After having an appalling customer service reputation for years, suddenly the Irish budget airline has implemented policies that are actually quite helpful. An improved website, card fees scrapped, a free second carry-on bag and the end of that bloody trumpet. It was time for me to give them another chance.
Everyone’s got one. A favourite dinner-party story about Ryanair’s comedy customer service.
Mine took place in 2012, shortly after I’d bagged two bargain return flights from Birmingham to Kaunas in Lithuania. The plan was to enjoy three nights in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius (read here on what to do in this beautiful gem of a city). With cheap flights and Lithuania’s extremely low cost of living, this had all the hallmarks of a perfect city-break for the credit crunch era.
But then Ryanair went and spoiled it all.
My carry-on case was judged to be 4mm too wide. Rather than show common sense and leniency like any good football referee would do, a member of the check-in staff barred my entrance to the plane until I’d made a £50 cash payment.
I’d heard rumours Ryanair staff earn 50p commission on every £50 fine they can get for oversized bags, but I’d always assumed this was an urban myth. The jobsworth’s eyes lit up at the prospect of making her 50p as she marched me to the nearest ATM, scuppering my plans for a bargain break.
Fast-forward three years – I’d read about Ryanair’s improvements, seen their cool TV ads and found a dirt cheap flight from Birmingham to Dublin so it was time to take the plunge.
The Ryanair website was famously cluttered before, with far too much information (and adverts) on the page. The site has now been smartened up, and is so simple I reckon even my Dad could use it (sorry Dad if you’re reading!)
Prices are still low, and I was pleasantly surprised not to be charged a series of booking fees and debit card fees which used to sometimes double the price initially quoted.
But perhaps Ryanair’s most useful change is the implementation of allocated seating for all. Boarding used to be a total pain, as passengers scrambled to be first on the plane. Now there’s no need to stand in a queue as soon as you get to the gate, as everyone is allocated a seat at check-in. You can pay extra to ensure you’re sitting next to your travelling partner, but there’s really no need to do this as long as you check-in on-line as early as possible.
Once seated, it was nice to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. There are none of those regular reminders to purchase Ryanair scratch-cards over the tannoy anymore, while the overhead lockers are no longer covered in garish adverts for Ryanair destinations.
One other policy Ryanair has implemented is a free second carry-on bag per passenger such as a handbag. I didn’t see any fines handed out for oversized bags either, and some trolley cases I saw looked much bigger than the quoted maximum allowable size. The downside to this is that there may not be room in the cabin for all these bags. If you are one of the unlucky ones who can’t find space, your bag will have to go in the hold and although there is no fee for this, you’ll have to wait for it upon arrival.
The only negative I could think of was that I wasn’t offered a copy of Ryanair’s in-flight magazine on the flight out – a pet hate of mine. I like reading the travel tips and staring at the destination map. Oh well, it was only a 40 minute flight, and I was given a copy on the return flight.
And the best thing of all? That annoying trumpet fanfare to announce “yet another on-time Ryanair flight” upon landing has been phased out.
To be perfectly honest, I was never too bothered with their shocking disregard to their paying customers. I know of some people (who have never been on a Ryanair flight) who refuse to fly with them on principle. Few Ryanair flights are over three hours long anyway (Canary Islands excepted), so I can put up with their rubbish in return for their low, low prices.
Without having the stats to hand, I’m guessing Ryanair is one of Europe’s biggest, safest and most profitable airlines. It has done this without having the customer in mind at all – let’s see what the airline can do now it prioritises customer service.
abitofculture 
Interesting, despite the horror stories, I have never had a bad experience on Ryanair, but hopefully now that won’t happen in the future!
That was my only run-in with them, and I did break their rules so probably deserved it!
Sounds like sensible changes, not before time though. Shocked to hear you were barred from entering the plane for 4mm! I have to agree, I would put up with it to save cash that I could then enjoy on my holiday 🙂
I suppose it was my own fault for not sticking to the rules!
Sounds promising… They used to charge around £40 if you arrived at the baggage drop without having printed your boarding pass – I wonder if they’ve phased this outrageous penalty out too?
£40 for a bit of paper – no wonder they make such big profits!
Getting rid of card fees is a big plus! I hate that. Do these improvements mean the air fares will go up because they can’t make money from the extra unexpected charges?
Fares were still pretty low when I looked – I think Ryanair have noticed the new policies have increased passenger numbers, so maybe they’re not missing out on earning all these extras.
Just paid forty quid to book our seats. I guess I couldn’t run the risk of not sitting next to my beloved for the four hours to Fuertaventura!
I suppose a tenner each each-way is bearable. In the bad old days, you wouldn’t have had this option!
I flew them once. I felt like I needed to take a shower afterwards.
I know what you mean. Cheap but maybe not too cheerful!
Good to know they are upping their game. I’m prepared to give them another chance – just!
You might be pleasantly surprised – good luck!
We just flew Monarch to the Algarve and it was a nicer experience for the same price, but we haven’t any real complaints for the dozens of times we’ve Ryanaired other than feeling like cattle. I do a good ‘moo!’ 🙂
The biggest bind for us is the 7 day restriction before you fly to print your boarding pass. If you return more than 7 days later you always have to find an Internet cafe to print your return pass! 😦
I thought Ryanair were quite generous with the time period for printing boarding passes. I’ve been on Lufthansa and KM recently and both only give you 48 hours which is rubbish for weekend breaks!
48! You’re no sooner there… 😦
I know, it seems crazy but maybe all the big airlines do it like that these days😞
Thanks for the like! I’m sure you’ll enjoy your trip. We didn’t find it unduly expensive, provided, obviously, you avoided the most upmarket places. The cafes are mostly friendly and relaxed, and feed you well. It doesn’t have to be lamb soup if that’s not your thing! I’ll pass on clubbing and football, as they aren’t ours. The only thing I’d say about the coach tours is that there is a lot of time spent driving but not much seeing sights. And if the weather closes in, as it did much of the time with us, there’s not so much to see out of the coach window. Especially, of course, on the Northern Lights tour, as it’s dark! But enjoy your trip – Duncommutin
Les Inrocks, Libé, Flt&cuatu#8230;.vous devriez davantage vous penchez sur l’excellent article de Marjolaine Lévy sur Loris Gréaud, dans la revue 20/27, une vraie revue de critique, et vous comprendrez peut-être mieux son travail.
It has improved, but people were still lining up wayyyy before boarding began last week when I took it. But it has improved a lot from even a year ago.
My pet hate! No need to stand in line if you have a guaranteed seat.
It was for carry-on space…I assume.
Wow! That’s amazing that they’ve done away with a lot of the rubbish stuff. The debit card fees were so horrible and the strict one-bag rule was completely ridiculous, but not enough to stop me from using Ryanair for more than 30 flights. LOL. But I can tell you about some horror stories! Like when the cabin crew wouldn’t (understandably) let one little girl use the bathroom because we were landing and her mother told her to pee in the aisle–very dramatic, I assure you! Or how many times I’ve had to pack and repack my suitcase to make sure that it wasn’t too chubby to fit in the bin. This is exciting news, so thank you for sharing. 🙂
That trumpet was their lowest point, in my book, so I’m chuffed that that’s gone!
Absolutely! It made me laugh every time!
I can only agree with you! I never had bad experience with ryanair, I ‘ve been using this company for the last 10 years (mostly flying once a month) and I can recall very few delays. Several times I paid less for the flight than for the airport bus connection (london, milano…). It doesnt bother me if they try to sell their snacks/drinks/gadgets…I was never forced to buy and I actually never bought any of them. Ryanair rules! 😉
Yeah, who cares when it’s so cheap and flights are so short!