Airlines gouging people deeper and deeper

notanon

Got a flight with Ryanair. Unless you pay extra then hand luggage is now all you can take on board: 30cm x 20cm x 20 cm my laptop is bigger than that! The smallest laptop is greater than 20cm.

Every seating software I have ever used looks for adjacent seats nope, had to pay £9 (so the seats must have been there).

Only 2 Personal Electronic Devices (PED) are allowed in the hand luggage, non connected in the hold. 2 phones, a power bank and other half has an eCig. This is for safety is it?  In theory we should pay for the priority booking which allows 2 cabin cases (extra PEDs). So money can eradicate any safety issue??

The last time we flew was with TUI who now only allows 5kg in the cabin baggage. They would not allow combination of mine and my wife's to be less than 10kg, both had to be less than 5 kg. The wheelie bag + the laptop was only just under 5kg we had to keep faffing until we realised the bag was heading towards 2kg on its own! So we looked forward to getting back to the usual budget airline then this crap!

darthed1981

It's the old story though isn't it?  The price war over the basic cost of a ticket has left the airlines trying to find more and more cunning ways to leverage margin, and they get so good at it they are probably in the end better off.

ICBM

Why are you surprised? If you get the flight for below the economic cost of the cost of operating the aircraft divided by the number of passengers, then they have to get the money back by other means. This is how budget airlines work - advertising artificially low prices to attract customers and then screwing them once they've booked.

How much was the flight?

notanon

@ICBM I expect some extra costs. It is not the first time I have flown of course. I have never had to pay to sit next to my wife. With TUI I have been used to £10Kg and that is okay, to take this to the point of laptop being the only thing you can get in a wheelie bag when most folk wouldn't think of trusting it in the hold seems deliberate. I was never aware of a limited number of PED s though not sure they will enforce this.

The cost? Yes cheap for the distance but not one of these £10 to France jobs. £230 return for 2 tickets canaries off season.

I understand where you are coming from, I would rather know the cost up front. But, . .   then other airlines are sneaking in costs so it is like a professional dive in football every f*******r does it so now an expected part of the game sigh.

Did everybody here know of the above tricks they are new to me.

Emp_Fab

I don't have much sympathy sorry.  That's what you get for giving this c**t your money....

notanon

@Emp_Fab who do you fly with then? They all seem to be getting incredibly devious now. I don't mind paying the money - tell me the price and I will decide. Sneaking costs in is a scummy trick. On the last minute I find I may need to put a laptop in the hold, . . . Blah blah.

vasselmeyer

They're being investigated by the CAA over their seating practices:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42931091

Emp_Fab

notanon said:

@Emp_Fab who do you fly with then? They all seem to be getting incredibly devious now. I don't mind paying the money - tell me the price and I will decide. Sneaking costs in is a scummy trick. On the last minute I find I may need to put a laptop in the hold, . . . Blah blah.

Anyone but Ryanair.  He's an arsehole.  That's it - literally anyone but them ! :-)

notanon

@vasselmeyer thanks for that post. A blind man on a galloping horse can see this is deliberate, why has it only just started to happen? 

Sporky

The airlines probably see it as customers gouging them deeper and deeper.

notanon

@Emp_Fab I may have paid more through Ryanair I really don't know. One thing for sure is TUI was the more embarrassing. We don't always have a choice which airline to use the most convenient is from Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham.

Again, if a flight is £270 not £230 then tell me. Am I bothered about £40? Personally nope. All this is going to do is to contribute to frustration of travel is this a good thing?

To find out the current weight restrictions on Ryanair my wife was looking and said there are non specified. I showed her the trick

Use google chrome and make sure there are no spaces in the wrong places

site:ryanair.com cabin luggage weight restrictions

Google found the terms and conditions page I would guess most people would have stopped at the baggage allowance page. Deliberate?

prowla

The bottom line is, if you don't like it, then you can go elsewhere.

I've never flown Ryanair or Easyjet.

ICBM

I've never had this sort of experience flying on EasyJet, and as far as I can remember I've never had to pay any excess charge whatever. Definitely one of the better airlines in my experience, at any price.

RaymondLin

I actually like BA...because of their carry on is 23kg, I aren’t checking in my camera gear!

Moe_Zambeek

Is that 115 quid each for a return flight to the canaries? How can anyone complain about that? It’s the same price as 200 cigarettes, or about 30 pints of Guinness at Edinburgh prices. It costs me 70 quid to fill the tank in my car (with petrol, not Guinness)

The thing to do with Ryanair is price the flight with their premium package option and see how it comes out. Usually cheaper than anyone else still. 

57Deluxe

at least you weren't all asked to get out and give the plane a jump start... that'll be next to save on fuel...

Sassafras

Seems to me that everything you buy these days comes with added costs.
Add-ons, Bolt-ons, extended cover...
Buying an item is just the first step in getting fleeced.
Broadband adverts are especially vague about letting you know exactly what you'll really end up paying.

djspecialist

notanon said:

Got a flight with Ryanair. Unless you pay extra then hand luggage is now all you can take on board: 30cm x 20cm x 20 cm

I certainly don't want to be a Ryanair apologist (!) ... but this is potentially a bit misleading.

It's true that the above is what you're allowed to take *into the cabin* without paying extra - but you're also allowed (without paying any fee) to take to the gate a second bag up to 55 x 40 x 20cm and 10kg, which will then be put in the hold.

You can also check in child car seats and pushchairs without a fee.  I assume regulations prevent Ryanair from charging for those, otherwise they undoubtedly would go full Pixies on us and Gouge Away.

If I have a choice, I'll use any other carrier - but when buying tickets for a family of four, Ryanair is often *way* cheaper than the competition (as long as you watch those baggage rules like a hawk).  So (presumably like everyone else on board), I just grit my teeth and look forward to putting the savings towards a very nice holiday.

Teetonetal

Moe_Zambeek said:

Is that 115 quid each for a return flight to the canaries? How can anyone complain about that? It’s the same price as 200 cigarettes, or about 30 pints of Guinness at Edinburgh prices. It costs me 70 quid to fill the tank in my car (with petrol, not Guinness)

The thing to do with Ryanair is price the flight with their premium package option and see how it comes out. Usually cheaper than anyone else still. 

Yup. We are flying to crete in october. We just looked at flight plus premium option. Was 100's cheaper across 4 people than the next available.

But I think the complaint isn't about the final cost.. more about how hidden some costs are these days.

notanon

prowla said:

The bottom line is, if you don't like it, then you can go elsewhere.

I've never flown Ryanair or Easyjet.

Whoops - sorry was just pointing out the latest shenanigans. Just couldn't find a Qatar flight from Cardiff - obviously they are crap too??

notanon

@ICBM "I've never had this sort of experience flying on EasyJet, and as far as I can remember I've never had to pay any excess charge whatever. Definitely one of the better airlines in my experience, at any price."

Yep exactly - Neither had I. Low budget, OK charge me extra for food etc etc that I expect and that is my choice. Erm, . . .  may be I should ask for this post to be deleted!? I thought this was a useful pointer for TheFretboard members just saying like erm, . . .  watch the small print folks.