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Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

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Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#71

Post by brnt »

sverhagen wrote: post #18
pjmlp wrote: post #10

Unfortunately some of the airports I care about only have connections mostly with low cost, Ryanair and others. If regular lines would care to offer similar connections, I would gladly pay a bit more.

People often say they'd gladly pay a bit more, but I don't think that's how they act. In the case of Ryanair, I think not using them often means that a casual weekend away could become a much bigger dent in my family's monthly budget.

I've bought Ryanair tickets twice, but never flown with them. I used _them_ as insurance for possible issues on my preferred connection or for having a minimum viable travel path while I have time to look for a better flight.

Because they're the only option for certain airports I expect to actually fly with them at some point. May that day never come though ;)

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#72

Post by rsynnott »

thimabi wrote: post #29

That “Don’t Insure Me” option hidden in the middle of a country list is pure evil. I’m used to seeing dark patterns everywhere but that’s a first for me. From where I stand, it’s not fair to charge the hell out of people who fall for these tricks while giving steep discounts to the ones who don’t. Maybe there’s a “fool me once” aspect to Ryanair’s shenanigans, so at least their impact might be limited somehow.

> That “Don’t Insure Me” option hidden in the middle of a country list is pure evil.

I think they may actually have gotten in trouble for that one; they've stopped doing it (as noted in the article it was from eight years ago).

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#73

Post by rsynnott »

It's amazing; I take maybe five or six Ryanair flights a year, and every single time checkin is worse than the time before.

Unfortunately, they're often the only option from Dublin->wherever with reasonable times; unless I want to go at five in the morning or something I am stuck with them.

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#74

Post by csomar »

neals wrote: post #32

It's why they're cheap though. I fly around Europe for 30 euro's. If this is how that works, it works. And after hundred+ flights with them, believe me, I have had my share or RyanScam. I just play their game and laugh.

The problem is that they affect people unequally. I do benefit from this stuff because I can navigate the UX struggle but many people can’t and these happen to be the not so fortunate people in society and most vulnerable.

It’s definitely why some stuff is regulated (ie: loan interest)

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#75

Post by iamflimflam1 »

rsynnott wrote: post #73

It's amazing; I take maybe five or six Ryanair flights a year, and every single time checkin is worse than the time before. Unfortunately, they're often the only option from Dublin->wherever with reasonable times; unless I want to go at five in the morning or something I am stuck with them.

And this the big problem. Normally, competition would take care of this. Someone would come along and offer a better service.

Unfortunately there are many instances of no competition - which then leads to abuse.

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#76

Post by rsynnott »

rithdmc wrote: post #55
bojangleslover wrote: post #2

About 1/3 of their revenue is ancillary (the dark patterns are there to cause ancillary revenue). I just flew from Bournemouth to Alicante on Ryanair for £50. A similar flight in the US (DC to Miami, for example) would be easily 5x that, possibly 7-8x. The dark patterns took me about 10min to click through. Doing the math, that means my time would have to be worth $1500/hr which is higher than the take-home (not bill…

I don't find Ryanair much cheaper than Aer Lingus. In my experience there's up to a 20% premium, and I just cross checked the Alicante route for next week with the same results. Compared to the high likelihood of delays or cancelled flights with Ryanair, I think it's worth it for peace of mind.

Aer Lingus is a slightly weird case; they have essentially become a budget airline (at least for their European business) to compete with Ryanair, but they haven't yet gotten around to adopting most of the dark patterns.

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#77

Post by Grombobulous »

I want to remind everyone just how bad of a deal travel insurance is.

Yes, there are instances where travel insurance makes sense or may be practically a requirement. Health and/or evacuation insurance for foreign travel and/or cruising may be practically a necessity. You don’t want to be paying tens of thousands of dollars when you need a helicopter to take you off your cruise ship to a hospital.

But if your primary reason for purchasing insurance is insuring yourself against a trip that has to be skipped or modified last minute, you can probably skip it.

The way I insure against these sort of things:

- Buying hotel rooms that are not prepaid and refundable up until the day before check-in

- Paying attention to airline policies. Sure, my United airlines fare isn’t refundable, but if I cancel the flights I get all the money back in flight credits I can use within 6 months.

- Rental cars, same deal as hotels. They’re easy to book with no payment up front.

- Use a good travel credit card with its own trip insurance perks (usually not as comprehensive)

Do I pay more to book flexible like this? Yeah, but I can also keep my money gaining interest until the day of the trip. And the thing about travel insurance is that you still have to deal with the claims process if you need to use it.

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#78

Post by mapkkk »

sverhagen wrote: post #6

Oh, don't get me started on Ryanair, but alas. You go through what seems the entire check-in process, you get what seems like a summary at the end, with a link to a UK government site where you need to go next to get a travel authorization, I spend an hour doing that, finally finish that, I show up to the airport the next morning to be told I'm not checked in, having to pay a hefty fee to do a late check-in for each…

A few years ago, I applied for a customer service job for an outsourcing company that was contracted by Ryanair. They had a two week unpaid training, I tapped out on day 3 of the training, but until that point, I was given all the training material, including the spiels they train the agents on, which they actually call spiels.

Unless a customer mentions, specific wording (I forget what exactly now) - wording that matches the underlying regulation that entitles the customer to some kind of recourse by law, the agents are instructed to deny and weasel out of it. As in, even though they are legally obliged to give you that specific recourse, unless you demonstrate to them that you have proper knowledge of the law, they will simply act like you have no rights.

It was very slimy, and I literally couldn't stomach it. I don't know how they train their customer service agents now, but I would highly recommend doing a few google searches and some prompting to see exactly, literally, what words one must utter to a customer service agent.

Of course, that alone is not enough, the stars also have to align so that the agent you're talking to commands enough of the English language to have comprehended their training, and what you're saying; and not be bogged down with the 7 simultaneous chat tickets they must handle concurrently, in addition to the calls.

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#79

Post by rithdmc »

arjie wrote: post #68
rithdmc wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't find Ryanair much cheaper than Aer Lingus. In my experience there's up to a 20% premium, and I just cross checked the Alicante route for next week with the same results. Compared to the high likelihood of delays or cancelled flights with Ryanair, I think it's worth it for peace of mind.

As a bit of a bonus for the latter airline, you are permitted to yell "Forth Aer Lingus!" as you charge headlong towards your seat. RyanAir is ultra-budget. You need to be ready for the whole thing, but often you can get something much cheaper. As an example, looking for London to Belfast next month, RyanAir is a fifth the price.

Thanks, I hadn't seen a price difference like that.

I'm unsure about the following. Do you know if flights between London and Belfast be covered under EU airline rules regarding missed and delayed flights?

Re: Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher

#80

Post by rsynnott »

wodenokoto wrote: post #5
bojangleslover wrote: post #2

About 1/3 of their revenue is ancillary (the dark patterns are there to cause ancillary revenue). I just flew from Bournemouth to Alicante on Ryanair for £50. A similar flight in the US (DC to Miami, for example) would be easily 5x that, possibly 7-8x. The dark patterns took me about 10min to click through. Doing the math, that means my time would have to be worth $1500/hr which is higher than the take-home (not bill…

That math is completely off. Those incidentals would not increase your fare 5-8 times. So that some passengers fall into the dark patterns cannot possibly make up for the price difference nor can the price difference to US be the base for your cost savings.

Well, I suppose the argument is that Ryanair et al fundamentally changed the European market, and without them the European market would be like the US market, and way more expensive. Which is definitely _plausible_, but kinda counterfactual.
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