Bits: Luxury Travel Diary auctions, join a class action against Ryanair

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• zsalya says:

  16 May16 May 07:57

  I generally agree that customers should not complain about fees which are clearly accessible up front.

  However, I have just returned from my first Ryanair flight for some years.
  I booked “Business Plus” to compare it to Easyjet’s Flexi tickets which work very well.
  Their Ts & Cs state: “a route change of all flights in a booking can be made online” , “any flight changes (date/flight/route) made before the day of travel will not be charge a flight change fee”
  and “With Business Plus…fast track…. BGY”
  None were true.
  I will make a claim (by snailmail) for the extra fee but I won’t be holding my breath.

• Matthew says:

  16 May16 May 08:07

  Ryanair have vastly improved over the last few years and there online chat is absolutely brilliant. No waiting for emails or premium rate number. I recently had a problem regarding the flights I booked for my sis. She had developed an illness and instead of claiming on insurance I thought I maybe able to change the date for perhaps a nominal fee. So a quick message on the chat and within about 60 secs I had been given the link for a full refund. Simples. No need for insurance. Doubt BA would have done that….

• Lily says:

  16 May16 May 08:59

  Ryanair are better than they were, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t been poor before. I do remember being aggrieved that my partner and I were charged ~£45 for overweight hand luggage, when if we had checked in separately (and had realised that there was a charge), then we would have just redistributed the stuff between two bags better rather than having to do a bag check in at the airport.

  I also disagree that this article doesn’t belong here – these days BA short haul service is shockingly bad (as is their customer service back home) -so those of us in the leisure short haul market will take advantage of whichever flight actually works out best for us. I just did 3 1/2 hours on a BA flight HUNGRY because they ran out of food. I wouldn’t have had that on Ryanair, I could have at least bought something!

  • Callum says:

    16 May16 May 11:13

    You were unaware that there are limits to how much stuff you can take on the plane?

    And you certainly could have redistributed your stuff between you, I don’t believe for a second they forbade you from doing so, unless you were the last people boarding (in which case – your fault)?

    • Brian says:

      16 May16 May 12:10

      You are so charming, Callum – always! How do you manage it? :))

      • Callum says:

        16 May16 May 12:25

        With great ease? If people are reasonable, I’m reasonable. If they’re not, I’m not.

        • Kev says:

          16 May16 May 16:16

          Callum, you’re just being daft.
          Ryanair today, is a far better company and flight experience, than it was a few years -that does not mean however claims can’t be made against their previously shoddy behaviour.

          So many industries have ripped off the public for years with impunity – as a consumer you should support such actions…

          I still believe today that if you cancel a flight -you should be refunded every cent you paid, except for the base fare….

        • Callum says:

          16 May16 May 16:26

          If you’re going to start throwing insults around it would be nice if you bothered to read the post properly… I’ve never stated (or even hinted) you cannot complain about “previous shoddy behaviour” – not that this seems to be about previous behaviour, it’s about current behaviour too.

          I can support whatever actions I want. If Ryanair was the only airline I’d fully agree and I’d want their practises heavily regulated. As no-one is forced to use them, I however don’t have any issue with them “ripping people off” – assuming you mean charge people exactly what they agreed to pay, even if it’s extortionate. I also have no issue with Waitrose charging ridiculous prices, I merely don’t shop there.

          While I’d have no qualms if a law was made forcing taxes to be refundable without charge, there isn’t such a law, so I’m not too bothered by Ryanair/BA etc. adding in admin fees (after all – you have cost them money both in processing the original purchase and then in refunding it, though again it could be seen as extortionate).

        • Erico1875 says:

          16 May16 May 22:37

          Whats shoddy about flying to Dublin for a penny, Dusseldorf (Weeze) Paris (Beauvais) and Costa Brava for a fiver? I did that regularly. Never any hassle. I onve had to pay 25 EURO overweight luggage., but my luggage was 5 kilo over the stated limit – 6 bottles (not so)cheap vodka

• harry says:

  16 May16 May 09:02

  Rumours abound that in Europe, food on BA will become chargeable, at least in ET.

  No problem with that, as long as they don’t include booze.

  • Rob says:

    16 May16 May 09:05

    Crew have told me this is coming in September (not that they officially know). I would also be OK with it because the current situation is a joke. However, with no extra cabin crew it is unlikely that all pax would be served on shorter flights ….

    • Lily says:

      16 May16 May 09:47

      Haha yes I have just seen this – perhaps they actually did read my complaint after all!!

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/16/ba-to-start-charging-customers-for-food-on-flights/

    • harry says:

      16 May16 May 10:27

      It does somewhat shift the dynamics in the thinking process about whether to actually buy lounge passes (for those of us without an alternative! which includes myself at times…)

      It’s approximately £12.50 to get into No1 T3 if you discount the £20 by 750 Avios.

      For £12.50 I get unlimited booze and a decent snack, plus all the other advantages of a lounge.

      Whereas I reckon you’d be lucky to get away with a sandwich & 2 beers on board for less than £12.50.

      Easy alternative being the snack meal from Boots or WHSmith (no booze, though).

      And No1 have their generous distribution of unattended cold drinks fridges throughout the lounge. So a nasty old parent might make the kids wait with the rabble outside, knock back the beers, grab a few extra cans for them from No1 plus sort them out with apples & either home or shop sandwiches on board – not bad for £12.50 plus the meal deals!

      • CV3V says:

        16 May16 May 16:17

        Reminds me of when as a kid you weren’t allowed into the pub, so had to sit outside in the car park with a soft drink whilst the adults were sat inside. Standards have risen!

        • Fenny says:

          16 May16 May 21:31

          Unless you’re an evil child hater and just want a quiet drink in the pub!

    • Scallder says:

      16 May16 May 10:57

      I presume that this will only apply for flights purchased after September, given that BA flights already purchased have been sold with complimentary food and beverages as an advertised selling points? My wife and I have got RFS flights out t Athens and back from Santorini in September, and would not be happy to suddenly find hat the flights (and relevant service levels) that were advertise at the time suddenly get withdrawn…

      • Dan says:

        16 May16 May 17:45

        Interesting thought – although I fear it will apply to all come whichever date this is implemented. I can’t imagine a situation where cabin crew were charging some pax and not others, based on time of booking?

        • harry says:

          16 May16 May 18:03

          Good point. But T-355 rule means it’s just an easy change to manage on a single day in the future. (No tickets being sold more than 355 days in advance.)

          As I mention below, I think it will lead to reduction in cabin crew as they’ll have much less to do.

• Aliks says:

  16 May16 May 09:06

  The one fee that Ryanair do hide away is the Dynamic Currency Conversion charge. If you buy a Ryanair ticket starting overseas, the price is quoted in the local currency. There is a small check box somewhere in the booking process to say that you want to be billed in the local currency, if you miss that, then Ryanair add a DCC surcharge and bill you in pounds – at least a 3% surcharge compared to paying with Lloyds Amex with no currency surcharge.

  Signing up for the class action could net me 6 or 7 quid , which is not enough to get me reaching for a pen.

  • Genghis says:

    16 May16 May 09:35

    And many other companies charge DCC fees as we’ve previously discussed on HfP. Always paying in local currency (as many people know) is the cheapest way.

• Oyster says:

  16 May16 May 09:08

  Some interesting comments here but I am surprised that so many people think that by informing of a fee up-front it somehow makes it acceptable.

  It also needs to be fair, reasonable and accessible. And cannot be a ‘penalty’ charge.

  • Callum says:

    16 May16 May 11:15

    I guess that’s a side effect of enjoying living in a free country…

• Alex W says:

  16 May16 May 09:17

  I once checked in online for Ryanair but had no access to a printer. Charging about £40 to print a boarding pass is absurd, and is an attack on those who are used to downloading in an app (and it’s a waste of paper). If I can find proof of payment I think I’ll jump on the bandwagon.

  • Callum says:

    16 May16 May 11:17

    If only they told you several times that you had to print it out…

    And you really had no way of finding a printer in the week before your flight? Anywhere? I find that find that difficult to believe!

    • Frenske says:

      16 May16 May 14:03

      £40 is still absurd. Ryanair probably can pay 3 persons to sit for an hour at the check-in for that kind of money.

      • Callum says:

        16 May16 May 16:19

        I assume they have to pay some kind of “rent” to use the desks too? Though I’d imagine baggage fees would subsidise it somewhat.

• Will says:

  16 May16 May 09:23

  Ryanair have improved a lot recently, reasonable credit card fees, auto seat allocation and a much better cabin interior colour on the new planes to name but a few.

  Credit card fees were extortionate prior to the EU clampdown – just goes to show they need a push sometimes.

  Can’t wait for fuel surcharges on BA to get challenged.

  • harry says:

    16 May16 May 10:35

    And coincidentally their numbers are absolutely brilliant. OK, profitability might have something to do with the price of jet fuel – but you can’t deny the massive increase in passengers carried.

    This year 113 million passengers
    vs
    2010 70 million passengers
    http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/ryanair-swot-analysis–michael-olearys-maniacal-focus-on-being-the-lowest-cost-producer-96465

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