Doing some recent internet browsing in an effort to book some quality time away from my hectic work schedule I have been intrigued by the blatant "Scam" currently in operation by all major airlines. Lets take a trip to Washington in March.

 With Delta Airlines it will cost €383.76 + taxes of €62.82 . With Airlingus it will cost €718.00 + taxes of €78.99 (thought this was a lowfair airline???). With Brittish airways will cost €263 + taxes of €216.84 and finally with Airfrance will cost €240 + taxes of €200.10.

Why the difference in "taxes" I asked myself. Unpon investigation I discover that the last two airlines include circa €80.00 fuel charge in their taxes while the first two incorporate the same fuel charge into the fare charge. 

If we take an average 777 which is the typical plane used for trans-continental flights what benefit does this give to the airlines. A 777 -200 can carry 320 passengers with a 777 - 386 has capacity for 386 passengers. This additional fuel charge equates to between €25,600 and  €30,880 PER FLIGHT  and is in addition to the fare averaging around 500 euro per passenger or €193,000 per flight.

It is also worth noting that the Boeing 777 is reputed as being one of the most cost effective airplanes..... extract from Boing Frotiiers

Fuel efficiency. Carriers that operate the 777 and 787 will benefit from lower overall operating costs, thanks to the airplanes' dramatically reduced fuel consumption. The 777 is renowned for its operating economics; the 787 will be the most fuel-efficient airplane flying. Cogan said the 787 will provide 3,700 kilometers (2,000 nautical miles) more range and will consume 20 percent less fuel than its competitor on comparable routes.

Now I understood that the fuel surcharge introduced by Airlines was a s result of the increase in fuel prices in 2006 experienced by all of us. I as a "driver" also understand that those fuel charges have decreased substantially and the benefit has been passed on to the consumer (me buying my petrol in the station).

So why haven't the airlines reduced the surcharge on fuel or indeed eliminated it completely. What a scam and what really annoying S***!!

Happy Travelling - B 

My christmass experience with Ryanair commenced on Friday 22nd December 2006. Arrive at Duiblin aerport for flight to Stanstead with onward connection to Dinard France.Given previous experiences with Ryanair (and the fact of their insistance that if you fly from Dublin to France via England with them it really is two separate journeys!!!!) I allowed 3.5 hours between flights to make sure that I would not miss my connection.

Flight in Dublin delayed..... absolutely no information forwared by Ryanair in relation to delay. Nobody present at Ryanair desk so we all just sit around and wait and watch the departure time move forward and forward. Eventually board the plane and I'm thinking excellent I sill have 1.40 minutes so I can make checkin at Stanstead. Doors closed should be leaving in a few minutes ..... wait whats that we are opening the doors again. I wonder why.  People start asking questions of in flight staff who plead their usual ignorance. Eventually after some 10-15mins have passed the Pilot comes over the intercom to say that they have more luggage than they have passengers??? I ask myself how can this happen. When a person checks in (irrespective of the airline) they are given the opportunity to check in luggage at which point it is tagged through the system which produces the little sticker that is attached to the bag!!!! Quite simple I would have thought. So now we all have to get off the plane to identify our luggage which has already commenced being offloaded. Start at the back single file only bla bla bla!!!

After about 15 mins of this the identification of luggage is stopped. People on runway are invited to get back on the plane. What now i'm thinking? When we are all back on the plane the in fight service girl (whose first language was not english and was incredilby difficult to understand) calls out a particular name. At this point a passenger answering to this name stands up and comes forward. There is some heated exchange. The passenger leaves the plane. What we witnessed here was a plane which had more passengers than its manifesto would have shown. This particular person had managed to board a plane for which she did not have the correct boarding card??? I ask you how can this happen. Surely in this age of increased terrorism threats ensuring you have on your plane only those who should be there is crucial. The boading card states your name, your flight details and your departure gate (but ignore that cos Ryanair change dearture gates every few minutes). So lets see the difficult job that staff have to do. Check identifictaion and satisfy yourself that the picture looks somewhat like the person in front of you and the name matches and then check the flight number on the pass. How incredibly difficult.

So finally we are on our way,no announcement , no apology no nothing from the staff. But wait our pilot again. We have now missed our take off slot (based on the incompetance of the people working for the company ... i felt like adding) so we waited another 20-30mins  to eventually take off. I eventually arrive in Stanstead.

I run as fast as I can to luggage claim to get my luggage I now have forty minutes before my next flight but I'm sure I can make it. 15 mins later I am still waiting for luggage to arrive. I evetually get it and run to the other end of the airport to check in for next flight to Dinard?  I'm sorry Mam check in closed 10mins ago????

I was not allowed check in. Meanwhile I am watching (along with the thousands of other discontented Ryanair passengers as multiple flights are cancelled out of Stanstead by ryanair). Beside my flight appears "delayed". I'm thinking my flight is delayed due to fog so surely i should be able to board it. I tried talking to several different "Personnel" from Ryanair" and the message was the same.... NO NO NO NO.

Bear in mind its Xmass. There were no flights out of Stanstead until 28th so in the interest of Good Customer Service one would have though they could have made an exception!!!! After all the other passengers were just sitting in the boarding area waiting to board????

So here I am stuck in England on the 22nd December with no way out until 28th??

 Ryanair just keep sending a girl through the crowd saying all flights booked out until 28th December. Also if we have cancelled your flight and you are looking for accomodation on a different flight or a refund please apply online??? I ask you this had to be the biggest insult to everyone. Your standing in an airport and you are asked to apply online???? To me this stunk of Ryanair's attitude and basically said tough shit for cancelling your flight but your on your own now and sort yoruself out.

To cut a long story short with the help of some friends I manged to stay in london for the night and book a Euro Star (first class 260sterling) one way ticket to Paris for the 23rd. I dealt with the most professional and helpful people in Euro Star and the police in Liverpool station where it departs. They helped salvage a potentially disaster of a journey. Arrvie in Paris 23rd and after 3 different trains and a two hour car journey i arrive at my destination at 1.50am on 24th December..... even meet santa clause on the way!!!

All the passengers on the Eurostar in my section (Carriage 8) had been ditched by Ryan Air and were endeavouring to make to home to their families for Xmass, some opting to go to paris and fly from there to their destination. The conversation and comments and experiences noted by these people would have made very interesting hearing for Michael to Leary.

And the moral of the story. .........

We all know if we pay peanuts we get monkeys. This applies to the Ryanair airline and those associated with it. However what I cannot accept is the idea that to treat people with respect is a difficulty or somewhat of an inconvenience. I'm sure Mr O'Leary expects the people who fly with his company to treat his staff with respect and therefore Mr O'Leary I expect the same from you and your staff when I fly with you which by the way I will never do again. I would much rather spend that little bit more, have a pleasurable experience and actually arrive at my destination on time!!!!

To all those passengers I met on this journey I hope you all eventually made it home for Xmass and thanks for the good spirit shown. And finally i hope Ryanair honoured your return flight!!!!!!!! Thats another story for another day!!!!! 

Happy new year

Blondie

Me again

One thing more irritating than the ordinary joe public sitting in yellow boxes is our galant 'men in blue' ignoring it!!!. If i'm not mis-taken this offense is now punishable by 1 penality point, to be enforced by An Garda Siochana. Which brings me to Operation Free Flow or Operation No Go, as up Dubs like to call it. Exactly what is the purpose of this I ask myself every morning as I sit in the car park known as Dublin traffic. A journey that previously took 45mins now, under the careful supervision of our men and women in blue, takes over an hour!!!  And those charged with this careful supervision have an average age of 19 and look like they would run away if challenged by anyone. Please end Free Flow....... let us run a muck in the morning like we do the other 11 months of the year, at least we do it in an organised manner.

Living in Dublin is becoming a chore, I live no more than 8 miles(10.48km's) from work, its increasingly taking me up to 4hrs to get home of an evening. I do expect traffic as I live in a city, but the really annoying s##t is the disregard for the Yellow Box.

The Yellow Box was/is designed to allow traffic to filter from other roads to main roads. Growing up there was an Ad on Tv explaining how to use the feck'in thing.

Why, oh why is such a simple thing abused?