Stranded in the UK - Ryanair Complaints? Oh, I have a few...
For my flight out, I had packed as lightly as I could: an empty suitcase (for me to pick up some belongings from the UK), inside of which I put my laptop case with my laptop, a single change of clothes, two books and some food to stop me having to pay for Ryanair's overpriced and unappetising food.
It is a well known fact that Ryanair's hand baggage limits are very strict, but one would have thought that my luggage (the bare necessities, to say the least) would get me on the plane without problems. Alas, no - my luggage weighed 10.5kg, 500g (17.5oz) over the limit. As a result, I was forced to check my empty case into the hold, as well as pay a 10€ penalty.
I didn't think things could get any worse for my return flight. I thought wrong. A short tear in the photo page of my passport, allowing for 'access' to my photo (you try tampering with a picture through a tear that small) meant that "unfortunately, Mr Corrigan, you will be unable to fly with Ryanair today due to your incorrect travel documentation". This turns out not to be an airport security measure but simply Ryanair policy.
Ryanair do indeed allow you to re-book your flight without having to book a new ticket by paying a 75€ 'missed flight penalty' which would normally be cheaper than rebooking online. However, such fees are only payable at the airport, after which they get you on the next flight they have space on. As I had to make a trip into London to get an emergency passport (costing me a further 150€), there was no way I was going to go back to the airport and risk not getting on a plane until the following day and having to sleep in the airport.
My personal unfortunate experiences of flying with Ryanair aside, there are a number of aspects to flying with Ryanair that potential passengers should be aware of. Read this Review of Flying with Ryanair to find out what everyone should know before booking with Ryanair.
Ryanair fly to 16 destinations in Spain, far more than their nearest rival, Easyjet, and they have just announced a new hub in Madrid, presumably to counter Easyjet's similar move back in August. Between the two of them, Easyjet and Ryanair cover just about every airport in Spain. Find out more about Ryanair & Easyjet Destinations in Spain. Ryanair can also be incredibly cheap - but not always as cheap as at first glance. See this Ryanair vs Easyjet Price Comparison for a breakdown of their prices. Have an opinion? Join the discussion.
Ryanair have been in the news today, with the first in a series of strikes among baggage handlers in Girona, Reus, Jerez, Seville, Santiago, Almeria, Granada, Murcia, Valencia, Zarago
I have set up a new page for users to share their experiences of Ryanair with other readers. Rather than leaving a comment at the bottom of this blog, why not Share Your Ryanair Experience and let others know about what happened to you?
Wtf mate! Come on. How can you be complaining about ryanair when in fact it was only your problem. YOU showed up with overweight! YOU showed up with a faulty passport! That is not f***in ryanairs problem. THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM! Should they bend the rules for you just because you think you are a top journalist man?? Get real.. /Niles
*This comment has been edited by the About.com Guide to Spain*
Niles : … Numerous passengers have been denied boarding when the border police saw no problem with the passport. Where overweight luggage is concernred, 500 g should be within the discretionary limit given to airline staff. …
A family holiday cost an additional £480 as a result of Ryan(CON)air. They are ****** and i hope their directors **** **** **** **** ****.
Unfortunately, Paul, I had to edit your post slightly – I can get in trouble for some of what you wrote.
It is indeed true that your holiday with Ryanair can cost more than you expect if you aren’t extremely careful with your booking. See How to Book the Cheapest Flights with Ryanair.
Sorry, but … how can a family holiday cost an additional £ 480 as a result of Ryanair? Some more facts and less venom would be welcome.
Ryanair recently canceled their return flight from Salzburg leaving all passengers stranded with on alterantive, we were told to go online and find make own plans, this was @ 22:30 and there was no web access available at the airport, it cost 2 days hell and 1,400 to get my family home to Ireland, no joke their service stinks
Be realistic, just think for a moment. Ryanair charge fantastically low prices and except for the ludicrous credit card admin fee almost all other charges can be avoided if you use a bit of common sense. Let’s applaud Ryanair for making air travel so accessible not continually moan about them!
see my Ryanair advice at http://www.petcher.blogspot.com
Hi there! After having booked Ryanair I found lots of negative comments about it. So in the end I was really concerend even if Ryanair will even exist and not just be an internet fraud company. In the end I was stunned how friendly they were, how punctual the flight was-I guess nobody is much aware that Ryanair is the most punctual airline in the world!! Maybe if you have got a private jet it might be more convinient. The price for food was surprisingly low-just the same price as it was at the airport-I had expected double price because of all the negative comment. Also, Ryanair has no first class and that may be a problem to the people who pay a very low fare but still expect treatment as like they had payed a first class ticked of the value of 3.000 (three thousand) Euro. With all the negative comments outthere about Ryanair-stop being egoistic describing the world so neagtively and creating fear and distrust to other people, because that is really negative.
RyanAir are thee rudest,least accomodating and unhelpful airline on earth!
Recently I was in Dublin airport for a flight to europe.I asked the RyanAir check-in girl when my gate opened.She gave me the wrong time.I took her advice,arrived at the now closed gate and was all but told to f”·k off by the frighteningly masculine lady at the desk called Sai.
Not allowed board the plane due to their mistake,I hsad to pay for an additional flight the next day and a hotel that night.
No apology,no help just extreme rudeness.Worse still when I went to their ticket sales desk,the incompetent girls called their supervisor who acted in such an immature manner,defensive,abusive and plain ignorant.
NEVER AGAIN!They really are as bad,and worse than their reputation.
O´Leary´s boorish behaviour is reflected in his gestapo-type staff
We booked a flight from Edinburgh to Shannon which we should have been on yesterday. Checked in online without a problem and since they constantly remind you NOT to go to the check in desk or you will be fined heavily, we just had it in our minds to bypass it all and go to the boarding area. We were there in ample time plus the flight was delayed twice. Finally, we decided to see what was going on at the gate and found out that it was actually the final call to get on the plan after no announcements or updates on the screen to show what gate to go to! Finally, we get to hand over our boarding cards that we printed off from home and find out I needed to get a visa check done at the check in desk at the airport (I am a US citizen but it clearly says on my passport that I am a permenent resident). With absolutly no help and robotic excuses from the staff who claim they are not employed by Ryan Air, we were told there is nothing we could do at that it was all our fault. We later showed a friend this boarding pass who as well did not see the “visa check” after deliberatly not telling her to see if she noticed.The staff seemed to delight in our misfortune and were so unhelpful it was sickening. I don’t know how they can sleep at night.
We booked flights to paris with ryanair arrived at prestwick boarded all went well on that flight.AHH the return we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare then noticed our flight was delayed by 1 hour, not so bad as time passed we noticed no aircraft at the gate at 11.40pm ryanair staff kindly tell us our flight is cancelled go to there desk for a new flight time. bearing this in mind that this is thursday nite the ryanair staff tell us that we can go home on tuesday 5 days later wot a joke when asked if they where puttin us in a hotel they said No .My wife is a travel manger for one of the biggest busness travel companies in the uk asked where our plane was we where told it had flown back to prestwick EMPTY from vience.We where told basically to F**k off and make your own plans whe where dropped off back in paris at 3am no hotel,no flight.We had to get a taxi to an other airport at my cost pay for flight to luton airport remember i stay in glasgow scotland i then had to hire a car to get back to prestwick to pick up my own car and pay for an extra day parking as well had been awake for 38 hrs by the time we got home myself and my wife and child will never forget that holiday.NEVER FLY WITH THIS BUNCH OF ROBBING CROOKS.
now trying to get my money back from these crooks.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED THEY WILL DROP YOU AND LEAVE YOU AND NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU.
if i get that olearys address i will pay him a vist and drop him and his family off in a strange country at 3 in the morning and tell him to F**K OFF!!!!see if he likes that.