Bakpapier

Hello,

We are looking to make a group trip to a destination within europe. Our group will probably be about 35 people. A normal booking is max. 9 people, so we were looking for options to do group bookings.

When just looking for 1 ticket for 1 person, RyanAir seems to offer the most competitive price on our itinerary (other options were almost 100 euros more expensive !), so I tried Ryan Airs group booking system. Now I would like to ask ,does anyone here have any experience with group bookings made directly with ryan air? Positive or negative?

The website says that they will quote us a price but I haven't heard back from them yet. Do you think it's better to wait until we get a price, or to just call in right away?

Thanks for any shared experiences it can be ryan air but also other airlines. However ryan air seems to offer the most competitive price for a direct flight which is something we definitely prefer if at all possible.

Bakpapier

Okay Ill update

I received a quote from ryan air, which is more than twice the price that is currently shown for a one person booking on this flight. However, I suppose that if you book 9 tickets (the maximum non-group booking) then want to book the rest of them ,the price will have increased dramatically, so I think it's an acceptable price which we may book.

I also made a request with another carrier (Air Malta), but they did not even respond to my email. So my advice here is: don't try to do a group booking with Air Malta.

I especially called them, and they told me to mail to a certain address (which I hadnt found on the site), but then they don't respond. I guess they dont want to make any money.

TravelingNomads

How strange. I'm used to groups getting discounts, not being charged more. I hope you find a solution. Does their site update quantity immediately? Maybe there is a time lag that will allow you to book quickly at the cheaper price?

Bakpapier

I don't know, but really I don't want to risk getting the group split over two flights because I first book 9 people on the cheap, then the price suddenly doubles or triples.

Besides group booking has the advantage that you can give the names of the passengers up to 2 weeks before departure, rather than immediately at booking. It gives flexibility.

The route is from Holland to Malta. There are only two direct flights: EIN - MLT on RyanAir, and AMS - MLT on Air Malta. There is also a transavia flight but it operates only in summer. Though we prefer flying from AMS (and having free checked luggage) AirMalta dug their own grave by not responding to my email.

I really don't want to deal with transfers with such a large group, and any flight involving a transfer takes a very long time, risk of getting lost luggage, and to be honest the prices aren't even better, so really direct is the only option.

I also considered BRU or maybe German airports but the cost of getting everyone to BRU is just too high.

Bakpapier

Okay another update




Air Malta has given us an absolutely ridiculous quote, over 200 euros. No way we're gonna do that. They've just lost a customer (well, 35 of them) !




Anyone know of any travel agencies that do these bookigns cheaply? I think that, to be honest, they won't give me cheaper prices than ryan air.

ritesa

When doing a group booking, you will not get the cheapest fare buckets as these are restricted to a few tickets, so the per person fare will basically always be higher than the cheapest fare you can find online.

Easyjet is the only airline I know of which allows bookings for up to 40 pax on their website, for all other airlines you have to mail or call. It's a time-consuming and often frustrating task, but there's no way around it apart from using a travel agent, who will of course charge you a fee for all the work involved...

In my experience, the bigger the aircraft you're trying to book on, the bigger the chance for a decent group fare as there is more total seat availability. I did a group booking MUC-MAN recently and the cheapest fare was on Singapore Airlines' B777 (including checked baggage and full service), while Easyjet and Lufthansa quoted much higher group fares on their A319/320. Individual fares would have been quite similar.

Alsacienne

Might it be worth splitting your group up into 9-person groups for Ryanair and giving them different names/identifiers eg Group A, Group B (nothing too intellectual perhaps!) and seeing if Ryanair can process them as smaller groups?

Bakpapier

Minimum of 20 persons per group I think.

Air malta does have a minimum of 10 so then it could be an option but I am not liking the air malta fares at all.

Only thing I thought of is first booking 9 of us on the lower fare on ryan air (regular booking, max 9 persons) then getting a quote for the remaining 26 or so passengers.

telabadmanwot

Go to a travel agent mate.

If you use Ryanair to book it, the price will be significantly more than the single traveler you are using to do a price comparison on.

If you let me know where you are travelling from, to and when. I will be able to give you a reasonable idea of the PP fare you can expect.


Bear in mind on Ryanair, you need to add bags, seat booking fee, food and drink. When you fly on Ryanair, you might have paid $10 to fly and the person next to you $230. So the group booking fee, is the average of the cost of the fares for your whole party.

Bakpapier

Well this is a study trip, so I dont think food and drink on board will be a factor for the passengers who are students and will probably bring everything they need aboard themselves.

We decided that if people want to bring checked luggage, it's their cost and responsibility. I did this before (albeit with a smaller group) and some people ended up sharing a suitcase between the two of them with no problems, to save some cost.
Inn my experience our groups have always been seated together on ryanair, no need to change the seats.

I will pm you the itinerary (which is AMS or EIN to MLT) and dates though.

Bakpapier

Okay a final update.

We booked 9 pax on a normal booking for a very low price (half the normal price).

Then we booked the remaining pax through a group booking which priced out fine.

We will of course split the airfare equally among all passengers ourselves.

So this is what I would reccomend to future people who want to do a ryanair group booking.