"Charge for Check-In" says RyanAir...

[AA 1818]

The airline that levies a "wheelchair supplement" on every passenger, and which invented the notion of a fee for paying by debit card, is about to start charging for one of the absolute basics of air travel: check-in.

Any passenger booking with Ryanair from 20 September onwards will be offered a choice: either check-in online, or pay a £2 fee per person, per flight. The twist is that travellers with bags to check in are denied the internet option.

Europe's biggest no-frills airline currently charges a £2 fee for web check-in, but this will disappear. Ryanair denies that "chequebook check-in" is designed as a revenue stream - instead, it aims to modify passenger behaviour to cut staff, facilities and therefore costs.

"We already have Europe's lowest fares, and we want to cut them even further," said Peter Sherrard, Ryanair's head of communications. The price of a round trip for a family of four will rise by £16.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article2893903.ece

Wow, talk about doing anyhting to make money. This seems rediculuous, but then again people are willing to fly RyanAir either way. I am ashamed for them, and this just seems that they are bringing down the industry. Preety soon, we will be seeing "Ryan-Air USA", {Skybus} doing the same I assume.

[CathayPacific]

What Ryanair is doing is to give passengers more choices:

Ticket price does not include anything, then you pay for whatever extra you need. So no one is subsidizing what other passengers use. It sounds fair. Soon Ryanair would charge passengers using the lavatory. And I think it would only be fair if heavier passengers are charged a higher price, may be introduce price per kg for passengers. Serious. I only weigh 110lbs, so why am I paying the same price as the overweight guy sitting beside me?

[DAL767-400ER]

As ridiculous as it sounds, stuff like this works. The thought process with most of Ryanair's pax goes like this.
"Wow, look at how cheap they are, I'll book a ticket asap" going to the check-in "What, you expect me to pay for all that additional stuff? Sh!t, I already bought the ticket and don't have any choice now. But I guarantee you that I will never fly Ryanair again!" and a few weeks/months later "Wow, those Ryanair tickets sure are cheap, I think I'll give them another try after all." and so that circle goes on and on...

[v1images]

This is why Ryanair is profitable and can fly you much cheaper than most if not all airlines in Europe....the only problem is you wont exactly get to 'where' you need....usually about 40km away!

I have to laugh at people who complain about Ryanair even when the fare they have purchased is about 1p or 1c.....they could make me push the aircraft back and close the aircraft door for them at that price....

[IberiaMD-87]

Hello,

approx. over 42 Million passengers flew with Ryanair in 2006. This number is a verdict of the success of Ryanair and a confirmation of the willingness of passengers to fly with Ryanair. I wonder that - while I fully understand - there is so much negative critism and at the same time the passenger numbers are rising and rising. No one is obligated to book a flight with Ryanair.
Ryanair is claimed as one of of the least favourite airlines in Europe and is well known for nasty service described as non-existent costumer service, no possibility to contact them by e-mail, sometimes rude personal etc..

I never had the opportunity to take a flight with Ryanair but I know people who flew with them and some said that their flights were simply horror (and they will not fly again) while others told me that it was fine.

As I wrote I never flew with Ryanair but several times with easyJet and all the flights were professionell with friendly and very friendly (but some sort of tired-looking) cabin attendants (who made the announcements in French, English and German!), clean aircraft and all flights at reasonable fares.

I have to laugh at people who complain about Ryanair even when the fare they have purchased is about 1p or 1c

I fully agree and I can´t understand people who bought such cheap flights and then complaining that the Coca-Cola was to expensive, the flight delayed, or fully booked with tight seats because of maximum seating.


Regards, IB M87

[AASuper80Fan]

Next thing we know they will be charging for water. People even though they said Never Again, they will see a cheap fare and fly them again.

[ATLcenter]

I wonder what would happen if they charged fare + £2 and then when you check in online, refund that £2. That may bring more people to check-in online. Getting a "refund" attracts more people than avoiding a "theiving, cheating fee".

[Foxtrot]

Re:

What most pax don't realize is that Ryanair (and other similar airlines) collect the moolah from other stuff, like charging for bags, food, drinks, and now check-in. What it doesn't get from the ticket price, it gets from every other essential service that the pax must pay for.

Then again, after seeing the kind of business that Ryanair runs (anyone recall that undercover video that was posted here not too long ago?), Ryanair is a disaster waiting to happen.

[IberiaMD-87]

Ryanair is not only charging for everything but Ryanair gets money (subsidies) at several regional airports for every passenger boarded from the particular airport. The amount is not officially known but some sources say that at Lübeck (used by Ryanair instead of Hamburg/Germany) Ryanair gets approx. 4 Euros (?) for every passenger while at the same time Ryanair "refuses" to pay for services at the airport. This small airport is financially in heavy financial difficulties and the financial problems will rise with the ever increasing passenger numbers of Ryanair and this company is the main costumer at Lübeck airport.

Regards, IB M87

[TAP-A343]

As far as I'm concerned, Ryanair can charge for anything they want because I'm not planning to fly them unless I don't have any other choice.

Regards.