Ryanair Kills Airport Check-In Desks, Forces All Customers To Pay To Check In Online

October 1, 2009 at 2:11 PM | by Omri | 1 Comment

Ryanair has finally taken the plunge and formally scrapped their airport check-in desks. This move was largely symbolic since the airline had already banned airport check-ins for tickets purchased after May. And yet, in what will come as a surprise to no one, they're still managing to alienate watchdog groups, anger customers, and come off as general asses.

The watchdog concerns have their roots in Ryanair's older policy of charging passengers for online check-in, a penalty that the airline inexplicably levies on people who make things more efficient and cost effective. Up until now travelers could still avoid the �5-�10 fee by checking in at the airport. Now they can't and that has some people upset.

But that's not our concern. Our concern is this guy:

A spokesman for the airline said the deadline was largely symbolic because it had already prohibited airport check-ins for bookings made after May this year. He added that customers could escape the check-in charges by booking a promotional fare � a discounted ticket that accounts for about 40% of Ryanair fares. 'Anybody who has a problem with the charge just needs to fly on a promotional fare,' the spokesman said.

Which is another way of saying to the other 60% that if they "have a problem with the charge" they can get bent. Charming. Almost difficult to believe that some analysts think Ryanair is just too rude to survive in a market like Canada.

Oh, and they're also raising return flight luggage check-in charges to �30 and �70 for first and second bags respectively. Happy October.

[Photo: bigpresh]

Related Stories:
· Ryanair scraps airport check-in desks [Guardian]
· Ryanair Coverage [Jaunted]
· Airline News Coverage [Jaunted]

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