Ryanair's Confusing New Baggage Policies May Alienate Passengers

I don't mind flying with them at all. Now that we don't have to get that stupid stamp at check in, it is much simpler but a few weeks ago flying Rome to London, I bet 50 people were in priority boarding, maybe more. If they could just get this baggage policy worked out and quit changing it..

Priority boarding is capped at 50% of the aircraft. they stop selling priority boarding at 50%.

A point about flying FR just because they're cheap-- Moreso than flying Ryanair because of their prices, I fly with them because (for better or worse), they are often the only airline in the market that offers nonstop flights to my destination. Here in Berlin for example, they are the only carrier to offer nonstop service to Belfast, Billund, Bologna, Bratislava, etc etc etc. I would gladly consider other carriers if they offered nonstop service to a Ryanair-only destination, but for now they're usually the quickest option. So we're stuck with them and their crappy baggage policy

I don't usually point out spelling and grammar errors, but this article has a rather large number of them.

I'm also struggling to see how this is "confusing" (I actually found this article much more confusing than their baggage policy - there's a LOT of text without much actual information!)?

Sorry, but this just reads like sour grapes. The Ryanair boys are very crafty and know exactly what they can get away with.

The other European LCCs are not transparent in their pricing by any means either, so an additional €8 for the miracle of air travel is not going to be the camel back-breaking straw for any reasonable person considering purchasing a flight.

The other point is that while Europe is reasonably well penetrated by LCCs on an aggregate basis, when you look at route maps, there are a substantial number of routes where Ryanair (or another LCC) is literally the only option available.

@Callum, I was about to write a similar message...
Articles on this blog have generally a better quality.

James, the priority inventory is capped at 95 passengers. If 95 people on your flight have already purchased priority boarding, you won't be able to.

Even with the additional fees, Ryanair is usually far cheaper than any other option, assuming you even have another reasonable option. As was mentioned before, on many routes Ryanair has essentially no direct competitor.

I do not see why you pity business people who fly Ryanair. They tend to be very punctual, very important for business. In my own experience, I prefer Ryanair over easyjet (not considering the price). I even think Ryanair has more legroom.

Regarding the priority queues, that is indeed a valid point. I also wondered what is the priority part of it if half of the plane buys it. Maybe they'll introduce another "Super Priority" add on that they will let board first. Or slowly hike the price of Priority when they see that people flock to it.

It is right that the advertised price is not indicative of the total price, but that is not a new development. Most people know this by now. Just consider the silly "resort fees" that US based hotels seem to start charging.

The airport closest to our house here in the South of France is Beziers, which is served by only one airline: Ryanair. So whatever the carrier charges, we're going to be flying them whenever it's too much of a hassle to drive two more hours to Montpellier or Toulouse. That said, we always travel Priority (really, why *wouldn't* you, for the small price difference???) and we never purchase anything onboard. All our flights have been punctual, the aircraft are clean, and the young, enthusiastic cabin crews are perfectly-groomed and always very friendly. We much prefer Ryanair to the once excellent, but now sadly pathetic British Airways!

Mmm. I think the mathemagics of the whole thing do elude you though... If 30% already pay, and 25% (as you used in your example) of those who didn't previously pay we're not going to 55% paid we're going to 47.5%. You have to take 25% of the 70% who didn't previously pay (which is 17.5%) NOT 25% of 100!!!

@gf
+1

I live in Malta.

I go back to the UK quite often as does my partner.

When checking there to fly to we either go London Heathrow or London Gatwick which luckily Ryanair don't service. I do check prices as BA, Air Malta and Easyjet service one / both Airports and Ryanair pops up for Stansted for €80 cheaper.

To me to save €80 but have to depart at silly o'clock in the morning and be a hundred miles from where I need to be. I'd rather pay for Air Malta that offer the best flight times, three types of economy ticket and a smile or two along the way and they offer you an actual boarding pass!!

British Airways might as well be Ryanair these days, even their business class intra Europe is rubbish.

Easyjet is basic but you get a smile and don't feel like you've been sucked dry having to faff aroun like Ryanair make you did.

Easyjet only lets you bring one bag on for the cheapest tickets. It can be a cabin bag that goes into the overhead if there's room, but you can't bring an under seat bag unless you purchase a higher fare.

Still, I am disappointed that Ryanair is going this route, even though I always bought Priority Boarding anyway, bc it will mean longer Priority Boarding lines. But I am disappointed in both Ryanair and Easyjet for not sticking to their policies of 1 cabin bag and 1 under seat bag for free, bc now they're not much better than Spirit and other airlines in the States that restrict you to one small bag. I hope they both go back to the way they were before.

1) As we say in England " yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice".

2) The art of précis should not be overlooked - especially when writing what should be only a brief article.

Wow air of Iceland also do not allow free full size cabin bag, and the same for Scoot which flies to Europe as well.
Any passenger will just add 16 euros (2 priority) to the total price, and see if FR is still the cheapest option.

Wow air of Iceland also do not allow free full size cabin bag, and the same for Scoot which flies to Europe as well.
Any passenger will just add 16 euros (2 priority) to the total price, and see if FR is still the cheapest option.

I fly from Paphos regularly on both Easy Jet and RyanAir to Luton or Stanstead..
Ryanair flights are usually at 7am , whereas easy Jet can be 2pm .
This is why Ryanair is usually cheaper on this route

Agree with Andromeda about precis. Padding out news briefs as articles isn't a positive development.

I only ever fly paid first class so suffer on suckers.

I wouldn't fly Ryanair even if my life depended on it. They symbolize everything that is wrong with mass tourism. Their cheap flights have huge externalized costs that we all end up paying for.

Hasn't this been policy on FR for quite a few months now? I do wonder about some of James's articles - they seem to be very Simon Calder-ish. Bringing him in to OMAAT makes me wonder about the veracity of Ben's posts.

Who cares about Ryanair apart from antipodeans in London trying to see as much of the continent as possible before going home? The Magic Bus/Contiki of the 21st Century.

@ Seat 1C - it's a new policy starting this coming November

@ Evan - Ryanair carry 130 million passengers a year. That's a lot more than the number of Australians living in the UK ; P

They're Europe's second biggest airline.

Fully agree with you on this James. Flew Stansted to Stockholm Västerås yesterday. One check in desk for this flight and one to Oslo departing at the same time. A huge queue even with the current policy with at least half of the queue mistakenly thinking they had to check in their hand baggage for free at that point rather than at the gate (on the outbound from Västerås this had been the case). With the new policy then it means it is worse for everyone. Don't pay for priority and be in a huge queue at check in or pay and try your patience at the gate and fight for overhead bin space.

@James - Yes of course -but most of their passengers do not read airline blogs I'll bet!