Never seen them used before - do they place it against hand luggage to measure if the luggage is / isnt the correct size ?

The infamous box is bottomless! I've regularly seen queues at the gates where a Ryanair flight is being boarded being policed by the 'box' men and women. They stand your case up on end and if the box won't slide over your case they refuse you boarding and make you check it in. On payment of the exhorbitant fee of course that they charge for checked-in cases that haven't been pre-booked and paid for in advance.

Just sorted out my little problem with the £6 not being refunded on booking my first flight using my Ryanair Cashpassoort card.

Spoke to Cash passport people (eventually) who said nothing to do with them ! - the message from them was this has happened to ALL 'first' transactions when using the Ryanair Cash Passport card ! and gave me a 0871 number to call Ryanair and they would sort it out.

In fairness to Ryanair they answered the phone immediately and having provided booking ref and voucher code they did a refund. So good service from them regarding this aspect but a little surprising that this problem, if what I was told is true, hasn't hit Watchdog and other BBC programs as they do like to have a dig at Michael OLeary.

I suspect others may assume they are getting the £6 back and not checking.

Has any Ryanair CashPassport holders got their £6 back at the point of making their first booking or has anyone else had to speak to Ryanair to get the refund ? or doesn't anyone care !!!!!!

Regards Chris

Thanks Steve, Could not find on the site.
Marg

over the past couple of days when trying to look for flights, after inputting flight from/to and dates you now have to type in 2 words that appear before you move onto the flight prices etc.

This new 'security' step also appears if you then try and move backwards and forwards after doing it a few times. Does everyone get this, anyone seen this advertised as coming in or is it a blip ?

Chris

update: ryanair website just gone down and restarted after 'urgent maintenance', now showing old version as it shows booking offers for Sept/Oct 2011. Maybe this new security step has been removed.

update: now showing latest offers ie dec/jan

Ryanair takes step to block agents

Ryanair has taken one step further to stop agents booking its flights.

It has introduced a verification step to its booking process which will prevent agents using screen-scraping to book through its website.

Customers are now required to enter a unique code for all bookings.

The move will impact the business of dynamic packaging agencies who use screen scraping to book flights.

Industry observers say it could also impact Ryanair's business and believe that the airline is possibly unaware of the amount of business it gets from the trade.

With permission from Travelmole

Update: It is reported that Ryanair experienced a sharp drop in sales following introduction of this new verification process, and so it was swiftly withdrawn while the matter is reviewed. Some reports suggest that sales were down by 80% during the period that this new measure was in place

David

Ryanair to offer reserved seating

Ryanair is to offer reserved seating on all flights following a successful six-month trial on over 100 routes.

From January 10, passengers will be able to pre-book seats on all flights for £10 each way, which includes priority boarding. The service is expected to be popular with passengers wanting to reserve seats in the front two rows for a quick exit on arrival and in the emergency exit rows (16&17), which give more legroom.

Passengers travelling with children under 16 can only reserve seats in row 2 due to safety restrictions.

With permission from Travelmole

before anyone (else) gets confused, the Ryanair press release had slightly different wording. It said reservation is only possible on the front two rows or the two emergency exit rows.

The safety rules mean that out of those four rows children can only be reserved on row 2 - but they can also use any other row without a door without reservations.

On a few ocassions they have kept rows 1-4 empty due to 'loading factors' now they are getting £10 a seat for rows 1+2 I presume this reason will no longer apply ! or will they keep rows 3-6 empty to help their loading factors ?

Given you can select your 'extra' legroom seat by clicking on the seat you want (you get the planes seating plan showing all the seats) and the seat number printed on your boarding pass I guess the next step is to extend preallocated seating for those willing to pay, say £5 each for the remaining seats. These and the £10 folk will load first and the remainder to find their own seats.

Maybe the end of the queuing / loading stampede could be closer than we think !

Regsrds Chris

Something which their press release didn't mention, but hopefully the booking stage will, is all the other restrictions on emergency exit rows. Everyone on that row has to be able bodied, capable of handling the escape hatch and getting out quickly. We've had this problem before with other airlines when pensioners with stiff legs etc. booked the seats for the legroom and were then not allowed to use them because they couldn't lead an evacuation.

steve,

Yes these things get a mention plus kids not allowed in emergencyt exit seats and that you have to be able to sit in the emergency exit seats without the need for a a seatbelt extension etc.

Regards Chris

maybe some good news.
it looks like flights to gerona and reus may be reinstated from april next year
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/pu ... 2707.shtml

maybe now life can get back to normal

Ryanair celebrates victory over agents

Ryanair is rubbing its hands together with delight after managing to stop two online Spanish agents from buying up its tickets.

The airline has fought a longstanding battle with screen-scraping websites but has recently installed technology to stop these agents accessing its site.

The technology, which asks customers to manually copy a series of letters to make a booking, has stopped agents from compiling databases of Rynair's flight prices.

Ryanair said that as a result, Spanish screenscraper websites Edreams and Bravofly have today stopped displaying the airline's prices and seats on their websites.

"By eliminating unauthorised screenscraping, Ryanair has improved consumer access to, and the response times of, the Ryanair.com website for genuine consumers/passengers," it said in a statement.

"Ryanair welcomes the decision by Edreams and Bravofly to no long display Ryanair's fares and seats and hopes they will continue to desist from unauthorised screenscraping."

It also dismissed predictions by some in the trade that it would suffer as a result of the loss of business from screen-scraping websites and claimed that, instead, it has seen a rise in bookings this week.

Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said: "Ryanair will continue to implement measures to get rid of unauthorised screenscrapers and travel agents from our website."

With permission from Travelmole

Online agents 1 - Ryanair 0

Red-faced Ryanair has been forced to admit that its latest attempt to block online agents from accessing its fares has failed.

The carrier was jubilant last week when it wrongly believed it had won a long battle to prevent screen-scraping websites from selling its seats.

It said new technology installed on its site, which requires the customer to manually enter a series of letters before they can make a booking, had prevented screen-scrapers from automatically lifting fares.

However, the carrier had admitted that two Spanish sites, Edreams and Bravofly, found a way around the technology within hours of Ryanair's victorious announcement and re-commenced selling its seats.

Ryanair has said it will now modify its new reCAPTCHA internet security feature to block further unauthorized access to its site.

In a typically bullish statement, the carrier said: "These sites/agents clearly can't survive without access to Ryanair's low fares, which they then offer to customers at inflated prices or with hidden charges.

"Ryanair will continue to find ways to block screen-scrapers and urged all consumers, who want the lowest fares to/from Spain, to book their flights directly on the Ryanair.com website.

"By eliminating unauthorised screen-scraping, Ryanair will continue to improve consumer access to, and the response times of, the Ryanair.com website for genuine consumers/passengers."

With permission from Travelmole

Ryanair complaining about hidden charges?! Pots and kettles..........

I noticed one of their adverts on the side of a bus yesterday, saying to book with Ryanair and avoid travel agents rip off charges. Passers by would no doubt be wondering what I was laughing at.

David

David HT Mod wrote:

I noticed one of their adverts on the side of a bus yesterday, saying to book with Ryanair and avoid travel agents rip off charges. Passers by would no doubt be wondering what I was laughing at.

David :wave

I dont like what ryan air have done, was going to look at prices, but was put of by what I had seen, to much hassle just to see what the prices are

steve8482 wrote:

Ryanair complaining about hidden charges?! Pots and kettles..........

So true

Re Davids link. I've never really understood why O'Leary is so against travel agents using them to put together package holidays & dynamic packages. I've been on a holiday (not DIY) where the agent used an easyjet flight & imagine everybody came out a winner. It seems like he's shooting himself in the foot & the cost of the constant software upgrades must surely negate the financial benefits of keeping it as some kind of closed shop - not that I have been on any of his flights, but was just musing on it.

Re Davids link. I've never really understood why O'Leary is so against travel agents using them to put together package holidays & dynamic packages. I've been on a holiday (not DIY) where the agent used an easyjet flight & imagine everybody came out a winner. It seems like he's shooting himself in the foot & the cost of the constant software upgrades must surely negate the financial benefits of keeping it as some kind of closed shop - not that I have been on any of his flights, but was just musing on it.

If Ryanair can persuade or force everyone to book direct with the airline, there may be added opportunity to boost revenue by selling insurance, hotels, car hire, etc to those customers. Bookings would also be subject to Ryanair's much complained about credit or debit card fees, unless their own branded cash passport card is used.

But if booking Ryanair flights through an online agency, the agency then has that opportunity instead to earn additional revenue by selling those ancillary products. Some of these agencies also have technology in place which allows them to avoid paying any credit card charges to Ryanair.

Ryanair also say that when booking direct, passengers know that they will be paying the lowest fare. The airline claims that some online agents have booked the lowest fare with Ryanair, but then charged the passenger a higher amount.

David

However, the carrier had admitted that two Spanish sites, Edreams and Bravofly, found a way around the technology within hours of Ryanair's victorious announcement and re-commenced selling its seats.
In a typically bullish statement, the carrier said: "These sites/agents clearly can't survive without access to Ryanair's low fares,

My keyboard has just had tea slurpped all over it from laughing whilst reading and drinking at the same time.
These Spanish sites can't survive.? Ryanair can't survive without the Spanish and Spanish airports.
Ooo, they forgot to mention that tho.!
Pots and kettles indeed.

Sanji