[FaroFlyer]

Hi ASK1945, I remember your earlier post and subsequently you said it was 2007/2008. Things have changed in the intervening 12 years. At that time Ryanair did not offer connecting flights. You and your colleagues bought separate tickets and hoped that it would work out, but it didn’t. You took a calculated risk, which failed. Exactly the same situation could happen on any of the legacy carriers even now, if you bought separate tickets and hoped it would work. Consider LH and buying HAM to MUC and another ticket MUC to CDG. If your inbound was late and you missed your second flight they would tell you that, as you don’t have a through ticket, you’re on your own. Same with BA AF or any of the legacy carriers in the US.

I have flown Ryanair about 50 times over the last 10 years, of which half have been in the last 3 years. Since they started selling all of the extras like seats, priority boarding, carry on etc. they have become perfectly acceptable. If I had a choice between Ryanair or any legacy carrier business class I would take business class. I would probably even choose BA econ against FR, but only because of the Gold card. I also prefer FR to EZ as the onboard service is usually quicker.

On Ryanair you are on your own if there is a problem, unless you move quickly. The only problem that I recall was on a MAD > FAO where I noticed that the inbound was not operating. I quickly bought a connecting MAD > OPO > FAO on Ryanair, yes, I took a risk, but it worked, and I ended up sitting next to a Ryanair pilot based in FAO who had seen the same situation as I had, and had also moved quickly.

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ASK1945

[capetonianm]

They missed their Stansted to Dublin flight, obviously, but were refused any refund or compensation because they were told “these were separate flights”, not on one ticket.

What they told them is total BS as Ryanair don’t do connecting flights (unless they’ve changed that since I last had cause to look into it). What they were told is correct, but the implication that they could have through booked with connections on one ticket is utter crap.

If you book A > B > C it is 3 separate and unrelated contracts, there is no through checkin for bags or pax, and if you miss a flight it’s tough and you are on your own – as they discovered. One of the reasons I won’t fly with them.

[ASK1945]

FaroFlyer wrote: “………….. At that time Ryanair did not offer connecting flights. You and your colleagues bought separate tickets and hoped that it would work out, but it didn’t. You took a calculated risk, which failed. Exactly the same situation could happen on any of the legacy carriers even now, if you bought separate tickets and hoped it would work …………….”

Thank you for your detailed reply. I don’t challenge anything you wrote (with your great exprerience with Ryanair), except for the above.

My colleagues did not buy “separate” tickets. They each bought a trip by air from Dublin to Trieste (for a business meeting just over the border in Slovenia) and were issued with separate tickets for each leg by the one airline, Ryanair. It wasn’t “a calculated risk” as the cost of tickets was irrelevant to them (and me) and wasn’t the reason for the purchase – it was the most direct route for them. I doubt that even then that legacy airlines would have treated them so miserably as Ryanair did – even leaving their legally due reimbursement (under consumer law then) to the doors into the court. They (and I) were treated miserably from the moment the inward flight into Trieste from Stansted, which was to return us to Stansted landed incorrectly, buckling the front wheel and rendering the plane unusable, to our eventual return to Stansted.

You also wrote “On Ryanair you are on your own if there is a problem”. Absolutely correct. I had no problem at all with our outward flight from Stansted. I have had two delayed returns in the last couple of years with BA flights – neither of which were the fault of BA (the weather in both instances) and the issues were handled impeccably by BA. I was fully reimbursed for any costs without any delay (compensation was not relevant and I did not claim it).

Regular travellers know that inevitably from time to time there will be a problem. When I was in business, I regularly reminded my staff that one of the chief influencers of retaining people using us was how we dealt with the inevitable problems that occur occasionally.

It is “On Ryanair you are on your own if there is a problem” that influencies me.

[ASK1945]

[postquote quote=996990][/postquote]

Thanks capetonianm. I accept what you say about the lack of “connecting flights” by Ryanair then (and now). However, the point of my third-party explanation, as described by me in my last post to FaroFlyer, is that they won their case in court.

I am not suggesting to anyone else not to use Ryanair. People make their own decisions; I am merely stating that it is “On Ryanair you are on your own if there is a problem” that influencies me.

[K1ngston]

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FaroFlyer 2,534 kms I suggest if you leave now you may just make it for next Summer, I would try avoiding the motorways as you suggest 🙂

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FaroFlyer

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