fergus

I know we all like to bash the low cost airlines. I am sure I have had a moan on here about them in the past. But I do appreciate what they do for me. So, maybe against the trend and possibly something that I may come to regret, I offer up the following.

I remember when the only option to fly to Portugal from our local airport was with air 2000. The price each was always around £300 each and there were only flights on Thursday or Saturday. I can't remember whether we had a meal, but I think not. That price did include your suitcase, but that was 20 or maybe 30 years ago, so in todays money the price was probably more like £900 each. For many years now we have been able to fly from the same airport for, on average, about £60 each. Sometimes, you can even do it for £20 or less return. We can choose whether to have a morning or evening flight on the way out and the same on the way back. The flight has become so routine that it is the equivalent to a bus ride into town.

Now if I bought a cheap, off peak bus or coach ticket to town and for some reason the bus company could not provide the service, I would be upset and annoyed, but I am not sure that I would feel justified in expecting the bus company to pay for all my other associated costs, i.e. connection to bus service to the airport, the flight costs, the hotel costs, the entire cost of my holiday, etc., etc.

I know that we all like to rant and rave at easyjet and Ryanair, but I am grateful that they have made it easy and affordable to get to my home in Portugal and for my family and friends to be able to pop out for weekends, short trips and longer stays, as the flight to get there is so cheap.

I was in Portugal when the volcano erupted in Iceland and was unable to get home on the flight I had booked because it was cancelled. I spent quite a few days more than I expected in Portugal but eventually got a flight back, at no extra cost. And in addition I was awarded some €250 because the Ryanair had failed to provide me with the flight I had booked.

But was Ryanair responsible for the volcano erupting? Of course not. Are they culpable in this Covid 19 crisis? I think not. I would be happy to have just vouchers against future flights rather than cash refunds and look forward to continuing to enjoy cheap flights to Portugal.

I am waiting for refunds for four trips I had booked with Ryanair. I am sure that I will receive them and whether they arrive in 7 days, 10 days or 20 days really is not a problem for me. I am more concerned that the budget airlines survive and continue to be able to offer cheap flights and the familiar bus like service. I do not want to return to just two flights a week and paying close to £1,000 per seat.

I wish them well in these tough times and hope they are able to bounce back quickly. If they don’t you can expect flight prices to increase significantly and house prices to drop significantly. That would be a double whammy for many us!

Lelandy

Fair play. I know I've had a bit of a rant on the other thread, but only as I find myself in a computer catch 22.
Having only flown budget airlines for the past dozen or so years before moving to Portugal, I've never had a complaint about the service they provide. If you make yourself aware of their rules and play by them you shouldn't have any issues. Delays happen.
We have transferred where we can and booked for Christmas when hopefully this will all be under control. ('Over' is too optimistic a word)

Pulaski

I can't help but think that even at $60 that woefully under-prices the cost to the environment of all those jets whizzing around, spewing out CO2 and acidic pollution. I could foresee the almost entire shut-own of air travel for several months, and the collapse of many airlines, as an opportunity to restrict the amount of air travel that is allowed to restart again.

macliam

What percentage of all flights are US internal? What's the cost on those?..... because the low-cost model was imported from the States.

Prices have dropped substantially in European flights, partly by stripping out all the "extras" and partially by cross-subsidy..... but Ryanair were doing very nicely, thanks, whilst flag-bearers crashed(!) all around them. BA tried to compete with Ryanair with GO!, but gave up and Easijet has padded along trying to keep up. JET2 have built on their holiday business to provide slightly better competition and is my carrier of choice.

Pulaski

Flights within the US are much more expensive than flights in Europe - you'd be hard pushed to find a flight to anywhere from the largest airport near me for much less than about $250, (unless it was a short hop that I would sooner drive - say less than 250-300 miles) and on weekdays in the early morning and late afternoon periods, a return flight to pretty much anywhere would probably start around $400-$500, say to NY or DC. A few years ago when I was away on business, Mrs briefly considered flying to the eastern end of the state (NC) (we don't live in the far west of the state) to visit her parents, and the cost would have been $800.

BEVS

I am in New Zealand and that doesn't have low cost airlines .

I think this may well now be the case for much of the world over. Certainly for New Zealand. Internal flights, which is how many commute and get around will be limited and so become premium. International flights will also be limited & yes, i am expecting a recession/depression and with that a drop in property values and a rise in unemployment. My thought for now is just to be glad if we can dodge the Covid19 invisible bullet. My next is that we can still access the foodstuffs and groceries we ordinarily , for the most part, need.

GeniB

Altho we no longer travel anywhere near as much as when OH was still working ,we still need to see family and friends once or twice a year.Sometimes travelling to the North west of the USA and have been several times to Australia . All very much encouraged by joining the EU and the large movement of relatives to live and work in more far flung countries. While this present crisis has to be acknowledged and dealt with, I too sincerely hope it doesn't destroy the best of the low cost airlines we need to use to keep in touch with those dear to us
I however also hope that it provides some deeper thought on how these airlines are run and maintained. (There seems to be little doubt that the movement of this virus has depended largely on air traffic.) In order to make larger profits a lot of basic cleanliness has been dropped .ie the circulation of clean air in the cabins, since smoking was banned ,(and this was an automatic requirement ). Many airlines no longer do this . Quick turn arounds on the cheaper airlines also means virtually no cleaning ,just picking up any litter left behind etc. The minimum should be to disinfect the entire plane ,and wipe down all the areas passengers touch. (I hate to think about the toilets.) If nothing else comes out of this .and lets face it there are a LOT of questions to be answered about the handling of this whole disaster. I hope that hygiene makes it to the top of the list for the future

wellinever

Here is a real life situation....
I returned to UK from Portugal just before the stopping of all flights.
As a UK resident I thought that to be the most sensible thing for me.
However I need to return to Portugal as quickly as possible.
I accepted that there were no flights in April.
I was a bit surprised when the ailines started to readvertise flights from beginning May.
Now in my own mind I did feel that this might be a bit optimistic, but without any other information (and I understand why) decided to book a flight.
Of course this would all be dependant on
a) My own situation and b) the European situation.....
So I pay my money and receive the confirmation.
This is for a flight on 4th May.
So I was a bit surprised to receive an email 2 days ago, giving the opportunity to check in.....(havent preceeded with that)
Should I check in to fully guarantee a no quibble refund??
In the meantime someone asked if they could go with me, so I looked at the airlines website to see if that was possible.......again another surprise.....no a flight could not be booked
as there wre none showing at all, either on that day or the next, in fact nothing until the 8th....no mention of flight full, just nothing there.

So now what?? Will this flight go or is it informally cancelled but I have not been informed? Is it full? Bearing in mind all I have is an email giving check in information as normal.
What should I do?
Of course I can take it into my own hands and assume the flight wil not go ahead, in which case I can change the date, and will be charged a fee (already tried and that is what it says), but how do I know if that flight will actually go or not, and would I then have the same dilema again?
In the meantime with hour by hour information the airline knows exactly who has bought a ticket, and are gathering a lot of minute by minute information.
my opinion is that airlines should not even offer seats for sale if they are not 100% that other than non forseen issues stopping a flight from departing on the ady at least. But in this case I assume they know more than I do about the timescales.

Maybe I should assume that the fight on the 4th May will not go and rebook at a much later date like 1st June and trust that I will get a full refund for the first flight......this is a gamble that customers should not be asked to take. Airlines should be fully accountable for their actions and not just to offer a refund when it suits them.

Fredbargate

Living in Gibraltar I have a choice of Easyjet or B.A. with all flights going to UK.
If travelling beyond UK the only sensible option is to fly the whole route with BA then if there is a delay so long as I get to Gib airport on time it's BA's problem, Gib is regularly plagued with weather related problems.
Also I recently took a trip to Cornwall, with flight choices of Easyjet to Bristol or Gatwick and BA to Heathrow. The BA flight to Heathrow was far cheaper than any of the Easyjet flights.
Reference Easyjet, I have booked the Bristol flight on two occasions. The first time the incomming flight was diverted to Malaga with all the subsequent delays. I jumped in my car and went to Portugal. Claimed off Easyjet for flights, car hire and hotel, It took a month but received full payment.2nd trip last December was successful.

There is also Royal Air Maroc with two flights a week to Casablanca with a short stop in Tangiers

Pilotabroad

Just a few small corrections to keep opinions fact based....
1) It is not Ryanair or any other airlines choice/preference to give refunds etc, they are in fact forced to do so under european law.
2) Lo-Cost does not mean cheaper tickets, it refers to the business structure ie Low Operating Costs... in fact many a research has proven that once card, bag, booking, fees etc. Are included they are can indeed be more expensive than mainstream airlines.
3) There are still flights operating from UK to Port6albeit far less often.
4) The closing of Portugal airports are for a number of days over Easter itself only (so far)

qianh

you need to get confirmation from the airline that the flight has been canceled. They may not know themselves yet. Decision has been made on weekly basis. If your flight is canceled by them you are entitled for refund or flight in different date, if you cancel yourself you won’t necessarily get a refund.
I would also book flag carrier airlines rather than low cost ones if possible

wellinever

no flag carriers from Stansted
Yes I tried to get more info from a chat with the carrier..........all I got from them is that the flight is not cancelled at this time...nor any reason why no flights now show on that day.
yes i understand I would be entitled to a refund if they cancel the flight, but do i just do nothing until they actually tell me its cancelled, because by then other flights will have been increased in cost. If they confirmed that they would give me a new flight at the same cost with no other fees that would be acceptable, but that is not what is happening,
I note now that if I rebook, I can use a different airline at about the same cost (normally I cannot because their times are all wrong from me), and that means leaving it until early June which is no big deal. Hopefully by then things will be more clear.
Its a good business this one, stop all activities except take money and keep it for 3 weeks or more then just reurn it with no penalities.
So its not that I do not understand the problems for companies, but I do object for being taken for a cash cow.

qianh

I think they have to put you on another flight without extra charge, it's their legal obligation, the problem is you don't know when they would have the next flight. If you cancel yourself and book another airline, I am pretty sure you won't get a refund.

qianh

Also smaller airport could close if there are no enough flights to sustain, at the moment, Heathrow and flag carrier is safer choice. I understand it's very frustrating, but under this uncertain situation, booking flight is like Russian roulette, you take a number you think most likely but it is not guaranteed you can fly out at that date, or to the destination you booked.

Pulaski

Personally, I think booking any flight before it is announced that restrictions on flights have been relaxed and that some semblance of "normal service" can be resumed is pretty pointless and will likely lead only to frustration.

I think that much of what is being published by the mass media is still designed to ease the public in gently to the real truth, and that most of the restrictions on gathering in groups, will remain in force for a number of months, and quite possibly until a vaccine or effective anti-virus drug is widely available. The time frame for such medical solutions is usually given as 18+ months.