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RYANAIR HAS DEFENDED the introduction of new higher baggage charges for the peak travelling season – asking some passengers to pay €135 to bring certain bags with them – saying the moves will encourage passengers to “travel lighter”.
The airline yesterday announced it would impose higher charges for checked-in luggage for flights between June and September of next year, and for the Christmas 2012 season, increasing charges by €5 each to €25.
It also announced a massive hike in baggage charges where the baggage was not paid for online – with its airport baggage fees rising from €35 to €60 per bag in low season, and €100 in high season.
Passengers hoping to bring a second bag on their journey – who currently pay €40 online, or €80 in the airport – will now be asked to pay €135 if their bag is not booked in advance.
“As always, baggage fees are avoidable, but for those who chose to check-in a bag during peak travel periods the new fees will apply for bookings made after 15th December next for travel in June, July, August and September 2012,” Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said.
The airline is also to increase its penalty for passengers who lose or fail to print their boarding cards before arrival at the airport, from €40 to €60 – though it says this affects “less than 10 passengers per day”.
The Consumers Association of Ireland has described the new charges as “punitive”.
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There’s an easy to avoid Ryanair’s sly, exploitative baggage charges and their appalling customer service – fly with Aer Lingus or one of the other rival airlines.
I have to bring a medical bag on flights. Before our holiday this year, I contacted them to confirm that I would be allowed to bring it. They said it was fine.
I left Derry airport with no problems.
On our way home, from Faro airport, they wouldn’t allow me on the plane unless I checked it in. In the end, I had to show the staff member why I needed it, I had to do this in front of all the other passengers. She let me on.
About 2 weeks later, after lodging a complaint, Ryanair issued me with an apology. They couldn’t have been more apologetic to be honest.
But their baggage regime creates this kind of situation.
Anyone had their taxes used to bail out Ryanair recently? Anyone been forced to book flights with them? Nope? O’Leary, nasty smirking shyster that he is, does no harm to anyone but his willing customers – that practically makes him Man of the Year by this country’s standards.
Danny, thats pretty bad. :(
Ryan Air has a secret agenda….
FLY NAKED ;)
The way airport security is going, you’re going to need to strip off to get to the plane soon anyway!
now that would be a great idea . a plane load of people with nothing only a passport and a smile .
volunteers sign below
They have those scanners now in the US where they can see you pretty much in the nip…. Passed through one in Chicago O’Hare a few weeks ago. I was in a rush to get through so I didn’t have time to get into the queue for a body frisk…..
As shocking as Ryanair are, it’ because of them flying around the world has become so cheap, you can’t take that away from them. I dont and never will fly with them, but I thank them for introducing huge competition.
Never have any problems flying Ryanair. Can’t say the same about Aer Lingus or BA.
@Mike Reid
A common mistake to think that Mike, and Ryanair have been living on the PR of it for years.
Deregulation of the airline industry was a function of the EU (that everyone on here moans about so much) and its policy of introducing competition into industry. You can see the same thing happening with the energy market at the moment.
Southwest Airlines in the US had been using the low cost model for years before the European deregulation.
Where Tony Ryan was smart was being quick to jump in thereby gaining ‘first mover advantage’
I’m glad people are beginning to see through the irritating veneer of millionaire Michael O Leary who couldn’t give a damn about customers feelings
It’s works out quite economical if you put some family members inside the checked luggage. They are not flammable. Also I’ve noticed more and more people travelling with small children inside their hand luggage. This is becoming quite risky as I have noticed an increase in Gestapo at the gate looking for anyone attempting to carry-on kitchen sinks.
Ryanair by hiking up the charges are attempting to scare people into checking in bags in advance. €25 per bag: €50 return. Robbing b@*!£$ds. Another reason why I never ever fly with them. Scummy airline
I always try to avoid flying Ryanair whenever possible. This sort of rip off charging plus the hassle you get at check-in over bag sizes just re-enforces my opinion of them; th worst airline i’ve had to deal with to date.
Who is still flying with Ryanair ?
If cash was tight
Otherwise any other airline
Eh… everyone i know does anyway. Bitch and moan all you like but it’s nearly always the cheapest way from A to B
As I said only if money was tight.
I rarely buy the cheapest of anything. I like a little pleasantness about my products. Cheap is what it is. I like arriving at a airport that isnt an hour from my destination. I even like the fact that I’m not staring at garish yellow and blue on the flight. So just cause “everyone you know does” doesn’t mean anything.
Apparently there also very good discounts if when booking online, you tick the option to fly the plane. A pilot from Yemen was only telling me this yesterday.
There’s also a discount if you give them a push to get started on the runway…
Surely it must be cheaper at this stage to buy your luggage seats on the plane then check it into the hold?
Easy way around it is not to fly Ripoffair!!!
I’ve found Ryanair a goodsend on short business trips, I can fly in & out of the UK at times for €30 return, it can cost more to park at the short term car park!
Some people are so stupid. Ryanair explain everything if you take the time to look. From charges to bag size it’s all there on their website. Anyone that gets caught out are usually to blame through their own laziness.
Exactly. Some of the posts above read like angry irrational and ill-informed passengers on one of those crap airport shows. Never ceases to amaze me how many idiots get caught at security with stuff, and trying to bring oversize baggage on. The rules are clear as day on their website… if you don’t like it then feel free to use another airline (and pay more) but don’t bitch and whinge about it… Ryanair owe you nothing!
It’s a budget airline. If you want to fly cheap – don’t expect much. If you don’t like it – fly with another airlines.
Ryanair are great if you can get the good deal, but it’s a bit rich for him to complain about the ten Euro airport charge if he charges 135 quid for a bag!
With this kind of extortion O’Leary is slowly tightening the noose around his airline, with passenger numbers slowly declining its another notch in the rope. There are some very good websites out there for people to air their views on this sort of thing, one I use a lot is http://www.iHateEasyJet.co.uk (covers all low cost airlines)
Agree stephen,Ryanair are a bunch of cu#ts but if you play ball & do what’s asked of you there’s nothing to worry about,I got charged €30 by aer lingus at the airport last month for checking in a bag
Adding up all of ryanair extras as well as flying into odd airports throughout Europe leaving passengers miles from where they want to be not to mention was treated like an animal when I fly with them, Aer Lingus it is for me in the future where both fly to same locations.
Its the only airline that i can find that goes dublin to liverpool, so no choice really.
Aer Lingus used to do that route…. Used them until they pulled out a few years ago… So yes, only Ryanair go to Liverpool now unfortunately.
That’s the Ryanair business model. Undercut every other airline on a route until no-one else can compete. They pull out, Ryanair puts their prices back up to normal. They’ve done it on a good few routes.
Journal.. we need to talk. Every time Michael O’Leary announces something like this, he’s dangling a carrot over your heads. You fall for it every time. They obviously discovered that all publicity is good publicity and that by getting headlines for wacky announcements they give themselves free advertising. Even moreso when they issue retractions and reassurances when it’s discovered that some of the announcements are false. Fair enough, it gives you guys some ad revenue. But have some dignity, leave that crap to the tabloids.
Matthew – Thanks for your comments. This is a stick we’re often beaten with, and perhaps with some merit, but I think in this particular instance it’s difficult to see how ‘Ryanair may charge you €135 per bag’ could be spun as good publicity?
Gavan, for Ryanair any publicity is good publicity. This is actually a real Ryanair story as well, instead of one of the makeyuppy people paying to use the toilet type ones.
In saying that, I think it is very unfair to beat the Journal over the head for reporting on this. The Journal should report on stuff that people are interested in, even if it is tabloid fare or non-news. The level of comments are an indicator of whether the story was a success or not. You can’t waste paper and ink on the internets.
It will be good publicity in a few hours when Ryanair issues an official statement saying that the decision was made in the interest of their customers, as they do not wish to penalize all their customers who “play fair”. Then they’ll lump in something about increased efficiency and finally explain why they’re the greatest low fares airline in Europe.
The Ryanair publicity model is actually fiendishly clever – every outraged “THE SCABBY B****RDS!” story just reinforces the ‘Ryanair flights are SO CHEAP they have to come up with some other way to make money ‘ mental image, and the idea that if you can somehow evade the extras through native cunning you can get an amazing deal. It’s the aviation equivalent of one of those toy-grabbing claw games.
Folks if you don’t like the terms and conditions or price.Fly with someone else simple.
Norman in a lot of cases Ryanair is the only airline flying to some destinations, so people don’t have a choice i.e Gdansk.. I know of some Polish people who prefer to fly Lufthansa to Germany and take a train to their home city rather than deal with Ryanair..and it still sometimes works out cheaper sometimes. Next time O’Leary mentions the travel tax, someone needs to bring up Ryanair’s ridiculous charges.
Gerry,im sure “some” polish people aren’t going to sway, or factor into ryanairs business plan. Whats the saying, cheap thrills,no frills. Its bog standard airline. Cheaper the better, I carry light . ryanair can claim to be jesus christ to grab headlines for all I care. Price of a ticket speaks louder
If you book well enough in advance Aer Lingus can be just a cheap. I have got flights to London and Malaga cheaper with Aer Lingus in the past on a few occasions. If you go anyway outside of the norm with “scumbag air” you will be screwed.
Groan…I’d pay twice that amount to keep this tool out of my face .
70-90 million people a year and it’s an Irish company. Stop begrudging one of the few successful Irish companies THAT doesn’t need a bail but brings in alot of tax and tourists.
Ahhh the old ‘St Michael of Bad-Service’ supporters are in the house.
We really should thank him for making MILLIONS in profit every year while consumers mistakenly believe their TOTAL journey is significantly cheaper.
Factor in your restrictions and add on transportation.
Do your research. Look up the airport Ryanair are flying into and you can find the cost of shuttle buses there. Use a bit if common sense… why should o’leary have to take you by the hand?
I do not like chaep …. Ryan air is cheap ! I have flown with them and dislike it . I will fly aer lingus when possible tho , always better , more relaxed and friendlier .
Good girl Eileen, thats the spirit. No one likes a “chaep”skate ;-)
:)
You have to play by their rules to end up not paying all their excessive charges. I try to avoid them if at all possible, but as others have mentioned, sometimes their prices are what sways me. If all-in they are 50 to 60 quid less than another option and it doesn’t cost too much to get to where you actually want to go, e.g. If I want to go to london and I choose ryanair to Stansted you have to factor in another €25 for the return train into the centre of london, i would go with them…..
I hate though when you are in the queue to board the flight (particularly in stansted) and they are checking everyone’s bags for size, weight etc. Even though you have made sure that your bag is fine and fits within their regulations, you are still sweating, thinking that they are going to haul you out and make you pay a charge. I’ve seen some people getting pretty angry with them when they’ve had to check-in bags etc that they were trying to carry on…. but in fairness, this is generally people trying to bring on big bags and they have nobody to blame but themselves…
Whilst you are invariably treated like cattle with Ryanair, you do get what you pay for. Like they rightly say, if you book everything online, which most people do these days, then a lot of extra charges.hassle can be avoided. It’s not perfect but all it takes is some careful planning.
Tis all the price of flying cheaply.
@Gavin Reilly as the journal always points out to “read the article” is it true that they are charging 135 euros “per bag” or is this for the second unchecked bag. I also refrained from using the euro sign as I’m told your site breaks out in a rash or something.
Martin – As the piece outlines, second unchecked bags will cost €135 at peak season.
If you really hate R.A so much why fly with them.But remember who brought in cheaper air travel and made the world closer and why is R.A. Are praised anywhere I have traveled by the locals there and the Irish always runs our own down
A sure sign the begrudgers are all alive and well here lol lol lol just get on another airline
Visiting ryanairs website feels like taking part in a three card trick with a street hustler in Albania. Now you see it now you don’t. They have become the “Flyer of Last Resort” for most people. Like all cost cutters their business model is finite. One accident away from meltdown.
They provide an experience akin to Lidl vacuum packed smily pork roll or primark bumper men’s brief multi pack. Best avoided, a consumers delusion of value.
If Ryanair was a meal it would be spam and smash with curried beans.
If it was a sport it would be woman’s cage fighting
It it was a car it would be a trabant
If it was a band it would be Saxon
If it was an item of clothing a tangerine leatherette jock strap
If it was a woman it would be Jordan
If it was a man it would be Michael o’leary
Gerry the people you know are doing what i suggested.They don’t like Ryanair so get to their destination a different way whats the problem.
This will encourage people to move away from Ryanair. They have run out of ways to take out cost and are trying to hide their prices from customers. Clearly they arw having difficulty to be efficient they tried ti charge me 900 to fly to Malta in October when I could fly to America for 650. Something is not stacking up in their business any more.
o leary you tit.
whats next ? we step on a scales nd charge us by weight or will there be a height charge?
Ryanair are the scumbag airline whose founder will break any aviation laws he can get away with to save a few euros as proved by his stunt of point blank refusing to reimburse people for reasonable expenses after the volcano eruption!
The aviation authorities were not slow about telling him to pay up as he was obliged by laws to do or his planes would not move on or off the ground!
And I thought the the Irish public thought that O’Leary was bigger than God and could walk on water, glad to see some people aren’t fooled by his self serving antics. There’s any obvious market for Ryanair and they sometimes get you to places that no one else flies to but if I can I will use anyone else but them! Cheap flights if you can carry everything you need in your pockets particularly your food and drink, don’t require any assistance from their staff, happy to land an hour and a half from where you want to go to on a Wednesday afternoon in mid February and return home sometime the following November, no, I’m happy to go with anyone else if possible thanks
Time to lynch O’Leary.
AerLingus only! ?Ryanshitair is a flying piece of junk with terrible customer care. if you 150cm high or more … mind your knee hehehe
It isn’t cheap any more
14E to check In on line, another 14E admin charges, also 4E to use debit card.
Two passengers. I thought that when one checked in on line it was saving them admin, and check in so why the charge.
have your say