Is Ryan Air is swiftly becoming really dreary due to the ever greed of O'Leary...... (Ryanair)

Member Name: HS28

Product:	Ryanair
Date:	26/10/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of interesting destinations, can be cheap, never lost my luggage, staff are nice

Disadvantages: The pricing problem with the add ons, the madcow rush to board the plane

Is Ryan Air is swiftly becoming really dreary due to the ever greed of O'Leary......

Ryan Air, Ryan Air, Ryan Air what have they done for us in the last 23 years since they began in 1985. Well Ryan Air never become part of my world until the 'Noughties' as back in the 90s I was still a package holiday addict and not an independent traveller. Starting off as a tiny business in Ireland O'Leary has turned his company into a massive profit making empire to the envy of his competitors and received lots of negative press too. At present they have over 36 routes and 950 bases but the company is sill radically expanding as it seeks out cheaper airport bases and currently carries over 66 million passengers.


**The Budget experience**

Growing up my family took many holidays abroad and been a child and teenager of the 80s and 90s it was a case of package holidays and ''Peter Kaying'' it as in sing Teletext to book it and ............it. Then came the revolution of the big WWW and life and holidays as we know it changed for ever and poor old teletext was sharply pushed out of our house in favour of an unpackaged holiday or internet bargain.

That is when we stumbled on Ryan Air and Easy Jet and for a time they were both similar in prices and competiveness and the only difference you could tell was one was bright orange and flew to more destinations than the other which was blue and right yellow! However since n the last 10 years Ryan Air seems to have gradually got better in the destinations that it offers and got itself as many bases as Easy Jet to become as competitive and gradually Ryan air would roll of the tongue more easier than Stellios's easy jet.

I have flown with Ryan Air several times and been from several airports like Liverpool, Prestwick, Stanstead, Luton and Birmingham. I have visited several European cities with them like Rome, Milan and Paris and of course several jaunts to the relatives in France. So Ryan Air has opened up doors as they have enable me to get to top European cities at discounted prices and along with me finding equally cheap hotels via expedia or other sites I have turned myself into a travel agent less the commission. However my love affair with Ryan air is fading and I think I am going to end up reverting back to the Peter Kay Package deals or move upwards to the scheduled Flight companies and their better seats and add ins!


**The Price**

Ryan Air marketed itself as a budget airline and that is something that I will always rate their service on as to how cheap the prices are. In the good old days yes they were cheap and you didn't have to pay add ons like a fee for using your bank or credit card, a fee for wanting to check in your luggage at the airport like any normal person would do, a fee for actually booking the ticket, a fee for wanting to take your luggage when after all it is a holiday! This is the part of the pricing that really gripes me as they are not been honest in the prices that are flashed as headlines in the newspapers or on their website. It's the tiny tricky writing that hides this and you have to be savvy enough to work out what is and isn't included. I have still got flight between £10 and £50 in total return including the add ons which is still a good deal as it costs me £90 return to get to London on the Train!


**Working the Pricing system**

Unfortunately now I can only holiday in the school holidays I have knackered myself from the bargains but there are ways to get the prices cheap still even today. When booking online we worked out that if you had a certain bank card you didn't pay the bank/credit card fee that was introduced a couple of years ago. So off I went and got a basic bank account to avoid those costs. The next step of not paying for high taxes was to book a trip where it was advertised with no fees which like I said now is incredibly hard in the peak season but you have to look at the offers on the site or in the press. As a 49p flight quickly spirals to £40 with taxes if you are not careful.

I am disappointed with the luggage charges now that if you want hold luggage you pay so again I opted for hand luggage only as free and cut back what I would take. In a two you can share toiletries to fit in those tiny plastic bags but with the restrictions on items and 10kg only it's really hard when you're a 'woman' who over packs. This year led to a panic attack at Birmingham airport when my 10kg case got to the gate and would not fit in the luggage box! The guy was nice and told me to wear all my jumpers in my case and after 10 minutes of flapping I had successfully not been given a slap on fee for been over the luggage limit. That was one of the final straws though in falling out with Ryan Air and making me want to go more upmarket as it came between me and my makeup, shoes and many needed clothes!

On this trip we also worked out how not to pay the new check in fee and book online but again Ryan Air has changed this to make the fee unavoidable as everyone has to now check only online. So I fear now there are less and less loopholes to avoid paying the adds on. I wish they were all just in the original price so that you get the price you see and be honest with the millions of customers who use the service every day!


**The Service**

Well booking online has always been easy except for working out the add ons and pricing as said above. When you used to be allowed to check in at airports I found the staff on the desk pleasant enough and the queues relatively shorter than package deals.

They have never lost my luggage like Thomas Cook did and it has never come off the baggage spinner broken to pieces like it has on my holidays to Greece! They have always been on time generally with few delays unlike the many package holidays which have had hefty delays due to losing pilots, engines breaking etc.

However queues for the flight at departures always grate me as it's like a mad cow dash and run or you're flattened and Billy no mates on the plane. Another trick is in here to pay a speedy boarding fee! Adults with young children get priority which is great except you see teenagers lining up with parents trying to milk this system. So lately I have ended up last on the plane almost and split up from my friends or family sat next to others who aren't even travelling with each other anyway!

The staff on the plane are fine and nice enough and do their upmost to make their sales on food and goods. I rarely buy the food as it is cheaper to buy it within the airport but have occasionally bought the odd make up or perfume which can be cheaper online.


**Overall**

As I am stuck now with school holidays only my window to cheap and economical holidays is almost shut. I have to really look ahead now and for the best option in terms of comfort, luxury and price. Therefore my love affair with Ryan Air is dwindling as it did with Easy Jet. Although in fairness at least Easy Jet don't add that much on with taxes to make the price you see more realistic to the price you pay. I have ended up going for more long haul trips lately to the US anyway which sadly Ryan Air have not ventured to anyway and price wise you don't pay a whole lot more plus the dollars are cheaper than the Euros for our fading Sterling!

So the upshot is I am going back to package deals or more upmarket scheduled airlines to the more leading airlines by booking in advance to get a nicer seat, service and be able to take luggage with me on what after all should be a holiday!

I don't blame Mr Dreary as he is the ultimate businessman making sure he hits peak profits through extremely tight margins. I just wish they would be more honest in the pricing as the loopholes are gradually disappearing which is going to gradually turn more and more people off this company in the long run.

This is only my humble opinion of course but I would rate the service as 4/5, the pricing as 1/5 due to the pricing system.

Therefore giving it a 3 Star rating overall but with a severe warning to look at the add ons carefully but on the other side look at the superb list of destinations it has opened up to us from airports near your doorstep.

Summary: Fly to lots of destinations but read the small print before parting with your cash