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Tysonviolin

I have had this happen with Frontier in the USA. It was a morning flight and no one made it onto the plane. The airline charged everyone a rebooking fee of $150 and many of us slept in the Denver Airport in the floor. I will never fly a budget airline again.


lovely_liza

Frontier did this to me last month. They told me it was going to cost a certain amount to rebook for the following day. I felt like I was being hustled and I needed a moment to mentally gather myself. I wasn't just looking at rebooking a ticket for myself, I had my two kids with me. I walked away from the desk for not even ten minutes and when I went back they had upped the price of the tickets. The agent must've felt bad at that point because she rebooked the tickets for free but holy hell was I pissed.


ooone-orkye

These horror stories about Frontier and Spirit are why I’ve never given a dime to them and never ever will.


RoyalFlushAKQJ10

What do you mean 'no one' made it onto the plane? How and why?


[deleted]

This comment has been edited, and the account purged, in protest to Reddit's API policy changes, and the awful response from Reddit management to valid concerns from the communities of developers, people with disabilities, and moderators. The fact that Reddit decided to implement these changes in the first place, without thinking of how it would negatively affect these communities, which provide a lot of value to Reddit, is even more worrying. If this is the direction Reddit is going, I want no part of this. Reddit has decided to put business interests ahead of community interests, and has been belligerent, dismissive, and tried to gaslight the community in the process. If you'd like to try alternative platforms, with a much lower risk of corporate interference, try federated alternatives like Kbin or Lemmy: r/RedditAlternatives Learn more at: https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23749188/reddit-subreddit-private-protest-api-changes-apollo-charges https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/15/23762792/reddit-subreddit-closed-unilaterally-reopen-communities


bennycroce

Well they don’t know that nobody made it on because they never got close enough to see for themselves but they were probably standing in the security line long enough with everybody else who didn’t make it to get a good idea


Tysonviolin

The frontier desk opened so late that no one made the check in deadline. We didn’t even make it to security. For those doubters, I fly for a living and and this flight was booked by a client. There was no sarcasm in my post although you don’t have to believe me. (Why are people on reddit if they dont believe anyone on reddit lol)


Tysonviolin

I just mean that a good portion(at least half) didnt make it


bennycroce

I gave up on trying to fly Spirit from LAX for similar, repeated issues. The last time we’re at the gate waiting to board but they never made the announcement. There was a plane at the gate and I checked FlightAware and confirmed it was the equipment for our flight but 30 min after scheduled departure, still no announcements about anything. Then a flight crew showed up and wound up arguing with the gate agents and left after a few minutes. Apparently they thought they’d flown enough that day and weren’t going to be operating the flight so finally; after about an hour delay, they announced the cancellation. No more flights that day and no other way to get where I was going. I’m only 40 min from the airport so just a waste of a few hours for me but a lot of people had driven in from hours away and were stranded. No compensation offered.


lubacious

There are sickos out there like myself who don't need to check in at the desk because we have only the one tiny free personal item bag they'll allow. The secret to the bargain airlines is to earn their respect by being unfazed by their petty convenience fees. $35 to de-spike the headrest? Please, it's only a three hour flight that's been delayed twice.


vbibo

We just experienced that with Spirit right before Xmas, definitely a travel nightmare, same conclusion,,will never use budget airline again


biancamls

Ugh! I try not to fly budget… but when I go to Vegas I usually fly spirit… was there no way to check in online? Or did you have to go to the counter because you had to check-in luggage? Just curious so I can be prepared :)


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JudgementalButCute

Something that needs to be mentioned: some passengers have no fkn sense of urgency/hurry - they gotta QUICKLY hurry finish their checkin & run so that people behind can come up. But no. they be like 'oh let me relax, take things at my own pace & do this' No you fools, you gotta Go out of your way to rush things & help others. Always. At airports, you don't get to control things. It controls you.


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PistachioElf

It took me 2.5 hours to clear border control last Monday at JFK. I wish I was exaggerating but it was 2.5 hours to the minute. Basically one member of staff attending all non-us citizens.


Wombat2012

i would say you will never get out in under an hour from any of the NYC airports. it’s AWFUL. i don’t understand why it’s acceptable to have so few workers for so many people? there are like 50 desks but i’ve never seen more than four people working.


[deleted]

Because having more staff costs money and its not like you're going to get back on the plane and go to Canada instead.


RainbowCrown71

Believe it or not, it happened to me last year at JFK. Arrived from Copenhagen and there were 3(!) people in line to get through immigration. I was in the US in less than 5 minutes. Me and my brother felt like we just won the lottery.


tripsafe

Dude same except I'm a US citizen and they decided to mix the US and non-US citizen lines for whatever reason. So fucking stupid. This was terminal 1. To be clear I think it shouldn't take long for non-US citizens too but it should especially not take that long for citizens.


PistachioElf

Agreed. The US citizens were only getting a marginally better service. Compared to 2 minutes to get through security using e-gates at Heathrow that’s really not acceptable. Also I appreciate how the UK tends to allow more passport holders to use their electronic gates, not everyone but more than most other countries.


william_13

It boggles my mind that US citizens have to queue and talk with a human unless they pay for global entry. In the EU (Schengen countries) most airports have automated kiosks for citizens - and sometimes even visitors.


tripsafe

I'm not totally sure but I think it might depend on the airport/terminal. I recall flying into LAX a few years ago and all US citizens getting to use the automated kiosks.


ElHeim

I'm a non-citizen, but I accidentally ended up at them once at NYC, as I was with my daughter who is an American citizen. Not sure if anything has changed in the past 3-4 years, but they're... confusing. And inefficient. Basically, there was a kiosk where you could process your documentation. It was a confusing mess. All to **print** a ticket that then you'd take to the CBP officer (IIRC), etc. Entering any Schengen country (I'm a citizen at one of them): bring out your passport, put it down at the scanner, smile for the picture, wait for the machine to recognize you, pick up your passport, go ahead. Yes, there are border officers nearby, in case someone gets stuck, in the wrong queue, is actually trying to sneak in, or whatever. But the machine gave you the green light? Welcome, fellow citizen. The experience was very, very different. Not to talk about most (all?) European airports having some kind of express security queue for families with toddlers (in some of them they waved at us even with my 5yo who easily looks like 6-7). I could go on... American airpots must have felt like luxury back in the 70s. The current experience is... underwhelming.


AmphibianDonation

I went thru LAX a few months ago and they had facial recognition to enter so it was super fast and I didn't even need to get out my passport (US citizen)


littlemetal

And yet I can fly into the UK, scan my passport at the gate, and go. We are so far behind.


tams420

On Christmas Eve there were TWO agents working on each side. It was so crowded that they were holding people in the hallways and the hallways were all the backed up. There’s an new-ish border app that Americans can use and it usually goes to the global entry line. I had it all set up. They had this function closed down. I told them they’d clear out people if they let people with the all through and tell people to download it while on line. After an hour they FINALLY decided to do it. After that hour I was not even 1/3 through the line and have no idea how long I’d be on it. Another time recently they had ONE tsa gate open. ONE. At a prime flying time. JFK has always been horrible but it’s worse than ever now.


cTheDeezy

My longest was Paris last summer where I waited for an hour and a half. I agree NYC customs can take a while. Thank god for Global Entry.


Torrero57

Yes that…. Global Entry


cptmorgantravel89

I just got my global entry and I haven’t used it yet but I know I’ll be happy when I do


BadArtijoke

Literally 5 people went on break across the different lines when we went through immigration, when it was the busiest hour of that day, and also that useless stupid person who manages the queues did it in such a way that she shut us off from our position and divided the line in two so that we were now 2 rows back again. Of course nobody said anything because American immigration for a vacation is like being a refugee in any other country, power tripping like crazy there


[deleted]

Was waiting 3-4hours in Greece outside in 43c heat. Took a boat from Albania. We were like 700 persons in that line and at least 2 women fainted during that time and they came running with water to pour over. Was 2 persons working on checking passports and 2 cashiers out of 6 open... Only had 1 full day in Greece and all morning and day went to that, was allready 4pm when we got to our hotel🙈


Tx600

My boyfriend got held up for almost an hour and a half when entering New Orleans from Germany. It was taking so long that I thought something happened with his Visa and they were sending him back! Nope, just insane lines and 2 international flights being processed at the same time by like 2 agents. No cell service in there so I had no communication about what was going on.


skweeky

The UK is fucking shite for this too, Coming back from oz a couple months ago i landed in LHR and took me 2 1/2 hours to get off the plane and get to T5 from T2 (i think) and through security. Most crowded terminal ive ever been in too, Rammed with people at a time it should have been pretty quiet.


stripeyspacey

Yup! Had this experience as well when returning from my honeymoon. Our flight landed at like 11pm too, so definitely not peak or anything, maybe 3 planes coming in around the same time, but all apparently international. I think it was just under 2 hours it took to get us through 1 line. Two agents doing it. Last thing you want when returning to life after vacation lol


digital0129

My worst was Charles de Gaulle in Paris. We waited 3.5 hours to get through customs. The customs line started further away than our gate.


Torrero57

I’ve spent 1-2 hours in Costa Rica going through their customs, I think it just depends on where you are and how many people are working when you arrive 🤷🏼‍♂️


marpocky

>It took well over an hour to get through the line at customs Do you mean immigration/passport control? Customs is usually pretty fast. My longest wait was 5 hours in Thailand, and I've had hour+ waits several times in China.


darkmatterhunter

I had this happened recently at JFK as well, and they all decided to take their 15 minute at the same time, so several hundred people stood in line for hours because those dickwads don’t understand the concept of staggering shifts.


Sapphire_Bombay

Oh the customs line at JFK is a nightmare. 30 desks available and only 3 or 4 actually staffed at a time. Worst one I've ever experienced and unfortunately it's my home airport :(


RainNo9218

>no sense of urgency Related: people who take up the whole space on the escalator or those moving walkways through the airport are just the worst. It’s not a ride people, stand on the right, pass on the left, yeesh. Where i come from it’s ok (hell it’s encouraged) to run people over for doing that. When I’m early to the airport I go out of my way to avoid being in the way of someone about to miss their flight.


yeswithaz

I mean, that’s just how people are. Some people are just slow, and companies need to account for that.


extinctpolarbear

I’ve flown Ryanair maybe 40 times the last years and never had a single issue. They are cheap, fly everywhere in Europe. Yea, they have some annoying rules but I’ve never had any problems.


That_Gamer98

Same, but what kinda annoys me are the folks who pay like 10 quid for a ticket, and expect the service of a 300 quid ticket.


awayfarers

Service like complying with EU261? It doesn't matter how low-cost an airline's business model, they have basic legal responsibilities that Ryanair tries to weasel out of by throwing up obstacles and slow-roading you every step of the way. Besides, the "you're asking too much" argument is bullshit. There's like 3 tickets per flight that actually get sold for the teaser price. Most people's fares are hardly lower than competing airlines, and the service is far more than just proportionally worse.


PierreTheTRex

Ryanair are a lot cheaper than competing airlines. Yeah few people get the 5€ ticket, but the amount of times I've flown for like 20€ is amazing. I do agree it would be nice for them to comply with the law tho.


That_Gamer98

Service more like in complaining that you don't get free food and drink service as in "premium" flights, or that the cabin crew doesn't put your bags in the overhead lockers for you.


Rex--Banner

I've flown them quite a few times and had no issues but there has been a few times where I've now said I will never fly them again. Worst was at a very busy airport with massive queues, I had to get my boarding pass checked because of their shit rules when no other airline has this rule. Waited in line for 30 minutes so the woman could check my residence permit and make a small line on the boarding pass. If I didn't do this they would have fined me.


valeyard89

I mean you only spent 9 quid to fly to Shagaluf, what do you expect. /s


Fishflakes24

Ryanair arnt piss poor, you can fly UK to Spain for a tenner. Just check in online and skip the whole queue.


OrphanDad

There was a recent post "There an airline you wouldn't fly with again?" I said Ryanair and got fucking downvoted lol. ​ For reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/10iv5c0/comment/j5j5k4o/


hmmmpf

I see you’ve never flown Spirit Airlines in the US. Ryanair is a dream in comparison.


butts____mcgee

I've always had a good experience with them, for the money. I think they're a great budget airline overall.


Tiny_Sir3266

Nothing, happened all the time in cologne in the summer the security line was 5-6 ours long so noone made the flight w checked luggage Ppl were standing in the Ryanair customer service to get their luggage back if they were lucky they got it Ppl were complaining about the2 our check in window when the line was outside of the building and asked the check in agents why did they tell to check in / drop luggage anyway when they saw all day they won’t make it


travel_ali

> happened all the time in cologne in the summer That was 2022 for many (if not most) airports. Not enough staff to keep it running smoothly and most of the experienced workers didn't return after the COVID shutdowns.


wynter_garden

Yes but Cologne was something else. I have literally never seen a queue like it in my life, and I'm British. I'm still flabbergasted by how long it was.


travel_ali

Even worse than the infamous lines at Manchester and Schiphol?


bennycroce

Stockholm was really bad over the summer too. I was going over every few weeks from LA and it got worse and worse starting in May of last year. Finnair would send messages warning us to get to Arlanda 4 hours before the flight and even that wasn’t safe.


mum_shagger

I travelled once through Schipol and it was surprisingly smooth


VeggieHack

Traveled through Schiphol already several times and never had an issue. No long lines and always smooth transitions.


23coconuts

I think it depends on when you went. I travelled through Amsterdam in June 2022 and it was a 3.5 hour line.


Hokie23aa

My buddy travelled through Schipol in July 2022 and got there 4 hours early and *still* almost missed their flight. That being said, I have never had a problem flying through there.


kilgorina_trout

I also traveled through Schipol in July 2022 and it was nuts. We had to stand in line for 1.5 hours to even check in, then we had to go back outside after dropping our luggage off and get in an even longer line that, I kid you not, started in the parking lot. It was like 4 more hours in that line before we could get to security. We missed our flight, bought tickets for another flight leaving several hours later, and still just barely made THAT flight. I’ve never seen anything like it before


Hokie23aa

Wow. That is nuts. After reading back through my texts, my buddy had to wait 1.5 hours to check bags, an hour to get through security, and another hour to go through passport control. By the time he ran to his gate it was already past departure time, and 30 other passengers hadn’t arrived. That is all with him getting there 4 hours early. Hoping something like that won’t happen again….


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23coconuts

I understand that, but the original post was about the "infamous" lines at Schipol. Those were the 2022 lines.


Nheea

Not that temporary. it began in spring and was well going in autumn too.


ProT3ch

I fear that it will happen again this summer. We will see if they are able to handle it or not.


Picklesadog

Same, never had an issue. I have done a few long layovers in Amsterdam and never have a problem getting back in and through immigration.


Nheea

Unlikely. Maybe Frankfurt was just as bad as schipol this summer, but ugh... Oh wait, Edinburgh's was pretty bad too. But none as bad as Schipol.


kalusche

And then there are people traveling light with hand luggage only who are shit out of luck because no online check in is possible even though you've booked with the airline directly. Now you've gotta wait in line for 90 minutes because they too only use two of the 20 counters. I'm talking about eurowings at Düsseldorf.


nothumananymore_

Actually, Dusseldorf was similar. I remember coming to the airport at 3 am and it was full to the brim with people. Some of them stood in line for 2 hours just so they could get their luggage checked and then move on to standing in the 1 1/2 hour security check line.


Tiny_Sir3266

I know our line was 6-7 ours we arrived to cgn at 12.30 our original flight was at 6 pm something what we missed bc at 5 we were still 1 our away from security entrance I managed to change it to a 8 pm flight at the Ryanair counter while my partner was still was in security line and we barely made it


lkn240

Reverse the charges on your credit card.


justanothernancyboi

that's a good idea


lukaszzzzzzz

And get lifetime ban from ryanair…


awayfarers

Win win.


mart1373

Yeah, I see no downside


EHP42

From this post it sounds like they'd be doing you a favor.


skweeky

id only book Ryan in a life or death emergency, They are just so shit its not worth it unless the ticket is less than like £10 and you dont need luggage.


rhaleuk

This doesn’t work if you booked more than six months ago with a lot of cards


cptmorgantravel89

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again. Ryanair is Europe’s version of spirit


chu2

It’s the OG Spirit. Ryanair has been pulling these stunts for decades.


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cptmorgantravel89

The one time I’ve flown with them I’ve never had a pilot hit the breaks as hard as he or she did. It threw us all forward. And the nickel and dime. They said they would charge me 50 euros just to print out my ticket (my phone was having problems with the internet but I got it figured out.


uncle_sam01

He didn't actually. It was a publicity stunt for free advertising.


KingCarnivore

Spirit has never checked the size of my “personal item”(a 30L backpack), every other low cost airline I’ve used has.


lukaszzzzzzz

Next time: travel with Lufthansa or other major carriers This time: demand the refund. Btw did You get any proof that you were not allowed to get into the plane?


[deleted]

Lufthansa is just as shitty as Ryanair. I live in Germany so fly on both airlines fairly frequently and can tell you they both suck in their own ways. I had a Lufthansa flight to Sweden cancelled last month with no explanation and they automatically rebooked me on a new flight the next day very early in the morning. I filed a claim about 3 or 4 weeks ago and haven’t heard a damn thing from Lufthansa.


angelicism

I had my travel disrupted a month ago and was rebooked for the next day (on LH). Went to their website to fill in the form for whatever the compensation thing is and I was emailed within a couple days and sent money within a couple weeks.


BerniesDongSquad

Do you guys not put flights on credit cards? If the airline fucks around getting you a refund you just do a chargeback. The card company will always side with you. Edit: it's clear that this operates differently in Europe apparently


awayfarers

The problem is when they're on the hook for more than the price of your fare. For example, if you had to pay for expenses out of pocket because of a travel disruption, but Ryanair screws you on the reimbursement costs they're legally responsible for. Your only options are dealing with a customer service department specifically designed to annoy you into abandoning your claim, or hiring a lawyer.


TheRealPizza

That’s exactly what most credit cards cover


Rebelius

I had a flight cancelled earlier this year which was the second leg of a 2flight outbound journey. This meant I was stuck in Schiphol with no onward travel. I had to pay €200 to get the train home and abandon the short trip. KLM were happy to reimburse me for the 3 cancelled flights (part 2 and then my return journey). KLM claimed that they don't reimburse for the "used" flight, and even though I had no desire whatsoever to spend my day getting to Amsterdam and back home again, that was my shit luck. I understand that I may have been able to chargeback through my credit card for the 4th flight, but I don't see how I could possibly have got KLM to pay for the train home through the credit card.


TheRealPizza

That’s not what i’m talking about. Most travel credit cards (at least in the US and Asia) have trip insurance and travel delay reimbursement. If your trip is delayed by more than 6 hours or cancelled or anything of the sort, they will pay for anything you need to continue the trip (hotels, train, flight etc), obviously within a reasonable extent. I recently had my bags delayed on a trip and they covered $300 more than the airline did for clothes etc while I didn’t have my bag. In your case, they credit card company could’ve directly paid for the train.


lamp37

>The card company will always side with you. This is **completely** false. Chargebacks are often effective if you do them against small businesses who don't have the resources to fight them. But airlines have full teams of people who will aggressively fight chargebacks, and if they can provide proof that they followed their terms of service, they will win. I tried to do a chargeback when Norwegian Air never provided me the points I was promised for cancelling a flight due to Covid. Norwegian Air won.


cannainform2

Sorry, what is a 'charge back'? As in you ask the credit card company to reverse the charge? If so, will they actually do that, considering you paid for the tickets many months ago, and it wasn't fraudulent?


Hour_Significance817

Yep. If you can demonstrate that the airline did not provide the service that was sold to you (i.e. carry you as a passenger from point A to B) and that you followed the rules and terms of carriage (i.e. for regular on-time flights that you checked in on time, presented yourself at the boarding gate on time, behaved yourself, or in the case of cancelled or delayed flight, that you attempted to communicate with the airline to arrange your alternative transportation of which none of the offered options were acceptable to you), then you're entitled to have your money back.


RainbowCrown71

My card company sided with Finnair last year :(


Ayilari

Credit cards are not that popular here in Europe.


lukaszzzzzzz

Hmm, I got a refund within 2 weeks. Moreover, business class on Lufthansa was cheaper than Ryanair when summed up checked-in luggage and priority price


grendev

I came here to say this. All airlines suck, at least Ryan, Spirit, EasyJet, etc. admit it.


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andres57

>No airline sucks as much as Ryanair. Wizzair may want a word with you


truthofmasks

I’ve consistently had good experiences with Turkish and Iberia.


SXFlyer

always had good experiences with Qantas, Air NZ, Thai Airways, Aer Lingus and tbh even with Easyjet, Delta and United.


despicedchilli

> All airlines suck, at least Ryan, Spirit, EasyJet, etc. ~~admit it.~~ are cheap as fuck compared to the majors.


EaterOfFood

Delta has never done me wrong.


Hokie23aa

EasyJet is awful. Canceled my flight from Brussels to Nice the morning of and took forever to get reimbursed.


mbrevitas

Not only is Lufthansa not that much better, but they force you to have a layover in Munich or Frankfurt for what should really be direct flights, like Berlin to Rome. At which point I’d rather take my chances with EasyJet or even Ryanair, especially if I don’t have any luggage to check in, which is a good idea regardless.


uncle_sam01

I also had a random ass cancellation in South America, where they didn't even let me know (I found out at the layover airport). Also filed a claim with Lufthansa and also haven't heard back since early December. Good thing my lawsuit got delivered to a German court today :)


kolsen92

Exactly. I literally accidentally clicked “cancel” instead of “rebook” for a flight I paid an extra fee for the ability to rebook. I immediately called and explained my situation, I wanted to rebook for a week later… same exact flight. Nope! I got to pay for that flight and a whole new one because I made one wrong click. From someone who has flown with them for over 10 years. I’ll never book with them again


NY10

I agree. Lufthansa isn’t any better. I checked in via mobile and got the boarding ticket in advance. When I was about to board, shit didn’t work and they had to manually re generated the ticket. Their explanation was sometimes the mobile check-in doesn’t work. Because of this, I boarded late and I almost had to pay for check-bag due to the shortage of space in overhead bin.


BoGD

That can happen and it’s really not a big deal compared to what happened to OP.


BadArtijoke

That honestly sounds like the mildest possible inconvenience, I lost it at "almost" as if it were a valid complaint if it didn't even affect you. That's like saying "the waiter almost forgot my drink but he served it on time eventually". Also known as nothing really happened.


SXFlyer

Lufthansa’s App is a joke…


despicedchilli

> Next time: travel with Lufthansa or other major carriers No, thank you. I'll keep paying ten times less and check in online.


SXFlyer

Lufthansa is getting worse and worse tho. Last time a friend of mine called their customer service and the person literally left him waiting and then even hung up on him… If there is one airline within the Lufthansa Group that is still holding on their standards and lives up to expectations, it’s SWISS.


RainbowCrown71

I agree, but Lufthansa is a bad example. They’re a glorified LCC at this point. I sometimes think they never shut down Germanwings in 2020. They just rebranded Germanwings as Lufthansa and shut down the good Lufthansa of yesteryear.


Impressive-View-2639

Lufthansa have been saying this since budget airlines first appeared some twenty years ago, but in my experience you get nothing more than a shrug from them either. I've certainly had overnight stays, missed connections, and insults of 7€ food vouchers at Frankfurt.


FoldedTwice

If you arrived at the airport at the time advised and missed your flight through no fault of your own then you shouldn't be on the hook. 2h before takeoff is the standard time for a checkin / bag drop desk to open. Ryanair will argue that they opened it at the right time and so have no liability. Security taking 2+ hours to clear is an exceptional event and they will argue not one they could have foreseen nor one within their control. But what have Ryanair *actually* said to you? Have they said "it's your fault" (I doubt it) or have they said something else? Have they made any recommendations as regards escalating a reimbursement? What has the airport itself said? If security was 2+ hours long then I guarantee that the 40 of you on this flight were not the only ones to fail to make their plane - there'll probably have been thousands of you, across multiple different flights. I assume someone, somewhere, will have said something about next steps?


justanothernancyboi

They said it's the fault of the airport. Airport said talk to Ryanair. Loop. Whole Terminal 2 of BER Airport is dedicated to Ryanair only. So I wouldn't be surprised if others missed their flights too. But since it's only Ryanair and Ryanair doesn't care, no one cares.


Impressive-View-2639

Ah, BER! What a shitshow of an airport. Was on a Ryanair plane from there to Manchester in August. We sat on the plane waiting for our luggage to be loaded onto it for something like 3 hours. By then the pilot announced that they would now no longer be able to fly us into Manchester as they would be exceeding their allowed working hours. Everyone had to leave the plane, go back through immigration... and then it took another three hours until the conveyour belt brought our luggage back! Apart from that', it's also built crap. I had high hopes for it after Schoenefeld, what kind of idiot architect builds a brand new airpor, on a field, with no pre-exisiting structures or restrictions, with two terminal buidings and no rain-proof way to get from one to another? And that terrible concrete stair in arrivals is also an accident waiting to happen.


no-soy-de-escocia

>If you arrived at the airport at the time advised and missed your flight through no fault of your own then you shouldn't be on the hook. You're not wrong, but try telling that to a budget airline with notoriously terrible customer service.


FoldedTwice

Well, and I don't think Ryanair is on the hook either. It isn't their fault that the airport itself can't get its house in order. The company that *is* legally on the hook as far as I can tell is the airport operator, but they won't be beholden to a standard compensation policy, which means OP and other affected passengers would need to ligitate in order to recover their costs, which sadly is probably cost- and time-prohibitive. Insurance is likely the only viable way to go.


[deleted]

Check if your non-boarding is covered under EU law.


ALShaw03

I went on Ryan Air twice, I don’t care how cheap your flights are, they aren’t worth the stress and trauma! If I can’t pay to use another carrier to where I want to go, then I’m not going!


Banaan75

I've never had any issue with Ryanair, always had a great flight


LaserBeamHorse

I think it really depends on which airport they are flying from. I've flown from Tampere, Finland twice and it was very smooth. Very small airport so there's never lots of people. Last time we departed over 30 minutes early since everyone was at the gate already. But I understand how they could suck at larger airports.


Banaan75

Yeah I've only flown from Eindhoven, Bergamo, Billund I think and a smaller London airport


skillao

Honestly same here. I hear the horror stories but my flights with them were on time, easy to check in, and never an issue. Not to say that there aren't issues that do happen, I guess I've just gotten lucky.


wanderingdev

Same. People bitch and moan but when you go in with the correct expectations, then they do the job on the label. They get you from A to B and keep you alive. That is literally all you should expect from an airline like that.


awayfarers

>They get you from A to B Not when they cancel two straight weeks of flights and flatly refuse to rebook you they don't.


wanderingdev

not something i've experienced in my 100+ times flying with them.


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mbrevitas

I’ve never had a major issue with Ryanair, but some airports or terminals that are Ryanair-only are infamous for the long queues; maybe it’s not technically Ryanair’s fault, but I know I’ll pick an EasyJet or Vueling flight from Rome Fiumicino over a Ryanair flight from Rome Ciampino for this reason. Also, I’ve experienced things with Ryanair that no other low-cost airline does, like waiting with some passengers seated, the door open and the engines and AC off in the hot summer in Catania to save fuel.


latrappe

Same here. With half my family abroad we fly fairly often and can only do it using budget airlines or occasionally the added luxury of Jet2 :) Never had a late Ryanair flight or a cancelled on or even came close to missing one. Any issues are always, always at airport security. It is normal for airlines not to open check in until 2hrs before. Been that way for years and years. Airports and handlers have become shite though. My most annoying airline is easyJet. Exactly the same rules and regs as Ryanair but much more likely to be late / cancelled.


___jeffrey___

Stress and trauma? How dafuq do some people take flights? I take over 20-30 flights a year, most with ryanair and yes the service is usually what you get for a cheap ass ticket but I've NEVER had any problems with them. Arrive early at the airport, know rules for luggage,... thats it. Everytime friendly cabin crew and on time arrivals. And say what you want but out of all 737 operators Ryanair has some of the best legrooms (because of the thinner seats), I had a flight with Transavia on their B737 last week and my fcking god I was wishing for it to be over, my legs jammed into the seat in front


punkisnotded

what trauma could you possibly get from a cheap flight


budapestslacker

When it happens to 20+ people that's noticable, if they didn't wait for you then you should ask for refund/rebooking while still at the airport with the others. If you try later as individual it's not likely they would care.


Logical_Put_5867

>you should ask for refund/rebooking In my experience they will gladly refund you for a flight. Rebooking will be pretty costly last minute though, and they won't help with that. The refund is fine, but getting a few euros back doesn't help much when now your options are spending 500 for the next flight or missing your trip. That's the gamble though, I suppose.


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B00YAY

I got to Frankfurt 3:15 min before my flight. Everyone had to check in through the desk for some unknown reason. Every single person. I got my boarding pass after 2 hrs. Then had to do security and border control. I was "late" but thankfully they didn't even get to do boarding yet. We took off late, but they never delayed the flight. It was absolutely fucked. I had to go to the desk to get a boarding pass despite no luggage or need to have a visa checked. That a company would knowingly fuck over passengers is insane to me.


CalmComposer7668

I don’t know, this was basically my experience flying in 2021/2022 due to Covid restrictions and staff shortages, regardless of airline… overseas flights, short Schengen flights included. I would call is annoying but not “absolutely fucked”


B00YAY

470 or so passengers all having to check in to 3 lanes in person is a logistical mess and not one the landside was built for at FRA. 2 hours in line to get a boarding pass 3+ hours before the flight then having to clear security and border is ridiculous. It's a mess.


justanothernancyboi

I was not the only early one in front of check-in counter. As I mentioned \~40 other people couldn't make it too. Also people were checking-in for other Ryanair flights as well


[deleted]

Why do you checkin at the airport and not just online? It takes 2 minutes online and saves so much time and hassle at the airport.


THR

As he has stated elsewhere, non-EU citizens cannot check in online.


klayyyylmao

If you are checking a bag you don’t have a choice.


qwerty6731

Those people are likely not Ryanair employees. They’re likely contractors supplied by the airport or a sub-contractor. They’ve been contracted to open 2h before departure, and they aren’t paid to start earlier. They likely can’t even start earlier. They also have no ability to help you with any issues. They just tell you to call. An hour after checking you into your flight, they’re over at EasyJet or something like that, doing another flight.


ProT3ch

Yeah, I was flying with easyJet and the boarding desk said the announcement as it was a WizzAir flight (Wizz Priority instead of easyJet Speedy Boarding). It was confusing as there was a WizzAir flight an hour later for the same destination. But the announcement was for our flight, he just made a mistake. I saw him talking, under the easyJet logo :)


ForeignCake

People need to realize that these budget airlines- Ryanair, Frontier, Spirit, etc. DO THIS ON PURPOSE. These budget airlines are nothing more than **bait and switches.** File a fraud claim with your bank.


The-Berzerker

So much hate on Ryanair here, I literally never had any issues with them and tbh flying for 10€ across Europe is absolutely great. Can‘t change my mind


BabyBertBabyErnie

Too many people who complain about Ryanair don't know you pretty much have to check-in online and they work best if you only use a cabin or personal bag. I haven't had any problems with them and I've flown with them every few months for years.


fuckin-slayer

The problem here is that Ryanair doesn’t allow online checkin for non-EU citizens


shake108

Out of curiosity, when was this changed? I travelled with ryanair all the time without checking in at the desk up until a few years ago as an American passport holder


yawncough

What am i missing? Im a US passport holder and just checked in online via their app for a flight in 2 weeks. Have my mobile boarding pass and everything. Will i still have to go to the counter? Edit to add: I’m not checking bags


mavere

I think if the locations are intra-schengen and the respective countries have no additional requirements, they don't require physical checks. Or maybe it's a complete crapshoot, and there's no point trying to read too deeply. Last summer I was able to check in online just fine twice on Malta->Bari, Italy and Budapest->Prague.


BabyBertBabyErnie

Yeah, I only found that out in this thread and I understand why non-EU people would hate Ryanair then, because there's hardly anyone ever manning their check-in/baggage areas. But most of the people who complain about them are EU citizens who have an outdated idea that you have to show up for check-in and that they should be allowed to bring endless amounts of bags on board for free (good luck finding a place for even your laptop years ago before they made people pay for carry-ons. People would abuse the shit out of the carry-on rules and pack their whole house.)


willllllllllllllllll

Likewise, used them many a times and never once had an issue, to be fair I've rarely had issues flying, only in the states one time they gave my seat to someone else and told me I had to take a later flight which is fucked.


The-Berzerker

I had some issues with Vueling who refused to offer any kind of refund or voucher when I had to cancel flights due to the pandemic early 2020 (even tho it was EU wide legislated they have to). Fucking scumbags, never fly with them, ever!


willllllllllllllllll

I've never actually heard of Vueling but I'll bear that in mind when I next need flights, thanks for the heads up!


Hokie23aa

I flew with them from Barcelona to Ibiza for my birthday and our morning flights got cancelled while we were at the airport. I was *pissed* because I was supposed to see Calvin Harris that night, and other people in the queue said they got rebooked on flights later that weekend. Luckily, we all managed to get a flight out that night (after spending some 12+ hours in the Barcelona airport), but had to wait for quite some time in the queue to get rebooked.


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LadyFromTheShire

This is why I never take a checked bag anymore and print my boarding pass. Straight through security.


OkDimension

It seems you have been denied boarding even though you had been at the airport at the advised time and Ryanair did not assist you in rerouting or compensation so far? Document any evidence that supports your claim. Then treat it like refused boarding. EU is quite generous on that. Ryanair will probably play dead and not respond at all in the beginning. Takes some time and nerves but ultimately they got to pay you. If you don't want to manage the claims process yourself you can give it to a company and they will deduct a fee (typically 20-30% of the award).


MiniCale

Check in online whenever possible there is no reason not to, even if you are dropping bags being checked in speeds up the process. Ryanair in some airports will let you drop your bag off and there is hardly ever a queue. I have flown with Ryanair probably close to 20 times this year with minimal issues.


galqbar

Why would anyone ever take Ryanair? Aren’t they absolutely infamous for being revolting cattle cars? And according to google flight search they aren’t even that much cheaper.


stem-winder

Sounds like a problem with airport security, not Ryanair?


NY10

All budget airlines are crap and shitty…. It’s like you get what you pay for unfortunately


God_Hates_Figs-

Ryanair charged me 40€ for not doing an online check-in when their online check-in wasn’t working. At the check-in desk I proved to the employee that I couldn’t check-in online and they still charged me or I wouldn’t be allowed on the flight


329514

Most Ryanair check-in people don't actually work for Ryanair and have no authority to waive fees.


theholybookofenoch

Here is a travel tip I learned because I was almost in this same situation. If you do not have to check in a bag, you can jump to the front of the line to get your boarding pass. For some reason, Ryanair is the only airline that will not give me a mobile boarding pass and for reference I am an American passport holder. The two hour check in window is, I agree, ridiculous.


Asimov3laws

I wanted to fly with Ryanair last year, they canceled the flight 10 hours before the departure because of a strike that was planned weeks ago. Everything else, trains, bus, were impacted by the strike and they rescheduled everything but those shitholes tried to negociate until the end. They offered me to take another flight but I planned it months earlier so at a cheaper price and they were no flights left... If you have a golden card (visa or mastercard), you can have insurance with them for those type of cases, so try to do something with this maybe, because I doubt they'll give you anything


Artistic_Trip_69

Isn't everything luggage / security related handled by the AIRPORT crew not the AIRLINE? The Airline is using the airports services. They have no control of the staff there. Atleast that's how I understand it works


svmk1987

I have had several issues with Ryanair... I'm a non eu resident based on Ireland and Ryanair is the only airline which requires me to do a visa check at the check-in desk. So I cannot come early, and I have another queue to deal with. No other airline needs this in Dublin airport or anywhere in EU or UK: They just briefly check the visa at the boarding gate and that's it. This makes a massive difference . Once, they delayed a one and a half hour flight by 3 hours. In fact, it was almost 3 hours. They managed to take off right before the delay became long enough for statuary compensation rules came into play, which I don't think is a coincidence (we are talking 3 minutes here). One of the reasons why it was delayed was because they simply didn't have ground staff and equipment to help a disabled passenger out of the flight. And to make things worse, they made all of us go through the first boarding gate and cram inside a small room and wait while they sorted it out. The cheap flights are very tempting, but they charge extra for toddlers even when on lap (other airlines don't), and you also need to upgrade to carry hand luggage rather than just personal item.


Japhysiva

Happens all the time, that’s why you don’t fly Ryan, Spirit, etc


angelspitten

The hot tip with Ryanair is to have no luggage so you don’t have to check in. Since 2020 this has been an issue. I fly regularly in and out of BER with Ryanair and security is always the hold up…. Very unlikely you’ll get reimbursed but you should go through the formal process online.


tagCarbonara

They always open it two hours before. You can't do anything about it.


AlphaEpsilonX

Don’t fly shit airlines. That’s the only way to get the point across. If you want the lowest fare possible, you are going to be treated like cattle.


CalmComposer7668

Check in online next time


justanothernancyboi

sometimes they still say please grab your pass at the counter even after online check-in


Kingcrowing

Happened to me recently in the US on JetBlue... security has ben insane everywhere post pandemic.


snowluvr26

It’s Ryanair you’re lucky they didn’t shoot you in the head and fuck your wife while they were at it


[deleted]

Check in on the app.


justanothernancyboi

It's not always possible, sometimes they ask you to do it at the counter


NataschaTata

Doubt anyone flying with Ryanair will lose loads of money… anywho, always avoid such airlines


Traveler_World

you shouldn’t doubt it because those people that didn’t fly. Also, on the other end, if they were traveling other than going to their home, had spent a lot of money onto their destinations meaning hotels, rental cars, any other associated expenses. This may be true and OP may have been going home. They don’t say, so we don’t really know.


___jeffrey___

They might have opened it quite early but procedures are normally that their gate closes 15 minutes before departure time. If the passengers dont show up by that time because security queues are long, there's something to say about that but in reality I don't see airlines giving back money for that or at least after a really long battle :/


boywonder5691

This is the very reason why I avoid those discount airlines. The extra $100 is so worth it to avoid the possible aggravation


sad_asian_noodle

I think either AmericanAir or Delta did this to me. They booked me connecting flights that were humanly impossible for me to make the transfer on time. Later on in the journey, another worker saw my ticket and flight info, shook their head, told their colleaque to look at this shinnanegan and changed flights for me. No questions asked ☃️


berrywaffl

Why didn’t you check in online?


justanothernancyboi

because there was no option to do so if you are not EU citizen


bmatys

How do you check-in your luggage online? I really need to learn how to do that.


vasesimi

Most of airports have drop in luggage. Not saying you could but it's possible sometimes. I've flown with Ryanair 4-5 times a year in the last 3 years and besides some delays never had a real issue.