Big flyer on Ryanair? Order an “extra comfort seat”

by Scott Carmichael on

If you are planning to fly on Ryanair, then here is a little secret that may help bring some comfort to your trip.

When booking your tickets, you can actually pre-book a spare empty seat. Simply reserve two seats, and enter “Extra Comfort Seat” as the name for the second passenger. Especially on those very cheap Ryanair flights, you may be able to book yourself a nice double seat for about $20 extra.

The Ryanair page describing this “trick” does not mention whether the second fictional passenger is allowed to bring luggage, and I doubt the airline will allow it, as this could be a quick and cheap way to get a second seat and double your baggage allowance. Also not mentioned on the page is whether you’ll be charged twice for airport taxes.

European airline competition reaching the boiling point

by Scott Carmichael on

Even though the environment has changed dramatically, airlines in the US are a pretty calm and respectful bunch. New airlines come (and go), and their competition is limited to copying each others routes and prices. Very rarely will you hear airline A call airline B anything nasty.

In Europe, things are different – very different. Competition in Europe is cutthroat, and this doesn’t always end up benefiting travelers.

Take for example Ryanair – this airline has become one of the largest (and cheapest) in the world. The airline is rude, charges a fee for everything you do, and is proud of their lack of customer service. But when you can fly across Europe for $20, you forget all of that.

When Ryanair approached Manchester airport requesting they lower their airport passenger fees, the airport refused. Normally, this would be the end of the story, but Ryanair does not take too well to being told “no” to anything, so they are moving all their flights out of Manchester, and moving them to surrounding airports. The stubborn airport will now lose 40 flights a week, 600,000 paying passengers and most likely 600 jobs.

A similar situation is taking place in The Netherlands, but this one is between two airlines and an airport. EasyJet is furious that KLM cut a deal with Amsterdam airport to lower the airport passenger fees for transiting passengers.

Passengers on KLM flights arriving at Schiphol, and transiting to another KLM flight only pay $18. Passengers on EasyJet who arrive at Schiphol as their final destination, pay $40. Even though both passengers use the exact same facilities, the KLM passengers pay much less.

The two airlines and the airport will be facing each other in court, but it is going to be a tough battle, EasyJet is a foreign carrier, and KLM is the Dutch national pride. But once again, the airport better watch out, because after KLM, EasyJet is the largest airline at Schiphol, obviously giving them quite a bit of power. Losing all those flights would put a huge dent in their income.

Ryanair fumbles check-in, hundreds delayed

by Katie Hammel on

Hundreds of Ryanair passengers were left behind on Sunday, when a shortage of check-in desks caused them to miss their flights out of London’s Stansted Airport. The airline, which encourages passengers to check in online, only opened 11 check-in desks on one of the UK’s busiest travel weekends of the year, when 255 flights were scheduled to depart. 23 desks were open the previous weekend.

Over 500 passengers missed their flights. Ryanair issued an apology saying that their baggage handler, Swissport, (who also issued an apology statement) was short-staffed.

As of October, the point will be moot though, as Ryanair will no longer offer airport check-in. The airline has also announced that plans are in the works to eliminate baggage-handling as well. Passengers would need to carry their own bags up to the airplane doors.

Paying for the toilets, loading your own luggage, standing on flights. . .what’s next Ryanair? I’m guessing the planes won’t even bother to land, and we’ll just need to parachute out at our destination.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Brutally honest Ryanair CEO says: “go away” to demanding passengers

by Scott Carmichael on

The New York Times recently sat down with Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary for what turned out to be a brutally honest interview.

The essence of his interview was simple – Ryanair will get you to your destination for a very low fare, on time, with few cancellations and few lost bags. Mr O’Leary was very clear about providing anything other than the most basic of services – anyone expecting or demanding more can “go away”.

The airline never grants refunds, has a zero tolerance policy for excess baggage and does not allow for rebookings or changes to unused tickets, no matter what kind of sob story you tell them.

The result of all this thriftiness is quite amazing – the average ticket price on their entire route network is just $56. In his interview, Mr. O’Leary really does paint an honest picture of how his airline operates – from a ban on highlighters and post-it notes in his offices, to his total lack of patience for email. The entire airline runs like a well oiled machine, albeit one very basic machine.

When Mr. O’Leary issues press releases about paid bathrooms, or a fat tax, everyone laughs. But at the same time, they are very well aware that he could be serious. When Ryanair speaks – the press listens, because at the end of the day, Ryanair is one of just a handful of airlines still making money.

Sure, there are always going to be people who’d rather be shot than step on board one of his planes (I’m one of them). But given his success in recent years, there are probably more people who’d rather pay $10 for a plane ticket and deal with the lack of stuff frequent fliers think they can’t do without.

If anything, the biggest thing to come out of Ryanair is forcing the European legacy carriers to pay close attention, and copy parts of his business model. It is quite obvious that behind the rude and obnoxious exterior lies a brilliant businessman who is changing the aviation world one “go away” at a time.

Ryanair: (don’t) smoke if you got ’em!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Ryanair isn’t the first carrier to allow “smokeless” cigarettes on their planes. These devices mimic the sensation of puffing, I’m told by a user, with a water vapor that is released. What makes the announcement distinctly “Ryanair” is that the devices are now being sold on its flights.

You can buy a pack of ten of these smokeless wonders for €6. To purchase the equivalent of a pack of cigs, you’re looking at $17.

So, it really is just another way for Ryanair to squeeze a few extra bucks out of each passenger, but at least the airline isn’t taking something away (like your seat or your pissing privileges.

[Thanks, @brycelongton]

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