TFS1 wrote:

is it a requirement for at least one person to be in at least one seat for safety reasons ?

This has been raised before. Yes, someone should be sat at the side of an exit in order to open doors in the event of an emergency. If it's a main door with crew seating, a passenger isn't required but if it's an overwing exit or where a crew member isn't sat, then yes.

Darren

Thanks for all your replies
I think i'll leave the Trunki idea and just go with a normal small childs pull along case to be on the safe side
Thanks again

Emma B

I've never tested a Trunki but there is an obvious possible issue that makes this 1cm discrepancy important. The child sits on the case as it is dragged through the airport, just how rigid are they? Sitting on the case for a while in a warm area might cause it to sag and bow outwards a little - and that's the dimension that's already pushing the limit. This is why it needs to be measured very carefully before you start off. If the 21cm is over the wheels and the main body is a bit less then it shouldn't get worse but if it's the body that's already up to 21cm then the problem may occur.

Ryanair aren't popular because they are fun to fly with, it's because of the legend of cheap fares (which isn't always true). They have never been afraid of offending a few people because they know there will always be someone else to take their place. But the Trunki issue may bring out a bit of reasonableness from them because Trunkis have their own hype. If Ryanair ban them because they are a smudge over width whilst being well within length and depth then you can cue negative TV interviews with Deborah Needham etc. which will do nothing for Ryanair publicity. So if it's just a bit tight they may turn a blind eye, but if it has to be sat on to get it into the frame don't expect much help. The obvious thing here is to push the issue beofre flying, write to Trunki and point out to them that they are marginally over Ryanairs limit and see if they can do a publicity deal with Ryanair - I can just see O'Leary sitting on one for the cameras!

When we went to Tenerife a couple of weeks ago a family had a trunki and there wasnt a problem with it going onboard.

Chris

If Ryanair ban them because they are a smudge over width whilst being well within length and depth then you can cue negative TV interviews with Deborah Needham etc. which will do nothing for Ryanair publicity.

Really?

Given the amount of self-generated negative publicity that O'Leary has positively courted over the years - remember the 'charging to use the loo on the plane', charging wheelchair and disabled passengers more than able-bodied passengers, making it uneconomic for passengers to try and claim back the taxes if they have to cancel flights instances - I've come to the conclusion that O'Leary genuinely believes that there's no such thing as bad publicity if it gets Ryanair into the headlines and enables him to trumpet his business model for free on prime time TV!

I can see it now - O'Leary pointing out that they are a mass market carrier with unbeatable fares that have brought air travel to cash strapped travellers everywhere and why should the mass of their passengers who don't need to use pull along sit-upon cases to get them around the airport lose out at the expense of kids who might get a little tired on the long trek to the least popular departure gates that greedy airport operators make them use because they charge for airbridges which would force the fares up for everybody. That they couldn't increase the permitted sizes for just trunki users - the PC equality lobby has already demonstrated their willingness to drag him through the courts on that one and forced him to increase the fares of everybody to cover the extra cost of carrying disabled passengers. But having to increase the permitted size for everybody would mean that they would have to start charging for hand luggage as well because what if everybody carried on larger hand luggage that meant that it wouldn't all fit in the overhead lockers and who would want that? Closely followed by him saying something along the lines of if people want 'frills' like using 'trunkis' for their kids then they have plenty of choice of full service airlines who will accommodate them if they prefer to use a trunki rather than take advantage of Ryanair's low fares.

Because as you say

They have never been afraid of offending a few people because they know there will always be someone else to take their place.

I think that most people would have thought that the issue of charging disabled passengers higher fares would have brought out 'a bit of reasonableness from them' but it took a court case to make O'Leary see reason on that one. And one could say that disabled people have their own 'hype' too - they certainly had a lot of organisations campaigning on their behalf - but on its own it had no effect.

This will be one to watch - TV footage of departure gate sit-ins of kids refused boarding because of their trunkis? Or parents simply deciding that they'll leave the trunki at home and won't push their luck with an airline that has a track record of adopting a 'take it or leave' it approach when it comes to their T&Cs and that they'll 'take it' in return for cheap fares - which as you point out aren't always that cheap?

SM

PS Chris, glad to hear that 'reasonableness' can occasionally be witnessed with regards to Ryanair but having seen the way some of their Departure Gate queues are policed I still personally wouldn't chance it. On a busy Monday morning in Birmingham airport I even had the 'cardboard box' man pounce on my carry-on case in the melee before I could point out that 'Yes, I know it won't fit in your box but I'm actually travelling with another airline leaving from the next gate and which has a more generous allowance' which my case does comply with!

I have just checked in for our next trip to Tenerife (with Easyjet) and see that our passport number is printed on the boarding passes. On Ryanair boarding passes this wasn't printed, does in now appear ? - I would check myself but binned my Ryanair boarding pass from the weekend. Is this now a requirement or just an Easyjet thing ?

Chris

I see, if in future you want to avoid the admin fee, your going to need to get the ryanair cash card, and I think onces this card is in full swing, the card fee will go up, just another way for oleary to rip passengers of

Purchases from merchant 50p, currently free until March 2012

Got a query and I wonder if anyone can advise if it's happened to them.

22 guys from our football club booked to go to Santa Ponsa for a quiet week-end ... The organisor used Travelsoon.Com. Hotel and flights booked through this company. Travelsoon.com now saying Ryanair have change the return flight time and because of this are asking for £15 per person more. The flight has been brought forward by 25 mins ... I know there is a 3 hour rule in Ryanairs T&C's where they will give a refund if they can't get you a suitable flight but changing a flight time by 25 mins (still same flight number) and charging more ??? sounds like fraud to me.

Wilson

Hi Wilson ... you would obviously be heavily penalised if you changed the flight booking, but I have never heard of a charge such as you describe when Ryanair change the flight time. There is no such charge in their table of fees. It sounds more like a Traveloon issue, or perhaps an issue between Travelsoon and Ryanair, as you will see in earlier posts that Ryanair are taking measures to try and block agents from buying seats:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4288&start=1440

There is currently a Travelsoon topic running in Complaints, it may be worth repeating your post there to see if anyone has similar experience with that company:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=153960

David

no way - not even Ryanair - would an airline charge extra because they had rescheduled the flight!

Thanks for the responses, now convinced Travelsoon are at it !

Wilson

Actually I need more convincing. I'd like to see the actual words of the notification your organisor received - just to make sure the trip was properly booked in the first place, and if it was, that you are still on the same flights.

MOL at it again.

http://www.canarianweekly.com/ryanair-chief-leaves-jobless-staff-fuming/

Chris

He's no more popular in Catalonia either!

http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/ryanair-close-its-base-reus-airport-next-october

Ryanair pulling out of Reus has meant not just that staff directly employed on servicing the Ryanair planes and operation in general have lost their jobs but virtually all the staff employed in the retail outlets have lost theirs too. Having greatly expanded the retail operations to meet demand from Ryanair passengers, no Ryanair passengers now means no significant custom for the shops either. Some have been offered re-deployment to the 'real' Barcelona airport but for many of the women employed previously at Reus that simply isn't a viable option even if they were offered it.

SM

My understanding was that Ryanair have stopped using Reus as one of their 'base' airports resulting in a reduction in the number of local staff required (as they relocated aircraft previously based the airport) but they still fly into Reus so Ryanair passengers are still going through the airport.

Chris

Perhaps I should have said 'fewer Ryanair passengers' - they are still flying in and out of Reus but with nowhere near the same number of flights or volume of passengers. They have shifted a lot of their flights over to Girona which now serves a greater number of destinations than Reus and with more routes to be started in the spring of this year. Even though it is approx 100kms/62 miles from away Ryanair are now making much greater use of Girona as their main 'Barcelona' airport. Anybody using Reus this summer is going to be taken aback by the scale of the cutbacks in the shopping facilities compared to what there was in the past.

SM

We are flying to Reus early July with Ryanair, will this effect us?

Thank you

Emma B

I think how and to what extent it affects you depends on how important shopping in the departure lounge on your way home is for you. My friend's daughter-in-law was the manager of the Aldeasa 'duty free' shop there and she has now been redeployed to Barcelona airport as a result of the big scaling down of the retail operation at Reus now that there are considerably fewer passengers are passing through the terminal. You'll still be able to buy essentials for the journey but for the moment don't expect the usual airport 'retail experience'. There was talk that they might upscale again if other airlines started to use Reus in greater numbers as result of the vacuum left by Ryanair and so by July the situation could have changed if the airport becomes busier between now and then.

SM

Just received what I think is a useful tip from another website regarding Ryanair not displaying a weeks daily flight costs when you do a search, currently you only see the day you request whereas previously you got the whole week.

This may have already been posted but maybe I missed it, apologies if you already know this.

If you change your Country to Ireland (to do this click on the arrow over Search FAQ) It will then display all the flights by the week when you sellect your dates.

I'm not sure if you can continue to book the flight from this page or if you need to go back to the UK version.

Chris