Other Stories

This page is for other people's stories. They are reproduced in the correspondents' own words and reflect their own views only.

If you have an experience of travelling with Ryanair that would be of interest to other visitors to this site, particularly if you had a problem and found a way of getting recompense, please email info@ryanaircampaign.org, stating whether you wish it to be published (anonymously) on this site. For more interactive discussion and a wider range of advice and expertise, we have now set up a Google group at http://groups.google.com/group/ryanair-customers. All poetry is now gathered at the bottom of the page.

The views, opinions, statements and other written items contained within the following pages are published for information purposes only and are directly attributable to the respective authors of those items and in no way reflect the views or beliefs of, and may not be attributed directly or indirectly to the site host and are published by the host in good faith and without any representation whatsoever as to their accuracy or otherwise. Requests for further information about or comments in respect of any statements may be emailed to the host which may act as a forwarding service to said authors but may not be obliged to reveal to any other person or entity the identity of such authors in any event.

In the threatening letter, it is claimed that some of the stories are false or contain statements which are false. However, despite being asked to be specific and being given the chance to check all stories before publication, Ryanair has declined every effort we have made to identify and rectify anything which might be incorrect.

Successful Call About Boarding Pass Submitted 1 June 2009
More Success: Hotel Bill Reimbursed Submitted 27 May 2009
Recruitment "Scam" Submitted 25 May 2009
Success in Getting Through Submitted 20 May 2009
Typographical Error Costs £119 Submitted 16 May 2009
Small Claims Success Submitted 09 May 2009
Double Booking Submitted 12 May 2009
Information on Fees (addressed to Ryanair) Submitted 7 April 2009
Never had a Problem Submitted 10 May 2009
Never had a Problem Submitted 1 May 2009
VISA Confusion Submitted 18 April 2009
Refused Boarding for Domestic Flight Submitted 31 March 2009
No Free Water On Board Submitted 27 March 2009
Web Booking Ordeal (link to external blog) Submitted 17 March 2009
Inconsistent Application of Baggage Policy (addressed to Ryanair) Submitted 9 March 2009
Two Days of Holiday Lost Submitted 9 March 2009
36 Hour Flight Change at Higher Price Submitted 1 March 2009
Catastrophic Results of Cancellation (letter to Ryanair) Submitted 25 February 2009
Credit Fee Charged for Debit Card Submitted 13 February 2009
Recession Makes Ryanair Care About Customer Service? Submitted 12 February 2009
"Cancelled" Flight? Submitted 9 February 2009
Ryanair Travel Insurance Useless Submitted 9 February 2009
Customer Service Attitude Submitted 6 February 2009
Fantasy About Good Customer Service Submitted 5 February 2009
Wheelchair Booking Submitted 29 January 2009
Online Checkin Problems Submitted 28 January 2009
Wasted Money on "Priority Boarding" Submitted 20 January 2009
Successful Refund Submitted 16 January 2009
Denied Boarding Submitted 14 January 2009
From Inside Customer Services Submitted 8 January 2009
Three Times in One Flight Submitted 7 January 2009
Coach Cancelled and Ryanair Staff Hide Submitted 6 January 2009
£100 Vouchers Not Redeemed Submitted 3 January 2009
Ryanair Experience Submitted 30 December 2008
Complaint to OFT by Customer Submitted 28 December 2008
No Online Checkin for non-EU Citizens Submitted 25 November 2008
No Change Given Submitted 21 November 2008
Successful Name Change Submitted 6 November 2008
Unruly Behaviour on Flight Submitted 4 November 2008
No Explanation for Delay Submitted 30 October 2008
Successful Claim Submitted 29 October 2008
Booking Change Saga Submitted 19 October 2008
Still Awaiting Refund Due to Cancellation Submitted 8 October 2008
Dumped in Biarritz Submitted 19 September 2008
Charged after Site Malfunction Submitted 5 September 2008
Missed Funeral, Indifference and Lack of Information (addressed to Ryanair) Submitted 3 September 2008
No Response to Refund Request Submitted 29 August 2008
Why Pay for Priority Boarding? Submitted 27 August 2008
First Ryanair Experience Submitted 27 August 2008
Extra Fees and Charges Submitted 24 August 2008
Cheap Flights Don't have to be as Unpleasant as Ryanair Submitted 20 August 2008
No Warning Before or Customer Service After Flight Rescheduled by Two Days Submitted 19 August 2008
Charged After Cards not Accepted Submitted 13 August 2008
Cost of Missing Flight due to Wrong Information Submitted 11 August 2008
Card Fees, Payment Refused, Crashing Site etc etc (addressed to Ryanair) Submitted 5 August 2008
Sent to the Wrong Country Submitted 23 July 2008
No Response Over Smashed Suitcase Submitted 21 July 2008
The Full Ryanair Experience Submitted 21 July 2008
Change of Flight Time and Can't get Through to Cancel Submitted 21 July 2008
Excess Baggage and Stolen Phone (letter not responded to) Submitted 11 July 2008
One and a Half Day Flight "Time" Change Submitted 9 July 2008
Birthday Message Submitted 8 July 2008
Administration Fee More than Tax Refund Submitted 2 July 2008
Booking Charged After Web Error and no Confirmation for 22 Hours Submitted 21 June 2008
Deported After Lost Passport Submitted 20 June 2008
Marathon Refund Attempt Submitted 20 June 2008
Successful Refund thanks to Contacts Given Here Submitted 19 June 2008
Taxes Not Included? Submitted 17 June 2008
Cabin Crew Thanked Through This Site Submitted 14 June 2008
Customer Service Problems (addressed to Ryanair) Submitted 13 June 2008
Ryanair Staff Embarrassed to be Named Submitted 13 June 2008
Complaints and Replies Submitted 9 June 2008
Can't Even Get Insurance Claim Submitted 3 June 2008
Getting Through Thanks to Tip Given to This Site Submitted 2 June 2008
Experience Returning from Lourdes Submitted 2 June 2008
No Warning of Error When Changing Details Submitted 28 May 2008
Wasted Evening Trying to Book Submitted 26 May 2008
Getting Round the Booking System Submitted 25 May 2008
Correspondence About Luggage Size and "Professionalism" at Beauvais Submitted 25 May 2008
Chaos at Pisa Submitted 20 May 2008
Continued Problems with Booking, Service, Charges ... (and everything) Submitted 20 May 2008
Attempt at Making Claim Submitted 19 May 2008
Can't Redeem £100 Voucher Submitted 19 May 2008
Inconsistent Scales Submitted 18 May 2008
Priority Booking Refund Mystery Submitted 18 May 2008
Checkin Costs for Non-EU Passengers Submitted 17 May 2008
Abandoned at Brno Submitted 17 May 2008
Delayed by Security Check Submitted 11 May 2008
Bugs in Booking System? Submitted 30 April 2008
Checkin for non-EU National Submitted 25 April 2008
Thanks to Crew for Help with Illness Submitted 24 April 2008
Praise for Liverpool Baggage Handling Number Submitted 24 April 2008
Hidden Costs Submitted 23 April 2008
"Complete" Booking not Gone Through and has to be Paid at Walk-Up Rate Submitted 23 April 2008
Flight Booking Error and no way of Checking Submitted 22 April 2008
Ryanair Forces Change of Holiday and Charges for the Change Submitted 22 April 2008
Can't Get Through, Go to Stansted ... Submitted 20 April 2008
Finally Got Through Submitted 9 April 2008
Reservation Fee Submitted 9 April 2008
Getting Through to Customer Services (letter to Ryanair and follow-up) Submitted 9 April 2008
Rudeness and Inconsistency (letter to Ryanair) Submitted 1 April 2008
Not Allowed in Front Seats Submitted 1 April 2008
Newquay Bad Experience Submitted 1 April 2008
Vouchers Cost More in Phone Calls than they are Worth Submitted 25 March 2008
Charged with being French ...? Submitted 24 March 2008
Wasted Time and Phone Bill Submitted 11 March 2008
Cost of Refused Boarding Submitted 15 March 2008
Unable to Get Through Submitted 13 March 2008
Disconnected Support Line Submitted 14 March 2008
Denied Boarding Due to Ryanair Delay (letter to Ryanair) Submitted 28 February 2008
Expensive Web Failure Submitted 7 March 2008
Cheapest Flight May Have Most Expensive Extras Submitted 6 March 2008
11-Hour Delay (letter to Ryanair) Submitted 25 February 2008
Refund at Last Submitted 21 February 2008
No Alternatives for Cancelled Flights Submitted 15 February 2008
Buy One Get One Free Submitted 13 February 2008
Marrakech to Luton 1 February 2008 Submitted 12 February 2008
Diversion to Murcia (letters to Ryanair and AUC) Submitted 12 February 2008
Vouchers Had to be Used in One Transaction Submitted 4 February 2008
Ryanair Clairvoyants? Submitted 3 February 2008
Cost of Inputting Error Submitted 31 January 2008
Beat them over Split Baggage Allowance Submitted 30 January 2008
Was Anyone on Flight FR3013 from Ciampino, Sunday 20 January 2008? Submitted 28 January 2008
Getting Answer from Helpline Submitted 25 January 2008
Breach of Duty of Care Submitted 23 January 2008
Poor Reputation Effect on Share Price Submitted 17 January 2008
Stranded in Venice Submitted 9 January 2008
System Adds Taxes Submitted 4 January 2008
First Experience of Ryanair Service Submitted 2 January 2008
Currency Conversion Submitted 29 December 2007
Budget Airline Comparisons Submitted 24 December 2007
Refund of Taxes Submitted 19 December 2007
Debit Charge Submitted 19 December 2007
Contacting Ryanair about Double Bookings Submitted 13 December 2007
Refund of Taxes for Non-Flight Submitted 28 November 2007
Phone Cost and Free Flight Vouchers Submitted 26 November 2007
No Phone Support After Web Error Submitted 14 November 2007
Letter to Ryanair From Travel Agent Submitted 13 November 2007
Stranded When Things Go Wrong Submitted 11 November 2007
Taxes and Charges Submitted 30 October 2007
Getting What you Pay For? Submitted 8 November 2007
Bags and "Time Saving" Submitted 5 November 2007
To the Back of the Queue Submitted 5 November 2007
Two Flights Out and No Return Submitted 16 October 2007
Checking Back Details Submitted 3 November 2007
"Free" Flight Voucher Submitted 2 November 2007
No Priority Boarding Submitted 2 November 2007
Denied Boarding at Closed Checkin Submitted 2 November 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Luggage Submitted 28 October 2007
Buy as You Fly Submitted 25 October 2007
Unable to Cancel Flight Submitted 22 October 2007
Warnings About Lost Luggage Submitted 15 October 2007
No Solution Offered to Get to Funeral Submitted 9 October 2007
Travelling With Small Children and Bags Submitted 7 October 2007
Letter to European Parliament about Electronic Commerce Submitted 25 September 2007
Costly Non-Flight Submitted 21 September 2007
Response to Costly non-Flight Story Submitted 6 January 2008
Advice About Cancellations Submitted 20 September 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Scales Submitted 19 September 2007
Another Letter to Ryanair Submitted 17 September 2007
Simple and easy way to get your refund Submitted 13 September 2007
Excess Baggage Submitted 12 September 2007
Double Charging Submitted 11 September 2007
Ryanair Refund Policy Submitted 10 September 2007
Comment on Previous Complaints Submitted 9 September 2007
Change of Schedule Submitted 8 September 2007
Another Letter of Complaint Addressed to Ryanair Submitted 7 September 2007
Letter of Complaint Addressed to Ryanair Submitted 7 September 2007
Queuing Submitted 4 September 2007
Dumped in Lille Submitted 3 September 2007
Damaged Suitcase and Insurance Claim Submitted 3 September 2007
Refused Permission to Board Submitted 3 September 2007
Connection not Covered by Insurance Submitted 15 August 2007
Ryanair Criticises BAA, but Makes Money from Stranded Passengers Submitted 13 August 2007
Girona Again Submitted 12 August 2007
Missed Flight Due to Queue (letter to Ryanair) Submitted 3 August 2007
Successful Refund Submitted 25 July 2007
Telephone Number for Ryanair Submitted 24 July 2007
Baggage Problems (addressed to Ryanair) Submitted 15 July 2007
Family Checkin Problems Submitted 11 July 2007
"Barcelona" Airport Submitted 9 July 2007
Luggage Trouble Submitted 7 July 2007
Successful Refund Claim Submitted 28 June 2007
Successful Contact Submitted 27 June 2007
No Compensation for Nightmare Submitted 25 June 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Refusal of ID Submitted 19 June 2007
Sharp Practices Submitted 15 June 2007
Customer Care Submitted 4 June 2007
Pay Again or Leave Your Bag Submitted 1 June 2007
Contacting Ryanair Submitted 1 June 2007
Sympathy But no Refund Submitted 31 May 2007
Malfunctioning Web Site Submitted 17 May 2007
Route Axed After Flight Confirmation Submitted 10 May 2007
Being Forced to Check in Separate Bags "Reduces Delay"? Submitted 2 May 2007
Attitude to Mother with 18 Month Old Child Submitted 30 April 2007
Different ID Rules for Online Checkin Submitted 30 April 2007
How Can My Mother Fly by Ryanair if She Can't Drive? Submitted 27 April 2007
Compensation for Broken Bag Submitted 19 April 2007
Nightmare for Visitor from USA (copy of letter) Submitted 18 April 2007
Baggage Charge Submitted 18 April 2007
Refusal to Pay Compensation Submitted 17 April 2007
Can't Get Letter for Insurance Submitted 14 April 2007
Good Service Submitted 12 April 2007
Missing Phone and Illogical Confirmation Submitted 11 April 2007
Reselling Newspapers Submitted 10 April 2007
Security Checks and Missed Flight Submitted 9 April 2007
Online Checkin Printout Submitted 6 April 2007
Apology over Baggage Allowance Submitted 3 April 2007
Refusal to Courier Luggage Lost by Ryanair Submitted 2 April 2007
"Late" Check-in Submitted 2 April 2007
No Refund for Cancellation Submitted 30 March 2007
Ryanair Granada to Liverpool cancellation Submitted 27 March 2007
Calibration of Scales Submitted 27 March 2007
No Problem with Baggage Allowance Submitted 26 March 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Customer Service
Submitted 25 March 2007
Dumped in Turin Submitted 22 March 2007
Security Alert Submitted 21 March 2007
Email Address Submitted 19 March 2007
Stranded in Madrid Submitted 18 March 2007
The Cost of Christmas Submitted 15 March 2007
"Free Flight" Experience Submitted 12 March 2007
Missed Confirmation Number Submitted 7 March 2007
Excess Baggage Charge Submitted 3 March 2007
Rude Member of Staff Submitted 13 February 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Compensation Submitted 12 February 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Changes to Allowances on Return from Poland Submitted 10 February 2007
Return Flight from Riga Submitted 6 February 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Cost of Wheelchair Booking Submitted 1 February 2007
Comment on How Ryanair Works Submitted 1 February 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Several Matters Submitted 29 January 2007
Passport Demanded for Internal Flight Submitted 28 January 2007
Letter to Ryanair About Charging new Tax for Cancelled Flight Submitted 27 January 2007
Knowing How Ryanair Works Submitted 26 January 2007
No Option to Cancel Before Extra Fee Added Submitted 25 January 2007
Refusal to Give an Elderly Injured Passenger a Wheelchair Submitted 23 January 2007
Refusal to Pay Due Compensation Submitted 23 January 2007
Ryanair Claims of Passport/ID Validity Submitted 22 January 2007
Late Credit Card Debits Submitted 22 January 2007
Exchange of Emails with Ryanair Submitted 22 January 2007
Lack of Assistance During Cancellations Submitted 18 January 2007
"Free" Flights Submitted 15 January 2007
Cancelled Flights Submitted 15 January 2007
Irish Identity Submitted 10 January 2007
Baggage Strategy Submitted 10 January 2007
Military ID Refused Submitted 10 January 2007
Changing Identity Rules for Return Submitted 10 January 2007
Ode to Ryanair Submitted 10 January 2007
Stranded at New Year Submitted 10 January 2007
Complaint and Response About Priority Booking Submitted 9 January 2007
Distant Airports Submitted 10 January 2007
Skiiing Holidays Submitted 9 January 2007
Forced to Split Baggage Submitted 9 January 2007
Overbooking Submitted 9 January 2007
Late Email and Good Experience Submitted 9 January 2007
Shared Baggage Submitted 9 January 2007
Overweight Baggage Submitted 9 January 2007
Budget Travel Experience Submitted 8 January 2007
Refusing Full Refund Submitted 8 January 2007
Retrying Credit Card Payments Submitted 8 January 2007
Letter to Ryanair about Wheelchair Services Submitted 7 January 2007
Lost Bag Recovered Submitted 6 January 2007
Point-to-Point, but Selling Onward Tickets? Submitted 6 January 2007
Seat Loading Distribution Submitted 6 January 2007
Two Experiences of Good Responses from Ryanair Staff Submitted 5 January 2007
Sitting With Children Submitted 3 January 2007
Printing Boarding Card Submitted 3 January 2007
Advertising Suspended Route Submitted 2 January 2007
The Cost of Getting Out of Trouble Submitted 2 January 2007
Ryanair Refuses Other Identification When Passport Stolen Submitted 2 January 2007
No Refund on Return, When Outward Flight Cancelled Submitted 2 January 2007
Another Reduction in Service Submitted 2 January 2007
No Responsibility for Delay Caused by Ryanair Submitted 2 January 2007
No Compensation For Damage Submitted 2 January 2007
Priority Boarding Charged For Submitted 2 January 2007
Penalty for Mistake in Booking Submitted 1 January 2007
Penalty for Online Check-in Submitted 31 December 2006
Refund of Baggage Fee Submitted 31 December 2006
Shared Luggage Submitted 31 December 2006
No Help With Missing Luggage Submitted 29 December 2006
Suitcases Submitted 30 December 2006
Trampled Children Submitted 30 December 2006
No Compensation Submitted 30 December 2006
Delayed to Deliver Part Submitted 28 December 2006
Baggage Sharing Submitted 28 December 2006
Non-Existent Route Submitted 28 December 2006
Special Needs Call Costs Submitted 28 December 2006
Two Experiences Submitted 28 December 2006
Wheelchair User's Humiliation Submitted 10 July 2006
Letter to Ryanair from Customer (no reply at 9 July 2006) Submitted 9 July 2006
Three Experiences from one Customer Submitted 8 July 2006
Ignoring European Legislation Submitted 8 July 2006
Long Story of Emails and Legal Proceedings Submitted 5 July 2006
Contacting Ryanair Submitted 5 July 2006
£40 for Baby Stuff Submitted 5 July 2006
Change of Flight Time Submitted 5 July 2006
Refund of Costs Submitted 5 July 2006
Excess Baggage Submitted 5 July 2006
No Telephone Support Submitted 5 July 2006
Confiscated Burner Submitted 25 June 2006
Customer Service Submitted 18 April 2006
Problem With This Section 13 February 2005
Passports and Full Flights Submitted 13 February 2005
More Good Experience Submitted 13 February 2005
Good Experience Submitted 8 February 2005
Passports Yet Again Submitted 5 February 2005
Passports Again Submitted 30 January 2005
Early Change of Booking Submitted 28 January 2005
Carrying Skis Submitted 26 January 2005
Change of Flight Time Submitted 23 January 2005
Baggage Limits Submitted 5 November 2004
More Passport Horrors Submitted 4 November 2004
Checkin Refused 2 Submitted 30 October 2004
Excess Baggage 2 Submitted 26 October 2004
Priority Seating Submitted 12 October 2004
Security on Internal Flight Submitted 11 October 2004
Refund Refused Submitted 21 September 2004
Airline Employee Submitted 16 September 2004
Credit Card Charges Submitted 12 September 2004
Reply to Disgusted 12 September 2004
Disgusted by this Site Submitted 12 September 2004
Cheapest Flight? Submitted 9 September 2004
Check-In Refused Submitted 26 August 2004
Change of Flight Time Submitted 19 August 2004
Cancellation Still on Sale Submitted 19 August 2004
Stranded in Sweden Submitted 20 July 2004
Excess Baggage Submitted 15 July 2004
Seats and Baggage Submitted 9 July 2004
Early Check-In Closure Submitted 18 June 2004
Telephone Charges Submitted 9 May 2004
Free Flights Submitted 30 April 2004
Rescheduling Submitted 29 April 2004
Abandoned in Treviso Submitted 21 April 2004
Lost Luggage Submitted 5 February 2004
Money Taken Without Confirmation Submitted 21 January 2004

Successful Call About Boarding Pass
Submitted 1 June 2009

I’ve just managed to speak to an actual person at RYAN AIR – called Kathy – at phone Number 00 353 12480856 ( a Dublin number I believe) from Spain. Using a phone card the call cost me about 20 cents. This is a Monday morning at about 11.30 am – I tried to call earlier also on Saturday and on Sunday but it was always a machine.

My query was about my name on my boarding card and my name on my passport. I’ve booked my ticket with my first name and my second name and didn’t use my middle name – which I’ve never used but it’s on my passport. I also now have Spanish nationality so have a Spanish surname ie I have my normal surname (from my father) but have a second surname which is my mother’s maiden name. Of couse I never thought to include that when I booked my ticket. This has never ever been a problem – even flying to Miami last November with American Airlines - So when I received an email from Ryan air about printing my boarding card and the information on my boarding card matching my ID I was a bit worried.

Kathy has assured my that there is NO PROBLEM – ‘the information on your boarding card must be on your passport but not the other way round’ she said. So anyone worried about this should be OK. I’m flying next Saturday (6th June 2009) and will try to remember to email again to confirm this! So good news!

All the best to everyone reading this

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More Success: Hotel Bill Reimbursed
Submitted 27 May 2009

I have managed to get a refund from Ryanair for a hotel bill that they initially refused to reimburse for an overnight delay

On February 7th 2009, all Ryanair passengers Grenoble to East Midlands were put up in the Novotel Grenoble (arranged by Ryanair), because the plane had technical problems.   We were told by Ryanair's agent to pay our hotel bill and reclaim the cost from Dublin.  When we submitted our receipts, Ryanair refused to pay initially but after a strongly worded letter followed up with a fax, I have been paid and so have some friends

Keep on at them and Good luck !

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Recruitment "Scam"
Submitted 25 May 2009

hi,first your website is so great and thank you.Please come on board my site and petition against ryanair recruitment scamming our children in uk and europe for the training fee.Probation cabin crew are terminated to keep course level's high.2300 Euro for one student training.60% OF PROBATION CABIN CREW GET TERMINATED TO KEEP TRAINING COURSE FULL.Big recruitment scam..O'Leary and David Bonderman make millions each year just with cabin crew scamming,they do many scams as you know.Pilot traing is even bigger scam but im only fighting for probation cabin crew because my 18 year old daughter was scammed by ryanair and their agents,hope you can help. kindest regards www.gopetition.com/online/26531

www.ryanairdontcare.blogspot.com facebook group

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Success in Getting Through
Submitted 20 May 2009

Hi, may whatever Deity you believe in (or not) heap manifold blessings upon you and your site! Thank you so much.

I booked a ticket with RA online last night and there was a glitch. I really didn't want to pay the £1 a minute fee to talk to them. But needs must... so I phoned the 0900 Internet Helpline number. First attempt I got told simply that this number was "not accepting calls at the moment, try again later" and on my second attempt it just cut off.

Third time lucky I got through and was told I would have to wait. Wait at £1 a minute?! I think not! However I noticed that the recorded voice had not welcomed me to "internet help premium rate" nor anything like that but to the "Ryanair Booking Centre"

So after checking your site I dialed +353 12480856 for the Ryanair Booking Centre. However much a daytime call to Eire might be I'm sure it will be nowhere near £1 a minute! Worked like a dream and barely a minute later I was talking to HUMAN BEING who dealt with my problem within seconds. English may not have been his first language but he managed well enough.

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Typographical Error Costs £119
Submitted 16 May 2009

I recently booked a couple of "cheap" flights with Ryanair from Hamburg (Lübeck) to Frankfurt (Hahn), with an on-line advertised price of under €10.00 for two people. 

Of course this was not the case and with the 'add-ons', the tickets ended up at €93.06, even though we opted to take only one bag between us.  The second bag was eventually to cost us €23.80.

 I noticed afterwards, that I had entered my partner's name incorrectly, and went on-line to correct it.  Although the system is totally automated and you have to do everything yourself, I was forced to pay an extra €119.00 to correct the error. 

It is not as if I was substituting with another passenger, merely correcting a typographical error.  I could not phone Ryanair to complain, but I arranged a fax to be sent and sent a letter, but there has been no response from them. 

I am upset at the excessive charge, and bearing in mind Banks are not allowed to make excessive charges, why can this not be applied to carriers like Ryanair. 

I have written to the OFT and just hope it is able to help, as we have ended up paying over €235.00 for two flights advertised at under €10.00.  How long is Ryanair going to stay in business if they treat passengers this way? 

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Small Claims Success
Submitted 09 May 2009

My original complaint agains Ryanair is titled missed funeral, indiference and lack of information posted 3/8/09 so I thought I would update you and pass on some very useful information.

I took my case up against Ryanair in the small claims court, it was easy to do on-line and I then travelled to Dublin to the court for the hearing (cheap aer lingus flights)

Ryanairs lawyer approached me and said he had advised them to settle my claim and when the case was shouted he would stand up and inform the judge of this. There were other claims against Ryanair but none of the others turned up so their case was struck out. Why after paying to lodge the claim they didn't turn up I don't know, the only reason I can think is they thought that Ryanair would settle out of court and didn't make arrangements to attend, however what they do is wait and see who turns up before making any offer, so follow it through. A cheap flight and one day off work is worth it, it's easy to fly into Dublin in the morning and back out at night!!

Searching for information to back up my case prior to going to Dublin I came across the following:

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11th February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights.

This was an eye opener to me I had never heard of it, it most definately covers many of the complaints on your website, I would have it highlighted and kept permanently at the top of the first page.

I would urge everyone to have a read and if you fit into the categories send another letter to Ryanair quoting the Regulation and informing them if they do not settle you will take them to court-and do it.

Small claims courts do not give any money for anything other than actual losses, so when calculating do not include anything for stress or inconvienence just the actual losses, meals additional transport costs, loss of wages etc. the claim must be lodged Dublin as that is where Ryanairs headquarters are.

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Double Booking
Submitted 12 May 2009

I thought  would bring to your attention an annoying online error with Ryanair bookings:

when rushing to meet a midnight booking deadline offer via Ryanair’s website (East Midlands to Budapest)  I had two browser windows open with 2 different bookings. One for myself and girlfriend the other for her parents. The first went through and the other didn't work and stayed on an error page. I received a booking confirmation but for a combination of the first windows passenger details and the second window’s flight details! Also additional checked in baggage at £20 was included from the other booking.

I managed to get through via the call centre on option 9 after a 3 minute introduction and 2 minute wait, at 10p/min.

The lady I spoke to changed the names for a cost of £10 (she said it should be £100 each online) and referred to their terms and conditions where such a ‘double window booking’ incident is mentioned. This seems a regular recurrence, have you heard of it? She also said, “Ryanair do not do refunds” ...when I asked to cancel the wrongly included checked in baggage I was told I could but would still have to pay for it!

I feel it was completely their technical error, and they could have simply wavered any additional fee.

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Information on Fees (addressed to Ryanair)
Submitted 7 April 2009

I wish to have a refund on the check-in charges that Ryanair imposed on my outbound and return flights to Eindhoven from Bristol 31/03/09 – 05/04/09 of £80.

When booking the tickets on line on the Ryanair website, on the Confirm Flights page NOT ONE SINGLE LINK TO FEES WORKED: not the For a full list of Ryanair fee, please click here nor the Terms and Conditions, nor the Website Terms of Use nor the Click here for information on handling fees : ie> when you click on them THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING.

I ticked the Terms and Conditions box as I wished to progress my purchase. I didn’t know that Ryanair had decided to impose fees for check-in – online or airport as it was not made clear on any pages of the Ryanair website. No where on the Confirm Flights page does it offer the facility to choose on-line or airport check-in. Ryanair has a responsibility to inform passengers of all charges prior to purchase, and they failed to do that. Having returned from my trip, I find the website still does not allow the purchaser to peruse the terms and conditions of purchase prior to confirming the flights anywhere on the website as the links do not work, therefore I surmise this is a deliberate attempt to hide additional charges.

Once I had confirmed my booking, the 9 pages of my Ryanair Travel Itinerary had no reference to my having to book online prior to departure. Page 4 has a paragraph entitled BEAT THE QUEUES AND SAVE MONEY – USE ONLINE CHECK-IN. Nowhere within this paragraph does it inform me that I will incur charges if I do not check in on-line. It does not state that I will be expected to pay £20 per passenger if I check in at the airport.

With 9 pages covering all aspects of my flight, from insurance to baggage allowance no where does it say I will be expected to pay £20 per passenger for airport check-in.

Even in the AIPORT CHECK-IN section it says I need to present my confirmation number and valid photo ID. Nothing about being required to pay £20 per passenger at check-in.

On the web-page Airport and Online Check-in it states that “Passengers who check in at the airport are subject to Airport Check-In fees at the time of reservation” At no point during the on-line booking process was this facilitated. If a passenger is subject to this fee at the time of reservation, then Ryanair have a responsibility to include this at the time of reservation on the Confirm Flights page. At no point did Ryanair do this. My Ryanair Travel Itinerary makes no reference to this so how could I have paid this fee at the time of reservation?

I would like Ryanair to:

The contract between the purchaser, Emily Williams and Ryanair was unfair. Ryanair failed to inform me of charges prior and post booking. Even when I paid the charges on the outbound flight, I was not informed that this charge only covered the outbound flight and that I would be required to do online check-in for my return flight. Had I been made aware of these charges at the time of confirmation I may not have agreed to the contract.

I have sought legal advice in this matter and have been advised that should Ryanair decided not to reimburse these charges that I have a legal case. I will progress action in the County Court under the Small Claims procedures should this matter not be resolved.

I look forward to your reply.

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Never had a Problem
Submitted 10 May 2009

Myself and my fiance were scheduled to fly out to Venice from Stansted late April. Got to the airport about 25 minutes before check in closed. OK.. not ideal but hey, well within the time to get ourselves registered on the flight.

Rock up to the electronic check in machine. Followed the process and just before the end, it demanded £40.  Now I was a bit confused thinking I had paid the full fair online. Spoke to the bloke attending who informed me its a check-in charge... I know I know should of paid more attention to the T's and C's.

Its not like I refusing to pay it, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a mistake or something. he instructed me to go to the sales desk. Seeing the queue I made him aware of my flight check in closing time and how I didn't think I was going to get to the front of the queue by then. He assured me that the roaming woman operator would shout out the flights.

Ok, so I am in the queue now watching the women like a hawk. Thinking "should I go and speak to her", "should I go and speak to her" with another eye on my watch. Even my fiance said that I was acting freaky and how I should calm down and wait, after all the woman would call out the flight.........right?

Got to the Sales desk and informed them that I just want to query the extra £40. As you can imagine I was completely in shock to here that its £20 per person each way to check in (overall £80 on top for both legs for two passengers). I informed them that I was not checking in any bags since I knew it was £20 per bag check in. Again, if thats the way it is, then thats the way it is so got my card out ready to pay.... you guessed it, I only missed the check in time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My god, I could of killed someone. I did proper lose my cool and shouted and screamed!!! No surprise how they did not accept any responsibility for not calling out the flight. Although cutting it fine, I was there within time and even managed to get to late check in stages on the self check in terminals. Don't forget this is at 0630 in the morning.

The next flight was at 1900 on the same day!!! The only reasonable option was to catch the next flight to Verona and bus + train it to venice.

As you can imagine I completely lost it again when I was informed it cost £100 per person to transfer the flight. Right, i thought F**K this! We went to ever budget airline desk to find that Ryan Air were the only carrier to Venice.

In the end, we had to pay the extra £200 to transfer... Only silver lining was that they Sales woman dropped the £80 when I told her it was my fiances birthday.

All in all, the total flying cost to venice £440 all in. Don't forget the bus and train journey to Venice from Verona which cost another 40 euros on top.

What a joke. We had to see it as an adventure and walk away. Is there any point going to Ryanair about this???

I bet the customer support team would just give me the standard... read T's and C's.... arrive early etc etc

Ryanair..........never again!!

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Never had a Problem
Submitted 1 May 2009

I travel ryanair a huge amount. i'd say in excess of 30 times a year for my self. My sister and family combined probably make in excess of 200 flights annually.

I chose Ryanair ahead of ba, aerlingus and bmi why? Two words: Heathrow + Prices

I really dont see why there is a website about ryanair. I got delayed 4 hours in EWR due to high winds. Meant I missed my connection had to pay $600 for hotel room and change flight fees. Continental didn't pay and why should they? Not there fault!

Us Airways lost 7 out of our 12 bags on a trip from DUN - MCO via PHL. The point I am making is airlines screw up. every company screws up.

I have never had a problem with Ryan Air which is more than I can say for BA. The dreaded terminal 5.

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VISA Confusion
Submitted 18 April 2009

A friend of mine who is disabled, asked me if I would go online and book a Ryanair flight to Spain for him, giving me his VISA card details. As someone who purchases many items online (including flights with other airlines) and actually takes card details for my own mailorder company, I thought this would be so easy.

However, when the list of card options came up, it gave two different VISA possibilities, VISA CONNECT and VISA DEBIT'. I therefore phoned my friend and asked him which one it was. 'What's the difference?' he asked. 'Well, as far as I know' I said, 'they both mean they come straight out of your bank account. In other words, you are not borrowing on them.

'The money comes straight out of my account' he told me.

So I tried booking with VISA CONNECT and the page told me I had done something wrong (about 8 possibilities actually) So I tried with VISA DEBIT and the same thing happened. Then I put his card through my own machine (for £1) and it was accepted, so I knew there was nothing wrong with the card.

I tried twice more, trying DEBIT and CONNECT, with no luck. Then I noticed, way down the list, long after the original VISAs, was an option which just said VISA - and it worked, confirming a price of £81.75. Now why can't Ryanair put all VISAS together? Or would that make it too easy for us?

So I printed off his tickets and saw that they'd added an extra £10 for a 'handling fee' Now whether that is for my friend's assisted wheelchair to the plane I don't know. But the 'fee' certainly wasn't there before, and there was no indication of one for a wheelchair anyway.

Then, noticing on the tickets that my friend would have to give Advance Passenger Information before arriving at the departure airport (or risk being denied boarding with no refund) I went back on line and searched for how to do it. It took me a very long time to find it but, being a bit of a computer buff, I managed it. But how many others could do it and thus risk being turned away at the airport without a refund.

A friend of mine claims he lived in the same town in Ireland as Michael O'Leary (boss of Ryanair) where the local paper used to give a weekly prize of £10 if you were circled in one of their photos. One week it was actually Michael who, although he had already started Ryanair and was making a fair bit of money by then, made the trip all the way to the newspaper office to collect his £10. Which just shows how mean he is and why he charges an absolute fortune just to phone his company.

He also told me that when he and Michael were at school together, the local lads used to visit the golf course to collect the balls which had been lost and sell them back to the members. However, it seems that, even at that age, Michael made more of a business of it, taking the balls back home and cleaning them until they were spotless - then selling them back to the members for more than the other lads did.

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Refused Boarding for Domestic Flight
Submitted 31 March 2009

Two months ago, I was denied to board a Ryanair flight between Reus (Barcelona) and Sevilla, which is a domestic flight, on the basis that I didn''t have the required documentation with me. I am not a European Union citizen, but a Spanish resident. The company asked me for a passport, and refused to accept my residence card, an official document with photo and identification number, issued by the Spanish Authorities. I wonder if a transport company, like Ryanair, has a right to ask for a passport on Spanish domestic flights.

I have travelled many times on Spanish domestic flights with other companies, both national and international, and have never been denied boarding before.

Also, they offer free check-in online ONLY for EU nationals. All other nationals, have to pay a checking fee at the airport.

I could'nt find the way to get recompensed yet.

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No Free Water On Board
Submitted 27 March 2009

I could no buy water at the airport because the water dispenser in the tinny airport was out of the vital resource, so on board I asked for some water they said that it cost £3, I was with no money, as far as I know water is a vital need, in most countries, bars and restaurants HAVE to give free water to customers, on air we risk strokes and other health complications if we have no water. Anyway , I was refused free water and the hosts gave very ambiguous answers when I asked if tap water on the toilet was fresh running water. They refused to give me their name and surname and were extremely rude.

I will avoid Ryanair as far as I can from now on, even if I have to apy a bit more money for my flight, at least I know I won't risk anything

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Inconsistent Application of Baggage Policy (addressed to Ryanair)
Submitted 9 March 2009

My husband and I have just returned from a brief necessary trip to Spain to bring back the personal effects of my late father. We booked to go out with your company on flight 6652 from Edin to Malaga on Sat 14th Feb, and returned on flight 6653 on Tues 17th Feb.

At this emotional time and under the circumstances, we thought we would limit the amount of excess baggage brought back by paying for extra baggage each way. On our outward journey it was made very clear to us that there was only ONE piece of hand luggage allowed per person, as in your booking conditions.

However, on our return flight it was obvious that this was not the case. In fact there were very few people with only one piece of hand luggage and very few people booking baggage into the hold. We were charged an incredible 450Euros to bring in the baggage we thought we had covered the cost of by paying in advance for two extra cases. When booking in at Malaga , your attendant was rather rude when we looked shocked and pointed out to us that, if we had 'read the small print', we had payed for extra bags but not extra weight. I cannot conceive what the advantage of booking in more than one piece of baggage would be if the extra weight is not a consideration as well. In this light, I would hasten to ask why fellow travellers were allowed to take extra hand luggage at no extra cost - which is also 'in the small print' in your booking conditions.

In actual fact I would take it further and say that no hand luggage was weighed. We witnessed several people trying desperately to get their suitcases into the overhead lockers. Not only ware cases too large but they were also very heavy. This weight was unaccounted for and unpaid for!

If your booking clerk had had any heart, she would have told us that we could have bought, at the airport, a smaller case, and transferred some of the contents of an extra case into hand luggage (to the tune of 20kg for two passengers) and so greatly reduced the cost of our excess baggage. She failed to illuminate us to this advantage. I was clearly very distressed and upset at the desk, since there were personal belongings in the cases holding precious memories of my father and I was not in a position to leave any of them.

I object strongly to this excess charge and the way my husband and I were spoken to at the booking in desk. Why were we not informed that we could have taken extra hand luggage on board? Other passengers were heavily laden down with cases, bags, camping equipment and the ilk for which they did not pay. There were few passengers travelling on that flight to which the 10kg hand baggage allowance would have permitted.

If your cabin baggage policy can be changed to suit the traveller, why were we charged in such an excessive way, and when it was so crudely pointed out to us that we had misread the policy, why were we not told then that we could transfer some to the contents of the case into hand luggage as others were clearly allowed excessive cabin weight and baggage?

If you insist on implementing one half of your 'baggage' policy, why allow extreme and obvious neglect of the other?

In this respect I feel we have paid dearly for our flight. We are very unhappy with the way we were spoken to, very unhappy to find on boarding that there was an alternative (i.e. extra hand luggage allowance) which was not mentioned to us, very unhappy to be charged for extra baggage on both flights, which was, as it turns out, useless since no consideration was made regarding weight, and considering the emotional upset and nature of the trip, I personally feel that we have been penalised in trying to do the right thing.

Under such circumstances, I'm sure you will reconsider this excessive charge for baggage and reimburse us.

Should it be necessary for any other distressed passenger to be travelling with your airline, I would like to think they would be treated more fairly and just that I think we were.

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Two Days of Holiday Lost
Submitted 9 March 2009

At the end of December I booked a Ryanair flight from Stansted to Jerez, departing on April 11th and returning on April 20th. On January 17th I received a notice from Ryanair informing me that the date of my outward flight had been changed to April 12th and asking me to acknowledge my acceptance of the change. Very unwillingly, but knowing how difficult it is to penetrate the barriers to human communication set up by Ryanair, I did accept the change.

On February 19th I had a further notice from Ryanair informing me that the date of my outward flight had been changed again, to April 13th. As before no reason was given. Angered by the loss of two days of a nine day holiday at the behest of an airline I did not accept this immediately but tried to contact Ryanair both by phone and via their website to challenge their action. This proved unsurprisingly impossible so I wrote a letter complaining about their action and insisting that my outward flight should be changed back to April 12th. I have finally had a reply to this letter which is no more than a standard response reminding me that the terms and conditions to which I agreed allow Ryanair to change flight schedules ('occasionally due to airport and air traffic conditions' - by two days?!) and advising me 'well in advance....to review .. booking details on our website in order to confirm .. flight reservation and departure times prior to departure'! They go on to say 'In these circumstances, we are not in a position to offer compensation in respect of this matter'. I did not of course ask for compensation but for the restoration of one day of my holiday. I have with extreme reluctance, however, now agreed to the April 13th date.

To add insult to injury, when I sought to change my Hertz rental car booking to reflect the change in date I was informed that - as a result of Ryanair's unilateral decision - the cost for seven days would be £100 more than the £83 which I had been charged when I made the original booking at the end of December. I cancelled this booking - even though I had to pay a £30 cancellation fee!

Is there any way in which Ryanair's high-handed behaviour can be challenged or - given that the financial benefit of using the airline is increasingly marginal - do we just have to wait for market forces to have their effect?

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36 Hour Flight Change at Higher Price
Submitted 1 March 2009

On the 3rd of December, I booked 3 tickets for flights to Venice from Liverpool with Ryanair for Monday 6th April, arriving at 9:55 in the morning. The same day I booked accommodation.

On the 21st of January I received a notification of a change to Ryanair's schedules: they had cancelled the Monday flights and had moved our flight to Tuesday 7th April arriving at 15:55. This was a delay of 30 hours. We chose to accept this delay as we had limited options with other carriers and had paid a deposit of £300 for our accommodation, although it meant:

1) We had to re-arrange our booking with our accommodation

2) We could no longer meet my mother who would be arriving on the Tuesday and would now have to make her own way to Venice and wait around for at least three hours for us to arrive.

On Thursday 12th February we received a further notification from Ryanair. The scheduled arrival time had been bumped to 21:45 a further 6 hour change. This would mean an additional payment to the owners of our apartment for a meeting out-of-hours and that my mother would be seriously inconvenienced, having to wait around in Venice for 12 hours.

We immediately declined the flights offered by Ryanair and booked with Jet2 as an alternative. This was not ideal as it meant a much longer journey to the airport. A week after we declined the flights we has still not received confirmation of this cancellation from Ryanair or a refund of the money paid. The website states it may take up to 7 days to process our claim ONCE IT HAS BEEN APPROVED (no timescale provided) and between 5 - 7 days for a refund. We are unable to contact Ryanair via telephone unless during working hours (10p per minute) or from home in the evening at £1 per minute. There is no email address supplied. There has been no explanation of why the flight has been moved twice. The most annoying part of this story is that the flights they moved us to have been reduced to a third of the original cost, which wasn't offered to us in the last re-scheduling. So basically we paid £565 for three seats, they moved our flights twice, a total of 36 hours and then reduced the price to £200 but did not offer the reduced price to us.

We are very disappointed about the irresponsible behaviour of Ryanair in selling a product and then withdrawing / changing said product and the inconvenience caused. Ryanair has had £565.75 of our money since 3rd December, taken immediately from my credit card, and yet cannot refund said money when they fail to meet their commitments.

I am sure there are many other Ryanair customers who are in the same situation. Needless to say, I will NEVER use this company again!

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Catastrophic Results of Cancellation (letter to Ryanair)
Submitted 25 February 2009

I am writing to complain in the strongest terms regarding the treatment I have received during a recent trip using Ryanair .

We are a family of two adults and two children (aged 5 and 7) and booked four (4) return flights leaving from Luton airport flying to Marrakesh Departure date xxxx time Return date xxxxx time

Our return flight home was turned into a complete catastrophe.

We arrived two hours before the departure time at xxxx and checked in as normal.

Only 4 hours later and over two hours past our scheduled departure time were we informed that the flight had been cancelled due to poor weather.

Apparantly our incoming plane had landed at Cassablanca and flew back to Luton from there.

Given all other airline carriers flew into and out of Marrakesh that morning (including easyjet) Why was it ryanair could not.

If indeed "poor weather" conditions prevented the initial incoming flight from Luton landing at Marrakesh why was it that other Ryan air flights and ALL other airlines were flying out of Marrakesh. I witnessed planes leaving from 9am that morning. I am sure there is very accurate data confirming the departure times of the day.

Why could the flight redirected to cassablanca not have come back via Marrakesh to pick us up.

We were not given any information from ryanair or indeed anyone at the airport until several hours after the scheduled departure time.

At approximately 12pm a member of the airport staff informed us that the flight had been cancelled and that we would have to make alternate arrangements to get home.

After several hours queuing I was informed at the information desk that the next available flight would be on March 2nd 2009. I was absolutely astonished. No help was forthcoming other than to say there was an Easyjet flight leaving that evening at 6.50pm - destination Gatwick!

I had no other choice but to book this flight.

The cost of the flight was xxxx plus xxx in local currency taxes. I have kept all receipts as proof of purchase.

Having landed miles away from our original arrival destination we had to then take a taxi to Luton airport where my car was parked. The cost of this was another xxxxx.

In summary we arrived home at 3am in the morning, some 14 hours after we initially anticipated and at an additional cost of xxxxxxx

We had to endure a whole day in Marrakech airport with little money, poor facilities, and a total lack of any meaningful information.

Not once did we have a conversation with any representative from Ryanair.

In short we were left completely stranded and left to make alternate arrangements without any help or advice. Nobody from Ryan air would talk to us.

I would like to make absolutely clear that we were informed the flight had been cancelled. I understand from an email I have just received that you now state we cancelled the ticket and asked for a refund. For your record I willing to state in a court of law that we were in fact told the flight had been cancelled. I now understand that from your perspective if it is deemed that "we" cancelled the flight then this affects your duty of care towards us and possible compensatory disbursements.

To my mind this is just semantics.

Factually our scheduled flight from Marrakesh to Luton was sent back to Luton via Cassablanca and was therefore never going to have taken us home. There is no other reason to use the phrase "cancelled" or "delayed" other than to possibly mitigate against the claim that I am now making against you.

For a socially and morally run organisation this should not be the key requisite for dealing with my claim.

You certainly had a moral obligation to at least try and get us home in another way. Just a little information would have gone a long way in helping us to deal with this.

In any event and for the record; I was actually told that the flight was "cancelled" - not as you have now stated in an email to me, that I "cancelled" the flight. You further assert that your obligations therefore extend only to refund me the cost of our initial return tickets.

This whole episode has been extremely stressful to both me and my wife. It has been both time consuming and costly to us and although unpleasant the outcome need not be totally as distasteful as currently is

My wife works part time on a freelance basis and had to cancel work for the day at her daily rate of £150. This is income which I can not afford to loose.

I have written to you on two separate occasions already and have yet to have a reply.

This is now the third time!

It is absolutely incredible that a company of your size and standing within the market place can act with this apparent impunity and arrogance. It demonstrates a total lack of respect to your customers!

Can someone please explain what customer service procedure you have to deal with such instances?

Currently my experience is that it is woefully lacking.

I am now writing to xxxxxxx all (the directors at Ryanair) and will continue to do so until I have a satisfactory respoce to my grievence.

I have copied this letter to the OFT, ABTA, and Watchdog

I will also send this and all future correspondence to all other UK based airline directors/ head of PR/ head of customer services for their consideration and use in whatever means they may deem appropriate

It is worth noting that "easyjet" actually offered to arrange alternate transport to get us from Gatwick to Luton at their cost. I declined on the basis of time (we would have had to wait a further 2 hours before leaving the terminal) and the fact that I believed Ryanair would reimburse our costs incurred.

Although impecibly behaved my children were absolutely exausted from this ordeal - as was the whole family.

I am asking you to refund us xxxx

To date we have not received an explanation relating of these events or even an apology for the disruption caused. As stated I am still awaiting a reply from my initial correspondence sent to you.

I am considering legal action in the event this incidence is not resolved to my satisfaction.

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Credit Fee Charged for Debit Card
Submitted 13 February 2009

I booked a flight today with my debit card and it was only when I had completed the booking that I noticed they had charged me £18-00 credit card fee. I wasn't given the option of not accepting the fee and wonder where the £18-00 comes from??????? I have sent several e mails to different addys that were given on your site and I am awaiting any response from Ryanair.

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Recession Makes Ryanair Care About Customer Service?
Submitted 12 February 2009

Recently I have booked twice the same flight. However the ryanair booking system worked very poor that day I managed to book the flight and received email with confirmation. Next day ........... to make story shorter ............ I booked the same flight again. My wife wanted to kill me (the cost was almost €400). I believe that the booking system should have prevented from booking exactly the same flight, by the same pasenger having the same contact and billing details but it didn't.

I tried to contact my bank to cancel transaction but it was too late. I tried to contact Ryanair but it was too late. Next day I rang Ryanair.....I tried all different numbers like 01 8121212 / 01 2497791 and others from that webpage but was unsucccessful. Finally without any other choice I rang 1570 224499 (€1.70/minute) and solved problem within approx. 7 min. Preper for a lot of spelling ;) I said that due to the fault of Ryanair booking system I booked the same flight twice. I was offered a full refund for the second booking without any discussion.

I was surprised. I asked wheather I was going to receive an email with confirmation but was told that not. Despite that next day I received email from Ryanair:

Dear ,

Following your recent refund request for booking confirmation number XXXXXX.

We confirm that your refund request has been processed back to the form of payment used to pay for your booking. Your issuing bank will take 5-7 working days to process this refund amount back to your account.

The amount refunded to your credit/debit card is EURxxx.xx

Yours sincerely

Ryanair Customer Services

Just to summarize it seems that in the time of recession Ryanair started to care about customers. That's good news. A happy customer.

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"Cancelled" Flight?
Submitted 9 February 2009

A 'cancelled' flight?

Not actually true. All the passengers had gone through security and the incoming flight was due to land on time (if not a bit early). Other flights (including Ryanair) were landing albeit the weather was cloudy and had been raining in Granada. The notice board suddenly flashed up 'Cancelled', with no explanation.

The flight 9604 approached Granada, then promptly flew off to Malaga, where it dumped all its bemused passengers without explanation, and presumably headed of back to Liverpool empty.

The ground staff at Granada were inefficient, hostile, and totally incapable of dealing with the two hundred or so passengers at Granada. I have reports of the same at Malaga.

I asked whether they would provide a bus for persons to transport them to the empty plane in Malaga, but 'Dublin Operations usually do, but this time they said no' I have spoken to a number of person who had been on the inbound flight, who state the despite the pilot stating that the plane was circling Granada ( for a second attempt), it most definitely did no such circling and seemed determined to head straight to Malaga.

This is a company with ruthless cost cutting in pursuit of business without customer care.

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Ryanair Travel Insurance Useless
Submitted 9 February 2009

Just a quick story it might be worth posting to warn anyone what they aren't covered for under this insurance:

Basically I bought a 1p flight from Paris to Glasgow which was canceled due to fog. The flight was supposed to leave at 22.50 and was canceled at 23.20. Ryanair quickly re-booked everyone for a flight at half two the following day, arranged hotels and a free bus to get us there.

Now for 1p I didn't ever expect Ryanair would pay up for the hotel so I emailed them for confirmation of the cancellation so I could claim the cost on my Ryanair insurance that I had bought with the flights. Of course I got the standard copy and paste reply going on about how they owed me no money (which I had acknowledged in the letter - being nice to try and get a quick reply). They also informed me that had I purchased their insurance, it would cover me.

Of course they know full well that their own insurance requires written confirmation of how long after the scheduled departure time the decision to cancel was made. This might seem like an irrelevant requirement - but it's not because their policy has one of the most outrageous get out clauses I can imagine.

You are only covered for cancellations made at least four hours AFTER the scheduled departure time. Now I'm willing to bet that well over 99% of Ryanair cancellations are made well within this time limit - and hey presto they are almost never liable to pay up for such events.

A further perusal of the policy reveals other get outs, like the lack of cover against industrial action unless, as far as I can make out, your transfer bus driver is part of a sudden, unannounced strike and pulls over half way to the airport. Uner 18s are covered to have up to 50 cash stolen - with a 40 excess. And the list goes on. So it's not much more useful than an inflatable pin cushion.

I know I should've read the terms more carefully, but I'm sure many people like myself wouldn't bother. I am aware most policies have tricky bits in the wording, but I think it's well worth drawing to the attention of people the need to really have a look at the terms here.

I plan to write to the insurance department (which is in the UK!!!) and ask for justification of this policy, although no doubt, as the lady on the phone said, they will just pass the blame on to some other, harder/impossible to contact division of Ryanair.

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Customer Service Attitude
Submitted 6 February 2009

I would like to report a yet very annoying story about my booking from Ryanair Airlines.

On Wednesday 28th January 2009 I was booking tickets for my mum to come and see me to UK. My total payment for the tickets was in Euros 174.28. The amount taken from my account was £174.35 not exchange rate from Euros. They somehow forget that I paid in British Pound and that they needed to exchange it for Euros accordingly. On that date Wednesday 28th January 2009 was the rate of the Euro - GBP 0.95656 approx.

This was not the end of the case. I was checking my bank statement 06 February 2009. There was another payment of £168.00 ready coming out of my account. I searched for this amount as this payment I never made to anyone. And it was again - Ryanair trying to get second payment for the same tickets I already purchased I have been in touch with the company for long time spending my money for the phone calls. I questioned them why they are trying to take the money again they promised that they will not be taking the money out of the account. I am quite concerned about this statement whether I can trust them that they will not do it. When I asked why they did charged me the amount for £174.35 instead £166.70 as the equality of GBP currency conversion with the rates on that day they just hanged up on me. I tried to speak with them again but the hanging up on me story happened again and again.

I would like express my very bad customer experience with Ryanair and complain about the way they did try to take money from my account twice for the same tickets but also because the have awful and rude attitude towards their paying customers.( Especially the lady I talked to on Ryanair helpline on Friday 6th February 2009).

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Fantasy About Good Customer Service
Submitted 5 February 2009

Ryanair provide budget flights, often the cheapest available on some routes. They also deliver one of the most truly unhappy, frustrating and unpleasant customer experiences on this planet. It's even more unbelievable when you think, "Ryanair could be delivering the cheapest flights AND THE BEST customer experience in this industry".. But no, right from the first moment that you type www.ryanair.com into your browser, your world turns a bit grayer.

First up is the lurid website, which design brings to mind spammy porn sites from the 1990's. Found your flights? great, time to be tricked and confused into paying for services you don't need - insurance, priority boarding, check in bags.. hang on, check in bags? you have to pay to take your possessions and clothes with you on holiday? right, well that's odd but let's continue.

Time to pay for my 'cheap' flights. great! they accept all major credit and debit cards.. but whats this? why am i being charged extra to pay with all my cards? except visa electron, but what the hell is that anyway? I have to say I'm not feeling quite so excited about my holiday now that this company has so far tried to fleece me on at least three occasions and I don't even have my confirmation yet. Gosh, that's ironic, the poor people who hold Ryanair credit cards don't even qualify for fee free payment ... and yet this could all read so differently.

Imagine, if you will, a ryanair website that states clearly right from the off how much your flight will actually cost. you see, a happy customer starts with a happy booking experience. Call me old fashioned but i like to call the shots when I'm spending my money..

But some might say "Damn, it's more than 1p"! Of course it's more than 1p you fool, this is AIR TRAVEL. "i may as well just go easyjet, they are cheaper, i mean they are bad, but they can't be as bad as ryanair." But haven't you heard? Ryanair are honest with their pricing now since they listened to their customers and changed things for the better. You won't find any more dour-faced, irritable, irritated members of staff because Ryanair realised that customers are important and now they only employ intelligent and understanding individuals who really want to help.

And those planes are so nice and relaxing! no more neon signs 12 inches in front of your face, no more stupid sales announcements every 2 mins just to prevent you sleeping so you'll buy the coffee. and you can actually have a seat number allocated so that no one gets injured or stressed in the scrum to board the plane!

wow, ryanair have really done something miraculous here. somehow they have become the most admired and popular airline in the UK. I mean, they are cheap and they offer good service, and my holidays are great right from the start now because the whole experience has been just lovely!

nah.sorry, it was just a stupid fantasy. Well i'm going to cast my vote. I'm going to spend double on my flights from now on and use a reputable airline. Ok, half as many holidays, but at least they will all be good ones.

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Wheelchair Booking
Submitted 29 January 2009

since three days i try to call the special telephone number for persons with wheelchairs, but there is no chance to speak with anybody.

I have just spent a lot of money to get someone from the internet support before booking, because we wanted to know if it is possible to travel with the wheelchair of our daughter.

Now we have booked and again i have no success to speak with anyone on the special number. Again i spent a lot of time and money without success.

I don´t understand why it can´t be easier for people with handicap to book a flight with Ryanair. They have just enough problems.

Our dughter is handicapped she use a wheelchair and we fly to london from Fra Hahn and back.

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Online Checkin Problems
Submitted 28 January 2009

I booked with online check in, but had various problems with it. When i did online check in, nothing went through and it just simply couldn't find my details. So I had to go and ask at the airport at which point I was charged for check in as well as the use of a debit card. I was told there was nothing that could be done, that I had not checked in and if I wanted to fly, I had to pay and wait. I will be writing a letter of complaint.

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Wasted Money on "Priority Boarding"
Submitted 20 January 2009

We booked priority boarding on 27th December 2008 and paid the fee requested. We checked through and waited for the screens to tell us which gate to go to departure lounge. When it did eventually change there was then a last call tannoy.

When we got to the gate my partner tried to complain that we had wasted our money and the stewardess very rudely said she was not prepared to speak to us and that the gate number was on the ticket. This was not pointed out to us when the ticket was handed over. I begin to think there are so many people paying priority boarding it makes a nonsense. Its taking money under false pretences.

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Successful Refund
Submitted 16 January 2009

May i just say without your webpage i would have been in for a unhappy time in call charges.Trying to get a refund on a duplicate booking at the fault of Ryanair's website. However, i took the advice of calling the 08712460000 number and pressing ##, to my shock a person answered straight away and after i let them know what had happened they are refunding my account. Horray

Thanks once again.

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Refused Boarding
Submitted 14 January 2009

It happened on Sunday night 12th January 2009. We had traveled from Dublin to Manchester that morning to go to the Man Utd v Chelsea match. Our journey out was ok, no problems and we arrived on time.

We were due to depart Manchester on Flight FR559 at 21:40 but the flight was delayed. This was the last flight to Dublin that night. (By the way this is the third time in recent months I've taken the last flight out with ryanair from Leeds, Bristol and now Manchester which were all delayed and all arrived nearly 2 hours late). When we eventually started to board and it came to our turn to hand in our passport and boarding cards my brother was asked to step aside for a few minutes. I noticed the 2 female officials exchange glances with each other for few seconds and one of them asked him if he had been drinking. This is a loaded question as 90% of the passengers had been in the bar. He said only a couple of pints and then I was ushered through while my brother remained behind, his son had already boarded the plane. When I boarded the plane we enquired as why my brother was not on board. We were told he was denied boarding due to excess alcohol. His son disembarked to be with his father and he was told he would not be allowed back on board.

I can state categorically that he did not have an excess of alcohol on him nor did he act in any way aggressive, boisturous, unruly nor did anyone else on the queue to board the plane. It was after 22:00 and everyone was too tired from a long day.

My brother and his son spent the night in Manchester airport and had to pay for a flight out the next morning. Talking to him later in turns out two other passengers (female, no connection with us) were also denied boarding.

Now my point is:

Now it doesn't take much figuring out, in my opinion, that 3 passengers were bumped to make way for the 3 airline crew.

This has to be the most despicable action taken by ryanair crew I have come across (in my opinion) and I hope we can take this further but I won't hold out much hope.

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From Inside Customer Services
Submitted 8 January 2009

I live in Dublin and just thought that I should let you know that I worked with a girl who used to work for Ryanair "Customer Services".

She hated the company and her job and said that the phone and email that complaints came into were NEVER answered (phone was on silentor call forward to voicemail).

Just thought you might find that interesting.

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Three Times in One Flight
Submitted 7 January 2009

Recently been skanked by Ryan Air not once but three times on one flight booking and two check ins. On booking a flight to Dublin from Manchester (returned the same day) at a cost of £122.00 on seeing total cost of flight

I inputted my visa debit card number and on proceeding and seeing it being process online. On acceptance I was then told the total was £132.00 and not before (£10.00 for using a visa debit).

On arrival at the airport check in after queuing and a early start I was informed that because I had not checked in online 4 hours before arrival at the airport I would have to pay £10 to get on the flight. I was a little upset but hey - I needed to get to Dublin (I didn't even have hand luggage).

At this time the check in guy did not make me aware that if I didn't check in online for the inbound I would have to pay £10 to get back and as you can imagine being skanked for £30 is a little harsh.

But in the grand scheme of things whilst I was in the queue there were another 5 people having to do the same. Nice work if you can get it eh

Innocent people are being had over - this was a business flight for me and my company will pick up the tab. But the five people in front of me were not travelling alone and some were families of 4 having to pay £40 (£10 each) to get on a flight they had booked and paid for in advance.

What's the logic in having to check in twice - online and then at the airport? I was in Munich airport two weeks earlier where I had printed my ticket off complete with a barcode (Lufthansa). Arrived at the airport - scanned my ticket on a automated machine which proceeded to print my boarding card - this is the future.

Going back to Ryan Air, you can imagine when the trolley dollies came seeking extras on the flight back they met with tightly sealed wallets and purses. I waited till I got back to Manchester airport to by my refreshments!!

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Coach Cancelled and Ryanair Staff Hide
Submitted 6 January 2009

On 31 December 2008 I flew from Stansted to Dinard with Ryanair on flight FR514. The flight was due to depart at 15.35 and left 10 minutes late. We we unable to land at Dinard and after two abortive attempts and we diverted to Nantes approximately 180 km away. We landed at 19.15 and were advised there would be a coach to Dinard Airport at 20.30.

At 20.00 an announcement was made that the coach had been cancelled. The Ryanair staff promptly disappeared! I and many other passengers ran to the bus stop to catch a bus to the station to catch the last train of the evening to Rennes which is approximately 1/2 way to Dinard. Only about 20 passengers managed to get on the train. It arrived in Rennes at 21.50.

I telephoned the friends I was spending New Year with from the train and they arranged to meet me in Rennes. They told me that at Dinard Airport the Ryanair staff had locked themselves into a room to avoid questions from the passengers trying to return to the UK and people meeting the flight from Stansted, they also said that an earlier flight from East Midlands was delayed by 6 hours due to the weather. I am writing to Ryanair but I do not expect a satisfactory response. I would like the following points answered

  1. Why were we not advised at Stansted of the problems with the weather at Dinard
  2. Why were we promised a coach which was later cancelled
  3. Why did the Ryanair staff hide and both Nantes and Dinard Airports
  4. Why was no information given out at either airport

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£100 Vouchers Not Redeemed
Submitted 3 January 2009

An Italian friend kindly sent both my wife & I £100 each in Ryanair vouchers.

I have been trying to redeem our vouchers against flights to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Both flights are priced at just £1.79 per person and yet the final price is £174.52 ! How misleading is that!

When trying to redeem them against the booking I get a message listing about 6 possible reasons the vouchers may not be redeemed but not actually saying why or offering any help.

Trying to ring 08712460000 (10p per minute) gives another number to ring 0905 566 0000 (£1 per minute) which merely says that calls cannot be answered on this number. The vouchers validity expires in a few days and I can see that Ryanair will not honour them even if I do manage to make contact.

I find it unbelievable that Ryanair can get away with trading in this way. Not only is the price very misleading but them seem to be deliberately making it difficult/impossible to help customers. Strangely you have no problem making a purchase (ie giving them new money), only in contacting them about an existing problem (ie they've already banked your money).

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Ryanair Experience
Submitted 30 December 2008

Ryanair confirmed a return flight for three months later than asked for [there was difficulty contacting the service number].

After correcting my wrong booking, at the higher price, the flight to Rome Ciampino was diverted to Fiumicino, because of fog, and the transport by bus from Fiumicino was badly organised. Ciampino seems to be foggy very often in autumn. Anyway, I arrived in Rome two hours late.

The flight back started a bit late and the plane had to return to Ciampino for maintenance. Solution of technical problem lasted two hours with outside help. I was looking forward to eating something hot from the card, but the stewardess announced that unfortunately all hot things had been sold out on the previous flight, sorry. Bad provision. Two hours late I arrived hungry in Brussels South. After all I paid a fairly normal price for a poor flight and for my next trip Ryanair will not be my first choice, to say the least.

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Complaint to OFT by Customer
Submitted 28 December 2008

To whom it may concern:

An Office of Fair trading press release of 28 February 2008 claims that "The OFT is aware that Ryanair has now changed its website to display prices on the first page of its booking process that include fixed, non-optional costs."

This is effectively untrue for the majority of Ryanair customers who do not pay using Visa Electron. A Guardian newspaper article of 25 October 2008 quotes a Ryanair spokesman as saying "almost 20% of our customers book with Visa Electron" - which of course means that more than 80% of its customers do not.

So therefore more than 80% of customers booking through Ryanair's web site get nabbed with fixed, non-optional "handling fees" because they use more common methods of payment. Checking Ryanair's web site this morning, it seems not even holders of the "Ryanair" branded Visa or Mastercards escape these extortionate fees. In fact the Visa Electron exemption from these fees is advertised as "for a limited period only."

No reasonable person would suggest these handling fees are well advertised on the first (or second) page of the Ryanair booking process. A tiny "Ryanair Fees" link in the middle left of a very crowded and busy home page simply doesn't cut it.

There is a link buried underneath the airfare and taxes/fees on the third page of the booking process saying these charges are "Excluding handling fee (if applicable) / click here for information on handling fees". Clicking this link results in a pop-up message that says:

"To defray the substantial administration costs we incur when processing transactions a handling fee applies to each passenger per flight segment. There is a £5.00/€5.00 (or local currency equivalent) handling fee for processing transactions. There is no charge associated with Electron card transactions and no handling fee for infants. Even allowing for these small charges, our fares still represent the best value for money."

£5.00 per passenger per flight segment is completely misrepresentative of their actual costs, given that Ryanair does not submit multiple card transactions to bill for a typical return flight. Even at Visa's high 0.7% fee on international payments, a £5.00 fee would only be appropriate on a single-leg flight costing over £700. I have never heard of anyone paying anywhere near that much for a Ryanair flight. The fee is even more usurious when booking flights for multiple people, as Ryanair would only submit one credit/debit charge yet charge customers repeatedly for the same transaction.

I have no issue with a firm recovering its costs of doing business, but the Ryanair payment handling fee is simply deception and robbery.

Ryanair also has a very unreasonable and unfair practice of not allowing non-EU/EEA citizens to check in online, and then penalising them for not checking in online at £5.00 per flight segment. Ryanair claims that they must perform more checks on non-EU/EEA citizens. However this is not supported by my experience over the past four months flying with other airlines in Europe, including BA, Air France, Germanwings, Lufthansa and VLM, who have all allowed me to check in online with absolutely no issues. Once again, another Ryanair fixed, non-optional cost sprung on the customer after a deceivingly attractive advertised price.

I would ask the OFT to investigate Ryanair again, as their practice of hidden and unreasonable fees obviously continues.

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No Online Checkin for non-EU Citizens
Submitted 25 November 2008

Dear Ryanair,

I have been your costumer for more than 3 years now, having traveled over 30 times on the flights you offer. Last Friday (Nov. 21st) I planned a trip from Paris-Beauvais to Pisa, and was so surprised when I was told that I could have not checked- in online using my Residency Card. For that reason I would have to pay a fee of EUR 10.00 each way, and proceed with the check-in again.

I was even more astonished when during the flight, reading the Ryanair Magazine (Issue 21; Nov. 16 - Dec. 15), your Chief Executive , Michael O'Leary, highlights the abusive practice carried out by other airline companies by saying: high cost fuel surcharging airlines are ripping passengers off by imposing unjustified fuel surcharges when oil prices are plummeting.

Furthermore he says: There is no doubt that these airlines continue to use these unavoidable fuel surcharges to scam money unfairly from passengers.

Thus, what do you call this disallowance of non-EU/EEA citizens to proceed with the online check- in?

On the same article, Michael O'Leary affirms that "Ryanair's September passenger numbers were up 20%". If the numbers are rising, meaning the company is making even more money, why would non-EU/EEA citizens have to pay more for something that is free for all the others?

Now that I have become an official member of the EU, I will probably not have any trouble with this scheme, but as a world citizen, I do fight for equal rights for everyone, regardless of the skin color, sex or race. I hope you stand against all inequalities, and right this wrong by reimbursing all passengers that have been unfairly charged.

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No Change Given
Submitted 21 November 2008

I flew on November 13 from Haugesund to Stansted, 16.10 to 16.50. Aboard I bought a bottle of water. It costed 2 ponds fifty, and I gave the waitress 10 pound 50 pence.

She said she was temporarily out of change and that she would give me the change back in just a second. But she never showed up.

After the flight I talked to a couple of women behind a Ryanair baggage-desk who said it happened to passengers on their flights all the time.

I just wanted to let you know about this.

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Successful Name Change
Submitted 6 November 2008

Having stupidly booked a flight to Portugal in my married name instead of my maiden name - the name on my Passport - I spent the following hours agonisingly googling to try and find out what I could do about it.

The Ryanair website clearly states that it costs £80 to change a name - a new passport would cost me £72. My flight was £29 return. I was absolutely sure after doing my research that there was nothing else for it but to buy another flight.

Just in case I could appeal to anyone's better nature, I used the email addresses which I found on your website - thank you! And fired emails off to every address you had listed. Siobhan O'Neill's email sent me an "out of office" message stating that all mails received would automatically be deleted and Michelle Penston's email sent me a message saying that the mail would be deleted without being read. I realised I wasn't going to get much joy out of this route.

I rang the Reservations Line this morning - It had just closed yesterday evening when I realised my mistake and the internet support line was unobtainable. Despite a recorded message warning me that their lines were very busy, I was put through after only a few seconds. I spoke to a very helpful person who was happy to change my booking. She warned me that there would be an £8.00 admin fee. I said "Don't you mean £80?" but she said that as this was only part of my name they would only charge £8.00. She also advised me to pay for this charge on my Visa Electron as it would incur no charges.

In short, I'm extremely pleased that Ryanair allow this facility but wonder why it isn't in their "Frequently asked questions" section under change of name as I'm sure the majority of slip-ups are from recently married women who haven't yet changed their names on their passports.

I fly with Ryanair several times a year and have picked up phenomenal bargains - My husband and I are flying to Pisa from East Midlands shortly for a total of 4 pence including taxes and charges! Sure this must be a record!

I do not incur a booking fee as I have taken out a Visa Electron card.

I never check in a bag but buy shampoo etc at my destination. 20 kilos is enough for us both for a week if we are disciplined about the packing.

I always check in online.

I find their flights are usually on time or early and maybe I'm lucky but I've never yet had a flight cancelled or delayed - touching wood furiously as I write this. I used to use Flybe who were constantly cancelling or delaying flights.

I realise Ryanair are "No Frills" and rarely buy food or drinks on board but HAVE been known to buy 3 for 2 miniatures of Bombay Gin at the airport and tip it into my Ryanair tonic!

The only thing I have a real problem with is the piped music!!

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Unruly Behaviour on Flight
Submitted 4 November 2008

My wife and I together with another couple had a lovely weekend in Rome recently but it was totally ruined upon our return to Stansted by the unruly behaviour of a number of passengers onboard who were bound for a Champions league fixture at Chelsea the next day.

Ryanair flight FR3013 left Rome (Ciampino) on time at 21.05 local time and during the entire two hour flight we were subjected to chanting, signing, and minor scuffling which eventually led to a brawl in the aisle involving at least 12 no (twelve) other passengers.

The cabin crew made only light hearted requests to stop this mindless fighting and seemed only interested in fuelling the situation by providing more alcohol to the perpetrators. The captain made similar requests without success and we had to abort our original landing. However it did eventually calm down after further requests from the cockpit although a number of passengers at this point were screaming and crying for our landing fifteen minutes later and the flight was met my armed and uniformed police officers.

Only two arrests were made according to the Sun newspaper under the heading 'Terror flight' and when I enquired with Stansted airport police in writing (after they refused to discuss the incident over telephone) they assured me that the matter had been dealt with to their satisfaction!! I am still awaiting a response to my letter of complaint to Michael O'Leary. Why were these passengers allowed onto the flight in their condition, why were the Italian authorities not alerted at security at Ciampino and why should the safe passage of both UK and foreign nationals be subjected to this behaviour after passing through 'SECURITY'.

Coincidentally Michael O'Leary was also in Rome that day promoting two new slots gained by the airline under the advertising campaign 'LOVE ITALY, FLY RYANAIR!!'

Was this a publicity stunt perhaps?? I have spoken to a number of Ryanair personnel in my local area about this incident and the response that I have been given is they have not been advised or alerted.

Henceforth I believe that Ryanair passengers should be issued with boxing gloves and read the forthcoming football fixtures prior to booking a flight

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No Explanation for Delay
Submitted 30 October 2008

Flt.no.4076 from alicante on 28 oct.08.

All passengers preparing to board at 0530hrs 3 ryanair aircraft on pans.flash notice flt.delayed until 1315 hrs.

Alicante info.desk cannot contact ryanair for explanation.(not their problem).

1030 hrs.free drink plus small snack.(still no information or reason for delay).

Take off 1300hrs.(still no info.on why)

Crew tannoy (no goods or services available on flt.

I questioned cabin crew with all passengers concerns and was informed that they had been called in on extra flt.with no food provided and no exta pay.i was beginning to fell sorry for them and got the impression they were doing us a big favour..

We were all offered a free cup of lukewarm water.

I am still waiting an official reason for delay and lack off basic care or consideration.

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Successful Claim
Submitted 29 October 2008

In November 2005, Ryanair cancelled a flight of mine. Basically the plane had a fault, they fixed it, but failed to board everybody in time before the airport closed. At 1am, after waiting an hour on the plane, we all had to get off. Ryanair said the flight would go at 11am the next day. As it was "extra-ordinary" Servisair informed us that they had been instructed by Ryanair to offer no compensation other than a refund. Everybody was furious, it was the early hours, cold and at a small secondary airport with no facilities. I decided not to pointlessly argue at 2am, applied for a refund that night and would pursue the expenses another time. I was forced to take a taxi to the area's primary airport, buy a hotel for the night and get a new flight on a "proper" airline first thing in the morning (I had to be back for work). In all about GBP400 of additional cost.

The next day I wrote to Ryanair and requested they reimburse the hotel, the flight, the taxi and pay the compensation as ordered under EU Regulations for delayed flights. They refused claiming "extra-ordinary circumstances". I objected on the grounds that failing to achieve regular operating procedures (ie boarding in a timely manner) and operating hours of the airport were not "extra-ordinary circumstances". After Ryanair refused again, I took it up with the AUC. The AUC demanded Ryanair pay. Ryanair refused claiming that passengers had been offered overnight accommodation, but I had not requested it! Maybe this occurred at 3am, well after I had given up arguing! Ryanair also claimed they had offered an alternative flight, which I did not take up (the 11am postponement). However the AUC wrote back and said they could not require the alternative to be Ryanair or even an airline (it was a domestic flight). Ryanair failed to respond and the AUC urged me to take it to small claims court as they have no enforcement powers (a toothless regulator).

I made the same mistake many do and applied through the UK system and was rejected on grounds of no jurisdiction. I then applied through the Irish system. Ryanair refused to concede and therefore I was required to appear in person in Court in Ireland. However, at this time I had moved to Australia. The court delayed the hearing for 2 years until I had moved back. Two days before the court date, Ryanair wrote to the Court with an offer of settlement (the full additional costs excluding the cost of the Ryanair flight that was refunded, but no EU compensation). I agreed as it was preferable to appearing in court and the costs of travel, etc.

I urge anyone who feels that they are rightfully due compensation from Ryanair to take it through the Irish court. Do not back down. Ryanair expects this. I would have gone to court if they had not settled.

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Booking Change Saga
Submitted 19 October 2008

On 31st July 2008 I booked a return flight online with Ryanair from London Stansted to Carcasonne, leaving 11th August at 1305 and returning on the 13th. Everything was confirmed and I was ready to go, but the night before I was due to depart I was taken severely ill and was diagnosed with Tracheitis, an infection of the trachea which affected my breathing. A doctor was called and told me that under no circumstances should I fly.

As it was 1.25am Ryanair's Customer Service line was closed, so I started ringing them at 9am. At about 9.03am I got through to someone to let them know I wasn't flying and to re-arrange the flight for another time. When I asked them to change the flight to a date in April 2009, they said they were unable to do so because 'the route was being discontinued for operational purposes'. She asked me to hold the line while she found another date, but instead of putting me on hold she cut me off. I called again and managed to get through to someone at 9.08am, who told me she was unable to do anything about it because it was less than 4hrs before departure. I argued that it was them that cut me off but she was not having any of it: 'I'm not going around in circles with you, I can't and won't change anything on the phone. You will simply have to travel to Stansted today and sort it at the desk', she said and put the phone down on me!

I should tell you that a trip to London Stansted from my home in Reading, Berkshire is a round-trip of 178 miles...and when you're ill that's a long way to travel! If I was well enough to travel to the airport I would have checked in and then boarded the flight. This all happened on the day that thousands of passengers who had booked through third-party websites were having their tickets denied! It would have been chaos, and I would have probably ended up in hospital!

I decided that I would complain to Ryanair directly and found the email address of the Customer Services Director, Caroline Greene through your website. I sent her an email detailing all of the problems I had incurred, but by the end of the week I still hadn't had a reply. I then faxed a complaint to Ryanair's Corporate Headquarters in Dublin, but after 10 working days STILL hadn't received a response. In desperation, I submitted a formal case to the Irish Small Claims Court. Ryanair's first response was the standard refusal, so I replied:

I have read Ryanair's response to the claim and while I accept that when I purchased the ticket I accepted the General Terms and Condtions of Carriage, I do not agree with Ryanair's view that the ticket is fully flexible.

On the date of departure, I tried to change the date of the flight in my first telephone call to the Customer Response Centre to a date in April 2009, however I was told by the customer services representative on the telephone it was not possible to change it to that particular date in April as the route was being discontinued. Afterwards I was cut off the telephone by Ryanair, and during the second telephone call I was told there was nothing that could be done at all over the telephone - the only alternative given by the Customer Response Centre was to travel to London Stansted and resolve the situation in person, which I refuse to spend time and money doing.

April 2009 is the only other time that I am in a position to take this flight again as being a Secondary School Teacher means that I must work within the confines of the school vacation. If the company are planning to discontinue the flight after this time this does not make the flight '"fully flexible" as suggested by Ryanair. I would be more than willing to discuss an alternative destination with Ryanair, however even their lack of decency to even contact me after making a formal complaint through their own complaint procedures would mean that I would refuse to pay any "applicable fees" as a matter of principle.

Ryanair came back soon after:

We wish to advise that Mr [name] by contacting our Reservation centre would have had to pay 88.00 GBP for the flight change fee and any fare difference.

Therefore, as a gesture of good will, we are in a position to offer a Travel Credit for the future travel to the value of 21.26 GBP (which is the difference of the original price of the ticket and flight change fee). Hence when Mr [name] makes a new booking using the travel credit, he will only have to pay the same difference as he would have had to pay on the 11th August 2008 when he contacted our call centre (we wish to inform that the special rate of changing the flight on our website would have not been applied in this case, as the change should have been done 12 hours before the scheduled departure).

In summary, as a gesture of goodwill Ryanair were only going to let me pay almost the same again instead of more than the £109.26 I paid for the original flight. Perhaps it's just me being greedy, but I'm not seeing the goodwill gesture in paying for your flight over again! I also don't ever remember reading anything that says the flight change rate would have increased if you changed your flight less than 12hrs before departure (Ryanair's website says you can change it up to 4hrs before departure!)

Having considered the options carefully, I replied:

I do not feel that the offer being made by Ryanair is the best they can offer given the circumstances. To be honest, I am failing to see Ryanair's 'good will gesture' in asking me to pay almost the same again for a flight which they cannot offer at a later date because the route is being discontinued. I find Mr Wasiak's 'gesture of good will' a total insult to me as a consumer. I have also checked Ryanair's General Conditions of Carriage and see nothing in there that tells me that special web rates do not apply when the change to a flight is made less than 12 hours before departure - perhaps Ryanair should clarify their policy in regard to this.

Once again, as set out in my previous complaint I do have medical evidence to support the claim that I was not fit to travel on that day, and feel that this has been totally ignored by the respondent at every point in the complaint.

By this point I realised that I was fighting a losing battle, and that this was going on for too long. The complaint had been going on for nearly two months. Then Ryanair soon delivered the final blow:

Whilst we sympathise with your view, we regret that our position as set out in previous correspondence remains unaltered.

Our Terms and Conditions, however, state that flight dates, times and routes are changeable (subject to seat availability). If booked online the rate of £28/€35 per one way flight/per person applies or if booked at an airport or reservation centre the rate of £44/€55 per one way flight/per person applies.

In addition, to these flight change fees, any price difference between the original total price paid and the lowest total price available at the time of the flight change is charged. Please note that if the total price on the new flight is lower, no refund will be made.

Furthermore, flight changes (subject to seat availability) can be made up to 4 hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time either online or via a reservation centre (subject to opening hours). Internet/web only fares cannot be booked when flight changes are made through an airport or reservation centre. No flight changes can be made to a reservation once a passenger has checked in for a flight.

There are a couple of discrepencies in this statement. Ryanair said they charged a different price for a flight change if booked online. The £88.00 charge would have only been applicable for those flight bought over the phone or in person, so why were they charging me more?

By this time, I had had enough of the bat and ball game that was crossing the Irish Sea, so I withdrew my claim, but not without giving Ryanair a piece of my mind.

I am still of the opinion that the offer currently being made by Ryanair is not the best they can offer given the circumstances, especially when they are charging me £88 as a flight change fee when I should be charged £56 as I booked the original fare online. To be honest, I am failing to see Ryanair's 'good will gesture' in asking me to pay almost the same again for a flight which they cannot offer at a later date.

I find Mr Wasiak's 'gesture of good will' a total insult to me as a customer. I have also checked Ryanair's Term and Conditions as well as their General Conditions of Carriage and see nothing in there that tells me that special web fares do not apply when the change to a flight is made less than 12 hours before departure - perhaps Ryanair should clarify their policy in regard to this.

It seems clear to me that Ryanair have got 'moving the goalposts to suit themselves' down to a fine art, and that there is always an answer to a tricky question lurking somewhere around the corner. Quite frankly I have no more time to commit to this ridiculous 'bat-and-ball game' with a company who obviously wouldn't know a good will gesture if it leapt on top of them. I cannot agree to the offer Ryanair have made - even if I booked another flight with them with the offer given I would begrudge every moment of the journey knowing that I have had to pay nearly £200 for a flight which is almost half of that in value. As a matter of principal I intend never to send my custom towards Ryanair again.

Once again, as set out in previous complaints I do have medical evidence to support the claim that I was not fit to travel on that day, and feel that this has been totally ignored by the respondent at every point in the complaint. Neither have they addressed their lack of Customer Service, both when the line was cut off when trying to change the flight in the first telephone conversation, when they refused to change anything in the second telephone call or when they failed to respond to two direct written complaints made to their Head Office in Dublin, which completely goes against their Passenger Charter of resolving complaints within 7 working days.

It is with sincere regret that I withdraw this claim, not because I agree with Ryanair's decision, but simply because I am fed up with trying to work with a company who have ultimately taken my money without offering any suitable recompense. Ryanair's Customer Services should take heed of the statistic that one consumer tells four others about a good experience with a company, but tells ten other consumers about a bad experience. I feel Ryanair have had ample opportunity to bring this to a mutual solution, however they have failed to do so.

This is how it has been left. I feel Ryanair have won, and I'm £109.26 out of pocket. I know this is a small amount to some, but as a Newly Qualified Teacher this is a big deal and there is also a matter of principal, something Ryanair are clearly lacking which they showed on their last BBC Watchdog appearance a few weeks ago. Michael O'Leary's interview said it all: "We don't want to take the moral high ground, we want to take the low cost ground", showing just how money hungry they are. I hope Ryanair go bust and he loses the lot, something I don't normally wish on my enemies.

In amongst all of this, they still haven't addressed the original problems of poor customer service and the refusal to reply to the email and fax complaints I sent. It goes without saying I won't be flying with them again...not that I got to fly with them in the first place!

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Still Awaiting Refund Due to Cancellation
Submitted 8 October 2008

My mother & I booked return flights from Edinburgh to Berlin, one of their new destinations due to have been launched at the end of September. When making the booking, I saw that, as my mum is visually impaired, I was obliged to notify Ryanair of this fact. I subsequently found out that this was because an entire group of blind/visually impaired passengers were unceremoniously taken off their flight - Ryanair's lame excuse being, "due to health & safety issues". I believe the group successfully sued Ryanair and were awarded damages. Now Ryanair limit the number of blind/visually impaired passengers to a maximum of five per flight.

So, I looked for a number to call them and it was an 0871 number, which, when called, gave an automated message to call a premium rate number (09) at £1 per minute. Thanks to the saynoto0870.com website, I found it cheaper to call their Dublin number where I was kept on hold for a staggering 27 minutes before I got through to advise them that my mother is visually impaired and would require assistance on the return journey only. An hour or so later, I received ano