Comments on: Customer loyalty: have Ryanair got it right after all?

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 18:01:07 +0000

You’re right John, Ryanair’s use of social media is quite different to their competitors but it doesn’t make it ineffective. Every time MOL makes a comment about charging for toilets he gets so much attention – he knows what he’s doing for sure. He might be sending out the message that it’s all about cost for him, but then isn’t that what it’s all about for those who choose to fly with Ryanair – getting from point to point with no whistles and bells.

FCC is I guess another topic (you might get a £9 fare off peak but if you’re going to your office in the West End at peak time you’ll be paying £23 – that’s when the anger boils up quickly). Their mismanagement of constant problems over the last 18 months has left people crying for their franchise to be withdrawn.

By: John

John — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:48:34 +0000

Andy, I think your analysis of Ryanair’s business model is correct. An aircraft is essentially a fast, flying bus and attentive staff fussing over you and plying you with free drinks for a premium price does not escape that fact. Perhaps that description is dramatic?
Then so also is the term “cattle class” or at the other extreme “jet set”. They are all terms used to sell a product by running down the opposition or making a product sound exclusive. We are a society heavily influenced by the marketing departments of big companies, including Ryanair’s.
The latest social media driven internet is also a marketing ploy that is even more intrusive, in that it analyses behaviours in order to pitch to individuals. Ryanair also uses social media, by releasing their “outrageous” plans to trim costs. These get more than their fair share of discussion on the likes of Twitter, Facebook et al.
The discussion on FCC is also interesting, as I looked up ticket prices to London and find that a one way ticket is £9.30. A Ryanair flight can be anything between £1 and a few hundred pounds but you rarely hear of anyone quoting the top figure for the price of a seat. But is that £1 / £50 / £300 for a flight a bargain? You certainly get a bigger carbon footprint for each £1 than if spent on FCC.

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:00:58 +0000

Thanks for the comments and for sharing your experiences. Would be a novelty if someone came on and defended FCC?
Matthew, your point about the move from passengers to customers is at the heart of this. There is perhaps an assumption that thinking of us as customers will automatically lead to a better relationship, more long-term thinking and an improved all-round experience. But what if, as you suggest, all we want from that plane/train/travel company is to get from A to B without any of the fuss? How does that fit into the new world of marketing? Because as those basic out-dated thoughts are left further and further behind, so too are the basic needs of a sizeable contingent of the general public.

By: Darren

Darren — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:48:11 +0000

As a weekly flyer in Europe, I have to say I do appreciate a level of customer service attached to my journey. If I book a train ticket I expect the train to run on time most of the time and I expect value for money FCC does not in my opinion give that, though they are getting better with newer trains, I use the Gatwick Express as it is more reliable that FCC.

The same applies to the yellow and blue airline, they are not cheap, I did not mind putting up with a bus service when I paid bus service prices, but now they are charging a lot more than 2 years ago, and for the same price British Airways provide a much better experience, which is just as reliable as Ryanair (Mr O’Leary’s USP), and because it is scheduled service I do not have the continuous worry of wether the flight will be running after the next timetable change.

I’ll leave Ryanair to carry the one off travellers who can search out the bargain trip at weird times, but as a regular traveller I will stick, for the time being at least, with my scheduled flights especially as they are selling them much closer to Ryanair prices these days.

By: Matthew Teller

Matthew Teller — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:07:56 +0000

Spot on. I can’t stand these companies that want to know my habits, be my portal to the world or make me wade through acres of banner ads and animation in order to get to the point. Google (in the early days at least) had it right: blank screen, blinking cursor in a box, tell me what you want. Ryanair too.

It all changed when we stopped being passengers and started being “customers” – a sign of corporate culture changing utterly sometime around the late 80s/early 90s, if memory serves. Hateful. Very hard to see the way out now.

By: almost witty

almost witty — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:22:47 +0000

Of course, the main difference between Ryanair and FCC is that Ryanair have pitched it as a bargain – “Yes, we don’t have any customer service, but you’re flying for £50 each way, what do you expect?”. Which seems a much better bargain than paying £30-or-so for a cattle-class train between London and St. Albans