last night, and they hadn't changed in 24 hours.
 
I absolutely 100% know that all this is totally deliberate on the part of easyJet - but how to prove it and what to do about it? Fly Ryanair?? Not likely.

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Perhaps Trading Standards could check it out with a few  'test'  bookings?

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So I e-mailed easyJet to tell them their website cheated me, and this morning I got a very sweet reply saying "Thank you for contacting us. I am pleased to confirm that names of passengers can be changed online for an administration fee of £20.00 per passenger, per flight plus any difference in the seat price....blah blah blah".
How nice of them to remind me.

Here's what I reckon happened. Whilst completing the first part of the booking (my details, as registered user) I used that natty little feature on the Google toolbar, the AutoFill. I then proceeded to the next part, and entered the missus's name manually. Then, on the payment detail section, I hit the AutoFill again.......and failed to notice that it automatically filled ALL sections of the booking, including passenger name, with my details.
Of course, they give you plenty of warnings and opportunities to check everything before hitting "confirm", but the thing is, I knew I had entered her name correctly because I checked it before moving on to payment details.

Well, the long and short of it is, obviously easyJet are not going to sympathise with my iincompetence and I have no choice but to pay the €30 x 2 to change the names. The only good news is that, as I suspected, by waiting 24 hours to do so, the fare has miraciously gone back down. Most people are under the impression that the fares only go up as seats become scarcer on a particular flight, but the website also tracks enquiries for each flight, and if there appears to be increased interest in a flight, the fare will go up. If the interest drops off, the fare goes back down again. Anyone who has investigated fares, gone off to consult with their partner, agreed to book one flight, then find the fare has gone up, will realise what I'm talking about here. 

The moral of the story is, check, re-check then triple check your booking before confirming, and don't let the b*stards catch you out.  
Oh, and don't use AutoFill !!!! 

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crazy thing is there is never anyone at the spanish to check, just more rip off britain (& ireland if you michael "give me your money you b....ds")

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And now this; for an extra couple of quid, "When you order easyJetText, around 4 hours before your scheduled departure time, we'll send you an SMS text message containing your itinerary and booking reference, we'll send you a useful reminder when it's time to board ... and we'll even tell you what the weather has in store at your destination."

Excuse me, but how pathetic do you have to be, to need a text message sent to your mobile reminding you that you should really be making your way to the airport now.....and now you really should be thinking about taking notice of all the announcements telling you it's time to board your plane.....? Does anyone really need a text message advising them that, if you're flying to the UK, take a brolly, or if you're flying to Spain, pack some SPF (although no more than 100ml in a re-sealable clear plastic bag if it's going in your hand luggage)?

What will they dream up next? Just another couple of quid, and we'll text you the safety procedure before take-off, to save you the trouble of tearing your eyes away from your mobile to look at the stewardess? Perhaps they'll replace the call buttons above your seat soon with a (premium rate) number to send a text message to if you need assistance?

That video on YouTube about low-cost airlines isn't funny any more.

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My husband belongs to a golf club and some members of the club are going out to CDS with Monarch for their annual golfing holiday.

The club is in the final for an inter club competition and it takes place on the day they were due to fly, they have changed to a later flight and they were charged £10 each.

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A Ryanair flight from Bristol to Barcelona had to divert due to cabin depressurisation.  #
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/2623553/Ryanair-holiday-jet-forced-into-emergency-landing.html

Apart from the stress caused to the passengers, I wonder how they will feel when they find their credit cards have been debited for the oxygen used? (Don't put it past them).

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For all you Ryanair lovers


http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/?culture=GB

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Been discussed before, but the extent is rather alarming and shows the difficulties being put in the way of those trying to have a quick getaway.
Ryanair has cancelled over 6000 bookings made through "3rd" parties.  They say it slows down their website and passengers have to pay extra for the booking (as if we didn't with their website, anyway!).  Passengers who booked through over 300 different sites will be affected including:
ebookers.com.uk 
cheapflights.co.uk
lastminute.com
thomson.co.uk
opodo.co.uk
skyscanner.net
travelsupermarket.com
octopustravel.com
and many others.
Ryanair have sent the money back to the sites involved but are relying on them to return the money back to the passengers.
Bookings via debit card through the Ryanair official site incur the same charges as credit cards, that is £4 per person per flight.  This means £16.00 extra for two people having a return flight.  The actual cost charged to Ryanair by the banks is approximately 30 pence.
They are accepting Electron cards with no charge.  However, these cards will only be charged if the funds in the account are available, that is, no overdraft facility.  The Ryanair website states that this is only a temporary measure and may be withdrawn at any time.

Meanwhile, Easyjet have cancelled flights from East Midlands to Alicante from November 08 to February 08 and are now running restricted flying days.  Passengers who have already booked flights on days they no longer fly will be informed by e-mail but any original cheap deals will not be transferred to the new flying days so you have to book again and take your chances with the prices being offered.

Going further afield?  Zoom airways have just gone bust leaving thousands of passengers stranded.  They used to run cheap (?) flights across the Atlantic and people trying to get home from Ireland to Canada  (or vice versa) are having to try and make separate arrangements. 

XL airways can't afford to fly to the Caribbean anymore.  Only the profit making flights to places like Florida will continue.  Passengers who have made bookings to places like Antigua or Saint Lucia will have to make alternative arrangements.  Passengers who have booked hotels via the internet will not have their money refunded if they can't get a booking on another flight which is rather difficult over busy periods like Christmas.  XL says it is because the extra fuel works out at about £100 extra per passenger on these flights and they can't afford the difference, especially with the pound dropping against the dollar and other currencies.

Anyone know the phone number of Tim Brabants, the guy who won the gold medal for canoeing in the Olympics?  Maybe he could give me some lessons and I could then find "alternative means" of getting out to Spain.  Please, don't send me the number of John Darwin as I don't think his canoeing skills would suit my purposes.

((Anyone who thinks they might be affected by the Ryanair policy of refusing other website bookers can find the full list of those sites affected at www.telegraph.co.uk/travel )

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I posted something similar here earlier today. Although this was only about Ryanair.

Mark

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