Online checkin Ryanair

[Sprogster]

The temporary restrictions introduced two years ago in the response to a specific terrorist threat have been lifted, as no airports still impose a one bag limit, as the standard allowance amongst scheduled carriers is to allow an extra handbag, computer case or camera in addition to the usual item of hand luggage. Also duty free bought at the airport is allowed in a seperate carrier bag and only Ryanair have started to insist that this has to be packed in the one allowed item of hand luggage as well.

Easyjet are a lot more relaxed and although having a one item of hand luggage restriction do not appear to strictly enforce it as on the four Easyjet flights I have taken in the last month, it was widely ignored by most female passengers. A possible reason is that Easyjet fly from more major airports than Ryanair and therefore have more direct route competion from the scheduled carriers such as BA. 

I know for a fact from an internal senior Ryanair source that the crack down on hand luggage is purely a revenue raising exercise, in the light of current operating losses and I have a suspicion that the over zealous staff who enforce it are being financially motivated to do so!

[Hoddy]

I'm sureyou are right Sprogster. I really do think it's a bit rich having to carry my computer and my handbag in my hand baggage.

Hoddy

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="Scooby"]
That happened on our flight from EM to Bergerac last week.  The passenger and her partner argued with the (rather stroppy) Ryanair attendant and were told they couldn't fly.  Their 'removal' from the flight was announced to the passengers on the plane...a new name and shame tactic?
[/quote]

Wednesday? I was on the same flight. The pilot announced that the grounded passengers had been "abusive". I was a Ryanair virgin and compared my experience to those I have experienced with BMIBaby and Flybe. The aircraft was relatively new (Boeing 737-800) but decorated with an anti-Lufthansa slogan. The seat was rather firm and non-reclinable. The safety card was glued to the back of the seat in front. Inflight magazines collected at the end of the flight...

We took off late (because of the "incident") but landed on time (to the strains of a rather infantile jingle) so the bus journey element of the journey was fine. But I did not feel like a customer, just a passenger. My return trip is very cheap, and I am sure I shall use Ryanair again. But it won't be my first choice.

[Scooby]

Yes it was Wednesday's flight.  We were standing next to the couple that were 'removed'.

[water rat]

You get what you pay for on Ryanair. I constantly trawl the website for miniscule fares which I book and sometimes don't use.I took a trip to Uk in April for 10 euros 2 centimes ( all included) and have booked a trip for my parents in June for 35 euros all in. We all know the RULES and how they are enforced,so don't complain. As Le Chef himself pointed out we can afford another wardrobe of clothes in uk at these prices. And you ARE just a customer.If you want special treatment use BA or Air France. There are some of us who just want to get from A to B.

[jon]

Our journey three weeks ago amounted to around 350 pounds for two...booked around 6 weeks before departure.So not that cheap[of course was not flying to America!]Normally happy with the system....but the agression related to bagage and handbags going inside the bag was dramatic.

Of course if you fly for 100 pounds ...out for a 2 day business trip yes what can you expect.....but perhaps Ryanair needs to address full price paying passengers as 1st class?

[Hoddy]

Until recently Water Rat I would have agreed with most of what you say. Indeed I have posted to that effect several times on this forum. This business of the bags however is getting ridiculous. I got around it this time by carrying a coat that I neither needed nor wanted just to have an inside pocket.

Where I disagree with you is where you seem to suggest that because we are 'just a customer' that the staff have the right to speak to us in the manner which Scooby describes. We may not pay much but we do not sign away our right to be spoken to in a civil manner. The company needs us if it is to coninue in buiness.

Hoddy

[Sprogster]

Water rat would have a point if everyone travelling on Ryanair paid miniscule fares, but they don't. For a probable majority, whom are constrained by either school holidays, need to travel at busy times, or at short notice can and do pay as much as the scheduled carriers such as BA and effectively subsidise those cheap promotional offers.

I was told by an Easyjet flight attendant that one of the reasons they found it difficult to enforce the one bag rule, is that their larger European client base generated out of their Swiss, French and Italian hubs ignored the rules and enforcement was next to impossible, as Europeans are not culturally as accepting of being told what to do as the Brits! 

Ryanair's current model seems to be based more on Brit and Irish passengers, who culturally seem more prepared to accept rudeness and do as we are told without complaining.

 

 

[Scooby]

[quote user="Hoddy"]

When I accidentally left two tiny bottles of nail varnish in my bag when I was flying out of Londonderry last October they seemed genuinely surprised that I wouldn't buy a plastic bag to put them in.

[/quote]

That was another thing - my liquid cosmetics were in a clear plastic bag, one that had been perfectly acceptable to Air France, Delta Airlines, BA etc on previous flights...but it wasn't a clear, zippered 'Ryanair' plastic bag.  So I was told I either had to leave the toiletries behind or buy a Ryanair bag at £1.50 (at Heathrow they have the plastic bags available FOC on a stand by security).  It's all so petty....a bit like playground point scoring. 

[babcock]

Surely the addition of £5 for online booking affects the "headline rate" on which the busines model of Ryanair is based. If a cost is unavoidable it should be accounted for in the claimed cheap rate.

[Stefan]

Scooby

You say:

"My liquid cosmetics were in a clear plastic bag, one that had been perfectly acceptable to Air France, Delta Airlines, BA etc on previous flights...but it wasn't a clear, zippered 'Ryanair' plastic bag"

So was your original bag re-sealable, e.g. a freezer bag or something similar, or just a clear plastic bag?

FWIW the issue of a bag being "acceptable" for security purposes is not normally, if ever, an issue for the Airline, be it BA, AF, Delta or Ryanair, though their staff may ask if you are carrying liquids, etc. Acceptance of the bag for security purposes should be down to the Airport Security Staff, who in the UK should be following DfT/Transec rules - whereabouts did your original bag fall foul of the "rules"? 

 

[jon]

I was told the same thing.I had to cahnge my plastic bag!

[Stefan]

FWIW this is the official guidance and it contains very specific the info about size and type of bag.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Publictransport/AirtravelintheUK/DG_078179

If Ryanair staff are telling you anything different then it's a Ryanair in house restriction.

( Mods: this topic comes up so often is it not worth making the link to the Directgov site a "sticky"?)

 

[Clarkkent]

I returned from Bergerac today. Words cannot describe the awfulness of the experience. Three services were due to depart - Transavia to Amsterdam and Ryanair to Stansted and East Midlands. The airport lacks the ability to provide an acceptable service if there is more than about one flight an hour.

Ryanair had a special desk in the concourse to deal with on-line check-in passengers (this surely defeats the purpose of on-line check-in). It was not clear to many what was happening and many requiring normal check-in joined the queue. It was slow moving. The queue for security check merged into the Ryanair queue and somepeople who had already checked in for the Transavia flight also joined the Ryanair queue. Result - chaos.

The security check (two x-ray machines) was totally overwhelmed. At intervals,  passengers for Amsterdam were asked to push their way to the front of the queue because their plane had arrived and was due to board. Then passengers for Stansted were called forward for the same reason. I stood in the combined queue for over an hour before I reached the security checkpoint (had to empty my pockets, remove my belt etc). The apparently new building was crowded and hot, and did not have air conditioning. Entry into the enlarged departure lounge involved pushing through the queue waiting to board the next departing flight. The new departure lounge is decorated with an interesting zinc finish and no refreshment facility beyond a vending machine situated where the boarding queue stretched.

For what its worth, nobody counted my bags or weighed them.

Ryanair didn't do badly. Bergerac Airport was a shambles.

 

[Scooby]

It was the same chaotic free for all when we were there last week.  Some people in the wrong queue some missing the 'on-line check-in' queue and being sent back..

[Iceni]

[quote user="Clarkkent"]

Ryanair didn't do badly. Bergerac Airport was a shambles.

[/quote]

No excuses please- it's still Ryanair's fault for using an airport with such limited facilities. [6]

John

[jon]

There are ususally no problems at Bergerac airport!
They do check weight and number of Bags at Bergerac so something was astray !
Bergerac airport is a very important DESTINATION.....for Ryanair and one of the busiest.So maybe the choice is related to need and relevance and not to it's facilities.

[Lollie]

I often fly from East Midlands, and its the security staff for the airport at the first point before security cheacks who will not let you through with two pieces of hand luggage, and there is more than Ryanair who fly from there, and surely they dont know who you are flying with!   They dont check your passport there anymore though, just the lady from Ryanair, as you are about to board the plane checking boarding cards, passports, size and weight of luggage!  plus getting everyone on board in how many minutes?? No wonder they are stressed .

[Sprogster]

Lollie, they do know who you are flying with as they ask to see your boarding card before letting you through security. 

[confused of chalus]

Late arrival to this thread. But Last week at Limoges airport every piece of hand luggage was weighed and daughter with buggy and baby were found to have to much stuff ( you cant use web checkin with a baby so have to pay check in fee but you dont get an allowance even though fees and charges for 'free' baby were higher than daughter's fare) However the staff were helpful and courteous and advised daughter how to get round one bag rule by stuffing all sorts in the pushchair and she was advised to carry her book in her hand.

Meanwhile my husband was approached by woman who had too much and asked to take carrier bag home and dispose of it. To our amazement it contained: one rather good paperback (always happy to get a book) one magazine (enjoyed that too) and one old curtain complete with hooks. If she'd like to bring the other one with her next time we'd get a pair![:)]

[Gyro]

If you book a ryanair flight.

1) They ask if you want to be checked in online or not, if not or you forget you will pay at the airport.

2) To check in online: you can up to 4 days beforehand to 4hrs before departure.

3)You can also pay for a bag up to 15Kg either online when you book or at the airport if its last minute (paying extra tho).

But why bother paying for a bag when you can take 10Kgs in hand luggage?

hope this helps

[Pierre ZFP]

and another 5kgs in the pockets of your jacket over your arm (as I did last Monday [6] )

[AnOther]

Only 5kg, you need a bigger jacket with more pockets [:D]

[Pierre ZFP]

Well I was travelling light and anyway I couldn't find my shoplifters coat [:P]

I've just noticed another wheeze on the RA booking site.

Would you like to receive a text message confirmation of your booking?

If you click Yes, it will only cost you another quid !!  [:@]

 

[Gyro]

Ya could always tape it around your waste, although most people already have an extra 5 kg there me included