[Closed] Anyone booked Ryanair?

Cripes - we're (planning on) flying to Lisbon with them in October.

Source?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41291483

was on the radio this morning DD - rumour was, they suggested, that they'd shed a lot of staff and that was at the root of it

They also said that the number of flights drops "from October" and so they ought to have sufficient staff & planes for their winter programme

I've refused to book with Ryanair for a long time (not that I fly that often), and this shows the contempt they have for any kind of "customer service".

Mrs PB is flying Ryanair from Barcelona to Rome at the end of the month, long weekend for a friends birthday. Nothing from them as yet.

From the BBC link you should find out shortly after packing...
There was some stuff on the legal (EU what they ever done for us) stuff that is expected. The joy of low cost airlines was brought home watching people being told they had a refund being 1000 miles from home while I was getting rebooked and a hotel provided.

All over the news services

Pretty outrageous to be cancelling 40-50 flights a day due officially to them screwing up their own staff rotas. IMO the cancellations are due to the flights being loss making. Ryan Air are obliged only to provide a refund if what you paid or another flight which coukd be many days or weeks in the future

Really S-ty company to be avoided

But customers do have rights under the European Passenger Rights legislation.
"The rules say if the airline doesn't have a suitable alternative flight, you have to be booked on a rival airline," said Simon Calder, travel editor of the Independent.
He said passengers should also be able to claim compensation for the cancellations.

EU compensation rules for cancelled flights
Passengers are entitled to assistance and compensation, if the disruption was within an airline's control
Airlines have to offer full refunds, paid within seven days, or rebookings for a flight cancelled at short notice
In addition, passengers can also claim compensation
Cancellation amounts are: 250 euros (£218) for short-haul, 440 euros (£384) for medium-haul and 600 euros (£523) for long-haul
Passengers who reach their destination more than three hours late can be compensated from 200 to 600 euros, depending on the length of flights and delay

This'll be interesting. We flew to Rome this morning with Ryanair, flying home (theoretically at least....) on Friday evening. Not heard anything yet to the contrary, we shall see.

October holiday to Mallorca booked 👿
Not the greatest strategy for a company that has worked so hard to shed its shyster customer service image over the past couple of years.

My flight from Leeds to Montpellier on Thursday was cancelled with 7 hours notice - just as I was about to drive from Newcastle to Leeds with my 5 month old son. Cue a very stressful afternoon trying to make alternative arrangements to get to France to see my parents - eventually got Ryanair to book me on the Edinburgh-Marseille flight on Friday. Not exactly the relaxing start to my well earned break that I'd been looking forward to!

I'm just glad I checked my email before I left. They didn't give much notice and I'd have quite easily missed it with all the packing/screaming baby etc. Will be billing them for a drive to Edinburgh and back, and looking forward to my €500 compensation.

400,000 shafted. Awful company.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-rights-400000-passengers-cancelled-flights-compensation-hotels-meals-caa-a7949916.html

@lego ouch that's tough. As for €500 best of luck push hard and don't be deflected it will likely be a long and frustrating experience . RyanAir have some of the world's most obnoxious and obstructive people in "customer service" based on my friends experience of trying to get compensation

My parents had it on Thursday.
Coming back from holiday in Portugal, they didnt know a thing until the taxi driver collecting them for the airport came to tell them their flight was cancelled.
Try and ring Ryanair - good luck with that. There is a phone number, but it appears it isnt answered. Online chat - 10,000 people a day are having their flight cancelled, do you think you'll ever get connected? No chance.
In Ryanairs favour, they did offer them another flight. On Saturday.
Total cost of an extra nights hotel, flights by Monarch, trnasfer to airport was around £600.
How long will Ryanair take to pay that?

We're booked with them on 6th October to Gran Canaria. How much notice are they giving people?

Can you claim compensation if you have got to cancel the holiday?? I have no flexibility with dates!!

I've avoided them completely since they overbooked our flight back from Almeria a couple of years ago.

Split our family of 5 up, took 2 and left three in Spain to eventually take us back to East Midlands via an overnight in Dublin. Then they fought our claim for food and extra travel costs home (we had neglected to take two cars to the airport in anticipation of getting bumped) for months. Bunch of tossers.

WE have booked for Malaga in October 1/2 term, unsure what to do now ???

Can you claim compensation if you have got to cancel the holiday?? I have no flexibility with dates!!

WE have booked for Malaga in October 1/2 term, unsure what to do now ???

[url= https://www.resolver.co.uk ]Resolver[/url] is your friend. And it probably will be my friend too as we're booked to go to Seville on the 26th!

Flying today. Hopefully... Pretty amazing step, I would have thought that their cheapest option is to find some way to make the flights happen, that's in immediate costs and ongoing claims, bad pr.
I guess that's the reason why O'Leary is a multi millionaire and I'm booking bargain basement flights.

A move this drastic sounds like a company in trouble.

I guess that's the reason why O'Leary is a multi millionaire and I'm booking bargain basement flights

I'm happy to have the backup rather than fight for it and be faced with paying today's price to get home.

@wiki it really if you read it. Basically the staff need to take leave etc and they don't have enough spare people to legally run flights, the accountant will have run the numbers on agency staff vs cancel and the o'leary machine will have decided how much bad publicity costs.
I'm sure at the end he will be spinning it as a positive that it keeps ticket prices low.

I hope as many as possible of the 400k people claim to the maximum extent of the law. I've had several flights rescheduled over the last few years and it's almost always a lie and the flight was pulled or two planes combined due to poor sales. The last time I ended up with a full refund and a voucher (which I never used) as their replacement flights had me in and out of the same place within 3 hours.

Missus just had an email saying the carry on baggage policy has changed too. Bags must now fit under the seat in front of you.

Is the carry on change not 2nd bag/ handbags? I flew this week with a bag for overhead locker and loads others did too with one under seat in front also.

Just listening to Michael O'Leary's press conference - seems to be a bit clearer what will be cancelled until end of October. Seems they're trying to cancel flights where they have multiple departures to the same location etc. and can offer alternative flights on the same day.

Full list of flights being published between today and tomorrow.

He's also said that they will offer full refunds honour and their financial obligations for compensation under EU regulations (without claiming for exceptional circumstances outside their control which is their usual shizzle).

By far the most surprising thing that I heard him apologise TWICE! That might be a first. 😀

So, not as bad a situation as I thought (flying STN-LIS towards end of Oct) - at least those of us with flights booked in the next few weeks have some hope of organising something else but for the people affected this weekend and the coming days, this has been properly shite.

It seems this holiday thing is just a cover up.
Speaking to a commercial pilot friend at the weekend he says it's bollocks and they simply don't have enough pilots as they've had enough and are jumping ship.

Whatever the story - our flights have been cancelled. 🙁

😕 How did you find out DD, email or on a list somewhere?

We're supposed to be off to Mallorca in mid October (LPL - PMI)

Edit - found it.

It's all quite disappointing really. When low-cost companies started flying into a couple of local airports we rejoiced. Early experiences were positive with Madame flying Ryanair once a year. Then the pricing structure began to irritate, the times of flights started to make travel at either end difficult, flights were systematically overbooked, flights started getting cancelled, Easyjet stopped flying at all in Winter. It's all become such a faff I'd rather sit in a bus for 20 hours than risk booking an unreliable flight.

Yep, supposed to be going to Gran Caneria on the 27th, fortunately haven't booked anything else as yet.

At least we'll find out with some notice, unlike some 🙁

It's on their website geoffers.

Everything up till Sat 28/10 published. Not seeing any EDI cancellations on there so you might be alright.

If you're flying on 27th fathomer, it'll be on their site. They've published everything up till this weekend, then it's Mon/Tue/Wed etc until Saturday 28/10.

Mrs PB's flight from Barca to Rome next week is cancelled but not the return. Managed to swap to same day but later so ok and I get a lie in.

deadlydarcy, I actually meant 27th Oct, buy looking at the link geoffj has posted we're going to be ok.

Good for us but a right royal pain in the arse for yourself and all the other 1,000's of people affected.

Thanks dd i fly next week with them, everytime i use them i vow never to use them again but at 60e return alicante manchester i endure the experience.

Sadly they havent cancelled my flight....

Now they've cancelled Mrs PB's return flight, rebooked for 4 hours later so my lie in on Thurs is trumped by a midnight pickup on Sunday, boo.

Well, slight "phew".

Re-booked onto departure a couple of hours later from STN so we still get into Lisbon with time to get to the concert which will be a faff - y'know, one of those journeys where everything has to go like clockwork. 😆

As I understand it, no flight cancellations for [b][i]after[/i][/b] 28th October have been published...does this mean that 28th October is the last date that flights are affected? We're flying back with the arses on Mon 30th, and all of those flights (FR1885) have been cancelled i.e. 25/9 and 2,9,16,23/10 have been cancelled. Which leaves me feeling uneasy about the same flight on 30/10. 😕

Off to try and connect via online chat. See you next week.

I got the dreaded text last night. Flight to France on Friday cancelled. Barstewards.

I rarely fly but never again with these wronguns

Flight to France on Friday cancelled. Barstewards.

Well, at least you're in for the €250 compensation, which, if they are to be believed, they'll be paying out without the usual quibbling as you're within the 7 day rules.

If you can google it, the Guardian did a "Your flight has been cancelled, what can you do and what compensation are you entitled to?" type page today which gives you the information on what you can (realistically) expect.

EDIT: [url= https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/18/qa-why-is-ryanair-cancelling-flights-and-what-can-you-do? ]Here's the Guardian Link.[/url]

From the article:

The general rule is that an airline must refund the cost of the ticket plus pay €250 (£220) compensation for flights of up to 1,500km, and €400 (£353) for flights of 1,500km to 3,500km. Ryanair does not have any routes over 3,500km.

However, if the flight is cancelled with more than two weeks’ notice, then Ryanair does not have to pay the EU compensation, and is only obliged to return the cost of the ticket.

If the flight is cancelled within seven to 14 days of the departure date, you are entitled to compensation unless Ryanair offers you re-routing that departs within two hours of the departure time.

If travellers are informed of a cancellation within seven days, the wording of the EU legislation says the €250 or €400 must be paid “unless they are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival”.

I rarely fly but never again with these wronguns

I haven't booked with them in years - think maybe a flight back to Ireland yonks ago when they were doing the Bristol route for way cheaper than Aer Lingus. It's been Easyjet, KLM and occasionally BA all the way for me since.

I actually booked these flights out of a combination of convenience, ease of getting to airport from where we're abandoning our lad for the weekend, time of return, etc etc etc. Never really felt comfortable booking with them but I did think "Oh well, they've been trying to improve their image, service etc." Like thousands more, I suspect I've been a bit duped.

But I don't intend chancing it again.

Our inconvenience is dwarfed by some of the stories out there on #ryanaircancellations. People with multiple seats booked for weddings etc with their plans in tatters.

I had seen the advice re compensation thanks.

All means of contact are currently down so little in the way of assistance forthcoming from the airline. I had a few goes at their compensation form but the page got diverted to no-where.

Whilst we have been inconvenienced with relatively little extra cost (got an Easyjet flight and a much larger transfer) there will undoubtably many many horror stories for larger family groups/wedding etc. I do feel for them.

Yup, my sister and her husband and their 13 week old daughter are supposed to be attending a wedding in Poland, and have had their flights cancelled.

They wouldn't mind too much, as they weern't looking forward to flying with a munchkin, but he's the best man...

It seems this holiday thing is just a cover up.
Speaking to a commercial pilot friend at the weekend he says it's bollocks and they simply don't have enough pilots as they've had enough and are jumping ship.

150 of their pilots are off to Norwegian Airlines by all accounts.

150 of their pilots are off to Norwegian Airlines by all accounts.

There's no doubt to me that the loss of staff to Norwegian has hurt them and left them without standby cover for this holiday year change. I reckon they'd have just about got through the holiday thing with the cover they had before the exodus to Norwegian - and that they're kinda covering up how badly they've been hit by that. I can't understand how they'd make such a fundamental change like adjusting the holiday year without contingency.

PR is important to these guys when they're a traded company and that is about the most contrite I've seen O'Leary - EVER. So, yeah, there's more to it than they're saying IMO.

Speaking to a commercial pilot friend at the weekend he says it's bollocks and they simply don't have enough pilots as they've had enough and are jumping ship.

Looking forward to some staggeringly cheap Ryanair flights in the new year as they try to rebuild their reputation

I'm off to Mallorca in 3 weeks for a cycling holiday - luckily the outward & return flights are NOT on their cancellation listings. Let's hope it stays that way - but it doesn't inspire confidence......

Sorry, not an expert on this one - I'm only on the thread as I did a lot of reading, investigating of options over the last few days - but I think if your flight isn't on the published list you're pretty safe to assume it'll be ok. I think they were hedging with the original cancellations and press releases so that they could cancel on ad hoc basis to pick flights that weren't making money etc etc. But public pressure kinda forced them to release a definitive list which took them a few more days to work out. So I think you'll be ok.

RyanAir are telling investors that they expect a €20m cost with regard to compensation payments - that’s about €65 per passenger. Also on their website they make no use of the word “compensation” just an oblique reference to the EU Act

I think we both know you have more fundamental reasons for your dislike for Ryanair jamba. And they’re little to do with how it operates.

Now far be it from me to be a champion for Ryanair but while you were perusing the website, did you actually click on the link? It’s not oblique. How did you arrive at €65 per passenger? Anyway, some facts for you...I like those.

O’Leary (not “Ryan” as you referred to him on another thread) said in his press conference that they would pay up compensation under the EU regulations. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle them this time - I suspect they’ll be a little more efficient in dealing with them such is the PR damage this time round. But we shall see...

My flight was cancelled with over 4 week’s notice and I was re-booked onto another flight two (or maybe three) hours later. Under EU regulations I’m not entitled to any compensation whatsoever. No airline would compensate me for the inconvenience. Have you looked into how easyJet handle compensation claims? Norwegian? FlyBe? Air Berlin? They all pay out only what they absolutely have to - not what the passenger would like. So, in essence, the total number of passengers affected by these cancellations is greater than the number entitled to compensation.

You do realise what profit they posted last year don’t you? €20m sounds like a lot of money but with €1bn+ profits, I think they can handle it.

All that’s not to say I’d be happy to book with them again. I haven’t booked with them in over ten years and I suspect won’t be doing it too quickly again. But when all this brouhaha has blown over, passengers will all be back next year to fly across Europe for he price of a couple of pints and a sandwich in the airport Wetherspoons. Not-Ryan himself has said in the past that customers don’t have a favourite brand when it comes to short haul flights, they have a price-point.

Also, it’s clear now that their cost-cutting vs how they treat their staff has reached a point where something has to give.

Interestingly enough, Not-Ryan was re-elected as CEO with over 99% of the shareholders’ votes. Now that jamba, is what one calls a mandate. 😉

Aye, Ryanair is one of the many subjects that the dear Jamba is not to be trusted on.

I have only used Ryanair once and would never use them again, as mentioned previously you get what you pay for (or in my case it costs you £135 extra as booking bags for a return flight meant they were only on the outbound not the return). Flights delayed which meant additional costs in collecting hire car due to late pick up penalty, email advice to arrive 3hrs before flight due to increased time through passport control on return leg (an issue that made headlines during the summer) but check in not opened until 2hrs before flight. Never again will I use them.

Good to see O'leary applying his usual diplomacy to pilots to help get through a difficult time
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41344653 ]Mr O'Leary said the airline had "some goodies" to propose to pilots, but added: "If pilots misbehave, that will be the end of the goodies."[/url]

Meantime, I withdraw an earlier comment about looking forward to cheaper flights in the new year - I'll be booking my planned flights elsewhere because I'd rather fly then fight for compensation

deadlydarcy - Member

Bamboozling jamba with numbers? Come on yer taking liberties there fella! 😆

Yes I know seosamh. Ryanair is just another of jamba’s little dog-whistles. 😉

Anyway,

I have only used Ryanair once and would never use them again,

If we all took this attitude, then they’d be forced to change wouldn’t they? However, with some of the best punctuality rates in the business and the sheer number of passengers they carry, it seems that plenty of Europeans are happy to forgive or indeed forget previous bad experiences if parking at the airport is the most expensive part of the trip.

Like I said, I’m not a fan, and I’ve found some of Not-Ryan’s statements bordering on the insulting in the past. Has anybody noticed how (relatively) quiet he’s been in the last couple of years?

Their Livechat function still does'nt work.
They are not exactly upfront about compensation.

They were kind enough to send me a email about tomorrow's flight today......the flight they have cancelled. A further kick in the nuts!

Well MrsPB flies tomorrow. Now the dust is settling a bit, I can say we came out quite well. We booked our original flights because they were a lot cheaper than the ones we transferred to at no cost,the new timings are actually better for her. Now they've sent her an €80 voucher for flights up to the end of March. If we make full use of these, we will have saved about €250 on the whole thing.

pistonbroke - Member
Well MrsPB flies tomorrow. Now the dust is settling a bit, I can say we came out quite well.

Given that she is flying back into Barcelona on Sunday which is also Catalan election day, on reflection posting Monday may have been a better bet.

Much as I don't like Ryaniar, we flew with them to France last month and couldn't find anything to complain about. Service was easily better than BA, for example.

I've refused to book with Ryanair for a long time

Same here.

Hateful company. Feel sorry for the staff.

Looks like they are now making their staff take six weeks unpaid leave or work from other locations without paid accommodation.

Not exactly good for your staff.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/27/ryanair-cancel-flights-passengers-stansted-edinburgh?CMP=fb_gu
[img] [/img]

Ryanair is cancelling another 18,000 flights between November and March, affecting 400,000 passengers.

The airline said it had emailed all of the customers affected, offering them the choice between a refund or an alternative flight. They will also receive a travel voucher for £40 one-way or £80 return that can be used to book a Ryanair flight for travel between October and March 2018.

Interesting that with 400,000 extra cancelled passengers Ryan Air’s estimate for compensation is unchanged. ie they are expecting to pay these people ZERO. I assume as the flights are some way off. They have offered a “voucher” but I suspect the conditions attached will make them close to worthless.

@footflaps I find Easyjet far better than Ryan and BA far superior again. BA always my first choice them Squeezy

If you are cancelled far enough in advance you get a refund and a voucher, but not the EU-mandated (the BASTARDS!!!) compensation.

Therefore, no increase in compo.

Doesn't help anyone, but I have never flown with them and never will.
My view has been further cemented by this disgraceful display.

Even more flights cancelled, until March, including all Scotland/Ireland and Scotland/England....

Good one on FacePlant about O'leary. He goes into a bar which is charging £1 for a pint of Guinness but a glass to put it in is £3.00, & if he wants to sit down at a table it's another £2.00 etc etc..
But It's still the only bar in Ireland that's selling Guinness for £1.00. 😆

Apart from this fiasco, I'll try never to use them again. Bikes are £60 per flight compared to BA where they are free. But More than all of that is the very narrow uncomfortable seats.

I'm supposed to be flying to Corfu on the 5th with them. Worried.

Had our flights to Madrid cancelled today. No suitable alternative flights so whole trip had to be cancelled. Kids are devastated. Never booking with them again.

Watching this on Spanish TV news. What a mess!

This'll be interesting. We flew to Rome this morning with Ryanair, flying home (theoretically at least....) on Friday evening. Not heard anything yet to the contrary, we shall see.

Well, not too bad. Plane flying but about 45 min late leaving.
My daughters flight to Dublin in a though not so lucky. Cancelled.

@shooterman RyanAir have been castigated by the regulator flor deliberately misleading passengers. If they cancel your flight THEY are obliged to book you another [b]including with a rival airline[/b] if necessary at their expense and compensate you.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41435013

Mrs PB has arrived in Rome, due back on Sunday, thinking I may never see her again. Fingers crossed.

Watched Channel 4 News earlier tonight with a scathing piece on Ryanair including an interview with an angry CEO of the CAA. What was bizarre in the circumstance was that there was a Ryanair advert shown in the break - any normal company would be trying to get out of the big pile of s**t that they have created for themselves, rather than wasting money on ads saying how wonderful flying with them was a couple of minutes after such a damning report. What a bunch of f***wits!

PB - I'm gonna tell her you said that!

🙂