"The Ryanair flight was terrible!" "Why?" "They charged me for a coffee!" I can’t help but feel sorry for anybody paying peanuts for a flight across Europe and then complaining about the price of buying a pack of peanuts on board. Like all budget airlines, Ryanair provides a no-frills service at a keen price. If you want extras, you pay for them. Where is the problem?
So, what are the main points of criticism waged against Ryanair?
Ryanair Prices and Advertising
It is true, Ryanair will advertise low prices and you will occasionally have a hard time finding a flight at this price. At the same time the price will be for the very basic service for getting you from A to B.Two things to bear in mind are the operative word "from" and the bottom line price you will be charged. Advertising seats "from € 5" is legal as long as some seats are actually sold for this price. The rest may be sold at much more. And every prospective passenger will have to go through a decision process regarding extras like luggage, check-in or insurance, opting out or opting for an additional charge. The final price will be clearly displayed and you will have to agree before you are charged - the old argument "It cost more than I thought!" simply does not apply.
Ryanair Luggage Restrictions
In short: Ryanair has the target of reducing check-in baggage to zero to save on costs. Baggage handlers and the baggage infrastructure cost money, baggage in the hold costs fuel. Check-in baggage will incur charges and there is no effort made at hiding this fact.One frequent criticism is that Ryanair will give no "discretionary allowance", 10 kilograms of hand luggage meaning exactly 10,000 grams (or a surcharge). Well ... you have to understand "maximum limit" as being exactly what it is.
Ryanair Check-In Closures
Check-in desks serving Ryanair flights do cut off at exactly the time when you are told they do. Again it is a simple matter of understanding that when Ryanair say "half an hour", they mean 30 minutes.Despite being an Irish company, Ryanair is not run with the happy-go-lucky ethos of "Ah, shure, it'll fit!" No - Ryanair is run by bean-counters with military precision. That's why we pay little money.
Ryanair In-Flight Catering
There is no discussion as to the gourmet quality of the food and drinks offered on Ryanair flights. I had better. I also had worse. Mediocre is the best description.Many people still complain that Ryanair actually charges for food and drinks. A reality check is recommended here - coffee ad sandwiches are simply not part of the flight price.
Ryanair Sales Pitches and PR Spins
Flying Ryanair can be like watching a home-shopping channel late at night. You’ll be offered all sorts of things at "great prices", including lottery tickets and calendars featuring scantily dressed flight attendants. Depending on your mood and outlook on life this can be amusing or annoying.As can be the joyful fanfare blaring when your flight has landed in time. Often drowned out by the sound of passengers applauding enthusiastically just because the pilot has done his job.
Seats and Priority Boarding
Seats on Ryanair flights are small, tightly spaced, have minimum upholstery and do not recline. All in all the charm of comfort of an urban commuter bus. If you are very tall or obese you will not have a comfortable flight. There is no seat allocation - you take a free seat upon boarding.Priority Boarding (charged as an extra) can be helpful in getting "better" seats. Unfortunately not all ground staff actually grasp the concept and boarding declines into a free-for-all anyway.
Nationality of Ryanair Flight Attendants
Here we enter dangerous territory - criticism of Ryanair in Ireland and the UK often mentions the fact that flight attendants are "foreigners" with an iffy grasp of the English language. While it is true that many use a very heavy accented English, to a non-native speaker this would not be much different from a Connemara accent.I sometimes cannot help but wonder whether all this talk isn’t more about xenophobia than anything else/
Ryanair Safety
"With such low prices, Ryanair must cut corners, maybe even compromising passenger safety!" I cannot number the times I have heard this declared with absolute authority. Yet there doesn't seem to be any factual indication for this view.In fact Ryanair has one of the youngest fleet of aircraft worldwide and is able to prove all the necessary checks and overhauls safety demands. Passengers should relax in their seats (well, as far as relaxing is possible in those chairs), Ryanair is adhering to the letter of the law. At the same time other airlines may have implemented their own safety margins beyond the legal requirements - creating a slightly skewed impression.
Ryanair Route Branding
It is true - when Ryanair flies you to "Hamburg", you land in another Hanseatic city, namely Lübeck. And you'll be lucky to get from Ryanair's "Frankfurt-Hahn" to get to your connecting flight leaving from Frankfurt in time ... but this branding is totally legal.It may pay (and save your mental sanity) to check where exactly you’ll be landing before committing to flying on Ryanair.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and Publicity Stunts
Dancing nuns, underwear as headgear, reclining in an engine nacelle, presenting a "beds and blowjobs" service or using everyone and everything from Carla Bruni or failed drug smugglers to 9/11 for his publicity stunts, O'Leary is the Simon Cowell of the airline industry. The man you love to hate. If Ryanair were selling a dartboard with his face on it I might be tempted to take up the sport again.Then again, if a highly successful business manager speaks his mind without political correctness and a fear of telling unpopular truths ... this has to be admired. O'Leary's Faustian character and obnoxious behavior can be safely ignored when one is shelling out a mere € 5 for a flight. On other days one might feel like kicking him, repeatedly, just for being Michael O'Leary.
