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Ryanair "reduces" bike fee from €50 to €60, flies into cloud of Twitter derisionryanair

Ryanair "reduces" bike fee from €50 to €60, flies into cloud of Twitter derision

Dear Ryanair, can we have some fare "increases" next time we fly please?...
by John Stevenson
Tue, Apr 28, 2015 13:49
36

Cut-price airline RyanAir has flown into a storm of contempt on social media after announcing that it had "reduced" its fees for carrying sporting equipment, while actually adding €10 to the cost of flying with a bike.

In an announcement on its website this morning, the budget carrier said:

Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (28 April) enhanced its sport equipment carriage service and reduced its fees from a €50 flat rate into 5 different categories; bike, large sport, skis, golf bag and small sport, making it even easier for customers to travel with their sporting equipment on Europe’s lowest fares.

Ryanair customers can now book the following options:
Bike - €60 each way
Large sport (including but not limited to surfboard, canoe, kayak etc.) - €60 each way
Skis - €40 each way (reduced from €50)
Golf bag - €30 each way (reduced from €50)
Small sport (fishing rod, bowling ball, racquet, hockey stick etc.) - €30 each way (reduced from €50)

Ryanair describes this change to its sporting goods pricing structure as part of its “Always Getting Better” programme, but the announcement was swiftly dissected by the Twitter cycling community's arithmetical experts.

Others wanted to know just what you get for your money. Our own Big Dave is waiting to be told whether paying the fee now actually guarantees your bike will fly with you.

But maybe there are some new benefits? (It appears not.)

Ryanair
Flying with your bike
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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36 comments

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OldRidgeback | 9 years ago
0 likes

Yet another reason not to fly Ryanair. You pay for what you get. Easy Jet is cheap, Ryanair is cheap and nasty.

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rggfddne replied to OldRidgeback | 9 years ago
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OldRidgeback wrote:

Yet another reason not to fly Ryanair. You pay for what you get. Easy Jet is cheap, Ryanair is cheap and nasty.

Don't those last two sentences contradict each other?

But yes. While Easy Jet might not make travelling "pleasurable", they can generally be counted on to do what you paid them to do.

Avatar
Chris James replied to rggfddne | 9 years ago
0 likes
nuclear coffee wrote:

While Easy Jet might not make travelling "pleasurable", they can generally be counted on to do what you paid them to do.

I don't know. My suitcase was smashed in on an EasyJet flight and it took them about two months to send me a claim form, which they then completely ignored.

I think budget airlines only do anything if the value is high enough for you to pursue them through the small claims court.

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
0 likes

Euro 60 return for a hockey stick or bowling ball?

You can buy several brand new ones for that...

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AWu-Tang replied to jacknorell | 9 years ago
0 likes

You'd be lucky to get half a hockey stick for that. I know a few of my team have £200 plus sticks.

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LarryDavidJr | 9 years ago
0 likes

I'd sooner swim where I have to go with the bike on my back than trust that shower of s**t with it.

Actually, I'd rather swim where I'm going than travel with that shower of s**t, period.

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