Monday, 26th May 2008
When cheap equals expensive
It was interesting to read the article in The Times (May 22) regarding the change in fees by Ryanair for priority boarding.
On a return flight to and from Barcelona, February 14 and 21, the fee was not as stated in the article, €5, but €8. Priority boarding did not exist, instead, one boards the bus with all the other passengers and on arrival at the boarding steps to the aircraft, even before the bus doors are completely open, there is a stampede for the plane. I suppose that the first of the herd to board has got him/herself priority - €8 bite the dust! Not to mention the other €8 for using your credit card. How else can one pay online?
As a matter of interest, when first working one's way through the booking sequence and choosing a destination (Barcelona in my case), the list of destinations shows Barcelona, where else? It is not till later on that the initials GRO appear and later still the word Girona. It was not until I arrived at my destination that I realised that I was not at Barcelona (I know the airport there quite well) but at Girona. This airport is about 120 km away from Barcelona airport and translates to €135 for a taxi. I suppose I could have taken the cheap transfer bus (by now I had learned that cheap = expensive), then miss my interconnecting flight to Palma.
My return flight to Malta? I dumped the ticket and flew on another airline for less than the taxi to Girona would have cost.
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Comments
"By the way, as from October this year Ryanair will not fly from Girona any more (they also drop Bremen, decrease 2 flights a week to Luton, and 1 a week to Dublin). Clickair, did not fly last winter, and probably will not next winter too. So you would all like to know that a rather expensive connecting flight will be your only option."
This is serious!
By the way, as from October this year Ryanair will not fly from Girona any more (they also drop Bremen, decrease 2 flights a week to Luton, and 1 a week to Dublin). Clickair, did not fly last winter, and probably will not next winter too. So you would all like to know that a rather expensive connecting flight will be your only option. Look for passenger numbers to fall sharply from Next October!
Nowadays, they're booking with low cost airlines to and giving advise to their clients.
For your information Mr. Poulton Ryanair in its website indicates BARCELONA (GIRONA) and not just GRO.
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm
which is a good place to hear what one can expect from Low Cost .
Regrettably , many Maltese are ready to eat what a foregneir hands out , even if the maltese version may be better . Check the fine print and any additiona costs before you travel , as you may be in for a surprise .
What were you really expecting to achieve by throwing away 8 euros on priority boarding? there's always going to be enough seats on the plane for all the passangers...you wastd your money.
Ryanair is notorious about flying to remote airports under the misleading brand of a city/place miles away, you really should have checked where exactly the airport was.
With Ryanair, if you want to make the most out of them you need to know exactly what your getting; you need to know the extra charges you need and those which are just scams, you need to know obviously where the aircraft will take you.
Personally i stopped using Ryanair when they introduced the hold baggage fee...its just so ridiculous and misleading that it speaks volumes of the complete lack of value they regard their customers with.