Ryanair shower

[DmanDmythDledge]

I'm going away in August and booked flights last week with Ryanair wanting to get it done early before the prices went up as seats got booked (as this is how I thought it works). Now, the price of the flights have actually gone down and I see no reason for this. Given Ryanair are such a high profile company this is legit?

[John83]

Given Ryanair are such a high profile company this is legit?

Yes it is.

[Dodge]

Given Ryanair are such a high profile company this is legit?

Plenty of companies have sales where their products/services are reduced. I'd go so far as to say all of them...

Ryanair actually work on searches aswell as bookings so if you've checked the same flights 5 times a day for a week, their system logs that this flight is popular. If no one searches for a week, this will "calm down" to its regular price

[endabob1]

It's the basic economics of supply and demand.

[OneRedArmy]

It's the basic economics of supply and demand.

Its actually complex economics of expected demand against expected supply!!

Roughly the same algorithims are used to price flights as priced subprime bonds and the like....... !

Ryanair used to operate a much simpler system until the last couple of years when it was always cheaper to buy earlier, and the price went in only one direction (up) the closer you got. However now they use dynamic predictive pricing models like the other airlines.

[endabob1]

But it comes down to the fact that there is a limited supply of seats on a given flight or even route so as demand increases so does the price if there is no demand prices will drop off.
If you are feeling really vindictive you could keep going into the website booking seats and cancelling at the payment stage, thus creating the illusion of demand and the price will go up but the seats will remain unsold.

[Fr Damo]

Yes,, What a shower.

I flew from Leeds back to Dublin this week and back over to Leeds last night. The plane was jammed backed full of stags / hens, business and little ol ladies. I bought the ticket about two weeks ago for 343 euro inc taxes etc (no Baggage though). About three years ago there were four flights a day and almost all were never full and cost less than a ton nearly always. Now O leary has one around mid morning and the last one is at 10pm or 11pm depending on which side of the sea you are on. The new 737 800s have 180 seats meaning about 700 seats a day (4 flights) have bums on the them were as three years ago during the 737 - 200 days he had about 800 bums on 8 flights. So he cuts capacity puts the prices up and we keep coming? Why?

I don't bloody know, the service is crap (leeds is never on time in my experience) the staff on board are un friendly in the extreme, the prices for tickets are expensive and the you get smokeless cigs and scratch cards, bulls eye baggies shoved down you neck during the flight.
Flew with Aerarnn to Galway last month from Manchester and the flight was delayed from 9.45pm departure to 11.45pm departure meaning we landed in galway at 1.15am. Those tickets cost nearly 250 euro. Cheap air travel??

I would suggest yeilds are up per seat generally in the last 12 - 18 months, as airlines tried to gauge the price elasticity of flight tickets, and have been pleasently surprised.

[dahamsta]

Vote with your feet. I've never flied Ryanair and I never will; even went so far as to take two connecting flights to Malta last year just to avoid the stress of dealing with them. I'd go postal if I had to deal with a Ryanair flight.

[osarusan]

Vote with your feet.

Holding the pen Christy Brown style?

[Ash]

I'd go postal if I had to deal with a Ryanair flight.

How do you know if you've never flown with them.

[dahamsta]

I have eyes Ash, I can read. I don't need to rub crap in my face to know I don't like it.

[Dodge]

Flown with them tons of time and never had a problem. Sure the inside of the planes are an eyesore but always found staff freindly enough.

[sligoman]

Don't understand why people hate Ryanair. I know I couldn't have gone to so many places if it wasn't for them, they're the only airline in Ireland who offer flights so cheap. The way I see it, you're on the flight for a few hours maximum, what sort of service are you expecting(particularly if you've only paid a few euro for the flight)? Who cares if they try and sell scratch cards/smokeless cigarettes etc. they dont shove it in your face, they just walk down the aisle with it, ignore them. I've never had a problem with them and will continue to fly with them. Whether you like O'Leary or not, he's certainly shaken up the aviation industry.

Don't see how someone who's never flown with them can talk about 'the stress of dealing with them' either.

[osarusan]

Don't understand why people hate Ryanair. I know I couldn't have gone to so many places if it wasn't for them, they're the only airline in Ireland who offer flights so cheap. The way I see it, you're on the flight for a few hours maximum, what sort of service are you expecting(particularly if you've only paid a few euro for the flight)? Who cares if they try and sell scratch cards/smokeless cigarettes etc. they dont shove it in your face, they just walk down the aisle with it, ignore them. I've never had a problem with them and will continue to fly with them.

This is basically my experience of them too. I'd never use them when making a connection (unless I was giving myself a day or two in the area where I was getting the connecting flight), but I've found them friendly and helpful enough, and thouygh they try and flog a lot of stuff, I just ignore them and they leave me alone.

When it comes to what the influence of Ryanair has been on the air insdustry in general, I'd imagine people would have plenty of negative comments to make. I know that their issues with the DAA (who, ludicrously, control Shannon airport) regaring fees for flying into Shannon has seen at least one business basically bleed to death in the Shannon and Ennis region, as the flights they depended on for business/customers are no longer available - not necessarily meaning that Ryanair stopped offering them, more so that Ryanair undercut the airlines offering them and made it unviable for the other airline to continue flying that route and pulling out, thus giving Ryanair a momopoly on that or a similar route, which they're keen to exploit.

[Dodge]

Well thts just it. I've no doubts that Ryanair (like most large companies) tries to undercut its suppliers and is generally a complete bully in all areas of business.

But just like Ive no bother with Nestle, I've no bother with Ryanair as long as they treat me decently. I'd prefer not to have to use them, but if I want to go to certain places for a certain price I'm willing to accept I have to use them.

[Real ale Madrid]

Flew with Ryanair a good few times and never once had a problem with them. I Ignore all the people passing with all the scratch cards and I buy a newspapaer cheaper in the terminal.

I fly Cork to Amsterdam with Aer lingus every week and talking to various people that would not have been affordable in the pre ryanair days when Aer lingus used to charge what they liked. So I get to come home and see my wife / family every weekend so I'm actually grateful to Michael O'Leary for that.

As long as its safe to fly with Ryanair - I dont think you can have too many complaints about them given how cheap the flights are. Make sure you read all the T and C's before you leave.

I'm surprised to hear that the Dub - Leeds flight is rarely on time. I've flown ( off the top of my head ) Cork- Dub, Cork - Stans, Dub -eindhoven, Dub - Newcastle, Dub - Preswick, over the past year or so, and not once have I ever been on a flight that was late.

[OneRedArmy]

Don't understand why people hate Ryanair

I don't hate them, but I avoid where possible. Reasons:
1) Seat pitch that is verging on dangerous. Its not just uncomfortable, its painful.
2) Out of the way airports are a false economy
3) Zero customer service when things go wrong. Basically "you're on your own, what more did you expect for what you paid?" is the motto.
4) Full of skangers (snobby I know)
5) They aren't any cheaper than the competition if you need to travel Friday-Monday (as proved by Fr. Damo above)

I agree that they have revolutionised air travel in Europe and particularly in Ireland, but for me the benefit of that is that it makes Aer Lingus, Cityjet and other less painful airlines much more affordable that they would have been.

I also really dislike how their way of doing business creeps into the practices of other airlines. E.g. 150 people standing queueing for an Aer Lingus flight,when you have an allocated seat and they board by row number. Why are you standing?!?!?! Also, building Pier D (now the 100 gates) at Dublin Airport without jetbridges in one of the wettest countries in Europe. I've been soaked at least half a dozen times now queueing on the tarmac in the rain. Grrrrrr....

[Mr A]

Ryanair are great.

As long as you don't make even the tiniest mistake with your booking and absolutely nothing goes wrong. In which case you're screwed.

What annoys me about them is that they seem to enjoy being b*****ds just for the sake of it. For example- just include the bloody web check in in the ticket price, it's not like we have a choice!

[dahamsta]

Attitude tends to come from the top, so I wouldn't be surprised by that.

[Poor Student]

On the matter of voting with your feet and alternatives I travelled to London last week by sail and rail from Dun Laoghaire port. I have no problem with Ryanair but I am not fond of air travel and I must say having tried it out it is a more pleasant alternative. You only have to check in half an hour before departure, the check in proceedure itself swift and without hassle. On the other side in Holyhead you can step straight onto the train platform when you get off the boat. One or two changeovers may be necessary but you'll get into Euston train station within 5 hours. It sounds like a lot of hassle but if you live in the South East of Dublin it'll take you ages to get to the airport, you'll lose more time having to check in earlier, you'll lose more time on the other side getting your bags and then getting a train into London. There's also no worries about what you're carrying in hand luggage, the weight of your bags etc. Price wise it's €80 return, no other taxes or additional charges) and that applies for most destinations in Britain (slightly cheaper if you're heading to a destination closer to Holyhead). If you live near Dun Laoghaire or Dublin Port and you're heading to Britain it's an option worth considering over flight.