I didn't say they did. I travelled to Hamburg via Luebeck, and with a group of 4 of us a Wochenendticket paid for the hour's train journey and our travel in Hamburg for next to nothing, plus 4 bus tickets on the city bus (sadly Luebeck's Tarifgemeinschaft doesn't take the Wochenendticket, unlike most of the large Verkehrsverbuende). FR to LBK was far far cheaper than Germanwings to Fuhlsbuettel (used to live near it myself!) and we all live a lot nearer Stansted than Gatwick.

I wouldn't pay gbp200 for a Ryanair flight full stop, so valid point in a way, but...

I did note that, and it was a slight concern in a way. However, I doubt cabin crew are going to be giving *detailed* instructions to pax in the event of a serious incident, and I'll admit also that the fact that a serious incident is so incredibly unlikely it doesn't factor that highly in my thinking. Also don't forget that if you fly Thai Air Asia, Malaysian, or even closer to home some of the (Eastern) European airlines or whoever, the standard of English will be (and is IMX) similarly low, probably lower. That doesn't make the airline unsafe.

I wouldn't really trust any low-cost to take care of anybody in that sense; with the lot of them if your flight is cancelled and the next ones are full for a week you're stuck. I'd probably send her full service for that reason. However, the decision wouldn't be down to safety, it would be down to general service.

Neil

Totally off the subject, but germaine to the last couple responses, exactly how much is a "quid"? I've heard that forever and never have known the answer. Is it a pound, a Euro, or just slang for whatever you want it to be? I've heard "quid" and "bob" and just know they are some kind of I assume, British, currency.

http://www.google.com/search?q=define%20quid
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%20bob

Any idea of a possible rationale for hte rule, which apparently existed at one time, based on the cached page? There is no potential for the traveler to be turned back by governmental authorities as on an international flight, so why in the world would a driving license be acceptable for EU born but not non-EU born residents? Especially when birth in the EU does not necessarily = citizenship, as any number of German-born non-German citizens could tell you.

A quid is slang for GBP 1.00. Similarly, a grand, if that comes up, is slang for GBP 1,000.00. A bob is a pre-decimalised unit of currency (before my time!) but is sometimes used to describe 5p, i.e. GBP 0.05.

I imagine that if we joined the Euro "quid" would remain in use but change to describe EUR 1.00.

Neil

I'm not so sure that would be true. In Spain a duro was 5 pesetas and 5 duros was often used to say 25 pesetas. Even the phrase "I wouldn't pay a penny" is (and is still) "I wouldn't pay a duro". And yet duros aren't used to describe 5 centimos.

I think what will happen is that people in the UK will do their shopping in Euros, but there will persist the habit of working out the cost into 'real' money. What costs 3Euros will also be 2 pounds or 2quid. And this will go on for aaages.

We went metric in 1971 (I never learnt about pounds and ounces at school), and yet its only in the past couple of years that I can finally do my shopping properly without having to go through mental gymnastics if I want to find out if it's cheaper to buy the mushrooms in the 8oz pack or the loose ones at £8.40 a kg (I'd also put the imperial weighted vegetables in the scales to find out how much they really weighed).
Metric is much simpler, easier to calculate, more logical and yet it still took at least 30 years to make the transition.

There will be virtual quids alongside the real Euros for many years to come. I can't see Euros ever taking on the name, we'll need to find a new one.

The rest of us EU Citizens have to ID themselves with their National ID cards upon official request even within our own countries.... The EU allows ID Card travel within the EU countries only but even if you are flying with in your own country drivers licences are not considered proper ID. I wonder why the UK (with all their internal troubles) would allow such a thing anyway??

By the way do you actually have a britsh passport or do you have a foreign one (careful there is a difference) issued in the UK??

I often fly within France with my french drivers licence - and it works without questions.

I'm sorry why should someone be forced to have a passport to travel within their own country? The showing of ID is more to make sure that the passenger on the ticket is infact the person checking-in and not for security reasons. Why wouldn't a drivers licence be considered proper ID? It's issued by the Government same as a passport. I have never taken a domestic flight in the UK, but have plenty of times in Australia using either quick check or OLCI both of which allow me to board the plane without any ID ever being cited and I would assume the same is possible in the UK.

The OP said they were a dual national.

Because we don't have identity cards (and we're not the only ones, the Dutch don't either AFAIK).

The government is now planning to introduce a national identity card, but there is a lot of resistance.

Chrissxb I live on the German / French border near Strassbourg and here we often find both Police Forces doing checks together (they are mostly looking for drugs and thieves) - a few weeks ago I had left my wallet containing my german ID card at home. I did however have my EURO Drivers Licence.... Anyway I pull up at the road block and a french officer (yes I was still on the german side) came to the window... Bonjour Madame.... WHAT!! did I miss the border post being moved??? - NO it was just another combined check point....

Well anyway he asked to see my ID - which of course was at home . So I showed him my DL (Euro credit card type with photo) but he isisted that was not a valid form of ID. After having my vehical basically taken apart it was so well searched. I then had to present my ID Card or Passport at the local police station with in 1 hour....

That is the reason I was wondering why anyone in Europe especially in the UK would be allowed to fly on a DL theses days.

Is it the law in Germany/France that you must have your ID card on you at all times? Seems very big-brotherish to me.

I too have a UK photo driving license, I was not born in the EU and I do not hold an EU passport. Despite all this, I have never been denied boarding because I presented my driving license as ID.

Exactly right. I think that in this case, the check-in agent made a serious mistake.

You are entitled to compensation for being denied boarding for no valid reason. Write to RyanAir and demand compensation under REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004 for denied boarding

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/...en00010007.pdf

I sympathise with your disability, however I don't think it will make a difference to your compensation claim - it's likely that Ryanair will only pay out what they are legally obliged to pay. Another airline might consider making an ex-gracia payment considering the grief it put you though though I think it's unlikely that Ryanair would.

If they refuse then lodge a claim in the small claims court.

If all else fails, you could sell your story to "The Daily Mail"

Macspreader is a twit who has never flown Ryanair, I sincerely hope the original poster was not offended by his comments.

Everything I said is more or less based on the fact that the UK is the country most plagued by current developments from within - in Europe. One would think keeping tabs on a certain LOT would be a good thing... So having a standard form of ID would be logical.

Is it not strange those 90% of us lawabiding citizens often comprehend practises in place to catch the 10% non abiding as a negative thing.....

Yes german law requires you to be able to ID yourself via ID card / Passport to law enforecement officers at all times. I just forgot my wallet...

The Dutch do, but they are optional. They do, however, have compulsory identity (i.e. it's an offence not to carry a valid form of identity) but a lot of things are accepted, including I believe paper driving licences (they haven't gone photocard yet) so most Dutch people don't bother with an ID card.

Neil