From the Balcony, A Publisher's Blog: No frills no more and more masterplans: "Tuesday, July 29, 2008
No frills no more and more masterplans
You heard it here first: the reason Ryanair lost money isn't just down to the oil crisis. It's also because the no-frills airlines are no longer no-frills.
What they take off the ticket, they bang back on in insurance, baggage charges, seating charges and 'preferential' boarding. It's a joke and it ain't cheap so until they get back to the original model, cheap flights, expect no turnaround."
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Ryanair.con
Being in a particularly grumpy mood today (yes, it's probably the weather) I decided to look for a refund from Ryanair for the taxes they charged me for 2 flights I did not use.
Should be simple enough - I bought the flights on line using my credit card, so I'll go on to their website, log in the flight details and they will refund my card for the taxes that they did not have to pay because I didn't travel!
30 minutes later and I can not find any information about how to get my money back - although I can book a car, a hotel, buy vouchers and of course cheap(???) flights. Their website is still working at a snails pace and now keeps changing into different languages sometimes when I press the "back" button.
So, I decide to ring Ryanair instead. The problem is there is nobody home! At least nobody to answer the phone, I waited on the line from 15.15 until 15.38 - 23 minutes, listening to a message once a minute telling me "Thank you for calling Ryanair. Your call is in a queueing system, please hold for an operator".
Ryanair don't have an email address, they don't answer the phone, so how am I going to get my money back?
OK, it's not the AMOUNT of money that's worrying me, it's the principle, it's the fact that it's MY money and not theirs, and they are not entitled to pocket it, and they are making it almost impossible for me their customer to get a refund.
Is this called "robbery"? Is there no law against this practice?
Should be simple enough - I bought the flights on line using my credit card, so I'll go on to their website, log in the flight details and they will refund my card for the taxes that they did not have to pay because I didn't travel!
30 minutes later and I can not find any information about how to get my money back - although I can book a car, a hotel, buy vouchers and of course cheap(???) flights. Their website is still working at a snails pace and now keeps changing into different languages sometimes when I press the "back" button.
So, I decide to ring Ryanair instead. The problem is there is nobody home! At least nobody to answer the phone, I waited on the line from 15.15 until 15.38 - 23 minutes, listening to a message once a minute telling me "Thank you for calling Ryanair. Your call is in a queueing system, please hold for an operator".
Ryanair don't have an email address, they don't answer the phone, so how am I going to get my money back?
OK, it's not the AMOUNT of money that's worrying me, it's the principle, it's the fact that it's MY money and not theirs, and they are not entitled to pocket it, and they are making it almost impossible for me their customer to get a refund.
Is this called "robbery"? Is there no law against this practice?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sráid Capel
Sráid Capel is one of my favourite streets in Dublin and I was more than a little annoyed when DCC made a dog's dinner of the middle part of it last year (see Blog 9/17/07). So it was with some trepidation that I watched the roadworks in progress there for the last few months! Was Mr Green Party/ Bicycle loving/Car Hating/"town planner" at it again? Was he going to finish off Capel Street for cars?
I am a firm believer that streets should be vibrant places.... a melting pot, a living, breathing space - full of life, commerce, homes, shops, people, noise, "Bananas - 5 for one Euro",- EVEN traffic (and car horns sometimes)..
Mr DCC, I suspect, likes most of the above, except cars..
So, it was a great relief to walk home via Capel Street tonight and to discover that the roadworks only involve upgrading the pavements. And, I have to say they look very well!
Mr DCC must be on holidays. Shhhh...
I am a firm believer that streets should be vibrant places.... a melting pot, a living, breathing space - full of life, commerce, homes, shops, people, noise, "Bananas - 5 for one Euro",- EVEN traffic (and car horns sometimes)..
Mr DCC, I suspect, likes most of the above, except cars..
So, it was a great relief to walk home via Capel Street tonight and to discover that the roadworks only involve upgrading the pavements. And, I have to say they look very well!
Mr DCC must be on holidays. Shhhh...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sráid Henry - and that horrible Spire
The Spire - probably the most uninspiring piece of street architecture in any Capital city in Europe! It cost millions, it wasn't even designed by an Irish person, it has no charm, no class and no street presence. It is just a big piece of metal stuck in the middle of the city's main thoroughfare. An ugly, expensive mistake!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Our Useless Politician's
I left Dublin City Centre by car at 17.25 to drive to the Airport to pick up a friend who was flying from London. Her flight departed Stansted 10 minutes earlier at 17.15.
The rush-hour traffic through Dorset Street, Drumcondra and Whitehall was unbelievably bad, at times I would only move 20 metres at a change of traffic lights, and would then be at a complete standstill for 3 or 4 minutes.
As I passed the infamous St. Luke's in Drumcondra - Bertie Ahern's centre of corruption, I could not help but feel angry at the sheer mess Ahern and his useless Government colleagues had made of the Celtic Tiger years. They squandered away our wealth and left us with these disastrous traffic chaos, causing misery to thousands of people every day.
My friend texted me when I was in Whitehall - she had already arrived in Dublin Airport from London. I eventually got on to the M1 a few minutes later and managed to reach the airport within 10 minutes.
So - it took the same amount of time to fly from London to Dublin Airport as to drive from Dublin City Centre to the Airport!
BLOODY GREAT COUNTRY WE LIVE IN!
The rush-hour traffic through Dorset Street, Drumcondra and Whitehall was unbelievably bad, at times I would only move 20 metres at a change of traffic lights, and would then be at a complete standstill for 3 or 4 minutes.
As I passed the infamous St. Luke's in Drumcondra - Bertie Ahern's centre of corruption, I could not help but feel angry at the sheer mess Ahern and his useless Government colleagues had made of the Celtic Tiger years. They squandered away our wealth and left us with these disastrous traffic chaos, causing misery to thousands of people every day.
My friend texted me when I was in Whitehall - she had already arrived in Dublin Airport from London. I eventually got on to the M1 a few minutes later and managed to reach the airport within 10 minutes.
So - it took the same amount of time to fly from London to Dublin Airport as to drive from Dublin City Centre to the Airport!
BLOODY GREAT COUNTRY WE LIVE IN!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Ryanair - Michael O'Leary. Yet Another Rip-off
When it comes to ripping-off customers they are in a league of their own! Yes, they do have some cheap flights but they make their millions by stealth, scams, rip-offs and hidden charges. They treat their customers with contempt and yet to listen to O'Leary on the radio you would think they were a model company who loved and respected their customers!
A friend pointed out this latest scam from Ryanair - the low standards company.
He booked a one week, return flight to Poland and the tickets were €125 each way (of course they were a hell of a lot more by the time he had paid all the stealth taxes and charges).
Then he discovered that he needed to come back in 5 days instead of 7. You can change your flights on the Ryanair website so he decided to do this. First he looked for flight availability for his new return date and he discovered that the price had actually dropped from €125 to €85. Great, so he logged in his details to change the date - only to discover that sneaky Ryanair would still charge him €125, not the €85 they were now advertising the ticket for. AND - they charged a whopping €35 just to change the ticket.
I can just imagine Michael O'Leary lying in bed at night dreaming up new charges!
A friend pointed out this latest scam from Ryanair - the low standards company.
He booked a one week, return flight to Poland and the tickets were €125 each way (of course they were a hell of a lot more by the time he had paid all the stealth taxes and charges).
Then he discovered that he needed to come back in 5 days instead of 7. You can change your flights on the Ryanair website so he decided to do this. First he looked for flight availability for his new return date and he discovered that the price had actually dropped from €125 to €85. Great, so he logged in his details to change the date - only to discover that sneaky Ryanair would still charge him €125, not the €85 they were now advertising the ticket for. AND - they charged a whopping €35 just to change the ticket.
I can just imagine Michael O'Leary lying in bed at night dreaming up new charges!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Ryanair - Michael O'Leary Hates Babies
I noticed that Euro MPs have been making noises today about airlines misleading the public when they offer cheap fares but don't show hidden charges! Are we going to see some action at last? I won't hold my breath, especially as far as Ryanair are concerned.
I recently booked flights on Ryanair for friends who are going from Dublin to London ( Stansted).
The flights were actually advertised as FREE for 2 adults and 2 children, but mysteriously a 3 month old baby was being charged 20 Euro. I checked different times and dates but the poor little baby was always charged 20 Euro while everybody else went "free". Anyway, when taxes were factored in ( €39.98 each way) the total price, including beautiful little baby, a not unreasonable - €119.96.
You can now check-in Online of course and avoid the queueing and hassle at the airport AND having to pay for checking-in - good idea this if you can travel with a small amount of luggage that you can bring aboard the plane. So I try to check-in my friends Online.
Problemo! Ryanair will not let you check-in Online - IF you have an infant (under 2 years) I kid you not! (pun intended) . So, we try again and must check the family in at the airport. But now Mr O'Leary charges the 2 adults and 2 children €10 each for Airport Check-in, an extra €40. Total price now - €159.96.
Ryanair now charge you for your luggage of course, but if you tick the box for "No luggage & airport check-in" you are still charged the €10, even though you have NO luggage. Our family now decide that if they are being made to go through the checking-in procedure anyway and are being charged they might as well bring 2 bags, so we tick the boxes. The price jumps another €40. New price - €199.96.
We continue with the booking, making sure to UN TICK boxes that charge you for Travel Insurance (€18 extra per person) - and best of all, "Priority Boarding" and a fee for the dubious benefit of being first to board the plane (€10 per person).
We proceed to purchase the tickets, the Ryanair website is working at a snails pace and eventually crashes, so we have to start all over again inputting all the information from start to finish. We get to the "Purchase" button - and the site crashes again! So we go for a coffee and come back to Ryanair in 1 hour. That's more than the flight time Dublin to London, but the problem still persists, so, frustrated, we decide to leave it for 24 hours.
Next day, thankfully the prices have not gone up and eventually we get our "Confirmation Number" - and a sting in the tail! What HAS gone up is the price we are charged - an extra €40 Euro, they called it a "Handling Fee"- €10 per person, seemingly it's for the luxury of using a credit card for booking the flights, total charge -€239.92. FREE FLIGHTS, HA HA HA..
I recently booked flights on Ryanair for friends who are going from Dublin to London ( Stansted).
The flights were actually advertised as FREE for 2 adults and 2 children, but mysteriously a 3 month old baby was being charged 20 Euro. I checked different times and dates but the poor little baby was always charged 20 Euro while everybody else went "free". Anyway, when taxes were factored in ( €39.98 each way) the total price, including beautiful little baby, a not unreasonable - €119.96.
You can now check-in Online of course and avoid the queueing and hassle at the airport AND having to pay for checking-in - good idea this if you can travel with a small amount of luggage that you can bring aboard the plane. So I try to check-in my friends Online.
Problemo! Ryanair will not let you check-in Online - IF you have an infant (under 2 years) I kid you not! (pun intended) . So, we try again and must check the family in at the airport. But now Mr O'Leary charges the 2 adults and 2 children €10 each for Airport Check-in, an extra €40. Total price now - €159.96.
Ryanair now charge you for your luggage of course, but if you tick the box for "No luggage & airport check-in" you are still charged the €10, even though you have NO luggage. Our family now decide that if they are being made to go through the checking-in procedure anyway and are being charged they might as well bring 2 bags, so we tick the boxes. The price jumps another €40. New price - €199.96.
We continue with the booking, making sure to UN TICK boxes that charge you for Travel Insurance (€18 extra per person) - and best of all, "Priority Boarding" and a fee for the dubious benefit of being first to board the plane (€10 per person).
We proceed to purchase the tickets, the Ryanair website is working at a snails pace and eventually crashes, so we have to start all over again inputting all the information from start to finish. We get to the "Purchase" button - and the site crashes again! So we go for a coffee and come back to Ryanair in 1 hour. That's more than the flight time Dublin to London, but the problem still persists, so, frustrated, we decide to leave it for 24 hours.
Next day, thankfully the prices have not gone up and eventually we get our "Confirmation Number" - and a sting in the tail! What HAS gone up is the price we are charged - an extra €40 Euro, they called it a "Handling Fee"- €10 per person, seemingly it's for the luxury of using a credit card for booking the flights, total charge -€239.92. FREE FLIGHTS, HA HA HA..
Monday, July 7, 2008
Willie O'Dea(d) bodies will soon...
.. be coming back in Bodybags!
At the moment Irish soldiers are in Chad, a hot dusty country in Central Africa, ostensibly to protect refugee's from the humanitarian crisis in neighboring Sudan.
Ireland is, sorry - WAS a neutral country, so what are we doing propping up a Dictator (Deby) in a former French colony, where France still pulls the strings?
Answers on a postcard to Monsieur William O'Dea, Luimneach
Ar leanúint... (to be continued)
At the moment Irish soldiers are in Chad, a hot dusty country in Central Africa, ostensibly to protect refugee's from the humanitarian crisis in neighboring Sudan.
Ireland is, sorry - WAS a neutral country, so what are we doing propping up a Dictator (Deby) in a former French colony, where France still pulls the strings?
Answers on a postcard to Monsieur William O'Dea, Luimneach
Ar leanúint... (to be continued)
Friday, July 4, 2008
Lisboa
Worth checking out Máirtín O Muilleoir's Blog re the Lisbon Treaty - From The Balcony,a Publisher's Blog (Friday,July 4)
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