SM,

if you don't make Ryanair aware of your mothers disability at the time of booking they may stop her travelling.

Saying that, when we went with Ryanair to Rome last October the staff made sure that one woman who required assistance, albeit on crutches,was put on the aircraft first.

Bill

Hi Biiltrac,

We always do and have always had excellent assistance from FlyBe and BA as well. EVen Virgin trains are pretty spot on - it's just that she finds 7 hours on the train tiring - don't we all? The one and only hitch we've ever had happened with Thomas Cook returning from Tenerife (the outward journey went without any problems) and that was mainly due to the thoughtlessness of a family with young children who caused endless problems with the check-in process.

The usual system with all other airlines is that I've made the booking on-line and then phoned the customer service line as set out on the web once we've got a ref number and that has set the wheels in motion (excuse the pun!) but Ryanair won't let you do this (and make it clear that they will refuse boarding if you do!) so not only do you lose the discount for on-line booking but they only provide assistance for a maximum of 4 passengers per flight and at one point actually charged extra for the service. As far as I know, they have now been told that this is illegal under the DRA and would be prosecuted if it continued so this has stopped now but it doesn't bode well for their attitude and it was this that I was hoping for some feedback on. My mother will just hate it if she is made to feel that she is being a nuisance and her anxiety levels will go sky high! Not good for for a 78 year old woman with angina on top of the mobility problems!

SM

Well we've taken the plunge and I've booked them on to a Liverpool/Aberdeen Ryanair flight for April. As this will be the first time, just in case there are porblems, I'm flying down to meet them and we'll all come back up together!

However, I thought that others might find it useful to know that Ryanair is still trying to make money out of disabled people needing assistance! The booking system is a nightmare! You first have to check on the Net whether seats are available and for what prices for when you want to fly but before making the booking you have to phone their premium rate customer service number to check that there aren't already 4 people with special assistance needs booked on to that flight already - they won't accpet more than 4 per flight. I had everything set-up, keyed in all the credit card data etc before phoning and just needed to click on 'proceed' and thought, silly me, that as soon as I did that, that the person I was speaking to could confirm there and then that the special assistance was now safely booked. But, no, you can't do that, they insist that you hang up and that you have to phone back on the same premium number to actually book the assistance once you have the confirmation code. So every booking requires two lengthy waits on a premium rate number.

But even worse, at first they kept repeating only that I had booked wheelchair assistance but not priority boarding and that if I wanted priority borading I needed to book and pay for that separately! They only backed down when I threatened them with the Disability Discrimination Act and said that they had no right to require me to pay for a service that counted as a 'reasonable adjustment' within the terms of the Act. Not sure if that is actually true but by now I thought that they'd had enough 'extras' from us - the fact that they then immediately confirmed that we would have priority boarding for my Mother and either my father or myself to accompany her, makes me think that I was right! But I wonder how many other people would think to insist on this and would end up paying extra for it?

SM

Hi I have travelled with disabled friends several times to Dublin and Amsterdam and bookde the flights I had to phone first but didnt have any problems and we have always as a matter of course got priority boarding, I found them to be very helpful, at the airports its the airports own team of staff who look after you but Ryaniar themselves were fine and on the 4 occassions we have flown with them we have had no problems at all and have always had the front seats, I hope this reassures you a bit. I didnt realise that about the tel no being premium rate thats a bit of a cheek on their part.

flew with ryanair to girona from prestwick. at new year. left from gate 3. i have walking difficulties after a stroke but managed it just about. tried their special assistance number was left holding on on the preium rate number, quickly put the phone down.

booked the same flight for 28th february. tried their special assistance number again without success. i thought i made it the 1st time so i should be okay. unfortunately, the flight left from gate 5. it was far longer to walk plus from gate 4 to 5 it was all up hill. by the time i got to gate 5 i was about to collapse. there was seating, so i could rest before tackling the stairs down onto the concourse and onto the plane.

the plane was delayed for an hour and we were told we had to go back to the departure lounge. i knew there was no way i could walk it back and then back again. i was lucky there was a wheelchair left at gate 5. my companion had to push me back to the lounge, the ryanair representative said she wasnt allowed to push the chair but would organise for someone to push me back. got to the desk again, told them what their rep had said was told quit abruptly that i had not requested assistance. a few other passengers got involved, told them it was their fault the plane was delayed and their customer service was diabolical. the husband of one of the passengers had to end up pushing the wheelchair back to the gate.

so anyone with limited walking ability be very careful at prestwick airport

i have never had any problem requesting wheelchair assistance when flying from glasgow airport with various other carriers.

Tedious and expensive as it is I think that one has no option with Ryanair but to jump through their hoops and never take the chance on just turning up at the airport. Their T&Cs make it quite clear that they will only accept a maximum of 4 passengers per flight in need of special assistance and that unless you go through this rigmarole they reserve the right to refuse you boarding.

I didn't mind paying for the premium rate phone calls because the tickets themselves were only costing £18.00 return per head and so we're still way ahead of the game compared to flying with BA but I would prefer to pay a bit more in the first place and have a simpler time of requesting assistance etc. Can't say I'm looking forward to our trip but we've not exactly paid Rolls Royce prices so we'll just have to wait and see what the airline equivalent of a Skoda delivers :-)

SM

I can only go on what our guests have experienced when flying out to stay with us - and they are all disabled.....when they book, with whatever Airline, but especially the "cheap" ones I always state that they must ring the relevent number to book the assistance, and thank fully everybody has, and all barring none, and there have been a few flying in, state the same. Ok it wasn't the most comfortable of experiences, but they were expecting me, were helpful, and did what it said on the tin!

Just to update people on our experiences with Ryanair. I flew up from Liverpool to Aberdeen with my parents and because I'd said that my Mum would be accompanied the limit of the assistance from Ryanair was to tell me where I could go and collect a wheelchair from!

So Lesson No 1 - if you need someone to push you then you need to make sure that you stipulate that at the time of booking. Without me being there they'd have struggled.

At check-in we were given a sheet of paper which were were told to hand-over to the cabin crew on boarding and we were also told at check-in that seats had been reserved for us on the plane and that because of this we wouldn't be pre-boarded. But the cabin crew appeared to know nothing about this and had to ask people to move from the first row of seats in use to accommadate my Mum and Dad because seats hadn't been kept for them. For some reason the first 6 rows of seats were kept empty for the whole of the flight and they refused to let them sit in the first row by the bulkhead. These were not by an emergency exit and I couldn't understand why she was made to walk past 36 empty seats!

Lesson No 2 - don't assume that just because the check-in staff tell you that seats have been set aside for you that the cabin crew have kept them empty for you!

As usual, on landing at Aberdeen we waited until everybody else had got off in order not to hold other people up whereupon the cabin crew asked us why were waiting! Despite having given them the sheet setting out her requirements when we boarded it turned out that they'd forgotten all about us and what's more hadn't contacted the ground crew to confirm the request for the wheelchair assistance on landing (see below for a bit more on this practice). So we sat for another 30 mins on the plane until it did arrive and then had to deal with a grumpy wheelchair pusher - who wanted the piece of paper we were given at check-in but the cabin crew had managed to lose! And the scowls of the queue of people waiting to board who'd been kept waiting on the tarmac until we got off.

Lesson No 3 - remind the cabin crew towards the end of the flight that you've requested assistance (but see below!).

As they would be returning on their own to Liverpool without me, I phoned the customer helpline to stress that they would need someone to help them push my Mum and assist my Dad with the cases. At Aberdeen this worked well, no problems at all - they were accompanied from check-in to gate and given priority boarding. I'd also reminded my Mum that it would be a good idea to remind the cabin crew that she would need assistance on landing which she did but blow me if they didn't still have another 30 mins wait on the plane waiting for the wheelchair to arrive! The 'pusher' hinted that this was because Ryanair didn't ever book this in advance because if they did they would be charged by the airport whether the service was used or not. In other words, in order to save money if you're a 'no show', Ryanair waits until you actually turn-up and then only requests the service once you've actually landed!

Lesson No 4 - Ryanair will provide you with assistance as required by the DDA but they will always try and do the minimum only and whether by intention or default, do it in a way which is a powerful disincentive to ever doing it again!

We probably will use Ryanair on this route again, especially if I can get seats that cheap again, but the service simply doesn't compare to what has been provided by every other airline we've flown with, whether scheduled or charter. And the next time they come up they might well do so by Virgin train, depending on when my Dad has his hip replacement op, because their system seems so much better able to cope with the needs of two unaccompanmied disabled passengers than Ryanair probably will.

SM

I just found this nice forum when trying to find how to use my new Visa Electron on Ryanair. I browsed a few of the forums and found this about disabled passengers on Ryanair Flights. As my daughter (15 years old) is disabled and my family really likes to travel abroad we have done several flights both with Ryanair and with others.
Besides the fact that you must call Ryanair the same day you book the tickets (or at least the next day the call center is open). For assistance Ryanair has been as good as any other airline I have flown with (Iberia, BA, Spanair, Sterling). We have flown with Ryanair to Paris Beauvais (twice), Hamburg Lübeck (twice) and Valencia (all from Stockholm Skavsta). Everytime we have been taken care of with reserved seats and we have either boarded first or last.
Also with other airlines you have to call in advance to be sure you get assistance.
On the other hand, whenever I am travelling with Ryanair I make sure I have a credit card with lots of credit available in case anything would go wrong. But that is for everytime I travel with them, also when I go on my own. So far I have done appr 50 flights with Ryanair without a single incident forcing me to make it on my own.

Hi there,I have flown 4/5 times over the past 3 years with ryan air ,I usually call customer serveices disabled line to check that the plane has a free disabled space,cost is minimal and answered in a timely manner,then I go on to book,next phone same disability help line with your ref number,At the airports various never a problem unless the wheelchair services is busy then I had half hour wait on aircraft,crew stayed behind and chatted, other than that they are ok,
for at least 6 years I have used 4 train operators between scotland and various parts of england,VIRGIN TRAINS win hands down over all the others for disability service, I have used them literally countless times,had poor service from only one member of staff on the platform at one station ,complained politley and the manager laid on a taxi to finish my journey., as opposed to being called by the company which operates the boston line ,they called the night before the journey and said carry your electric wheelchair over the bridge,!!!!! no staff to help you,then hung up, now THATs poor service.... hope this helps, chill cheers maxie

HELLO I have just returned from using Ryanair again, service first class ,last on but three empty seats reserved on row two, ok you have to follow their rules when booking disabled seats, but small price for excellent service.
Gerona airport now have priority check in for wheelchair passengers, also sent ambulift to avoid using aircraft stairs, excellent.will go again,same at prestwick airport service was PURE DEAD BRILLIANT to use there slogan ,cheers maxie