Thursday, October 26, 2006

THE WHINGNING WORLD WE LIVE IN


Am I the only one fed up with all the negativity in the world? I came across
this article today on the BBC website. Ok so Ryanair does have cramped seating, crumbs on the floor, extremely grumpy staff, oh and a ludicrous and infuriating baggage policy into the bargain. (And maybe it has delays flying out of Stanstead but having flown out of Hahn twice, Paris once, and Prestwick 3 times this year with all 6 flights taking off on time and arriving ahead of schedule I have no complaints about their punctuality.) Anyway am I the only one who still remembers the world pre-Ryanair and the likes? I used to spend 30 hours on a Eurolines coach to the East of France having paid more than I now pay for a 2 hour direct flight to Hahn at least 3 times a year. For the kids to visit Oma even 5 years ago I used to pay £1000 to fly to Frankfurt via London, or to Strasbourg via East Midlands, Paris and Strasbourg. That took a whole day and you still had to rent a car at the other end, but hey the cabin crew smiled and you got a dod of scambled egg and a sausage and even a free coffee on each flight! But now thanks to Ryanair my annual visit has been able to become a 3 or 4 times a year visit because I rarely pay more than £200 for a whole family to fly and off peak can even get myself and the 3 kids to Oma's for less than £100. The kids' Aunt has managed to visit them twice because as an unemployed pensioner she can afford Ryanair, but she can't afford BA. Ryanair, Easyjet and all their little brothers and sisters have opened up most big cities in Europe to us average earners as a weekend or holiday destination. We will all visit places in the future we wouldn't have seen in our lifetime without Ryanair. I am going to Latvia for 2 days in a fortnight for - I think it was £24, but pre-Ryanair I would never have seen Latvia. Yes we'd all love BA service on a Ryanair flight but I know which is more important to me - it being affordable or it being comfotable? So all I have to say to all the glass-is-half-empty people in this world is would you please 'haud yer wheesht'!
Ok rant over!

2 comments:

Thomas Widmann said...

Sorry to contradict you, but our trip to Riga cost us �145.52 for you, me and Pudge. Still cheap, but not extraordinarily so.

Phyl said...

Sure but I am talking pre-tax since you have to pay tax for BA too - and generally much more as you fly into the bigger airports, no? And I would say if you had access to the flight price for 3 passengers to Riga 5 years ago on BA this would be extraordinarily cheap. And it is direct which it wouldn't be BA.