Passengers have been banned from flights for attempting to board while carrying jumpers and jackets, according to a new passengers survey.
Ryanair was lambasted on Twitter recently when a female passenger was arrested for remonstrating with staff after allegedly trying to board a flight carrying a book and a scroll in addition to her one permissible carry-on bag, but if the survey by Budget Airline Watch and WhichBudget can be believed, this was not an isolated incident.
It claimed that other passengers had been banned from boarding flights for refusing to throw away "excess jumpers and jackets" while others had been asked to disembark a plane and return to the gate to check a cabin bag in the sizing cage.
Other horror stories included passengers charged for going 100g over their baggage allowance – that’s the weight of a bar of soap – and not being allowed to repack to redistribute weight from one overweight bag to an underweight bag.
One easyJet passenger claimed she was asked if she would mind leaving her check-in luggage behind because the flight was already fully loaded.
Two-thirds of the 340 passengers who responded said low-cost airlines offered value for money, but only a third said they provided a good service. However, budget carrier easyJet topped the survey as the best airline overall, beating the likes of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Ryanair was considered by 77% to offer the worst service.
Jo Chipchase of consumer advice site Budget Airline Watch said: "The results of the survey highlight our overriding concern that profits gained through baggage fees and ancillary revenues are placed way ahead of customer service these days.
"It has reached the point where passengers expect to receive lousy treatment from budget airlines and try to work around it, as best they can. In the survey, we even had reports of check-in staff refusing to help passengers and swearing at them! And, all things considered, it’s hardly a big surprise that Ryanair has won the ‘worst customer service’ category."
More than half – 54% – of passengers said they like to pre-book seats, and 72% of respondents would like to see a free 20kg hold bag included in the price of the fare.
By Linsey McNeill
