Is Ryanair fit for Business?

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    TominScotland
    Participant

    Ryanair have been promoting their new Business Plus package (ticket flexibility, fast track security, free 20 kg luggage and priority boarding) which, together with allocated seating for all passengers (pre-paid or allocated) and a more relaxed attitude to hand luggage, are claimed to represent a fresh start for the airline. Ryanair fares can still be very low and this is really what prompted me to try them out for the short hop between Glasgow and Dublin. Ryanair have only just started this route from Glasgow (switched from Prestwick with increased frequencies) along with Stansted, Derry and three Polish destinations. Making the journey for personal reasons, I was not interested in the Business Plus package and so was able to organise a day return trip for less than £20 all-in, including booking fees, taxes, the lot!! Comparable timings with Aer Lingus would have set me back close to £100.

    I arrived at the Airport in good time for my 08.40 flight. I had printed my boarding passes a week in advance and was allocated seats 18C on the outbound and 18A on the return – bang in the middle of the aircraft – with clear instructions to board at the rear. Just having light hand luggage, I went straight through an almost empty security. The gate was not posted at this time but the familiar Ryanair boarding system was clearly in place by Gates 51/52 so, armed with a coffee, I settled down there to wait.

    With no inbound aircraft in sight, folk started to populate the roped queing system for both priority and ordinary boarding. The flight was called and boarding passes/ passports were checked about 20 minutes before due departure – still with no aircraft to hand. I was one of the last through and found myself standing in the long corridor that leads to these gates that have shared access with main domestic pier gates (25 and 26, I think). This is reminded me of Ryanair waiting in long corridors at Prestwick except there was a great view of the apron and the sight of the inbound pulling up, some 10 minutes before due departure. A long wait, therefore, ensued as we watched very tardy passenger disembarkation, baggage unloading and refueling. After standing in the queue for over 20 minutes, we slowing started to board, snaking our way down to the tarmac and to the only set of steps at the rear. This caused confusion as half the passengers had specifically been told to board from the front!! At no time was any explanation for the delay, the wait or the boarding chaos which followed given.

    I eventually got to 18C and sat down in the brightly lit cabin with garish blue and yellow all around me, just behind of two empty rows of emergency seating which, clearly nobody had wanted to pay for in advance. In fairness, the steward then invited some of us to move forward into those seats so I had 17A, B and C to myself for the flight. We eventually took off 30 minutes late so that the aircraft had been on the ground for 45 minutes, a good deal longer than the Ryanair standard of 25, maybe a teething problem for GLA, I don’t know as we were never told nor was an apology offered.

    Service was, well, Ryanair with plenty of effort – newpapers, scratch cards, drinks and snacks and perfumes offered during the 40 minute flight with very few takers, even though the flight was about 75% full. We landed 15 minutes late and taxied to the 100 Gates that meant a long walk to passport control and the baggage hall. Disembarkation was from both front and rear so was much quicker than boarding. As a result of our late arrival, I missed my expected bus connection and made my way onwards via the city centre bus and then DART (local train).

    For the return, I took the Aircoach from Dalkey on the Southside, which is very convenient, even in heavy traffic. Security in T1 was also very light and I then found a seat in the airside area which is undergoing major transformation, loosing its distinctiveness and becoming just another international airport in any city. The Gate was posted an hour in advance as 102 which meant a long walk back out to what are essentially Ryanair gates – these have the plus of offfering plenty of seating for those waiting. The aircraft was parked and ready well in advance and the boarding process again started very early. This time the wait was in a cold stairwell while arriving passengers crossed what would have been our route to the aircraft. The wait this time was in excess of 15 minutes and I had to pity the elderly folk just ahead of me, who had paid for priority boarding. Eventually, we were allowed forward and onto the aircraft, with both front and rear boarding. Stuck by the window, with two largish neighbours, I was reminded that this was fine for 40 minutes but that it had been less pleasant on my last Ryanair flight, the 4 hours from Edinburgh to Malta. Worth pre-booking an exit seat for that!!

    Service was similar to the outbound and our arrival 10 minutes early was hearlded by the Ryanair trumpet call!! We left the aircraft from front and rear and on to a single bus to the Ireland/ IOM arrival door (it is the same with Aer Lingus).

    So, the journey was fine for the £20 but would I be happy to pay considerably more as a Business Plus passenger? The Ryanair wait, while intended to speed up departure, is unpleasent and unnecessary. The service attitude has not changed, generally efficient but with no level of engagement (except for the kind offer of the seat change on the way out). The lack of information about delays etc and certainly the lack of an apology for the corridor/ stairwell waits were not great. To be honest, if there are alternatives on the route, I would be surprised to see much business traffic attracted to the ‘new’ Ryanair.


    Bullfrog
    Participant

    The ‘superficial make up’ was needed, The arrogant CEO treated the travelling public with derision. Easyjet is a far more pleasant experience all round.


    KarlMarx
    Participant

    I don’t use Ryanair, but have used BA shorthaul (flight time 1 hour 15 mins, hand baggage only) regularly until recently, so here are my comments on that, based on about 30 flights over the past 18 months:

    Security – often slow at Heathrow

    Hand baggage allowance – the same for BA Club Europe as for Ryanair

    Boarding – no long wait in the corridor, but on the other hand, often chaotic, trying to load the priority and normal queues simultaneously and then merging them together on the jetway. People trying to take on lots of hand luggage, little overhead space available if you got on last, even in Club Europe, flights delayed by 15-20 mins on a few occasions, whilst hand luggage was offloaded and stored in the hold.

    Punctuality – very rarely on time, usually 15 mins+ late

    Seating – no garish lighting, but towards the end, similar seating pitch in Club Europe as on easyJet (don’t know what Ryanair is like)

    Service – variable, from robotic, surly, disengaged, mildly interested to very good

    In conclusion, I would say there is not so much difference between the £20 service you received and the £450 service I received, although I would point out that the middle seat was free in BA CE and lounge access included in the ticket price, whatever value you would put on that. There was also a small salad, which I would not usually eat and an open bar, whatever value that brings on a short flight.


    BigDog.
    Participant

    Ryanair fined £400k for operating premium line but not providing a prompt service. Excellent.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11365367/Ryanair-fined-550K-for-poor-customer-service.html


    stevescoots
    Participant

    In answer to the thread title,

    NO!


    wishbone
    Participant

    Used to use Ryanair until about 5 years ago, but don’t anymore and never will again.
    Think if you travel once a year for holiday, then Ryanair is just about ok.
    BUT if you are a regular traveller, they wear a bit thin in the end. I have two major issues with Ryanair
    1. They treat you like a cow at a cattle market (check in, security and boarding is a joke)
    2. Many of the Airports they use are not in the advertised destination e.g. Beauvais (Paris) and Modlin (Wasaw). I have used both and neither are fun.
    O’leary is trying to improve the image, but for me it is too late. I know how he wants to treat his customers.

    BA has it’s faults, but is way ahead of Ryanair


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    From what I hear from friends, the only useful part is the ability you change your flights. Otherwise no real difference at all and certainly no recognition on board.

    As for the fine, I agree Big Dog, good. I think these premium lines are a rip off but find it strange only the Italians have fined Ryanair.


    Schaible
    Participant

    Ryanair is just a joke, left, right and center. And a rip-off as well. It is ridiculous how they try to mislead customers with their Business Plus product. I flew Ryanair once and pretty everything what can go wrong went wrong! And that at a price I could have flown British Airways when I include the taxi fares to and from the remote airports. Thanks, never again! Don’t mind spending a few pennies more (even if) for multiple times higher comfort.


    KarlMarx
    Participant

    Schaible – 29/01/2015 12:54 GMT

    Ryanair may be many things, but at 85+ million pax per year, it is not a joke.


    Schaible
    Participant

    KarlMarx – Ryanair has a bad reputation, not only in my eyes!

    LCC with a better image is possible, look at EasyJet!

    Ryanair attracts those super-flexible ones who book 9 months in advance, don’t mind flying on a Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. from an airport 50 miles away from civilization plus don’t have luggage.

    I do not compromise my schedule for the hunt of a cheap ticket. I am getting paid for performance. In return I am paying others only for performance, including airlines. Ryanair miserably failed and there won’t be a second try!


    TimFitzgeraldTC
    Participant

    My brother is down and he had used Ryanair a while back and said never again. But he is going to Berlin, they fly from East Midlands which is 15 minutes away from his house and they offered flights for £25 and half decent times. So as much as he hates the thoughts of flying them again he is prepared to for the cheap fare. He knows it’ll be a cr*p experience. Considering he returns back to Nottingham on Sunday and the train fare is the same (on an advance ticket) you can see why people happily fly them. Enough people out there I guess just appreciate the fact that Ryanair gives them a chance to travel, when before the advent of LCC’s and the routes they now serve, flying was a much more expensive proposition and many people (in UK and certainly in Eastern Europe) could not afford to fly.

    Are they fit for Business. Not for Business travelers agreed – and I’ll never fly them. But sometimes they will be a proposition and be best option for people on business.


    KarlMarx
    Participant

    Schaible – 29/01/2015 13:45 GMT

    I like easyJet very much and am a regular leisure user.

    But you cannot call a business that made a profit of £621m last year a joke – I believe that this business has made a profit every year since 1991 – compare BA’s record to that and see how well it stacks up as a business.

    By the way, we have a choice as consumers and it seems neither of us fly on Ryanair, but I somehow don’t think O’Leary will lose too much sleep.


    Schaible
    Participant

    KarlMarx, we know that FR is good in business: there are many very occasional flyers (no frequent fliers who are used to service and prestige) who accept any shortcoming for a good ticket rate. Since I belong to the lucky executives who get premium class tickets at service oriented airlines I deleted Ryanair from my vocabulary. For my family and leisure trips I am happy to pay “normal” airlines or use miles.

    We also know that O’Leary is an arguable character who has had enough trouble with the law (and labor union for abusing his staff) and is using any gap in the legislation to make his money.

    I would – on top of my bad experience – never fly FR again since the profit in O’Leary’s pocket is more important than the underpaid crew and the safety (stinginess with fuel etc.).


    MrMichael
    Participant

    Schaible, even if you don’t fly Ryanair you still benefit from them being in existence. It was Ryanair and a few other LoCo’s that first introduced online booking and paperless tickets. It was Ryanair that got rid of the fat cats in the cockpit to the advantage of the many full service airlines that are now much more financially secure because of it. It is Ryanair and Southwest in the US and the other LoCo’s that have driven down the costs at Airports and Car Hire and a myriad of other travel re.ated services, and that has benefitted not only the Loco airlines pax but many many more. It is the likes of Ryanair that have caused the problems that Air France and Lufthansa now face with their overpaid cockpit prima donnas that cannot face the facts of supply and demand. So whether you fly BA , AA, Emirates or Qantas, your travel experience and price is better for the competition and business acumen the likes of Easyjet, Norwegian, Wizz etc have bought to the travel industry.

    I had my first LoCo experience just last year with Easyjet, I thought it was ok. Not sure I will ever go with Ryanair, but who knows what the future holds.

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