Wed, 21 Jan 04 Ryanair FR1011 CRL - STN and FR1018 STN - CRL.
January is a bad time of year for airlines, that is no different for RYR. CRL Airport was deserted on this midweek morning, so check in was very fast.
15 people waiting for the 6:40 flight to STN ! finally a group showed up. CRL airport employees made a day trip to STN for a training course. Eventually the AC was filled for a little over 30%.
A quick note : CRL parking, I strongly suggest to us the airport parking. Dumping your car on the site of the route is a NO go anymore. The city placed a big no parking sign in FR/NL/ENG, and towes away cars.
It was a 40 min flight to STN and the crew was friendlier than normal. Maybe that was because there friends from CRL airport where flying with them. Anyway a comfortable flight in a clean AC with space for everyone.
We had a discussion about the prize of a drink / snack before. A cola was 1.50 euro / 1 pound, that is for a mini cola, but in my opinion acceptable and better than the 2.50 I payed before. So the only one bitching wasn't me but two Hollanders sitting in front of me.
I only had a backpack so once in STN I didn't have to wait and went to the Terravison bus desk. www.terravision.it This Italian company offers a bus service from STN to London Victoria station. Price for a round trip ticket is 13.50 pound, its much cheaper than the train and the first 5 people on the bus get a 3 pound refund, but you have to ask for your money otherwise the driver keeps it !. Result, only 7.50 pound for a round ticket, cheap...
London was nice, I had a short foto shoot with a few colleges for a website and brochure (travel). So, anyway the day was way to short, but there was one thing I had to do before going back. Yes Louise (Comet) your famous potato place "Spud U Like". Did I like them, yes.... Are they super, no. I had chicken for lunch, KFC (Bond Street) i like to call it no risk foot ! it was ok. But, this KFC restaurant gets my vote for dirtiest toilet in London, lets hope they clean there kitchen better.
Talking about toilets, I went to Harrods and I voted there luxury toilets to be the best in London. The only thing you had to do was wipe your own a**, good job Harrods.
Anyway, after a nice day in London back to Stansted, at 5 pm the drive was hell, traffic everywhere. We made it on time, check in was fast, not friendly. Who remembers those old Elsa movies ? Something like that, but with a blue RYR uniform.
The RYR Stansted terminal is nice with a few shops for snacks and drinks, to only thing missing was some background music, its dead quite there !. Ryanairs staff in STN is not doing a good job, they are unfriendly, never smile, don't care. But we need to have some understanding for them, would you like your job when mad passengers bark at you all day ?.
It was funny to see a customer service desk in the RYR terminal with nobody behind it. But boy was I wrong, look at the picture and one the right you see a RYR employee sleeping behind a computer (no guys, she is not just looking down, I took more pics because this one is hard to believe).
A flight to Germany had technical problems and within 20 min RYR had a replacement AC, that was a nice surprise. So what they didnt do in Gerona a few days ago was no problem in STN. They had 7 AC's just standing there all day anyway, I guess because business is slow this time of year.
Boarding for CRL was fast, and they had a brand new Boeing waiting for this flight. I like there new paint job, and i like there dark blue leather seats (they are small but nice) but is it OK to say that the yellow interior is a little to bright ? A nice detail is there painted overhead bins with a fading out effect.
Flight was almost full, and the group from CRL airport was on it again. I like to say to Montra, your doing a great job, this Spanish FA puts the C in Customer service. Here colleges ? just blah blah....
Overall experience was good, expect for groundstaf big minus !!!! But even I am blinded by the price I payed for my ticket 1 euro 45 cent including tax. This makes everything good, and makes you forget the negative fast. I guess its part of RYR business plan.
Sorry guy's I made a few nice pics :
-RYR new Boeing with leather seats
-Comet's potato place
-RYR Customer service agent sleeping
But i cant publish them, I don't have a homepage and luchtzak is busy (I understand) so who can help me ?.
RYR Flight CRL-STN
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Comet
- Posts: 6481
- Joined: 05 Jul 2003, 00:00
- Location: Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
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Very interesting report Bob. Glad you found Spud U Like 
I like it for the good prices, but I've found their potatoes nicely cooked (some baked potatoes you get over here are hard in the middle) and I adore them filled with cheese.
Another tip for a good shop is Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly, they are less touristy than Harrods and they are famous for their hamper selections.
It was good that Ryanair were able to find a quick replacement for the plane with technical difficulties, probably because they have a base at STN means that they have more aircraft there to call on.
If you want tips about adding photos, it is easy to get a website free of charge. http://www.freeserve.com let you build up to five websites and they don't charge you anything, it is also easy to link to photos on the Freeserve sites (that is what I use for my report photos).
I like it for the good prices, but I've found their potatoes nicely cooked (some baked potatoes you get over here are hard in the middle) and I adore them filled with cheese. Another tip for a good shop is Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly, they are less touristy than Harrods and they are famous for their hamper selections.
It was good that Ryanair were able to find a quick replacement for the plane with technical difficulties, probably because they have a base at STN means that they have more aircraft there to call on.
If you want tips about adding photos, it is easy to get a website free of charge. http://www.freeserve.com let you build up to five websites and they don't charge you anything, it is also easy to link to photos on the Freeserve sites (that is what I use for my report photos).
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise
Louise
Bob, very nice report, honest and objective. I am amazed about the replacement in 20 minutes, wished they had something like that always behind, would make the customer happy. I am also jelous because I would like to see that leather interiour, at least it is more hygenic in my opinion.
We had also stewardesses on the flight to ROM with a big accent, were Italians.
Anyway, here are the photos from BobClaes:
New Ryanair Boeing with yellow overhead bins and leather seats (nice).
Customer service agent a sleep behind computer.
Comets (Louise) favorite potato place in London Victoria Station.
Greetz,
Erwin
We had also stewardesses on the flight to ROM with a big accent, were Italians.
Anyway, here are the photos from BobClaes:
New Ryanair Boeing with yellow overhead bins and leather seats (nice).
Customer service agent a sleep behind computer.
Comets (Louise) favorite potato place in London Victoria Station.
Greetz,
Erwin
A Whole Different Animal
Re: RYR Flight CLR-STN
:thumbsup2: Thanks for the very detailled reportBobClaes wrote:Wed, 21 Jan 04 Ryanair FR1011 CLR - STN and FR1018 STN - CLR.
I only had a backpack so once in STN I didn't have to wait and went to the Terravison bus desk. www.terravision.it This Italian company offers a bus service from STN to London Victoria station. Price for a round trip ticket is 13.50 pound, its much cheaper than the train and the first 5 people on the bus get a 3 pound refund, but you have to ask for your money otherwise the driver keeps it !. Result, only 7.50 pound for a round ticket, cheap...
Boarding for CRL was fast, and they had a brand new Boeing waiting for this flight. I like there new paint job, and i like there dark blue leather seats (they are small but nice) but is it OK to say that the yellow interior is a little to bright ? A nice detail is there painted overhead bins with a fading out effect.
Do you remember the registration of the 738s you flew with?Is the Terravision service as reliable, frequent than the one provided by National Xpress? Didn't the journey take too much time?
I really envy you for travelling aboard a brand new 738. My parents had one from Venice and found the cabin very flashy 8O
When I fly, they always use an 'older' 738
I hope I'll get one to/from Milan-Bergamo
Best regards
BeN
No Ben, I do not remember the registration of the 738 I flew with.
And yes these new AC are flashy, you cant really see in the picture but inside the front and back panels are yellow with the RYR logo. And once the yellow overhead bins are closed 8O its one big banana.
The leather seats are clean, but also extremely hard. Maybe thats because they are new. The safety instructions and the menu is printed on the back of every seat.
Normally 4 AC are based in CLR, this time only 3. One is a new 738 so there is that chance your flying it soon.
The Terravision service is reliable, but not so frequent as National Xpress (1 bus every 60 min) Its a 90 min drive to Victoria Station. When you take the bus back to STN you have to be very careful, Terravision is using subcontractors and they only have a little sign on there bus, that makes it hard to spot them. But there is costumer agent and you can always ask here. You have to pay your tickets cash !.
And yes these new AC are flashy, you cant really see in the picture but inside the front and back panels are yellow with the RYR logo. And once the yellow overhead bins are closed 8O its one big banana.
The leather seats are clean, but also extremely hard. Maybe thats because they are new. The safety instructions and the menu is printed on the back of every seat.
Normally 4 AC are based in CLR, this time only 3. One is a new 738 so there is that chance your flying it soon.
The Terravision service is reliable, but not so frequent as National Xpress (1 bus every 60 min) Its a 90 min drive to Victoria Station. When you take the bus back to STN you have to be very careful, Terravision is using subcontractors and they only have a little sign on there bus, that makes it hard to spot them. But there is costumer agent and you can always ask here. You have to pay your tickets cash !.
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Comet
- Posts: 6481
- Joined: 05 Jul 2003, 00:00
- Location: Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
- Contact:
Thanks for posting Bob's photos Erwin - they are very good. I have to say I've never seen Spud-U-Like so quiet! With Victoria being a busy station it gets very crowded in there (it was last time we went in September) and there are alot of businessmen who eat in there as well.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise
Louise
Oh God NO !!!! I don't want to promote Ryanair.
Guy's its me, I'm against subsidies, for unions...... :pang:
I promised not to talk about these things in my report and I didn't, but now you forced me to
I suggest we boycott RYR
, except when they have there super promotions like the 1 euro 45 cent deal
Guy's its me, I'm against subsidies, for unions...... :pang:
I promised not to talk about these things in my report and I didn't, but now you forced me to
I suggest we boycott RYR
, except when they have there super promotions like the 1 euro 45 cent deal :thumbsup2: There you have it, due to all your promotion work 
Relax, next week I will fly Easyjet and I promise you my experiences with them. For the coming months I will probably have no time to take vacations in my new job so from me you will probably nothing more about flying until october/november when I probably fly to Lima again
Greetz,
Erwin
Relax, next week I will fly Easyjet and I promise you my experiences with them. For the coming months I will probably have no time to take vacations in my new job so from me you will probably nothing more about flying until october/november when I probably fly to Lima again
Greetz,
Erwin
A Whole Different Animal
A318, I am curious to see your report on the difference between Ryanair and Easyjet.
Someone once said, “ competition is all about avoiding competition ”.
Just look at Ryanair and Easyjet , two LCC's that trumpet so loudly the virtues of free markets and competition, make utterly sure they never ever compete against each other.
Someone once said, “ competition is all about avoiding competition ”.
Just look at Ryanair and Easyjet , two LCC's that trumpet so loudly the virtues of free markets and competition, make utterly sure they never ever compete against each other.
I hadn't noticed before, but now that you tell me, indeed...BobClaes wrote:Someone once said, “ competition is all about avoiding competition ”.
Just look at Ryanair and Easyjet , two LCC's that trumpet so loudly the virtues of free markets and competition, make utterly sure they never ever compete against each other.
Is that why easyJet will never come to Belgium?
André
ex Sabena #26567
ex Sabena #26567
If you for example, fly from London to Málaga, it’s either Easyjet or take one of the costly major carriers like Iberia or BA. There’s no other cheap option for that route, and that’s not just by happenstance.
I would never allege that the two management teams collude to share out Europe in the way that the Great Powers divided up the Middle East in the 19th century.
Collusion to carve up a business market on such a scale would breach a slew of anti-monopoly laws and expose the senior managers to prison terms. What might otherwise look like non-competing behavior among Ryanair and Easyjet must in fact merely be the result of a series of coincidences.
I suppose.
Nevertheless, the day will come when one of them cracks and begins to compete with the other - or indeed a third upstart will muscle in on their routes. That can result only in better service as well as even lower fares for us their passengers.
I would never allege that the two management teams collude to share out Europe in the way that the Great Powers divided up the Middle East in the 19th century.
Collusion to carve up a business market on such a scale would breach a slew of anti-monopoly laws and expose the senior managers to prison terms. What might otherwise look like non-competing behavior among Ryanair and Easyjet must in fact merely be the result of a series of coincidences.
I suppose.
Nevertheless, the day will come when one of them cracks and begins to compete with the other - or indeed a third upstart will muscle in on their routes. That can result only in better service as well as even lower fares for us their passengers.
