Ryanair: you must pay to do your own checkin online?!!

yawha

Why do some people get annoyed at the fact that Ryanair itemize everything and are transparent about what they charge you for?

It boggles the mind why some would seemingly prefer to pay an expensive fare with everything included and no choice to opt out, than a cheaper one with everything itemized and all the extras optional.

You are not being scammed or ripped off if you have to pay e15 to check a bag if the fare is e50 less than the next cheapest flight which includes one bag in the base price.

You are not being scammed or ripped off if you have to pay a e6 online checkin fee if the price plus the checkin fee is still reasonable, and if any other options to get to your destination are going to cost a lot more.

Ryanair provide a service. You can use it or not. They are most certainly not a rip off or a scam. If they are the only airline flying to where you want to go you should be singing their praises for actually flying there, not bashing them.

Tell me, how much would it cost you, including all ground transportation necessary, to reach your destination if Ryanair didn't fly there? How does it compare to what you're paying for your Ryanair flight, including the horrendous e6 checkin fee?

yawha

Nanazolie wrote: »

But surely, if they don't have to pay for the staff at the counter, that fee should not be charged to the customer. In fact, it should make the ticket cheaper

What about the cost of creating the online checkin system? The purchase of servers? The maintenance of those servers? Paying system admins to monitor and run the system etc. ?

stacey25

oh cmon, at least you fly cheap;)

maggy_thatcher

yawha wrote: »

Why do some people get annoyed at the fact that Ryanair itemize everything and are transparent about what they charge you for?

It boggles the mind why some would seemingly prefer to pay an expensive fare with everything included and no choice to opt out, than a cheaper one with everything itemized and all the extras optional.

The problem with the online-checkin charge, is that it's for all intents and purposes unavoidable (assuming you want to travel with FR). There areis only two one ways of avoiding it:

1. Pick a flight that has this particular charge waived, demonstrating the fact that it should just be part of the fare
2. Pay the even higher fee to check-in at the airport (EDIT: This was taken away from FR - Online Checkin is now mandatory).

If it's an unavoidable charge, and is charged by the airline (and not the airport / government), it should be incorporated into the fare itself, and not tacked onto the end...

al28283

Nanazolie wrote: »

if they don't have to pay for the staff at the counter, that fee should not be charged to the customer. In fact, it should make the ticket cheaper

hold on a second, do you think that online check in costs nothing?

To maintain an online system with which you can check onto a flight at home and it will update to a computer system which is used in every airport the airline operates cost less than it would to have a person there to do it manually? I don't think so

ntlbell

Nanazolie wrote: »

ntlbell, I never said it was Ryanair's fault that I had to fly with them. Reread my post and tell me where you think I said that

The charge is advertised. you get online check in and they offer that you at a cost of 6e.

They don't force you to take the flight. If no one else flys there, maybe it's not a very profitable route? again nothing to do with ryanair.

so please stop rattling on about being ripped off when you're clearly not.

adamski8

OP your bad experience seems to boil down to you travelling alone with a child and you having to negotiate stairs and staff not helping you right? i dont see why thats the staffs job to help you with this??? you choose or had to fly with a child, staff have other things to do that they are paid for, helping you because you can't manage is not one of them. so what you learned was travelling with a baby is not easy

maggy_thatcher

al28283 wrote: »

hold on a second, do you think that online check in costs nothing?

To maintain an online system with which you can check onto a flight at home and it will update to a computer system which is used in every airport the airline operates cost less than it would to have a person there to do it manually? I don't think so

Most of that online system is the same one that you use to book flights with, so they have to keep it up and running anyway, or is the connectivity that the airline has between the check-in desks and their central reservation system. The additional costs of running online check-in would be marginal.

Even if this was not the case - the fact that it's an unavoidable charge means that it should be counted as part of the "cost of doing business", and should be incorporated into the overheads, and not itemized separately.

Nanazolie

adamski8 wrote: »

OP your bad experience seems to boil down to you travelling alone with a child and you having to negotiate stairs and staff not helping you right? i dont see why thats the staffs job to help you with this??? you choose or had to fly with a child, staff have other things to do that they are paid for, helping you because you can't manage is not one of them. so what you learned was travelling with a baby is not easy

Do you ask to be paid when you help an elderly lady carry her groceries? Sure, being nice cost nothing but then, it's not profitable I guess. I never had this issue with other airlines, including Easy Jet, there always was an helping hand

yawha

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

Even if this was not the case - the fact that it's an unavoidable charge means that it should be counted as part of the "cost of doing business", and should be incorporated into the overheads, and not itemized separately.

Well yes. If it is indeed unavoidable, then they are doing so to be able to advertise the flight for e6 less than it actually costs. However, while arguably misleading, it isn't close to the "biggest scam ever". It's not like the full price that will be charged to your card is not displayed before you purchase a flight, and it's not like you commit to anything until you see the full price. So I'm really not seeing the massive injustice here.

yawha

Nanazolie wrote: »

Do you ask to be paid when you help an elderly lady carry her groceries? Sure, being nice cost nothing but then, it's not profitable I guess. I never had this issue with other airlines, including Easy Jet, there always was an helping hand

So your issue isn't with Ryanair but the Ryanair staff that happened to be working when you flew with them twice?

Right.

P. Breathnach

yawha wrote: »

What about the cost of creating the online checkin system? The purchase of servers? The maintenance of those servers? Paying system admins to monitor and run the system etc. ?

Trivial in relation to the revenue generated.

hous

the key to it all is you know what you get with Ryanair, if the total price of the flight is significantly cheaper than the competition you have a choice to make, pay less and recieve a basic service or pay more and recieve a slightly better service.

The charging for ryanair is transparent and you know what you are paying for and id say 9 times out of 10 you still wont it cheaper.

P. Breathnach

hous wrote: »

the key to it all is you know what you get with Ryanair ....

So long as you remember that even when you have purchased your ticket, you have more to pay.

yawha

P. Breathnach wrote: »

So long as you remember that even when you have purchased your ticket, you have more to pay.

Huh? Examples? I'm not aware of any non-optional extra charges post purchasing your ticket with Ryanair.

P. Breathnach

yawha wrote: »

Huh? Examples? I'm not aware of any non-optional extra charges post purchasing your ticket with Ryanair.

Read the thread title.

yawha

As far as I'm aware, that fee is paid at the time of purchase, not when you check in.