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#11
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:17:32 -0800 (PST), Lord Truscott of
Brownenvelope wrote: Ryanair has confirmed it plans to close all of its airport check-in desks by the end of the year in a bid to reduce the cost of its flights. This probably will reduce costs a fair bit as they currently handle check-ins manually using a bit of paper and a pen (to avoid having to pay to use the airport computer systems), so it's quite labour-intensive. And I don't think I have a problem with something that allows you to skip pointless and tedious queues at an airport. I always check in online anyway when the option is available. Hopefully FR will go for the easyJet style option of allowing it *way* in advance. Neil -- Neil Williams Put my first name before the at to reply. |
#12
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:47:42 -0800 (PST), The Real Doctor
wrote: Am I right in thinking that the online check in restriction is on traveling with infants - ie less than two years old, sharing a seat? Not sure, but if that is the case the obvious solution[1] would be a change in policy to a situation where all passengers require a paid-for seat, no concessions. [1] In usual Ryanair style, you don't have to *like* it... Neil -- Neil Williams Put my first name before the at to reply. |
#13
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:56:42 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote: That's a somewhat different agenda, and could be assisted by allowing a much more generous carry-on allowance. The issue with this, apart from that it's the Government and BAA that restrict it by size and to 2 items (all airports now?), is that there won't be room for it all. Didn't Ryanair announce recently that even your shopping has to fit in the "one bag" in order to try to reduce this issue? That said, they could perhaps consider fitting larger luggage areas to the passenger cabin, though this would reduce seats, and unlike XC (say) they can't exactly take a standing load. Neil -- Neil Williams Put my first name before the at to reply. |
#14
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
On Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:51:10 +0000, Joe wrote:
Is the purpose of checking in to actually check that you are present though? I think so. I have been told on more than one occasion by a member of KLM staff that my policy of always checking in online even if it seems a bit of a waste of effort when you've got a checked bag was a sensible idea, as those who check in online on KLM almost never get bumped. How will this work with things like double booking which some airlines seem to do? Ryanair and easyJet don't generally overbook except for when there are serious operational issues, and even then I believe it tends to be the person who was booked on last who gets bumped if there turns out not to be space for them (so more like a standby than a true overbooking). While it might up profits slightly if they did, they don't really need to, as unlike on a traditional airline someone can't change their mind on whether to fly or not and get a refund at the last minute. So the seat is usually paid for whether someone is sitting in it or not, and given Ryanair's "sod off" policy when it comes to problems, I think too much chance of being turned away on the day would destroy any credibility they had left. Neil -- Neil Williams Put my first name before the at to reply. |
#15
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
In message , at 09:01:31 on Sun,
22 Feb 2009, Neil Williams remarked: Am I right in thinking that the online check in restriction is on traveling with infants - ie less than two years old, sharing a seat? Not sure, but if that is the case the obvious solution[1] would be a change in policy to a situation where all passengers require a paid-for seat, no concessions. Having an infant in tow is one of the reasons for currently needing to check in. I can't see why a large party doesn't split its booking into "people with infants" and "people without" if they wish to avoid the queue. The Ryanair website claims that check-in fees are refunded if you've been "forced" into checking in with an infant (but only for the person *with* the infant - clearly a hint to split the booking as above). I expect most people travelling with infants have "too much" baggage (I've seen people with up to *six* bags trying to pretend they only have one) and the requirement to check in is to sort that out as early as possible, rather than at the gate. -- Roland Perry |
#16
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
In message , at 09:08:06 on Sun,
22 Feb 2009, Neil Williams remarked: On Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:51:10 +0000, Joe wrote: Is the purpose of checking in to actually check that you are present though? I think so. I have been told on more than one occasion by a member of KLM staff that my policy of always checking in online even if it seems a bit of a waste of effort when you've got a checked bag was a sensible idea, as those who check in online on KLM almost never get bumped. But that's a "full service" [tm] airline which does overbook. Ryanair isn't (either of those). How will this work with things like double booking which some airlines seem to do? unlike on a traditional airline someone can't change their mind on whether to fly or not and get a refund at the last minute. Is a good reason why the "full service" airlines will double-book, because there is a non-trivial expectation that many of the passengers won't turn up, some may even have multiple [refundable] tickets for different times of day. The "full service" airline may also give free upgrades to selected passengers into Business and even First, to free up more seats in the back of the plane - rather than flying with empty seats up front and economy passengers refused travel. Some will try to sell the upgrades (using a mixture of points and money) at the gate, before doing free upgrades. -- Roland Perry |
#17
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
On Feb 21, 10:13*pm, "tim....." wrote:
"disgoftunwells" wrote in message Will they change their policy of not allowing on-line check-in for the entire group if travelling with a toddler in the party. Or will it be more efficient to insist that toddlers are checked in with the rest of the hold baggage? I wonder what they will do after they get a few fines for allowing people with Non EU passports to travel to a country that they don't have a visa for! Passport control is nothing to do with airlines. They check your passport at the boarding gate anyway to ensure that you are the person named on the boarding pass. If upon reaching your destination you are refused entry then they are obliged to carry you back. That is of course, provided you still have the documentation to how who carried you in the first place and do not claim asylum. I think I have had my last flight with Ryanair. It's no longer the deal it used to be. My latest jaunt was by Swiss International from London City. I can recommend London City over the others for a start. My flight took me straight into a main airport and not one 100 miles away.We thus saved on transport costs at the other end, We had an allocated seat and refreshments were served en route. It cost us just over £30 extra. |
#18
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
In message , at 09:00:04 on Sun,
22 Feb 2009, Neil Williams remarked: Ryanair has confirmed it plans to close all of its airport check-in desks by the end of the year in a bid to reduce the cost of its flights. This probably will reduce costs a fair bit as they currently handle check-ins manually using a bit of paper and a pen (to avoid having to pay to use the airport computer systems), so it's quite labour-intensive. I can't see how it will save much labour at the majority of airports. They will still have a "bag drop" [and I bet at least some of the current "check-in compulsory" categories will become "bag drop compulsory"] with probably at least two people even at outposts. One of the reasons they close the check-in early, of course, is so the same people can go airside and double as gate staff. I hope it doesn't get as bad as some small USA airports, where they run the system with just two employees - one "outbound" front of house and one doing *everything* else, including on the apron - waving the airplane in, unloading and loading bags (including putting them on the belt and taking complaints about missing bags) etc. -- Roland Perry |
#19
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
In message , at 09:04:04 on Sun,
22 Feb 2009, Neil Williams remarked: That's a somewhat different agenda, and could be assisted by allowing a much more generous carry-on allowance. The issue with this, apart from that it's the Government and BAA that restrict it by size and to 2 items (all airports now?), The "2 items" is a bid to reduce security queues, but I don't think the *airports* have an agenda to restrict carry-on size, other than as part of a general agreement with the airlines. In fact I think Heathrow is the only airport where I've seen the "does your bag fit" gauges (in the transit area) and policed by security people - rather than at the check-in desk or the gate and policed by the airline staff. From my observations at EMA, the gate gauges are used primarily to extract some extra revenue from passengers whose bags are half an inch too big, rather than to trap those people with hugely oversize bags. is that there won't be room for it all. Easyjet seems to cope. Didn't Ryanair announce recently that even your shopping has to fit in the "one bag" in order to try to reduce this issue? I noticed such a rule, didn't know how new it was. That said, they could perhaps consider fitting larger luggage areas to the passenger cabin, though this would reduce seats, and unlike XC (say) they can't exactly take a standing load. Came back from Berlin on a very new Ryanair plane last week (first time I've flown with them in perhaps 15 years) and was very impressed at the size of the luggage bins (much larger than normal - actually had to stand on a seat to reach my bag which had slid to the back of the bin) and also lots of space under the seats. -- Roland Perry |
#20
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Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
In message
, at 01:23:34 on Sun, 22 Feb 2009, Mel Rowing remarked: Will they change their policy of not allowing on-line check-in for the entire group if travelling with a toddler in the party. Or will it be more efficient to insist that toddlers are checked in with the rest of the hold baggage? I wonder what they will do after they get a few fines for allowing people with Non EU passports to travel to a country that they don't have a visa for! Passport control is nothing to do with airlines. Of course it is. If the airline flies someone who does not have the credentials to enter the destination country, they get a hefty fine from the authorities (as well as having to arrange to take them back). If it's a low-cost doing a 25 minute turnaround, the plane will usually be long gone by the time the passenger has "failed" immigration checks. Where a country has apply-in-advance visas then the airline will do even more stringent checks, sometimes using a specialist and not just the regular check in staff. -- Roland Perry |
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