Cheap Flights! Cheap Flights!

Budget airlines, particularly Ryanair, come in for some significant flak from the media, the public and the like, largely on the grounds that their so called “cheap” flights can turn out to be anything but cheap once the extras are added on. Other criticisms that are laid at these airline’s doors are that their customer service can be less than helpful; that they are not customer friendly and that can appear to be running their business purely for their own benefit and not for that of their passengers. That last criticism I find somewhat specious; they aren’t running their business exclusively for the benefit of their customers, their principle concern is turning a profit for their shareholders. It amazes me that some people seem to believe that budget airlines should be philanthropic organisations, at the beck and call of their customers and treating them in the way that the transatlantic carriers do.

Budget airlines are like train companies and ferry companies. You get on in one city and off in another; if you want anything en route you pay for it, if you don’t like the way they do things then you should seek an alternative means of transport. It almost seems as there is some perverse law of customer satisfaction where budget airlines are concerned, whereby contentment is in inverse proportion to price, regardless of quality.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive is no shrinking violet and has been quoted as saying some things that have ruffled plenty of feathers among the media and his client base. He has been scathing of his customers who have had to pay additional sums of money having infringed one of Ryanair’s many rules. Failing to print boarding cards at home or having oversized or overweight hand luggage are popular failings among Ryanair’s client base.

Ryanair are very easy to knock, but personally I don’t have a problem with them. I can’t speak for other budget airlines as apart from Go (who merged with EasyJet in 2003) I haven’t flown with any of them. Ryanair are very much “what you see is what you get” but, in order not to be struck by swingeing extra costs, consumers really need to open their eyes.

The major criticism levelled at budget airlines is that the eventual cost of the flight can be significantly greater than the advertised price. The adverts that read “London to Barcelona, from £1!” may sound good but they are in fact too good to be true because there was only every a very limited number of seats on one flight available at that price and they have already been sold. But seriously people, that is what advertising is for; it lures you in with undreamt of riches or bargains, then makes you pay more than you intended because the idea has taken such a grip on you that you want the product regardless of price. It isn’t just the airlines that do this, everyone who advertises does.

The complaints that are made about being charged because you didn’t print your own boarding card or you luggage was too large or too heavy are in some ways laughable. Did you not read the terms and conditions? If you didn’t, haven’t you heard on TV, or read in the papers about these sorts of things? Really, too many people are too careless of their responsibilities and complain that it isn’t fair when they get charged, when they have only themselves to blame. If you don’t like it, travel with another carrier.

There have also been grumbles from passengers who have been landed at an airport thirty, forty or fifty miles from their expected destination. Again, these people have only themselves to blame. Having booked a flight and having seen the name of the airport at the other end, the first thing most sensible people do is plan their journey to their ultimate destination. Instead the people who grumble about Ryanair complain that they have been “stranded” miles from their hotel. On that basis, shouldn’t these same people complain that Ryanair use airports too far from their own home and that when they arrive back in the UK, they are stranded miles from where they live?

In flight catering exercises a lot of people too. Ryanair charge for everything, tea, coffee, water, and snacks; if it can be consumed they charge for it. Everyone knows this, so why do people still complain? I’ve never heard of anyone on a train journey from Manchester to London complain that they had to pay for a cup of tea and a sandwich, so why should a flight be any different, especially when the flight is a two hour hop from London to Palma for instance?

Additional costs to use the toilets and the steps to board and disembark the plane are as yet works of fiction. Should they ever be introduced I’m sure the airline will advertise them, so passengers should not be taken by surprise; they will however complain about them.

British Caledonian Airways had a slogan, “We never forget you have a choice” and customers of today’s budget airlines would do well to remember this. You have a choice; if you don’t like the product that the airline is offering, use one of their competitors.

Having flown Ryanair recently, from Stansted to Murcia I have to say that the majority of passengers on these two flights were pretty much accepting of the way the airline works as most were getting a flight at a bargain price. I did hear a few grumbles as we boarded the flight out of Stansted about the boarding process itself and I have to say that if you haven’t paid the premium for priority boarding and therefore reserved your seats, the boarding process is a bit of a bun fight, but that is a minor cross to bear. It may be a shock the first time, but thereafter you just have to sharpen your elbows and get to the head of the line.

The budget airlines have shrunk Europe and we should be grateful to them for that. A long weekend in Spain, or Portugal, Poland or the Czech Republic is now as easy to arrange and probably cheaper than a similar weekend away to another city in the UK. With booking hotel rooms on the internet easy too, there is no obstacle to getting home from work on a Friday, booking a trip to the continent and flying out the next morning. That is something that you couldn’t have done twenty years ago.

By the by, I’ve had some internet problems in the last week; if I’d had those problems the week before and not been able to print my own boarding cards, the tone of this piece may have been slightly different! It would not, however have been the airline’s problem and if I had any complaint, it would not have been with them.

And finally, a song from the brilliant Fascinating Aida; you’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh. I reckon that it would even raise a smile from Michael O’Leary!

If you are unable to view the video, please click here or use this URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HPyl2tOaKxM