Oct
26
I never thought I'd ever say this - at least not out loud - but I like Ryanair.
I've flown with them three times now. The first trip several years ago - out to Germany which was fair enough. There should have been a return trip of course, but it resulted in such a mess that I was left stranded and I vowed never to darken their door again.
I was wrong of course, the lure of "cheap" is a powerful one. I'm just back from a holiday in Portugal - Ryanair flights out and back, blighted only by a technical failure on the homeward trip which could happen to anyone.
With Ryanair, you need to be aware of what you're buying and WHY you're buying it...
I've flown with them three times now. The first trip several years ago - out to Germany which was fair enough. There should have been a return trip of course, but it resulted in such a mess that I was left stranded and I vowed never to darken their door again.
I was wrong of course, the lure of "cheap" is a powerful one. I'm just back from a holiday in Portugal - Ryanair flights out and back, blighted only by a technical failure on the homeward trip which could happen to anyone.
With Ryanair, you need to be aware of what you're buying and WHY you're buying it...
--
I understood exactly what I was buying this time: I bought transport. Transport from A to B.
I didn't buy smiles when I checked in my luggage (and sure enough my expectations were met).
I didn't buy "free" drinks on the flight - I had to pay through the nose for them, just like you do with any other airline.
No. Instead I bought the movement of me, my family and our luggage from Scotland to Portugal and back again - and that's what I got.
It was a fascinating experience looking at all the costs and activities Ryanair have stripped out of the process of using an airline - all with the objective of being able to offer cheap flights:
- The aircraft seats don't recline.
- The safety information is not on a card (which you need to print and replace) it's stuck onto the back of the seat in front of you.
- You check in online. If you want to check in "in person" at the airport, that will cost you extra.
- Turnaround of the aircraft itself is almost too fast for the eye to comprehend.
It was cheap (well, cheap-ish) of course it was. But our aircraft flew the same route as the expensive ones and it landed in exactly the same way. Our luggage was available quickly and everything worked...
...until we went to go home.
A bird strike to one of the engines on our aircraft meant they had to find another one for our return journey. There was a wait of several hours for this replacement to fly to Portugal. I could live with the wait - I reminded myself, "I bought transport, not service". Other passengers didn't seem to understand this and one or two got a bit uppity about it.
You see, nobody notices when "cheap" works. I bought a cheap TV set once - of the kind that last a year or two if you're lucky - that was 25 years ago and is still works. A fact which didn't dawn on me until I started writing this article. You'll buy a cheap meal and as long as it tastes of something and fills you up a bit, you'll carry on regardless. If it's cheap and it works - that's what you expected it to do.
But when "cheap" stuff doesn't work - that's when you notice.
For us in Portugal yesterday, buying a "cheap" airline ticket meant that the airport ground handlers didn't give two hoots about what happened to us. No information, no updates, they just herded us about. But then I didn't buy service. I bought transport. I could live with that. The basics worked. I got from A to B.
What I couldn't live with was the mattress in the Travelodge we stayed in the night before we left. It was bloody awful. The basic requirements for a hotel room are safety, security and a bed comfortable enough to support sleep. I don't know where Travelodge are getting their mattresses from these days but they need to take a look at them. I got ~@%£ all sleep on the night before I flew out on my holidays because the mattress offered no support, had a protruding spring and actually promoted "roll together". Which meant myself and the current Mrs S kept crashing into each other (which I don't normally object to, but my mission that night was sleep).
A cheap hotel should have a mattress that works. The Travelodge was cheap and it didn't deliver. I didn't like it.
Ryanair delivers. That's why I like Ryanair.
I might not use them often, but if you read the instructions for how to use Ryanair and stick to them you'll get a good deal. You won't get much in the way of service, but then you're not paying for service.
"Caveat emptor"
Don't complain about Ryanair before you've thought carefully about what you bought and why. In my experience, you get what you pay for. Or at least you should...
Travelodge please note.
I understood exactly what I was buying this time: I bought transport. Transport from A to B.
I didn't buy smiles when I checked in my luggage (and sure enough my expectations were met).
I didn't buy "free" drinks on the flight - I had to pay through the nose for them, just like you do with any other airline.
No. Instead I bought the movement of me, my family and our luggage from Scotland to Portugal and back again - and that's what I got.
It was a fascinating experience looking at all the costs and activities Ryanair have stripped out of the process of using an airline - all with the objective of being able to offer cheap flights:
- The aircraft seats don't recline.
- The safety information is not on a card (which you need to print and replace) it's stuck onto the back of the seat in front of you.
- You check in online. If you want to check in "in person" at the airport, that will cost you extra.
- Turnaround of the aircraft itself is almost too fast for the eye to comprehend.
It was cheap (well, cheap-ish) of course it was. But our aircraft flew the same route as the expensive ones and it landed in exactly the same way. Our luggage was available quickly and everything worked...
...until we went to go home.
A bird strike to one of the engines on our aircraft meant they had to find another one for our return journey. There was a wait of several hours for this replacement to fly to Portugal. I could live with the wait - I reminded myself, "I bought transport, not service". Other passengers didn't seem to understand this and one or two got a bit uppity about it.
You see, nobody notices when "cheap" works. I bought a cheap TV set once - of the kind that last a year or two if you're lucky - that was 25 years ago and is still works. A fact which didn't dawn on me until I started writing this article. You'll buy a cheap meal and as long as it tastes of something and fills you up a bit, you'll carry on regardless. If it's cheap and it works - that's what you expected it to do.
But when "cheap" stuff doesn't work - that's when you notice.
For us in Portugal yesterday, buying a "cheap" airline ticket meant that the airport ground handlers didn't give two hoots about what happened to us. No information, no updates, they just herded us about. But then I didn't buy service. I bought transport. I could live with that. The basics worked. I got from A to B.
What I couldn't live with was the mattress in the Travelodge we stayed in the night before we left. It was bloody awful. The basic requirements for a hotel room are safety, security and a bed comfortable enough to support sleep. I don't know where Travelodge are getting their mattresses from these days but they need to take a look at them. I got ~@%£ all sleep on the night before I flew out on my holidays because the mattress offered no support, had a protruding spring and actually promoted "roll together". Which meant myself and the current Mrs S kept crashing into each other (which I don't normally object to, but my mission that night was sleep).
A cheap hotel should have a mattress that works. The Travelodge was cheap and it didn't deliver. I didn't like it.
Ryanair delivers. That's why I like Ryanair.
I might not use them often, but if you read the instructions for how to use Ryanair and stick to them you'll get a good deal. You won't get much in the way of service, but then you're not paying for service.
"Caveat emptor"
Don't complain about Ryanair before you've thought carefully about what you bought and why. In my experience, you get what you pay for. Or at least you should...
Travelodge please note.
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