Berlin, Germany.
Ryanair voted most 'stressful' low-cost airline
MSN Travel ran a poll to find out who you think offers the most aggravating experience - here are the results.
AP Images
According to our users, Ryanair is the most stressful budget airline to travel with. Nearly 2,000 people took part in the poll, and the airline took 66% of the vote while Easyjet took 17% of the vote.
Ryanair's Head of Communications Stephen McNamara responded to the results by saying that the airline's high passenger numbers contradicted the findings.
"The number of people who travel with us speaks for itself - the high numbers indicate they prefer a service that had the least lost bags, the fewest cancellations and we have a strong reputation for flights that are on time," he says.
McNamara pointed out that the problem with polls is that they don't identify the exact issues people are voting on, but our Twitter users shed some light. @oonagh_s1 said: "You'd need a degree to work out the baggage charges," while @FeargusOSull said: "Because you have to go right up to the "click and buy" button before you get quoted the real price".
When MSN Travel pushed McNamara for a response on unnecessary credit card fees - a bugbear that resonates highly with our users regarding low-cost flights - he replied: "We don't charge passengers credit card fees. We have an admin fee which is for the development for the upkeep of the website."
Easyjet's Anna Knowles, Corporate Communications Manager, responded: "The results of this poll are disappointing and don't seem to correspond to reality. Not only are more people choosing to fly with us - we flew over 55 million passengers last year, but our research shows that passenger satisfaction levels are higher than ever."
Both airlines have highlighted the popularity of their service as proof that something must be right, so are low-cost airlines an easy target for our irritation? After all, doesn't the concept of low-cost indicate you get what you pay for, that is, not much?
Both airlines have hit headlines this week, however. The Daily Mail reported that Ryanair is being investigated by the Irish Aviation Authority over its policy of charging passengers an extra £10 to sit in emergency exit rows.
Easyjet also hit the news after it was revealed the airline is being sued by a disabled women because they did not consider her "sufficiently autonomous to fly alone". This comes after a public apology from the airline to a man for charging him £50 to carry his dialysis machine on board a flight.
Do you agree with the results? Tell us about your experiences.
MSN Travel readers' top 5 most stressful budget airlines:
1 Ryanair - 66%
2 Easyjet - 17%
3 Fly Thomas Cook - 3%
4 Monarch - 3%
5 Flybe - 2%
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145Comments
21/03/2012 01:39
Initial price £119.96 as camparison site price BUT add £8.00 passenger fee + Webb check in passenger fee £24.00 + dismal 15 kg per passenger luggage charge of £100.00 + £24.00 Passenger fee administration fee GIVING a total of £275.96 paid. I vow, most strongly, that I will never fly Ryanair ever again!!
21/03/2012 11:12
A man was sitting in the bar in departures at a busy airport. A beautiful woman walks in and sits down at the table next to him. So he decides because she's got a uniform on, she's probably an off-duty flight attendant. So he decides to have a go at picking her up by identifying the airline she flies for, thereby impressing her greatly. He leans across to her and says the Delta Airlines motto 'We love to fly and it shows'. The woman looks at him blankly. He sits back and thinks up another line. He leans forward again and delivers the Air France motto 'Winning the hearts of the world'. Again she just stares at him with a slightly puzzled look on her face. Undeterred, he tries again, this time saying the Malaysian Airlines motto 'Going beyond expectations'. The woman looks at him sternly and says 'What the f*** do you want?' 'Ah!' he says, sitting back with a smile on his face. 'Ryanair'
21/03/2012 07:49
The reason that Ryanair flights have a good record for being "on time" is that they allow an extra 15 mins on a 45min flight to allow them to play the annoying f-----g music when they land "early"? The only reason I ever fly with them is when there is no other opition! I drive to Birmingham to use Aer Lingus rather than use Ryan Air when flying to Dublin! Please note I live within3 miles of East Midlands Airport (ryan air fly to Dublin from there) I am 50 miles from Birmingham Airport.
Their mantra seems to be "screw the public for every penny" then let them fight for seats, information, assistance etc!
21/03/2012 03:24
21/03/2012 07:33
Ryan air are a rip off company. I had to cancel a flight to Ireland last year due to a friend's sudden death. When I finally reached someone a Ryan air they said I would be able to reaaranged my airlane ticket. However when I tried to do this it was double the price I had already paid.
The previous year I travel to Ireland with them and I had an injured arm, they made everyone on that flight put their hand luggage in the cage I struggled to get mine out due to my injury and not one of them tried to help me out.
When Ryan air first started out you got priority boarding if you had little children with you now you have to pay a fee.
I'm glad air lingus has started to fly to Shannon. I do not like Ryan air they are the most appalling uncaring company in the world.
21/03/2012 08:02
21/03/2012 11:17
21/03/2012 15:29
Ryanair by far is the worst airline ever. In fact it is not even an airline, it is a bunch of cowboy pirates gathered together to rob people. I traveled from Malaga to Barcelona with them. On the way to Barcelona, they charged me 70 Euro because I haven´t checked in online and was checking in the airport. I had no luggage and only a carry on. For 70 Euros they don´t even give you even a boarding card, just a piece of paper. On the way back, I checked online but guess what? I have a standard carry on luggage which I take on my business trips, This time Ryanair wanted to measure it in the their luggage box and even when it went in, they claimed since it doesn´t easily comes out, I have to pay 60 Euros for the luggage while in the way in it is was fine since they already robbed me once.
Ryanair is most likely worst airline in the world and should be avoided at all costs, even if you have to pay double for the ticket since by the time they finish with you, their cheap ticket is more expensive than a first class ticket on other airlines.
21/03/2012 01:22
21/03/2012 01:51
OK, bottom line is you get what you pay for and the flying is fine. However, negotiating thru' the booking process is an absolute pain. Whilst fees may be published somewhere, who wants to divert to that page whilst trying to book? And why in hell should we have to decipher some code words to get started (well only because Ryanair don't want to be shown on cost comparison sites). No doubt it is necessary to virtually complete the booking to get the full price (absolute rubbish to charge for card payment - we have no choice so its taking advantage!). We have to scan thru at least 2 pages of offers or extra facilities - why can't the simple offers (hotel, car hire etc) be put after the booking? Finally, and most importantly, Ryanair appear to have pulled out of Gatwick/Alicante - and we hear its because they can't have their own way rather than do the same as the other airlines and USE THE BRIDGES!!! I'm very sorry, but even if I wanted to I won't (or rather, can't) use Ryanair again.
21/03/2012 08:40
Ryanair, screw you for everything, i feel sure that if they could get away with straw on the floor of their aircraft rather than seats they would do it, we fly from alicante to the UK, and it seems for the whole period of the flight they are trying to sell you something, and what is so annoying is that stupid fanfare at the end, lets have more competition, and for once screw Ryanair
21/03/2012 03:18
Check out You Tube - Fasinating Aida/Cheap Flights for a hillarious summary of Ryan Air.
This has been circulated recently, but if you havn't seen it yet give yourself a real treat!
Watch to the end for the punch line! If you like it, come back and give me a thumbs up or not!
Nice to get feedback either way - thanks
21/03/2012 08:50
My partner has flown with Ryanair on a few occasions but will try to avoid them in the future. The last time she flew, a member of the airside ground staff was so rude and unhelpful that it unsettled my partner for most of her trip. My partner is 61, not a good flyer and slightly disabled. For the most part, customer service is a lip service and the reality is cram them in and lets go.
21/03/2012 12:36
Ryanair - do not mistake passenger numbers with happy customer numbers!
The only reasons that passengers like us travel with Ryanair are:- when your prices are cheapest and/or you are the only low cost airline to travel to a particular destination.
In our experience of 10+ return flights - travelling with Ryanair is NEVER a pleasure - it is something to be accepted as a personal challenge as follows:-
1. How do we fly with Ryanair and avoid paying anything extra for your very irritating additional charges
2. The Ryanair customer service experience will not be a pleasure and we will feel like we are being herded like cattle but remember, once at our destination we will have extra money to spend on enjoying ourselves.
From your additional cost structure to your, at best, unremarkable customer experience your passengers do not feel valued - therefore we feel no loyalty to your business. The other major UK low-cost airlines do not make us feel this way. We would always choose other airlines over Ryanair if cost or destination allowed.
As a business - surely you would want to be building passenger loyalty to your brand rather than building our determination to fly with RyanAir only when absolutely necessary in future?
We look forward to your comments Mr McNamara - and even better some positive actions on the part of Ryanair.
21/03/2012 02:01
21/03/2012 13:37
Kim Fern,
I understand why Ryanair came first by a long margin. It's the worst carrier if you have a complaint or an issue to resolve, Recently I made a booking and by a simple click made a mistake and ended up with having booked a flight in reverse order. Immediatey I tried to correct the mistake but they would not listen to me. Th only solution, they said, was to 'change' my flight,which for two passengers, cost me and extra 100 euros. A true rip-off when that mistake could have been done easily with a flick of a button.
Never again Ryanir.
21/03/2012 15:48
We flew with Ryanaire last year to Lanzorate and it was a complete nightmare. I flew out with a small trolley case and was never questioned abouts its size or even asked to place it in the measuring tool they use, so as far as I was concerned it meet their criteria.
On returning with the same case, I was ordered to place the case in their measuring tool, it failed to fit!!!! and so did many others - very strange. I was ordered to pay £40 and have the case placed in the hull of the plane, because I was expecting my hand luggage to remain with me the case contained my ipod and camera. When I retrieved my case back in England, surprise surprise my ipod and a camera lens had been stolen!! The whole incident with Ryanaire cost me an extra £480.00 with additional costs and stolen items.
I will NEVER fly with them again. Bloody sure the returning measuring tool was smaller, as far too many people got caught out and had no issues on their outward flight.
21/03/2012 15:12
Flew with them as part of a package deal several years ago. Was not told about paying for priority boarding, result family scattered in seats all over the plane, including childrensitting on their own, staff were not interested in helping, only fellow passengers goodwill in swapping seats enabled the children to sit with adults. The return journey was just as back with long queues at the check in - Why? because you could not put your bag and partners bag on the scales to equal 30kg, each bag had to weigh 15kg or the heavier bag got an excess charge. Result was that passengers in the queue were opening suitcases to try and equal out the weight. NEVER AGAIN! I will always check the airline before booking a holiday.
21/03/2012 10:47
21/03/2012 09:24
I dont like Ryanair, there fees and charges are all hidden and you dont know right till the end how much you are going to be charged. If I do fly with them it is as a last resort. For their ontime service boasts, they add extra flight time on to their timing, so they in theory should always be on time or ahead.
It is the constant selling on board that annoys me, drinks and snacks, smoke free cigarettes, scratchcards, GIVE IT A REST!!!! this is what makes flying with them stressful, along with that irritating bugle fanfare to say you have arrived aerly again!
Much prefer Easyjet or Monarch
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