Ryanair - Help please!
 

They seem to quote prices on some routes which don't attract tax.

The price for Liverpool - Ibiza return is £31 with no tax.

Is there anything I need to be aware of ? Catches ?

Thank you

No catch - its a sale price I think.

The catch is all the costs on checkout - luggage, credit card, first to board etc.

Be very careful on their luggage weight restrictions and extra charges for going over - they mean it and weigh everything!

I honestly think jamikins is wrong on this.

For whatever reason, they have a number of (usually, in my experience, relatively unbusy) flights which quote "no tax", while others a week apart don't have this flag.

Push the dummy booking right through to the end, and these "no tax" flights really, really, seem to stay just that way.

I know O'Leary will be mortally offended by this appalling slight on his character - but <b> I truly think he sometimes just cuts the price, with nothing underhand, to fill otherwise empty planes </b>

Now I last did this about six months ago, It's obviously against nature for a toerag like Little Michael to go six months without dreaming up some technique for defrauding us all. But age hits us all - and while I can't imagine he's got honest, or decent, well he could have just got slow in his old age.

Just keep on modelling. If you find he IS being honest: please tell us all. With any luck, he'll be mortified at the indignity of being exposed and die of a heart attack.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.

Thanks Jamikins

we are very happy not eating or breathing for 2 hours and our luggage will be hacked down to one bag between three as we are only going for 4 days.

Has anyone purchased a no tax flight and had problems. I presume Ryanair stand the tax. In our case that would leave them just about breaking even on the the direct costs of the ticket.

£134 for three tickets and a bag looks to good to be true. The petrol to Dover would be more than that!

Flanner

The "no tax" offer is only on a small number of routes. We would like to go to Spain, checking the routes Girona, Ibiza and Palma don't attract tax but Seville and Malaga do attract.

The Italians routes seem to be taxed.

I have progressed the booking to the final credit card page and the final figure is £134 including all options.

Do I press book ?

Do I trust the Devil ?

"Has anyone purchased a no tax flight and had problems."

Never had problems and I once flew Girona/Madrid for €5.
Be very careful about luggage weight : one bag per person, maximum 10 kg does not mean a 30 kg bag for 3 persons.

Just curious flanneruk - what am I wrong about? Calling it a sale? It is a legitimate price that for whatever reason they are discounting. I imagine they are just paying the tax. I;ve booked these with no problem...

I meant that the taxes still have to be paid but they are embedded in the 'no tax' price. Anyways, I have booked these many times over the last 4 years and had no problem.

That seems to make two of us that have trusted the devil.

Thank you to both of you for the words of comfort.

Which one of you do I blame when they cancel the under-booked return flight with 10 minutes notice?

Pvoyageuse : have booked two weeks in Sardinia again for this July. Struggle to get through more than 18 months without a visit to Sardinia.

Well knock on wood, but I have never had a flight cancelled for being underbooked hahaha - almost every RA flights i have been on have been packed! Not saying it doesnt happen, but I have never heard of a flight being cancelled for being under-booked on RA :)

That almost sounds like someone underwriting the booking!

humpty - if the flight cost says it's without taxes, it's without taxes.

that doesn't mean that there aren't other costs - including the notorious check-in cost - even if you do so on line, and the charge for using a credit or debit card, which you can only escape by using a special pre-payment card.

I was looking at a BA flight the other day - and the headline rate was the rate you paid, including 20kgs hold luggage, hand luggage AND a handbag or laptop case, refreshments during the flight, etc. etc.

why can't Ryanair and Easyjet [not quite such an offender but still loading on costs at the end] do the same?

"have booked two weeks in Sardinia again for this July."

With Ryanair I hope :-))
Am planning to go next fall (Barbagia this time). Unfortunately Ryanair is cutting down flights to Sardinia from Girona : Cagliari is out and flights to Alghero won't be as frequent.

humptynumpty, I use Ryanair a lot and have taken flights from Stansted to Trieste, Genoa etc for £3 each way. When you come to pay there is always a £10 debit/credit card fee, they used to have a Visa connect option which was free but I haven't seen that lately. Anyway how many people have Visa Connect, it is so difficult to get! If you go carry on (which I always do), and check in on line there is nothing extra.

Also, look for flights that have no taxes and no check in fee.

My flights from Belfast to Trieste and Genoa cost me return

Belfast - Stansted = £6 plus £10 Credit Card fee = £16 total

Stansted - Trieste or Genoa - £6 plus £10 as above

Total Belfast - Trieste/Genoa = £36 total and no problems.

You people who live in the south east of England are so lucky!!

On a similar note, I have just booked two flights from London to Sicily for May. Even including the ridiculous £5 per part of flight per passenger credit card surcharge, Ryanair was less than a third of the price of other available carriers.

BA Gatwick to Catania = £460
Easyjet Gatwick to Palermo = £466
Ryanair Stansted to Palermo = £129

"Ryanair was less than a third of the price of other available carriers."

That's good as long as you don't mind being treated like a dog.

To save two thirds? Woof!

it is the fact that you have to wait to the end of the booking process to find out what the flight is going to cost you that narks me - and the consumers' association who has referred these practises to the office of fair trading.

after all, you have to book in, so why charge for it? and surely they could absorb the cost of a debit card transaction.

prices should be transparent and not appear at the end of a long and tedious booking process, when people may end up paying more than they would have with an alternative carrier but can't be bothered to go through it all again!

Ann

I have always found Easyjet to be pretty fair. The fare that is returned following a search isn't far from the fare you can check-out.

Jet2 are appalling, there is a long way to go once you have clicked on the advertised one way fare.

Could never see the point in paying a king's for BA when all you are effectively doing (even in economy) is contributing to those that down the free booze like it is the last 10 hours of their life.

Going to have to decide tomorrow.

Hopetown in May will make a lot more sense.

I think O'Leary is winning.... end up booking flights that you don't really want, to places that don't interest you, just beacuse they are cheap.

Woof!

Murky, I have never been treated like a dog on the many Ryanair flights I have taken. All Ryanair flights are short flights which is why they are cheap as they can do a 20-30min turn around. I consider it the same as taking a bus or train to my destination - I don't need to be pampered.

Annhig, Ryanair is no different to Easyjet when it comes to extras. When you click on the flight that you want it tells you what the on-line check in fee will be. The next stage is the same as Easyjet - pay for bags, insurance etc. The only difference is that Easyjet charge less for debit cards than Ryanair but we are talking £5.

Every Ryanair flight I have ever taken has left on time and arrived, frequently, early. I can't say the same about Easyjet but I am also a fan of them.

Humptynumpty, I check their website all the time but would never book a flight to somewhere I didn't want to go. However most of the destinations are places I would be very happy to explore so I go with the cheapest and have had some fantastic trips for next to nothing.

Actually, i have travelled a lot with Easyjet and have fewer gripes with them than with others. so far as Ryanair is concerned, surely the headline rate should include the taxes - with Ryanair it doesn't, [ditto a few others actually] with easyjet and BA it does. and if they are going to charge £5 for use of a credit card, and £10 to check -in [a bit like a car manufacturer charging for a steering wheel] they should say so at the start, in a prominent place.

as for price, we are looking at BA flights to and from Germany at the moment and that are less than £100 - all right, that's not £10, but it's all in, including taxes, and luggage, refreshments, etc.etc. I'm not aware of BA offering free booze - but it sounds good to me!

Murky....lol
nice typo cambe not been called that before :-)

Ryanair gets a lot of negative publicity but it also gets 80 million passengers per year. If you book in advance you can sometimes get tickets for a few euros but if you leave it late expect to pay big bucks,especially if you have extra luggage. Ryanair itself surveyed 2894 passengers in March 2011 and here are some of the results: 97% said they would travel by Ryanair again. 80% said that the price was the main factor in deciding why they used the airline while the location of departure or arrival airports mattered greatly too. 50% had flown by Ryanair at least 4 times in the previous 12 months and 70% had hand luggage only. Passengers were critical of the extra charges but if you know the rules you do not pay too many of them and now only 1% arrive at the airport without printing out their boarding pass,thus avoiding a 40 euro charge. I travel by Ryanair a few times every year and I have seen many wonderful places in Europe as a result and without any problem. They are one of Boeings biggest customers and fly no other type of plane. The British prime minister, David Cameron, flew on them recently on a holiday because he got good value.The website www.ryanair.com is one of the busiest in Europe.

"The British prime minister, David Cameron, flew on them recently on a holiday because he got good value."

The British prime minister, David Cameron, flew on them recently on a holiday because he thought he'd get good headlines.

>>The British prime minister, David Cameron, flew on them recently on a holiday because he thought he'd get good headlines.<<

I wonder if he bought a scratchcard.

"The British prime minister, David Cameron, flew on them recently on a holiday because he got good value."

He was also the only person to find a whole row of empty seats in the departure lounge, he also flew an Irish airline when he could have flown a British airline. The question though is what did Samantha think of it - it was to celebrate her 40th birthday.

DO NOT TRUST THE NO TAXES OPTION!

I used to commute from Hong Kong to St Kitts and Nevis twice a week and I would always use Ryanair, but never fall for the no taxes SCAM! i had to pay a fine of HK$162 because i got CAUGHT walking through 'nothing to declare' without declaring my tax deductions. DECLARE YOUR TAX. I now work in the Robert L. Bradshaw airport in St Kitts and we get fools like this all the time!!!!!!!!!!!

What has any of this got to do with Ryanair? They did used to offer seats where the government taxes were paid - as they used to offer seats for £0.01.

Ryanair flys to St Kitts and Nevis? Strange, they don't seem to advertise it.

Tax deductions for a flight to be declared at customs??? Who knew?

All Planelover747's posts seem a little strange to me.

After having a hell of a time, I finally got Ryanair's site to put through my CC. It kept telling me that my address was wrong.

Anyhow, I didn't choose to pay 12eu extra per ticket for assigned seats. The flight BVA to Bologna is only 1 hr 40. Is this a mistake? I can not find any email option in their contact section.
Got to go look again to see if I can figure out what their luggage requirements are as I'm thinking we'll get skinned alive in that regard.

I think you get what you pay for. I hated bringing a suitcase the size of large purse (for me) and if you don't print off your ticket (even on the return which isn't always possible) you will pay more than your stupid ticket!

cybor - where is BVA? you may be crossing a time zone which affects the arrival time.

As for luggage requirements, the standard Ryanair limits are 15kgs in the hold and 10kgs in the cabin, with only one bag allowed in the cabin, and that includes a handbag - so if you're doing "carry-on" only, you need to leave room in the bag to put your handbag in while you're boarding.

if you're putting luggage in the hold, and travelling with other people, watch out as they don't allow "pooling". ie if your case weighs 14kgs, and your travelling companion's weighs 16 kgs, they'll sting you for the extra kg. this is not the case with easyjet or flybe.

we ended up with buying digital luggage scales and they have been worth their weight in gold!

The flight BVA to Bologna is only 1 hr 40. Is this a mistake? >>

just checked where BVA is - Beauvais [near Paris]. the 1hr 40 mins flight time sounds about right - it's not that far. no time zones involved either. the question with Ryanair is which airport you land at - it might be miles from Bologna. We flew with them to "Vienna" - the airport is actually at Bratislava which is in a different country! However we took advantage of it and spent the night there, which is something we would never have done otherwise.

have a great trip!

"the question with Ryanair is which airport you land at"

Ryanair uses Bologna Marconi airport - 6 km from the city.

So sorry, I was on my way out the door when I posted and wasn't clear.

My question should have been - Was it a mistake to not purchase assigned seats. It took so darn long to book the thing and I was tired of being bombarded with their infuriating ads and additional charges that I skipped over purchasing assigned seats. We're ticketed but do not have reserved seats.

I'm not particular about which seat they give us at the gate. I just want to know that we won't get bumped because we have open seating.

They don't give you a seat at the gate.
Except for the few rows with assigned seats you just choose any free seat you find when you get on board. Those who desperately want to sit together guaranteed can choose to buy priority boarding for a few Euros and go on board first. This only works where you enter the plane via jetway or walk to plane. If there is a bus shuttle to the plane involved, you will be among the first to get on bus , but not necessarily the first to board the plane.

I'm not particular about which seat they give us at the gate. I just want to know that we won't get bumped because we have open seating.>>

cybor - i've travelled with these 'cheap" airlines a lot, and have never got "bumped". they sell the tickets then they stop when it's full. it can be a bit of a rugger scrum when it comes to getting on the plane, but unless you've got kids, it's not such a problem if you don't sit next to your loved one, is it? [well, DH and I don't find it so, anyway].

Cowboy - they got fed-up with the "priority boarding" lot grumbling when they'd paid extra only to sit down last, so they now have a system for making sure that if you pay for priority boarding, you get it. at least, that's what's happened on all the flights I've taken recently.

annhig... That's at least one sensible improvement. I travel quite a "lot" with Ryanair but it's been a good year since I last got bussed to a plane.

I think many complaints (aside from a few legitimate) arise from the misconception that flying still must be somewhat special and that it can't be as mundane as taking a commuter train - which also has no reserved seats or free catering.
After all, Ryanair has one actual benefit (at least for me) over other airlines which are the non-reclining seats. So i don't have no one jamming his seat into my kneecaps, which happens easily on legacy airlines even with more legroom than Ryanair offers.
And, to be fair, the flights are pretty punctual due to the strict regime and because they don't wait for Mr EliteStatus to finish his lounge stay.

The best way to handle a Ryanair flight is to:

Calculate costs for getting to and from departure and arrival airports before you buy the ticket.
Measure and weigh your luggage at home.
Quit thinking that a happy face and a big smile will get you a free pass if you don't stick to regulations
Buy a meal deal from Boots after going thru security. Or something to drink from any food place, it will always be cheaper than the 0.15 liter cans of Coke on board.
If you are travelling on your own, board as last person. Don't waste time in the "other Q" just to have Mr BIG or Ms SmellsLikeSoakedInPerfume pick the seat next to you.
Buy priority if you travel with another person and your life comes to an end if you should be seperated for 70 minutes of your life.
Don't buy anything on board, except for the newspaper.

<<"it's not such a problem if you don't sit next to your loved one, is it? [well, DH and I don't find it so, anyway].">>

Nah, I don't care if we sit apart. It's only a short 1hr 40 ride. I've taken many puddle jumpers in the past and am assumed when I didn't pay for the reserved seat that it would be akin to something like that.

Never hurts to check, though.

cybor, they allow 15kgs of hold luggage and your hand baggage has to fit in their metal frame. If it doesn't, they'll load it in the hold and charge you a small ransom for the pleasure.