Open Jaw: 'Ryanair's silly game will defeat them'

Where readers write back

Ryanair fair?

Ryanair are leaders in low-cost flying and have opened up opportunities for many people. If you don't read the small print and check your baggage weight then it's your fault. If you want to avoid paying the booking fee, use the right card, or pay the extra, or don't fly with Ryanair. Personally I'd like to see more add ons. The idea of charging for the toilet is a great one for anyone who has been disturbed by an idiot who has been drinking before flying and/or didn't empty their bladder before boarding. Why also is only luggage weighed? Those large individuals who sprawl onto the next seat should also have to pay a weight penalty.

"BROG 111"

I have criticisms of Ryanair but they don't relate to the booking process. In what sense is Ryanair's 15kg baggage limit "sneaky"? In the booking system, where you enter your name you are given the option to add "1 BAG (MAX 15 Kilos)" – hardly sneaky. Ryanair also sends out emails reminding you to check-in online before arriving at the airport and also reminds you of your maximum checked and cabin baggage.

"ENGLISH VAL"

The price isn't right

When you do the whole calculation, you often find that it's cheaper to fly some routes with one of Ryanair's competitors, who also usually have much more civilised slots – meaning you don't have to show up in the airport at 5am.

Ryanair's silly game of trying to ensnare passengers into their booking system before they've been able to compare prices will ultimately defeat them. There are already comparison websites that will find the cheapest fare for you on any route – and where more than one airline is flying that route, you'll usually get a better deal.

Take Milan, for instance. If you fly Ryanair to "Milan", you'll actually end up in Orio al Serio, which is about 30 miles outside Milan on the busiest motorway in Italy. But you can take another airline and fly to Linate, which is actually within the Milan city limits and about 10 minutes from the city centre.

"TOM IN LONDON"

Arise, Joe Bloggs

Ryanair is the only business I know of in 30 years of sales and marketing that seems to depend on courting controversy, bad publicity and amusement-arcade fares offers to work. Perhaps one day Joe Bloggs will wake up and say "I do not want to be seen as Joe Bloggs any more".

"CHRIS CLARK GOLD"

All clear in Antwerp

Matthew Bell (48 Hours in Antwerp) delights in confirming the Englishman's reputation as monoglot of Europe and proud of it. While the Flemish make little concession to English-speakers, they are more than happy to speak English (or German or French) when necessary. However, to call Flemish "incomprehensible" betrays a woeful lack of knowledge of that language; many words are close to English and I defy you to read eg the homepage of De Witte Lelie hotel and not understand it.

TERRY WALSH

BA cabin crew bite back

Crew are there to keep passengers safe and get them off in an emergency, they are there to comfort and console, and a vast array of other stuff. They are paid a decent wage because they are rarely home for birthdays, Christmas, funerals, births, deaths and marriages, and for the constant jetlag and medical conditions that they have to endure. Not many people can expect to go to work and have to deal with so many issues.

"THE LOST BOY"

Simon Calder needs to get his facts right before spreading lies about us. He is an arrogant man and does not have a clue what he is talking about most of the time.

"MARIA 1971"