Ryanair Revolutionize Customer Services And Cut Fees

The Ryanair revolution is set to begin on November 1st when the ultra-low-cost airline will begin introducing significant changes to its fees policy and customer services.

Fans of the old Michael O’Leary style will be shocked.  The man who wanted to charge passengers to go to the loo and get rid of first officers is gone. The new, kinder O'Leary has customer satisfaction at the top of his agenda.

Ryanair announced today a series of major changes to its boarding pass fees, airport bag fees website processes, carry-on policy and a truly unexpected cut in in-flight commercial announcement during quiet hours.

The Ryanair revolution starts from its website. From 1 Nov, customers who book directly on the Ryanair.com website will be given a 24 hour grace period from the time of their original booking, to correct any minor errors (spelling, names, routings) made in their original booking. The grace period does not apply for bookings made via travel agents.

Using Ryanair.com is not the best experience, and the carrier has taken good note of criticisms. To make site more user friendly Ryanair will remove the “Recaptcha” security code during the first week of November.

Getting to the airport without boarding passes will be less expensive. From 1 Dec, Ryanair’s boarding card reissue fee will be cut from €70 to €15 for customers who have already checked in online.  However, passengers who didn’t check-in online will continue to pay the €70 airport check-in fee.

The airline will also relax its controversial carry-on policy. From 1 Dec, Ryanair will allow passengers to bring a 2nd small carry-on bag (small ladies handbag or small airport shopping bag) no bigger than 35 x 20 x 20 cm which will allow a bottle of wine or equivalent to be carried.

Catching early morning or late evening flights will have an added value. Starting November 1st, flying Ryanair before 8am in the morning and after 9pm in the evening will be a much quieter experience.  During these quiet flight periods no announcements will be made on board other than required safety announcements.  Cabin Lights dimming during morning and evening flights will further improve the on-board experience. 

Finally from 5 January, Ryanair’s standard airport bag fees will be cut from €60/£60 to €30/£30 at the bag drop desk, and from €60/£60 to €50/£50 at the boarding gate, bringing them into line with competitor airline standard airport bag fees.

"As we implement our plans to grow from 80 million to over 110 million customer p.a. over the next 5 years, we are actively listening and responding to our customers so that they can continue to expect low fares and on-time flights on Ryanair, but will now enjoy easier website access, 24 hour grace periods, a 2nd small carry-on bag, reduced airport bag fees and quiet flights. We hope that our passengers will enjoy these service improvements, while still enjoying Ryanair’s low fares and on-time flights," Michael O'Leary said.

In recent months Ryanair introduced significant changes to its policies concerning passengers with special needs.The lovely Caroline Green, Head of Ryanair Customer Services showed us the new and improved services for passengers with special needs during our visit to the airline’s Dublin customer services HQ last July.

“These are the first in a series of customer service improvements which Ryanair is actively working on to make our low fare services easier to access and even more enjoyable for our millions of customers.  As some of these policy changes will require website changes and handling staff retraining, we will be rolling them out over the next few months as we strive to further improve Europe’s No.1 customer service airline,” Caroline Green said.

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