Ryanair Officially Tries to Be Nicer

In this day and age of social media, it’s getting harder and harder for airlines to get away with bad behavior. Lose someone’s luggage? You’ll hear about it within minutes of them landing. Serve a bad meal? Expect that to go viral on Instagram. If your customer service isn’t spot-on, you’ll be sure to hear about it.

But one airline has consistently refused to bow to customer requests. Ryanair is known for the kind of service that elicits complaints. In fact there are entire websites dedicated to documenting how much people are frustrated with what happens aboard Ryanair planes. But despite complaints, Ryanair has managed to find its way to the top of Europe’s airlines. Those baggage fees may seem ridiculous, but the airline is profitable for a reason.

Now with the European economy going downhill however, CEO Michael O’Leary knows that the airline can’t risk to lose passengers, and he is working on making the airline, well, nicer.The man known for proposals like onboard pay toilets (you’re only flying for two hours, you should be able to hold it) is now suggesting that his airline has to transform its brand; just offering crazy low fares isn’t enough.

On the heels of last month’s news that the airline forced a man to pay nearly $260 when he had to change his flight from Dublin to Birmingham because his entire family had died in a fire, Ryanair is now turning on the charm. According to The New York Times, that includes reducing oversized baggage and boarding card reissue fees as well as allowing a small carry-on no larger than 35 x 20 x 20 centimeters to be carried aboard flights from Dec. 1 onwards. Oh, and there will be “quiet” flights, meaning that people flying before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. will avoid the loud in-flight announcements.

It’s all in the hopes that people keep choosing Ryanair wherever they fly in Europe.
“As some of these policy changes will require website changes and handling staff retraining, we will be rolling them out over the next few months as we strive to further improve Europe’s number one customer service airline,” customer service director Caroline Green said.

Will it work? Only the travel social media sphere will be able to tell us.

Low-Cost Carrier JetBlue Is Going Luxury With Sleeper-Seat Cabins

Remember back when JetBlue launched and everyone got excited about a low-cost carrier which would still provide a personal television screen for all of its passengers? Well, those days are officially over. Next year, JetBlue will be introducing premium seats on some of its planes, a major shift for an airline that has branded itself as a low-cost carrier.

But while running a low-cost carrier is good for marketing — travelers do love a good deal after all — JetBlue’s most recent move proves that when you’re running a big airline company, you can’t miss out on a profitable part of the market: people willing to pay extra for first class amenities. JetBlue’s new seating arrangement will attempt to do just that, offering premium paying passengers the opportunity to travel in lie-flat seats, which not only recline into 6’8″ beds, but also have a massage feature.

The premium seating is expected to debut in the spring of 2014, on its two most popular nonstop U.S. routes: New York to Los Angeles and New York to San Francisco. Not only will the premium seat allow passengers to lie down on their transcontinental flight, but they will also get a bigger television screen, coming it at a whopping 15″. Passengers lucky enough to be in rows 2 and 4 will also get their own private suite.

What will that do to prices? That remains to be seen, but in the mean time, maybe you should start saving for a good night’s sleep for next spring.

France Launches New Low Cost, High-Speed Train Service



Low cost
isn’t just for the skies anymore. This week, French rail service SNCF launched its new low cost service Ouigo, a no-frills option for the traveler that wants a more moderately priced ticket but wants to take advantage of the high-speed service that France is known for. The new train service will link Paris and Lyon to Marseille and Montpellier on the southern coast of France.

Service will commence April 2, 2013, but in an attempt to woo travelers, SNCF is offering up tickets for as low as 10 euros. Eventually tickets prices will go up to 85 euros. Regular TGV tickets can often be booked for much less if you happen to score a good promotion, but French travelers will tell you that often that means booking far in advance. Have a low cost option for last minute travel is always a good thing.

As is common with low cost airlines, room for baggage aboard the new Ouigo trains is limited, so if you’re planning on taking advantage, pack light, because after your first bag, your luggage will cost you.

Sound too good to be true? As with any low cost carrier, there are some catches:

  • You will have to catch the train in Marne-la-Vallée, where Euro Disney is located, just east of Paris.
  • You can only book on the Internet.
  • There is no bar. But don’t worry; you’re in France. You’re sure to find a bottle of red wine and a corkscrew at a local market.

[Photo Credit: Train Chartering and Private Rail Cars]

If easyJet goes under, you’re not screwed

If easyJet were to go insolvent before you could take a package you’ve booked online with the company, fear not: you’re insured. Since the beginning of the month, the European low-cost carrier has arranged with credit protection company International Passenger Protection to make sure customers don’t lose out if the airline as a whole takes a nose dive.

According to Paul Phillips, group treasurer of easyJet:

“We pride ourselves at being one of the leading and most innovative airlines in the UK and, despite our strong financial standing, we recognise that we have important legal obligations to adhere to under the UK Package Travel Regulations. We acknowledge our continued duty to give passengers financial peace of mind when buying travel packages online from us.”

Paul Mclean, director at IPP, said:

“The travel industry and travelling public have suffered a surge of financial collapses in the last two years and headlines of passengers losing their holidays are becoming commonplace. We are delighted to be working with easyjet to ensure its continued compliance with the relevant consumer protection legislation in place.”

So, if nothing else, you have one less worry when booking our next trip!

[photo by WexDub via Flickr]

JetStar to pack planes with iPads

JetStar seems to know that in-flight entertainment is nothing to scream about right now. You watch canned programming from a small screen. Fun. For a low-cost carrier, you’d think that fixing this problem isn’t a priority, but it looks like the little guys are coming up with the best ideas. The airline is getting ready to test the iPad as in-flight entertainment. Access is expected to cost A$10 ($8.40).

Strangely, internet browsing on the iPad will be disabled, because of the airline‘s policy on the use of cell phones and computers while the plane’s in the air.

Look for it to happen later this month. If it works out, the program will be extended through JetStar to the entire network of its parent company, Qantas. The trial will last two weeks and will be limited to domestic flights of less than an hour.