FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Ryanair pledges to end "abrupt culture"; promises website revamp
Old Oct 14, 2013, 10:56 pm
  #12  
TProphet
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Internet
Programs: Alaska Mileage Plan
Posts: 714
The stats are pretty good for FR - >90% of flights arrive on time. They have one of the lowest mishandled bag rates in Europe, primarily because people avoid checking bags on FR wherever possible.

If you know what the rules are and play by them (print your own boarding pass in advance, take the scheduled flight, don't check a bag, cabin bag meets weight and size requirements) then you have a pretty good chance of getting to your destination without any problems. Where you'll have problems is if you need anything that is normal at another airline and FR charges ridiculous amounts of money for (from a carry-on bag that is normal for most airlines and exceeds the smaller FR carry-on requirements, to the lack of allowance for a personal item in addition to the carry-on bag, to needing a printed boarding pass for whatever reason).

I don't book FR because OLCI doesn't work if you have a non-EU passport. In the past, FR has had an "unwritten policy" where they recognize the exception and issue boarding passes at the airport at no charge; however, I have recently read about people with US passports being unable to check in online and fined at the airport because they have no pre-printed boarding pass. OK, fine, just a business decision on the part of FR. If they do not want the business of visitors to Europe I'll book easyJet, Vueling or Transavia, all of which are more convenient from Amsterdam anyway.
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