an expensive 1p flight

Got back from a Ryanair flight from Granada (Spain) on friday. The flight
cost was their headline 1p offering each way. Tax and other additions
brought the cost up to £40, not too bad.
At least it wouldn't have been if the return flight actually took place.
When the plane arrived at Granada airport on thursday night (2 hours late),
to take about 140 people back to Stansted, the pilot got up on a chair in
the departure hall to announce that one engine had lost it's oil on the
outward flight and so the plane wasn't going anywhere.

To their credit, R.A. did manage to put most people onto a flight to
Liverpool the next day .... but we then had to make our own way back
to Stansted.
I got a bus from John Lennon airport to Manchester Picadilly, trains to
Stansted via Euston and was charged an extra day's parking at Pink Elephant.
Total cost of the extras: £85.10

Having checked my insurance there's a £75 excess, so it's probably nott
worth claiming (even tho' I qualify for a £20 flight delay payment).

I accept that any airline's plane could've suffered an engine failure
like this, so I don't blame RA particularly. I also accept that they are
famously scornful of their passengers, so I was quite surprised and pleased
that they actually flew me back to the right country.
It just would've been nice to have a few announcements from the RA staff,
who seemed to have over-developed shoulder muscles (from all that shrugging)
instead of finding out almost by accident what was going on.

Pete
--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

In message <slrnf7dac8.7ps.pete@freyr.local>, at 15:45:37 on Mon, 18 Jun
2007, Peter Lynch <pete@freyr.local> remarked:
>I got a bus from John Lennon airport to Manchester Picadilly, trains to
>Stansted via Euston and was charged an extra day's parking at Pink Elephant.
>Total cost of the extras: £85.10

For future reference a more or less direct train from Liverpool via
Nottingham (change Peterborough or Ely), should have cost £55, vs £70
via London. A bit slower, though.
--
Roland Perry

In message <5dup7aF3603rlU1@mid.>, at 08:55:32 on Thu, 21
Jun 2007, tim..... <tims_new_home.uk> remarked:
>> The OP may find, however, that Ryanair were entitled to cancel the flight
>> and give him his money back
>
>And which law do you think it is that allows a contrated party
>to decide not to perform their part of the contract?

I suspect the contract was "we'll fly you on this specific plane this
specific day, or give you your money back" (or offer you an alternative,
like flying the next day, or to a different place).

It's not an unusual condition for a transport contract, if you look at
the small print a rail ticket in the UK has surprisingly few guarantees
that you are buying "what it says on the tin".

>> - or if he preferred to provide him an alternative. The alternative being
>> a flight to Liverpool and making his own way home, or possibly flying to
>> Stansted another day. He made his choice.
>
>This is not an equal choice.

Equality is irrelevant.

>As the PP said, the OP is entitled to be conveyed back to STN
>at FR's expense. The choice would be between the aggro of
>some ground transportation, or waiting, the cost of each choice
>is not the customer's problem.

see above.
--
Roland Perry