28 Mar 2011 8:46 PM:

 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150150745295102&set=a.203579170101.127465.758110101&theater

Letter for Michale O'Leary.

Not sure if the link works - anyway, MOL read my letter and wrote back. Respect him for taking the time. Jist of it was that there were 27 free seats so this was not because the plane was overbooked. Still doesn't accept they were wrong but it baffles me with so many empty seats they didn't fleece us for the €40 for a name change as requested by my wife at the time. Would have been bad but not as bad as buying a new ticket and all the distress and heartache caused by being stranded for 11 hours.

 

Have had a reply from the CAA and they have told me to report this to the NEB in Spain as the incident happened in Spain. Will do that later this week - reckon I'm gonna be busy with Google Translate.....:-)

 

Thread: Ryanair latest scam - beware Dutch nationals

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23 Mar 2011 11:25 AM:

Well I certainly seemed to have touched a few nerves here. I guess the only thing to learn from all of this is that until it happens to you, people will probably remain loyal to Ryanair. I will report on the CAA ruling if it ever happens! Couple of points however. The maiden name thing on a Dutch passport is not negotiable. Yes, you can elect to say you are now no longer Mrs XXXXX but Mrs YYYYYY which is what we have done - but the maiden name still remains on the passport - not as your name, but as a record of who you were - this was my point. Yes - we have flown countless times with Ryanair as Mrs Elsie Pegg. Actually, a few weeks ago when we were in Dubai, Gulf Air had problems because the ticket was booked as Mrs Elsie Voets-Pegg - you can't win! Apparently Portuguese passports are the same.......

Easyjet bought GB Airways who were acutally a BA subsidiary - planes, crew, the whole thing - which is why Easyjet into Spain from Gatwick is so good. When all this kicked off, I checked all our future Easyjet bookings and discovered with alarm that a few of these had been booked as per our Ryanair flight. I tried to change them online and Easyjet wanted approx £85 per flight for a name change. I phoned them, explained the situation and the extremely helpful lady changed all the bookings to MaidenName - Married Name at no cost - as I said to her, she had a choice and I could have ended up paying around £300 for this, but they didn't - we had a long chat about my wife's plight - she was horrified. Its Easyjet, Monarch or FlyBe everytime for me now.

And finally - the costs - yes BA and Iberia can chanrge ridiculous amounts but they do also have much much cheaper options. In recent years, during the peak summer times and easter and xmas, I have found that the Iberia/BA prices via Madrid or Barcelona are pretty much on par with the low cost airlines. When taking into account he cost of the Stansted express, it is all pretty much equal.

Anyway, thanks for the support.

@JErK - I really do not like being called Peggy............:-)

 

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22 Mar 2011 6:18 PM:

Actually I agree with you Jek - I have used them every few weeks for years - reasons being in order of priority - on time, schedules are good and price. My point is though that if now all of a sudden there is an element of risk in actually being permitted to fly, plus the fact that having my totally and utterly distraught wife in floods of tears on the phone to me with no help or support stranded in a foreign airport has changed my opinion - I am very very angry with Ryanair - all I wanted to do was share my experiences and warn people of what Ryanair are up to - thats all.

 

BTW - The name is Dave - I used to hit people at school if they called me Peggy....:-)

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22 Mar 2011 4:59 PM:

Well said Joan!

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22 Mar 2011 3:46 PM:

My point was that we didn't make a mistake. The maiden name on a Dutch passport is not my wife's legal name - it is a record of what she used to be called. Ryanair had overbooked and used this as an excuse to deny boarding and avoid compensation. How come there were no seats left even when she offered to pay for the name change? Until this time, I have defended Ryanair. I agree, they have revolutionised air travel but they have gone too far. They don't need to resort  to this sort of deceit. Whats more, I hate the fact that they force their staff to impose such actions - I'm sure they hate it as much as we do. I don't care how cheap they are, if there is a chance that for whatever reason you are not going to get on the plane, I am not prepared to take the risk.  While there is a choice, there is no way we are ever using them again. I really do not understand this fascination with price - apparently the TATA Nano is now the cheapest car to buy at around €5000 - I'm not exactly going to rush out and swap my Mercedes CLK 320 for one!

@Jek - There's no such thing as a free lunch - have you ever wondered what the real cost of your £12 flight is and who is paying it?

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