pacer142

(1) is an odd one. There certainly were standee seats designed and proposed, though it didn't really go anywhere.

(2) well, we don't have flight engineers any more, do we? Things change. The industry and aircraft designs aren't ready for that *yet* but...

(3) given that a lot of their passengers if they encountered such a charge would end up using sick bags etc, I don't think this is anything other than a publicity stunt.

Actually, most of what they say is a publicity stunt. Repeat it all over the place, and he gets more publicity

Neil

pacer142

But wait - people might actually *want* to go to those locations as well as the big city.

London Luton and London Stansted could similarly be seen as taking the mick. But there are loads of us for whom they are far more convenient than LHR, LGW and LCY. I'm 40 minutes' drive from Luton, and so are a lot of other people!

Neil

alanR

FR use Barcelona, Girona and Reus these days - and Girona & Reus have always been used to get to the various Costas not just Barcelona.
FR don't claim to fly to Amsterdam

You could have included Oslo - where Ryanair use Torp which is about 90 minutes

alanR

London Stansted is taking the mick - unless you live in the area or London then it's a hard place to get to by public transport. From the north it was often quicker to go to Gatwick (south of London) than Stansted (north of London)

Roger

... and made a very selective comparison. I'll follow your example.

OK, I won't book EZ to Frankfurt if FR can get me closer. As it happens, FR are currently using VCE on a temporary basis.OK, hands up. I admit it, you've got me beaten. I didn't know that FR claimed to serve 'Amsterdam'. Er, wait a minute. They don't. Actually, FR use THREE Barcelona airports, including BCN. @:-)

You could also add Gothenburg and Rome where FR's airports are closer to the cities than GOT and FCO.

No, there aren't. Check at www.ryanair.com and let us know some of the 'many more'. What you'll probably find is a large number of airports that FR use and that other airlines don't, but that's not the same.Exactly.

Edit: apologies to alanR for repeating some of his information.

pacer142

It is until you consider that it has a direct train into Liverpool Street, in the heart of the City. Because of this, it might well be more convenient than LHR or LGW (though obviously not LCY) for that area.

And remember that those airports serve people living in the area as well - STN is good for East Anglia, North Beds etc, though mainly only by car/taxi. As FR have a limited presence at LTN, it's heavily used by people from Milton Keynes etc, but not really by public transport. (Outside London I think it's fair to say most people do *not* reach the airport by public transport - airports outside London are generally poorly-served by this at the sort of times that many low-cost flights depart/arrive - i.e. the 0600ish outwards, 2300ish returns).

I doubt I'd use one of the "subsidiary" London airports if I didn't live in London or near it, though - they're not really much better served than Manchester, Birmingham etc.

Neil

alanR

And as I said "unless you live in the area or London then it's a hard place to get to by public transport. "

pacer142

Which doesn't at all mean that the name "London Stansted" is taking the mick, which was the suggestion I think you made.

It *would* be a "Ryanair classic" if it wasn't served by a fastish train to/from London and it was instead a 2 hour coach ride. But it isn't.

I can see that "East Anglia Airport" might be a better name, just as "London Luton Airport" might just be better as plain "Luton Airport". But in a way it better serves London than anywhere else that isn't *really* nearby.

But as I said it's generally the case that, outside London, most people reach airports by car or taxi, so the public transport service is rather an irrelevance.

Neil

ThisWeekInBudgetTravel

Do your research first. Chances are if its something they can charge you for, they will. Don't get stuck with unexpected charges.

Palal

Had my first FR experience today on OPO-VLC.

Metro do Porto recently cut frequencies to the airport to two trains per hour . The ride took a bit less than 40 mins. (this is after my 30€, 2h45 ride from Lisbon on Alfa Pendular)
Check-in: the visa check took about a minute and a polite smile from the Groundforce girl. Security line took 10 minutes and was a bit of a mess. I sorta wish I had my "green way" sticker to bypass the line (I normally get those as a *G when flying *A airlines).

The boarding gate was quite orderly. At T-38 minutes they started checking BPs, IDs and carry-ons. They didn't bother with my backpack, which was a bit wide but more or less within the limit. Once everyone was in the holding pen outside, at T-30 the crew showed up and started doing pre-flight checks. Ryanair planes have their own airstairs at the front door, which is quite interesting to watch unfold. At T-20 boarding started. We walked across the tarmac to the plane and boarded through both doors. On board, 4 FAs: all OPO-based, all except one -- Portuguese. Ads on overhead bins for nh hotels, and below overhead bins for BOGO Ryanair "bullseye bags" whatever those are. Seating pitch is tight unless you snag row 1 or either of the exit rows (as I did). Took off on time, landed 30 mins early.

During the flight, almost as soon as we were in the air, the FAs went through with a menu and a Ryanair magazine (advertisements and info on their destinations). They then went though with a drink/snack cart and took orders for hot food. Up to this point there were advertisements playing on the radio (ads about drinks, snacks, etc.). I have to say, the ads were quite good.

Then they went through with a prefume/cologne cart, then with lottery and then again with something else, and once more with a trash bag. And then we landed.

Food/snack prices were quite reasonable, not overly high. No idea about other prices.
We disembarked again from the front and the rear. Just like in OPO one of the cabin crew members was standing at the service road crossing, controlling passenger flow across the road to prevent anyone from getting run over.

Check-in took longer than it would have had I been on TP or IB or whoever else, but once on the plane, things were very efficient.

If the price is right and, more importantly, it's worth my time, I wouldn't mind taking them again.

pacer142

Happily, there is one single page on their website, linked to from the front page, listing all the fees and when they apply. Print it out, read it and read it again.

Neil

gaelflyer

Ryanair have a new fleet and I actually find Ryanair seats more comfortable than at least some of the short-haul economy alternatives, and the person in front cannot recline their seat on your lap. The decor is a bit garish and the food isn't great, but it fills a gap if needed.

Showbizguru

A man is sat in a bar at an airport waiting for his flight to board.

As he sits there a very attractive young woman sits on the bar-stool next to him and orders a drink. The man thinks to himself "She must be cabin crew" and decides to find out by seeing if she responds to any of the airline's advertising slogans.

Thinking she might work for British Airways he says "The world's favourite airline?"

The woman looks at him, but says nothing and then goes back to her drink.

The man thinks "perhaps she works for Singapore Airlines" and says questioningly "A better way to fly?"

The woman still does not respond, so he thinks to himself that maybe it is Malasia airlines, whose tagline is "As Smooth as Silk".

So he says to her "As smooth as silk?"

The woman turns to him and says aggressively "What the f**k do you want?"

To which he replies "ahhhhh..........RyanAir"

Monty_GER

Hi.

Right. It can also cost you a lot of time and money if you are stranded far away from the destination you headed for because they used a misleading name for their airport.

For us FTler the whole issue is not a problem because we know how to deal with them and we know how the system works.

I met a lot of people who really were misleaded when Ryanair calls their hubs DUS oder FRA, meaning NRN and HHN.

S.

etali

I use Ryan Air occasionally, but only for very short flights. I don't mind the out of the way airports, and I don't care about getting a meal on a flight that's only an hour or so long. I couldn't imagine sitting on one of their planes for four hours though!

I hate the lack of assigned seating, and I hate the slow check-in and boarding process. Every single Ryan Air flight I've been on has been full, and there's always someone trying to board with three oversized bags, or a checked bag that weighs too much, or something else that holds up the queue.

Last week I flew with Germanwings instead of Ryan Air. Granted, Germanwings is another budget airline, but I found them to be far more efficient, much friendlier and better organized. Also, the flight had a ton of empty seats, and the passengers that were on the plane generally behaved well. They stowed their bags properly, didn't block up the aisle during boarding, etc. Maybe I just got really lucky, but compared to Ryan Air the experience was bliss.