Ryanair and the Internet Big Divide

I have the sneaky feeling that Internet is the new Big Divide. You are either In or Out, and it is better for you to be In, otherwise you’ll be in trouble.

Last Saturday, a friend of mine was in a great need of getting on a flight to Italy on the very same day, so he came to me because I have a computer and an Internet connection (silly me, specifying this, don’t you think? A computer without Internet connection is like a restaurant without a kitchen!) Anyway, we checked some flights and the only option, due to the flights timetable, was a British Airways flight or a Ryanair one.

British Airways flight was at 19:50 from London Gatwick at approximately £280 return or £127 one way. Not too bad, in my opinion, considering that it was a last minute booking.

Ryanair flight was at the same time, but from Stansted. The problem with Ryanair was that, because the flight was departing on the same day, you could not find out how much it cost, but you had to enquire by calling the company’s Reservation Centre.

Ryanair is a company where no chance of making an easy buck is left untaken. In fact, by booking over the phone you are not getting the website’s fares (i.e. you pay more), you are paying for the phone call (10p a minute) and also paying an extra fee (£10) for making the booking over the phone.

And even if you try to book online and you are having trouble, you can call their Internet Support for £1 per minute!

Ryanair’s tactic is to charge you for either not having an Internet connection, or when you are really desperate to get a flight (or both). In fact, if British Airways can make a booking on its website for a flight departing in less than 24 hours, why not Ryanair?

Anyway, the Reservation Centre’s number did not work because the office was closed on a Saturday or Sunday… so how can you make a booking? You can’t, I guess.

My friend was stuck then. Well, almost. He could go for the British Airways option or try his luck at the airport with Ryanair.

I tried to steer him towards the British Airways-Internet-booking-you-know-how-much-you-spend option but he decided instead for the airport-Ryanair-try-your- luck scenario instead, because of these three basic reasons:

1) Previous experience of having bought tickets at the airport with Ryanair (well, 10 years ago)

2) The long-standing belief that Ryanair must be cheaper than British Airways

3) Human beings are more trustworthy than the Internet.

Previous experience in a volatile world such as the travel industry (and many other industries) in this time and age is not always your best advisor, because things change, drastically and rapidly.

Ryanair was cheaper for many years, that’s true (I used it regularly to fly between London and Venice Treviso), but in the last three years or so hideous hidden fees and non-existing customer service has really become a annoyance too high to endure in my opinion, for saving what at the end? No more than £30-50 if you are lucky.

As for human contact, well, company like Ryanair don’t give you any. A booking made through a person cost the company much more than the same booking made online, and they charge you for it.

In fact, my friend ended up paying more for his flight than what it would have cost him with British Airways on the web, and the process was not hassle-free.

Ryanair is a typical example of a company that charge you as much as they possibly can when you don’t have the technology, or when you need them more than they need you.