F***ING RYANAIR. A Warning

[Wavingnotdowning]

Please don't make the expensive mistake I have. I booked my parking at Stansted at the same time as my flight. Now my flight has been moved to a day earlier. I cannot change my parking as, although booked through Ryanair, it is with a third party. I have now to wave goodbye. £69.99. So please all be careful, book directly with the parking company itself, which allows you to amend your times. Rant over!

If you live in (or can travel to) the UK, Loganair and Aer Lingus go to Ireland. There's always the ferries. Takes about 4 hours Holyhead - Dublin.

Are you scared of ferries?

Reckon it’s about time we removed the Michael from Ryanair as he’s been doing it to his customers for years.

Aer Lingus do flights between:
Dublin and Manchester, London, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Aberdeen, to name but a few.

Cork and London.
Knock and London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow.
Shannon and London.

And then there's the ferry companies.

It's annoyingly correct that, if all you did was follow a link to the third party parking provider during the booking process, separate Ts and Ca would apply and Fyanair would have no legal control over the parking company's actions (though they could probably exert commercial influence of the have a shit, which they do not).

When you booked the parking, it should have given you the opportunity to review the terms and conditions of the booking before you committed. If no changes or refunds were allowed, that should have been brought to your attention but they are probably just about on OK ground if this restriction was in some Ts and Cs that you had the option to review.

It's usually made clear at booking that it's a third party provider, did you realise that it was at the time?

Can you honestly say, hand on heart, that you looked at all the info and thought that the parking could be changed if the flight was? If yes, you probably do have grounds for a complaint but the parking people will likely just fin you off and say "see you in court then!".

I wonder how much airlines get paid by the parking, hotel, car hire firms that are displayed on the airline's website with text encouraging travellers to use these firms' services?

Never ever book Ryanair without travel insurance. They're one of the worst airlines and notorious for cocking things up.

Ryanair is like EasyJet without the luxuries. And WizzAir is like Ryanair only you arrive a day later sans luggage.

Ouch. My sympathies.

Ryanair is fantastic. I am not lying, I have never ever had an issue with them. One time coming back from Malaga ATC strikes meant flights were cancelled at the last minute, we were actually on the airbridge! Admittedly we had to wait a bit to get sorted but it was a last minute thing outside of any airline's control.

Anyway, we were put up in a suite, yes a fkn suite beside the Corte Ingles in Malaga. It was Easter week and we could enjoy the Semana Santa processions (weird as F), and we had meals and taxis back to airport paid for. No problem, I was very impressed given that every other airline that day was affected. I have not had a problem since, always on time in my experience and lately they are relaxing a bit regarding the size of your underseat (and overhead) luggage. Certain airports are still in dictatorial mode so always err on the side of caution, but it's nothing like it was in the past.

the former Chief marketing officer at Ry, Kenny Jacobs has just recently been appointed to CEO of Dublin Airport which needs a kick up the 80s so hopefully he can do it.

Flown with Ryanair loads of times and never had any issues. It's a bit annoying having to say no to the extras 3 times but once you have done it's all simple and dead cheap.

Booking extras via Ryanair is the thing not to do, not avoid them altogether

Where do you live @KattyKattyKatz?

I use Ryanair all the time between UK and Ireland. Also Aer Lingus. Occasionally others. They're fine. Skip the add-ons.

But assuming you're in Britain or Europe (because Ryanair) it's likely a train journey would get you to an airport with an Aer Lingus or other flight.

Ireland's got great air connections, as an island with a globalised economy and large diaspora. You probably don't need Ryanair. They're not much worse than anyone else, though. Flights to Ireland are still subject to EU traveller protection, even if leaving UK. They hate paying out anything so they're as reliable as they can be.

Where are you and where do you want to get to?

Dublin airport has had some chaotic moments since COVID, but it's the friendliest airport I know and beats every major UK airport I know on accessibility, cleanliness, and facilities. Hope new CEO keeps what works.

I booked a flight with Ryanair and had to amend a passenger to a different relative. The cost to make an amendment was more that the cost of the flight! They sting you with amendments/add on's etc and I too would never use them again.

Just been through Dublin airport which was very well organised ( especially AerLingus’ new baggage policy) and clean. No issues whatsoever.

OK Dublin airport may not be the worst, but it has a lot to do yet I think. It is an International airport in a capital city, and could be much better. While the following issue is not the fault of any airline, I had to wait in a boring queue for 45 minutes to get a taxi to the city, it was a cold drizzly evening and that should never happen in a major airport. Particularly when public transport to the place is not good. No train, no tram, only buses and taxis.

I know this might sound trivial but when going through baggage reclaim the ceiling is very low and it is dank and dark in that area, it just doesn't seem inviting.

Departures is fine though, and security are very polite and often have a sense of humour whilst maintaining their professionalism at all times.

Just a few gripes, and I am allowed to as I was born in Dublin!

Not really Dublin airport’s fault there were no taxis when you arrived surely. The bus in to town is great, cheap and quick. Bit of a pain if you have to travel on from the city centre but I’d rather jump on a bus and get a taxi in town if necessary.

As a point of detail, flights out of the UK to any where in the world (including Ireland) are subject to the UK equivalent of the old EU delay and cancellation regime. Consumer protection for airline customers in the UK was not lessened by Brexit. Only difference is that the compensation is now defined in GBP by statute instead of in Euro (but it's roughly the same value) and if a new judgment in the EU court strengthens protection the UK courts are not obliged to follow it.

There are plans afoot to reduce the compensation for domestic UK flights in the future, but no plans to change the rules for international flights.

Also don't book car hire through RyanAir. We had a similar thing where we paid for insurance and whatever other extras or the car online through RyanAir, but when we landed the car hire company said the RyanAir insurance didn't cover everything and we had to take out an additional policy. Tbf only lost £15 but the principal of it pissed me off more!

I'm Irish and I have to say I find RA fantastic . We are a family of 7 and use them a lot . 16 flights alone this year .
I have never had an issue at all. Staff are nice, planes are on time , prices great and destinations varied.
Myself and my daughter are flying over to Crufts in two weeks . A few weeks ago I realised I had booked two outbound flights instead of an outbound and a return ......
Went on to Live Chat and they sorted it for me in 5 minutes !
I think they get some undeserved bad press.
And as for the person who won't visit Ireland because RA is the only way to get here ......words fail me !

@Eyerollcentral I'm not sure, but I think that airport has control over the taxi service i.e. drivers have to pay a fee to DAA to operate from the rank, and DAA employees seem to be the ones keeping the queue in check etc.

Anyway, many people just want to get off the plane, get through customs and passport control and get to their destination asap. I have used the bus now and then but there is a bit of a trek to the bus areas, together with a wait most of the time, not good in the rain and wind that is so prevalent in Ireland!

Visiting my relatives involves a 20 minute hop across the M50 Southbound from the airport, and honestly to get a bus and land in the city and then get a taxi back out would take all day and I just couldn't do it with luggage and all that!

Relatives children do pick us up now and then depending on our time of arrival and their own committments, their parents who we visit are older and not driving anymore now.

The lack of a reliable point to point public transport system is a pain in the backside for such a busy airport. I hear that the proposed Metro North will have an airport station, but judging by how long that project has been in gestation I will be flapping my wings in heaven by the time it's operational!

We got the AirCoach from right outside Dublin airport. €8 each and a 20 min journey with lots of city stops.

I do agree the lack of a DART or train service to the airport is bonkers and yep unfortunately god knows when it will actually happen!

Honestly it was far nicer and easier than arriving at JFK and the chaos involved in trying to find out prebooked driver.

Agree there should be a rail or tram link.

Yes it's a good service, but only serves certain routes. It's fine if you are visiting the city or you live near one of the stops on their routes, but if you don't it is not going to work.