There was a report in monday's daily mail about ryanair flights from saturday, i don't think they were cancelled they just took off leaving the passengers who were stuck in the airport. i think the facts and figures were 11 bag drop desks were open to cater for 255 (?) flights , the previous week they had 23 desks , passengers did not manage to catch their flights despite being there 2 hours before departure , from what i read it was a toss-up between ryanair and swissport (ground handlers) of who to blame , i think someone did say sorry? apparently there was a kerfuffle at the chaos and some unhappy people including David Dimbleby (bloke off question time) whos family holiday was affected.

I suppose the best way of looking at it now is it won't be allowed to happen again so hopefully you won't have any problems when you fly , i'm not sure which way would be the quickest, but by booking in online you would then have your boarding cards and just have your bag-drop to do which should save time, GOOD LUCK !!

Many thanks for your replies. We will just have to hope for the best.

thanks for replies while i was away.
Well had a very erm exciting time at stansted when we went away last week.
The bag drop wasnt to bad and there where quiste a few desks open. you could go to any open desk to check in for any flight so wasnt in a particular line.
bag drop, and security was stright forward and had about 30 mins in departures before gate was announced.
Now this is where we very very nearly lost our flight. You know those fly on the wall docs about airports etc? the ones where it all goes wrong for people, well i kind of understand how they feel now :). Our gate number came up on the screen my friend said it was gate 14 so ok off we go to the shuttle to the satellite terminal.Get there to find no plane and no one else at gate realise we must of made a mistake tryed to go back on shuttle to be told we couldnt we where stuck there. Anyway we where told to wait at gate 6 and some one would come and get us and take us to the right gate. the right gate was 54 not 14 our friend has miss read it and we where all so tired that we hadnt double checked. well time was creeping on and stress levels where really high. We had to call 3 times to find out if we where getting picked up and eventually a guy came and we got to our gate just in time.
Its so easy to go wrong on something so simple. although to be fair in most airports getting the wrong gate is simply a case of going back to the right one at stansted we had loads of time but couldnt get back to main terminal and the staff left it to last minute to get us.
Anyway we had a great holiday just a scary start.

That's bad that you can't get back to main terminal if you get on shuttle by mistake. I reckon that happens fairly frequently. One question though, where is the barrier that stops you going back to the terminal if you've got on the shuttle by mistake?

well the main problem is staff just wont let you we where told we couldnt go back and also the escalator only goes up so we couldnt easily get down and the stairs back down say ermagancy exit only. pretty daft system really to be honest as this cant be that unusal

Booked flights yesterday on behalf of my niece and her family. She got married a month ago and I booked her flight in her married name However she informs me today that her passport is in her maiden name as it still has several years left to run, they fly in just over 2 weeks.

I've looked at the Ryanair website and can't find an exact answer but am I going to have to pay to change the name on the booking ? Is this the only option other than attempting to have her passport amended in the next 2 weeks ?

Thanks

She will have to obtain a new passport, names cannot be changed on a passport.. It's probably best to pay for a name change on the flights. Ryanair will not allow her to fly with a different name to her booking without paying for a change. If she wants to get a new passport will there be enought time to obtain one? She can go to the main passport office to obtain a new one but again an appointment has to be made and it could take a couple of weeks and it's expensive. She will get credit for up to nine months on a new passport but that's all. She may be better to carry on using her current passport in future but book flights in her maiden name.

Judith

Hi Miss_Chief1 ... Ryanair charge £100 for a name change, but no changes are permitted if online check in has already taken place. Depending on the cost of the flights, it may be cheaper just to book a new one for your niece, rather than pay the name change fee on the existing booking or the cost of a new passport.

David

It might be worth risking a couple of quid ringing Ryanair to check if they will accept her passport plus marriage certificate.

John.

Hi Miss Chief, the passport office could renew a passport within 2 weeks , they offer a fasttrack service , if you search for IPS which is the identity and passport service operated by the home office they have a number you can contact them on, it might be worth checking to see what times and costs are. Alternatively book a new flight with maiden name if this is a cheaper way to do things, because £100 for a name change is ridiculous, you can get a new passport for less than that!!
Years ago when we went to get married abroad we had to get new passports and when we got back the missus sent off her passport (maiden name) with marriage certificate and got a new one back with the same amount of years left on it and the old one with clipped corner , don't think there was a charge for this either. Not sure where Judith gets the nine months only credit from? , you can apply up to nine months in advance for passport renewal?
I think your best option is to ring the passport office and get timelines and details for name change due to marriage.

Fast track service is guaranteed 1 week but with appointment , the website is ips.gov.uk and helpline is 0300 222 000
i can't see if there is a charge/fee for name change due to marriage.

Hi andy66 .. things may have changed over the years, as a change of name now results in the existing passport being cancelled and a new 10 year passport being issued. A maximum of 9 months validity can be transferred from the old to the new passport. It currently costs £97 for the one week fast track service or £114 for the premium one day service, subject to appointment. That's why I suggested earlier that it may possibly be cheaper to keep the existing passport and book another flight under that name.

More info from the IPS website (click here) and our own Passport Q&As topic (click here).

David

typical, who'd have thought marriage costs in more ways than one! i thought the ips was non-profit making

Thanks for all the replies. I'd already sussed out the new passport bit, but we'd already decided to try and ring them tomorrow and see if they'd be a little understanding Doubtful I know as we're talking about Ryanair ! But you never know. If not we'll just have to pay to change the name as the flight's more than £100

It does no harm to ask, Miss_Chief1. Ryanair have shown a heart before when someone inadvertantly quoted a middle name instead of a first name, but I'm not sure if they would be so generous about surname changes.

David

We have a small baby travelling in our party next week and she goes around in what I'm am told is a 'travel system' - in my day a baby was moved around in a pram.

However, the 'travel system' configuration for next week is the base of the system (ie the pushchair bit - my words not my sons) and in it clicks a 'unit' to move the said small baby around in the pushchair - I would call the unit a car seat as it will also fulfill this need. However, Im told it is not just a car seat.

My question is - has anyone managed to transport one of these travel systems with Ryanair under the banner of a 'pushchair' - ie at no cost (to me - who else!) or is this really a pushchair and a car seat. If this is the case it will incur £10 fee each way for the car seat bit - pushchair goes free.

Thanks in anticipation

Chris

TFS1,

I think you might be pushing it trying to get it on the aircraft as a pushchair. They normally have to fold flat to be transported at no cost.

Darren

Hi
Just to let everybody know booked with Ryanair for next year (June) to Ibiza cost £40.00 return for both of us from Leeds and Bradford. Thats what I call a good deal

Hi
Does anyone know when Ryanair will release their summer flights from East Midlands airport their last flights are currently March 2010
Thanks

I got a £40 return too, to Majorca from Leeds for 2 for next May well chuffed just a bit nervous going with Ryanair, never been with them before!