Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 278 posts

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#191

Post by Analemma_ »

vosper wrote: post #148
blell wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the fact that people can’t talk on the phone whilst on a plane makes it infinitely better than a bus.

Starlink on flights could put an end to this

From a technical standpoint, the ability to make VoIP phone calls from planes exists right now, at least on planes with newer and better internet connections. It hasn't been enabled because of ferocious customer opposition every time the idea is proposed. Which, frankly, is just fine with me. People can still send emails and messages from in-flight Wi-Fi, no need to subject everyone else to your phone calls.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#192

Post by scottyah »

rkomorn wrote: post #91
dmaa wrote: post #90

I don't understand this hate on Ryanair. Just treat it for what it is, a super cheap airline if you avoid all the upsells. No one is being forced do fly with them.

I don't fly with them, and likely never will, simply because a coworker once showed me their checkout flow (back in 2011) and I found the amount of dark patterns to try and get you to accidentally spend more than you meant so disgusting I swore I'd never do business with them. Being cheap is one thing, trying every trick in the book to try and make money the customer didn't mean to spend is another thing altogether a…

This is the true advantage of a competitive marketplace, your parent commenter votes yes to dark patterns where the person who can dodge them wins, and you vote for honest, open checkouts for a higher price. Luckily, you two don't have to agree and as long as there enough of you, both will coexist.

Imagine if you had to agree and compromise on a single airline?

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#194

Post by scottyah »

lmc wrote: post #137
dmaa wrote: post #90

I don't understand this hate on Ryanair. Just treat it for what it is, a super cheap airline if you avoid all the upsells. No one is being forced do fly with them.

> No one is being forced do fly with them Sometimes they are the only option :-/

Did they eliminate the competition because people chose them over the other providers, or are they the only option because no other airline chose to offer that flight segment?

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#195

Post by mdhb »

blell wrote: post #131
Stevvo wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bus is generally a far more pleasant experience. When taking bus you are not herded like cattle into pens based on priority queue status. When a bus has technical issue, they don't hold you hostage on-board for hours to avoid paying compensation. in Europe, a long-distance bus has the comfort of a business class airplane seat.

Just the fact that people can’t talk on the phone whilst on a plane makes it infinitely better than a bus.

Do you not own a pair of headphones?

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#196

Post by Stevvo »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #181
Stevvo wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bus is generally a far more pleasant experience. When taking bus you are not herded like cattle into pens based on priority queue status. When a bus has technical issue, they don't hold you hostage on-board for hours to avoid paying compensation. in Europe, a long-distance bus has the comfort of a business class airplane seat.

The infrastructure for air travel requires all that for safe travel As a pilot myself I know why all the holds exist and while not perfect, the majority of complaints aren’t random bullshit they are flight safety issues The fact that people demand luxury because it went from veblen good to commodity is the problem

Different airlines have different policies. e.g. others you don't get stuck waiting on the plane because they don't load passengers while a mechanic is still working on the avionics.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#197

Post by scottyah »

lentil_soup wrote: post #167

What's going on on this thread? why are so many people defending Ryanair? I understand it's cheap and you get what you pay for but to defend this race to the bottom and scammy UX is so weird. Why do we need to simp for companies like this? It's great to have cheap options but we can also expect more from life. I'm sure we all here know how to navigate the dark patterns on the website but millions of people don't, so…

Yes, especially for a short flight I do not have high expectations. I don't want to be charged an extra $10 so I can get a "free" half sized water bottle or tea hat's been brewing since the late 90s. I don't need extra baggage, legroom, or any of the other add-ons that other airlines try to provide and charge for.

I don't love the dark patterns, but believe the CEO when he says they are basically traps that enable the low prices for the people that don't fall for them.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#198

Post by hexbin010 »

testing22321 wrote: post #134
hexbin010 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firstly Ryanair don't fly the routes Qantas and Emirates do, so you have no idea what you're on about comparing them Second, Ryanair et al have dragged all the previous decent airlines down with them into the gutter and even paying more doesn't really get you service of years gone by. The only way they could compete was by slashing costs and prices to appear near the same ranking in the search results. You don't real…

Yes, you are 100% correct. The routes that Ryanair flies are only serviced by the ultra budget airlines. The expensive airlines can’t make it work. So again, if you don’t want to fly with ultra budget service, don’t. Train, drive, bus.

I see you're doing Reddit level discourse. I'm out

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#199

Post by SR2Z »

SoftTalker wrote: post #188
xp84 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very true, but the other half is to ensure you don’t use a card with a foreign transaction fee, which will cost you 3-4%. There are free cards like the Amazon Prime Visa that don’t have it, but that fee is very common. The other thing I hate to see is people using the currency conversion desks at airports, or buying foreign currency from their banks in advance of trips. They give you awful rates. Assuming you’re trav…

What is this "cash" you speak of?

The physical medium which can be exchanged for goods and services?

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#200

Post by gxs »

Ryanair heavily advertises on their site that their tickets are refundable

It turns out, they aren’t - there is a ton of fine print and if you happen to qualify they “refund” you in miles

Both in the US and Europe, it’d be great if the government used some of their overreaching powers they use to pass laws to spy on us to also pass laws to protect us as consumers for products and services across the board

It would be a decent consolation prize

Sort of off topic here but lack of consumer protection AND shitty airlines across the world are both subjects that really trigger me (not really)

Post reply on HN