Rion Air
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From: Roland Perry on 2 Dec 2009 03:04 In message <_mdRm.27206$064.6741(a)newsfe17.ams2>, at 18:36:40 on Tue, 1 Dec 2009, Buddenbrooks <knightstemplar(a)budweiser.com> remarked: > It is horses for courses, if I am going to pay full fare it is >unlikely to be Rion Air, for a low cost he is the way to go. The more that time goes by, the more I pick the carrier *simply* because they fly the route. There is very little duplication in practice. So my most recent flight was with Easyjet, my next one is with BMIbaby, and the one after that'll probably be Emirates [1]. A similar approach by most flyers (although they would deny it) is probably the reason why elasticity of demand is "surprisingly" around 20% - in other words, put fares up 100% and 80% of people continue to fly. It's a bit like trains, if I want to go fro London to Manchester, it's pretty obvious that Virgin West Coast is the only sensible company. Although if I was dead set against them I could use East Midlands Trains via Sheffield, changing trains and taking twice as long! [1] After that it goes a bit pearshaped, because BMIbaby have taken over a former Easyjet route, but fly at completely the wrong time of the day; getting me to/from the destination at lunchtime (presumably that would have to be the day before & after my meeting). -- Roland Perry
From: Roland Perry on 2 Dec 2009 06:53 In message <_mdRm.27206$064.6741(a)newsfe17.ams2>, at 18:36:40 on Tue, 1 Dec 2009, Buddenbrooks <knightstemplar(a)budweiser.com> remarked: > But they keep banging on about it and never mention it also applies to >easy met. Just booked my BMIbaby ticket - headline fare was E20.06, but after bare minimum "extras" (one bag) it came to E83.25 paying by Credit Card. -- Roland Perry
From: Buddenbrooks on 2 Dec 2009 18:19 "Neil Williams" <wensleydale(a)pacersplace.org.uk> wrote in message news:4b157433.779312245(a)news.individual.net... > On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 18:36:40 -0000, "Buddenbrooks" > <knightstemplar(a)budweiser.com> wrote: > > > Indeed, on no occasion (and I've used them a good few times now) has > Ryanair ever done anything to me other than exactly what they said > they would (give or take 10 minutes here and there, which is the same > as any airline), and generally at a competitive or dirt-cheap price. > I have had several flights cancelled with Rion this year. One was due to fog the others due to schedule change. Several changes of flight time. Most of the changes to schedule have been within a month of the flight. In the case of the fog the flight out of Dublin 2 hours before had been cancelled and we were released from the departure lounge 1 hour after sveduled departure. That is 3 hours after it was definite that our flight was never going to happen. There was of course no effective support and I took the train to another airport and made my own arrangements at my own cost. The other changes have severely messed up plans which have resulted in the non-use of prepaid hotel rooms. I have factored in these costs and it has still been cheaper flying Rion BUT only for pleasure trips. I would never book a business trip as I would not trust the flight to happen as planned. However he is not the only airline to mess me about. A major German airline bounced me at the airport even though all my documents were in order and I had a printed ticket. Due to a failure on their computer shortly after the online booking they had not debited my bank account. Rather than invoice or re-submit the charge they cancelled the ticket. I was told I should have checked my bank account and ensured the fee had been taken. Several complaints to their customer service office resulted in no replies. Just like Rion Air the UK agents have no authority and their German office opens after the scheduled departure time. So when things go wrong you are on your own.
From: Roland Perry on 3 Dec 2009 01:30 In message <KBCRm.47212$Pi.28817(a)newsfe30.ams2>, at 23:19:10 on Wed, 2 Dec 2009, Buddenbrooks <knightstemplar(a)budweiser.com> remarked: >However he is not the only airline to mess me about. A major German >airline bounced me at the airport even though all my documents were in >order and I had a >printed ticket. Due to a failure on their computer shortly after the >online booking they had not debited my bank account. This can also happen if a Credit Card charge is flagged as potentially fraudulent. Apparently some airlines just cancel the booking and don't tell you until you get to the airport - at which point you have no seat, of course. >Rather than invoice or re-submit the >charge they cancelled the ticket. I was told I should have checked my >bank account and ensured the fee had been taken. I wonder if both theses issues can be resolved by online check-in (even if you have paid to drop off some bags). >Several complaints to their customer service office resulted in no replies. This is a problem with low-cost suppliers in many industries. It's one of the ways they keep their costs down. -- Roland Perry
From: Neil Williams on 3 Dec 2009 05:01
On 3 Dec, 06:30, Roland Perry <rol...(a)perry.co.uk> wrote: > I wonder if both theses issues can be resolved by online check-in (even > if you have paid to drop off some bags). I expect so. On another front, several KLM staff have told me that checking in online is a way to ensure you won't get involuntarily bumped from very busy flights (several people are bumped from the peak Friday AMS-BHX and AMS-LHR flights every week). It did work - I was never bumped in 9 months of weekly travel. Neil |