RYANAIR TO CHARGE FOR ONLINE CHECK-IN

News

Dave Bull / 2009-05-15 11:10:29

no more check in

Ryanair is to remove all its check-in desks and charge you, the customer, £5 for printing off your own ticket. The move will mean stripping out check-in desks at 146 airports across the Europe, meaning that nobody will face the £10 a flight charge for using the service at the terminal.

New charges, which come into force next week, will see passengers being charged £40 to print out a boarding card at the airport if they leave the original document at home. Although airline Ryanair claims that the charges will save the company about £44 million a year which, it said, will be used to reduce fares…

According to a Ryanair spokesman the charges will not be levied on anyone buying a discounted seat in one of the company's promotions, which accounts for about half the airline's passengers. He added that the change would be "revenue neutral", because currently 35 per cent of the airline's customers still pay £10 to check in at the airport.

Nevertheless the latest charges will mean that Ryanair's passengers face a huge array of levies on top of their flight ticket. They include charging £100 to change the name on a booking online and £150 via a call centre. Changing a flight costs £55 by telephone and £25 via the internet. Taking a musical instrument or sports equipment can cost up to £40 extra per flight, while an infant's car seat attracts a fee of up to £20. Up until now Ryanair claimed that all its additional charges were "discretionary". The latest move represents a shift in strategy.
Andrew McConnell, an EasyJet spokesman said: "We have no plans to follow suit. Our strategy has always been to encourage passengers to book and check in online, which remains free."

EASYJET STOPS GIRL, SIX, TAKING TEDDY BEAR ON FLIGHT

A mother has criticised Easyjet for stopping her six-year-old daughter taking her teddy bear on a flight because it was classed as "excess baggage".

An EasyJet worker stopped a six year old girl from taking a teddy bear onto a flight
Alba Aprciado-Peris was told by a check-in worker that Bebe the bear was banned from joining her on the flight from Glasgow to Stansted. The bear, which was given to Alba as a present, was wrapped up in a carrier bag which the check-in attendant classed as an extra piece of luggage.
After a heated discussion Ms Peris-Bordes decided to post Bebe to their house in Willingham, Cambridgeshire. She said the incident had ruined a weekend break in Scotland earlier this month. "I was totally stunned when they said Alba couldn't have the bear in the cabin with her," said Ms Peris-Bordes, a publisher who moved from Spain to Britain several years ago.

"I was carrying a big waterproof coat that was much bigger than the teddy and was allowed to take that on - it was just a complete lack of common sense.

"Bebe was in a plastic bag because Alba didn't want her to get wet because it was raining. The check-in person said it counted as an extra bag even though we took the teddy out - it was just ridiculous.

"It's hard enough for me as an adult to understand why Bebe couldn't come on board with us, let alone explain it to a confused little girl. I didn't want to pay excess baggage. I felt I'd already paid for our tickets. Also, Alba didn't like the thought of her teddy traveling alone in the big, dark hold."

Easyjet have now offered to pay the cost of Bebe's postage and blamed the incident on a lack of common sense.