Title – Ryanair puts travellers in holding pattern with ‘pay a pound to spend a penny’ plan
Source – The Times
Date – 28th February 2009
The hidden charges of ‘budget’ airlines are generally well known and although new regulation has been brought in to stop airlines from advertising flights at rock bottom prices and ignoring the taxes, this has not stopped them reducing prices for advertising purposes. Adding on ‘extras’ which they do not need to advertise, but which many travellers would consider an fundamental part of the ‘ticket’ they are buying, is now common practice.
Ryanair are the ‘leaders’ in this practise and this is just the next step of that process. The question is where will it end and how much loose change will passengers need to start carrying before the fuel used to carry that loose change cost more than the additional profit made by Ryanair…
Don’t get me wrong, I welcome cheap airlines, they have revolutionised travel, but they are not without their issues. They need to be more honest with passengers, we understand that £20 to fly from London to Milan (they say Milan, maybe ‘near Milan’ would be more appropriate) is cheap, we would think £21 for the same flight was cheap and as such would accept the extra pound on the fare. However I think most people would rather pay £21 and have a flight with toilets rather than the thought of seeing how long they can hold it in, before 250 people rush off the flight on landing and head for the nearest toilet.
The bigger question for me is this; if I am on a 1 hour flight to continental Europe, I can plan my ‘pit stops’ appropriately. But lets be honest there are occasions when people get it wrong. So imagine the situation, you are trying to save that £1 and think to yourself that you only have to hold it in for another 15 minutes…. No problem… the seatbelt sign comes on as you start the descent, but then the flight is put into a holding pattern, but the seatbelt sign will stay on…. 15 minutes has just become 30 minutes…. Then 45 minutes…. Sound familiar? Now the question is do you get up in contravention of the seatbelt sign and do you approach the airhostess for change for a fiver? The point I make is would people not prefer to pay an additional £1 and not have to think about how many people have not managed to hold it in on the seat you are sitting on?
Ok I know it’s a little over the top, but I am allowed to have a little fun with this after all Michael O’Leary of Ryanair has been having a little fun with us…. The serious point is this. ‘budget airlines’ are a real viable alternative to more traditional means of independent travel in almost every corner of the world. But make sure you read past the home page and factor in all your requirements before you buy; don’t forget, before you book, clear down your ‘cookies’ to get the best price.
At
Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Transport Options alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Deciding on your means of transport will be determined by price, availability, convenience and personal preferences. We present you with all the alternatives before you decide. There are also considerations of environmental impact that should influence your decision making.Source – The Times
Date – 28th February 2009
The hidden charges of ‘budget’ airlines are generally well known and although new regulation has been brought in to stop airlines from advertising flights at rock bottom prices and ignoring the taxes, this has not stopped them reducing prices for advertising purposes. Adding on ‘extras’ which they do not need to advertise, but which many travellers would consider an fundamental part of the ‘ticket’ they are buying, is now common practice.
Ryanair are the ‘leaders’ in this practise and this is just the next step of that process. The question is where will it end and how much loose change will passengers need to start carrying before the fuel used to carry that loose change cost more than the additional profit made by Ryanair…
Don’t get me wrong, I welcome cheap airlines, they have revolutionised travel, but they are not without their issues. They need to be more honest with passengers, we understand that £20 to fly from London to Milan (they say Milan, maybe ‘near Milan’ would be more appropriate) is cheap, we would think £21 for the same flight was cheap and as such would accept the extra pound on the fare. However I think most people would rather pay £21 and have a flight with toilets rather than the thought of seeing how long they can hold it in, before 250 people rush off the flight on landing and head for the nearest toilet.
The bigger question for me is this; if I am on a 1 hour flight to continental Europe, I can plan my ‘pit stops’ appropriately. But lets be honest there are occasions when people get it wrong. So imagine the situation, you are trying to save that £1 and think to yourself that you only have to hold it in for another 15 minutes…. No problem… the seatbelt sign comes on as you start the descent, but then the flight is put into a holding pattern, but the seatbelt sign will stay on…. 15 minutes has just become 30 minutes…. Then 45 minutes…. Sound familiar? Now the question is do you get up in contravention of the seatbelt sign and do you approach the airhostess for change for a fiver? The point I make is would people not prefer to pay an additional £1 and not have to think about how many people have not managed to hold it in on the seat you are sitting on?
Ok I know it’s a little over the top, but I am allowed to have a little fun with this after all Michael O’Leary of Ryanair has been having a little fun with us…. The serious point is this. ‘budget airlines’ are a real viable alternative to more traditional means of independent travel in almost every corner of the world. But make sure you read past the home page and factor in all your requirements before you buy; don’t forget, before you book, clear down your ‘cookies’ to get the best price.
At
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
No comments:
Post a Comment