FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Preparing to meet RyanAir on the battlefield
Old Jun 11, 2013 | 4:11 am
  #5  
nux
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: BA Gold, QF WP
Posts: 12,551
Originally Posted by nsx
But I'm worried. RyanAir's business model is that a lot of passengers get a great deal but a few passengers get ripped off by confiscatory add-on charges at the airport and swear never to fly RyanAir again. Nobody on the airplane pays a fair price for the trip. The price is always too high or too low.
This statement could apply to any airline. No airline flying today that I know of sells all tickets for the exact proportion of the all inclusive cost of the flight. Your assumption that Ryanair specifically only sells tickets too low and makes up for this by 'burning' a few passengers with add on fees is incorrect.

Ryanair ticket prices rise just like 'traditional' airlines as the plane fills up. Yes they may start lower, but a few times I have seen Ryanair prices higher than other carriers when booking a few weeks/month out. Most recently BA was cheaper than both easyJet and Ryanair for a flight 2 months out.

I know a few people who just go to Ryanair or easyJet to book a flight as they believe they will always be cheaper than 'traditional' carriers.


Ryanair stick to the rules (granted some are of their own volition) for baggage, printing tickets, OLCI, etc, where other carriers may be more leniant and let people get away with an oversized carryon. Their excess baggage fee for example is lower than some other European carriers.


Apart from the charge to reprint a boarding pass, all the other 'pitfalls' you list are pretty much standard on all airlines in one way or another, some may just be more strict about enforcing the rules than others.

Last edited by nux; Jun 11, 2013 at 4:16 am
nux is offline