General Strike in Spain - 29 September 2010 - Hand Baggage only on Spanish flights

Ryanair have announced their intention to maintain a full flight schedule next Wednesday, the day of the general strike in Spain. However, due to potential strike action by Spanish baggage handlers, Ryanair will not accept any hold/checked luggage on flights to or from Spain (including Balearic & Canary Islands) that day. Passengers will only be allowed cabin baggage.

Whilst perhaps an option for those just starting a short-break trip, not so great for those poor families who are already overseas with suitcases and luggage. I wonder what happens when they turn up overseas to check-in for a return flight to the UK.

Good question and worth bearing in mind that Ryanair have been trying to get rid of hold luggage for years so this gives them a chance to start -after all if you turn up and the baggage handlers aren't on strike where's the problem? Anyone flying that day had notification of this? I presume if you have booked luggage as part of your contract they will allow you to cancel the whole flight with a full refund.

At least you are being offered a choice.......
How many other airlines are just going to cancel ?

John

UPDATE - General Strike in Spain - 29 September 2010 - Hand Baggage only on Spanish flights

Following on from last Friday's post, Ryanair have now revised and updated advice which was given at that time. Passengers travelling on 29 September are now required to check in online once again and reprint new boarding passes. Online check in for that day's travel is available up to 2300hrs on 28 September.

For more details about online check in, or the refund and rebooking options available, please click here.

David

looks like ryanair are now cancelling all spanish flights,check out there website for details of cancelled flights

Link to latest Ryanair info suggests all Spanish domestic flights and most international flights to/from Spain now cancelled:
http://www.ryanair.com/en/notices/gops/100924-ES-strike29sep-GB
(Subject to further change)

David

sounds like someone has lost plot/ temper. Just done a quick random sample check on easyjet flight status for 29th and they still show a fair proportion of their flights from Barcelona as running with only about a third cancelled.

Well we were lucky and would like to say a big thankyou to Ryanair for getting us back home today.

We arrived at Reus airport at 10am this morning for a 12.05 flight to Liverpool, the plane came in on time and took off just a few minutes later than scheduled about three quarters full. When we arrived at the airport the departures board was showing that Ryanair were the only airline operating any flights out during the rest of the day.

We received a text from Ryanair at about 8pm Spanish time on the 27th advising to check our email for some important information, the email advised us of the need to re check in. Not sure what this was about as their website wouldn't allow us to check in again on the morning of the 28th so we printed out new boarding passes which stated on them that airport check in was necessary, which also proved to be incorrect so we used our original boarding passes.

A group of people with suitcases arrived at the airport and they were turned away, though I don't know which airline they were due to fly with, maybe they had tuned up for a flight that had been cancelled. We saw at least one baggage handler driving his little truck loading and unloading a few cases.
As we had a hire car we were unnafected by any public transport problems, if we hadn't known there was a general strike on we probably wouldn't have noticed apart from seeing a virtually empty airport.

Glad to hear that you had a trouble-free journey home, handyandy.

More from Ryanair today:

Ryanair adds extra post-strike Spanish flights today

Ryanair is to lay on more flights between London Stansted and Malaga today to mop up passengers stranded in yesterday's Spanish strikes.

Air traffic control strikes brought chaos to many people's travel plans yesterday.

Passengers who were meant to fly with Ryanair yesterday can transfer to the extra flights, at no charge, using the Manage My Booking tool on the low cost carrier's website.

The airline says that passengers who have already switched to a later Ryanair flight can also use these earlier additional flights by calling the reservation centre.

Extra flights are: London Stansted to Malaga at 15.25 and Malaga to London Stansted at 18.45.

With permission from Travelmole

hi all...I did my online check in today...there are 4 boxes you have to click on before it lets you check in....the usual have read terms and conditions ect....and one that said I have recieved my copy of EU261/2004 14.2.....havent a clue what it was...Im nervous enough about doing this stuff on line so I just ticked it so I could carry on....what is it about.

Also my printer has run out of the colours and is only printing in black ...sometimes with an odd thing in blue.....will it matter that my boarding passes are in black and white and not exactly as showing on my computer screen ....and can I fold these A4 sheets which are the boarding passes or do they need stay flat

With regards to these Spanish strikes.....was this just a one off or are there others planned that could affect my flights next week......tweetie

TWEETIE PIE,

It doesn't matter if it's printed in black and white or colour, as long as it's legible. It's best to keep the printout flat but again, as long as everything is legible with the bar coded areas flat and readable, it's fine.

Darren

hi Darren....thanks for reply....as usual Im getting jittery incase things dont go right....my colours ran out but as I wasnt doing photos it didnt matter...just for copying info black was fine...so thought Id hang on and get all new cartridges at same time ....black is now near empty and its too late for me to replace it in time....but its still printing clear text....and the barcode panels seem fine to me.......but what do I do if the barcode reader rejects them ....dont fancy having to pay for a re-issue for 3 of us at airport....tweetie

TWEETIE PIE,

If they aren't accepted, you'll probably be sent back to get a new one. If they're clear though without any missing parts or streaks, it should be fine.

Darren

if its still printing black ok perhaps you should think about taking a second copy in case you do have a problem - its very unlikely you will but maybe for peace of mind taking another set would put you at ease.

Regards. Chris

thanks Darren.....if they send me back for a new one will they also charge me....as I have turned up with my printed boarding card as stiulated.....all the little writing on top of the barcode is clear and readable....and it is the written translation of the barcode.....would security not just type it in if it didnt scan......surely there must be people whose passes wont scan....I mean they are so intracit and printers only need to miss one bit of a line....and we are only passengers not barcode experts ...so we wouldnt know if a barcode wasnt perfect.......and you only have to do a regular shop in a supermarket and see the frustrated check out girls typing in the codes to realise they dont always print perfect....I supose thats why they also have a written code of letters and numbers on top...

I did online check-in with thomascook for manchester....but wasnt worried as there was a check in desk as well....and they issued you with the usual cardboard ones as well....tweetie

ps...thanks Chris....probably just me panicking as usual.....but think I will take your advice and will ask son if his printer is OK on ink....knowing my luck it wont be and as he doesnt use his much he would have probably not bothered sorting it.....so will see if I can get ink for mine in time too .....its the latest one I bought and this is first time I need buy them so dont know how easy they are to get hold of.....tweetie

I have in the past taken 2 copies of the return boarding passes and placed one set in each piece of hand luggage - not printed the outbound on the basis that there's a good chance will will not lose those so soon after they were printed !

Better safe than sorry and of course better than paying to get new ones from Ryanair at great cost.

Regards, Chris

TWEETIE PIE wrote:

.....if they send me back for a new one will they also charge me....as I have turned up with my printed boarding card as stiulated.....all the little writing on top of the barcode is clear and readable....and it is the written translation of the barcode.....would security not just type it in if it didnt scan......surely there must be people whose passes wont scan....I mean they are so intracit and printers only need to miss one bit of a line....and we are only passengers not barcode experts ...so we wouldnt know if a barcode wasnt perfect.......and you only have to do a regular shop in a supermarket and see the frustrated check out girls typing in the codes to realise they dont always print perfect....I supose thats why they also have a written code of letters and numbers on top...

.....tweetie

Tweetie, try not to worry so much, i'm told that if the barcode does not scan at security they will send you back to the check-in desk to get issued a "card" boarding card, this does happen from time to time and these should be issued free so you are able to pass through security to board. My wife has had to send passengers back because the printout wouldn't scan and the airlines just issue a new boarding card, and as far as she knows there has been no charge for re-issue and that includes ruinair and easyjet.
(Remember, security are not letting you through because the printout won't scan, they are making the decision not to let you through, in effect they are demanding the airline should re-issue you with a boarding card that allows you to access the departure lounge and the airlines have to comply to their regulations) security can't just let you through because you say your printer has gone a bit wonky, they will insist the airline provides you a card that will scan , you have complied with the online checkin process and printed your boarding card , its just the barcode won't scan .

barcodes in supermarkets are either 8 or 13 numbers, if the barcode is crumpled, creased, too curved etc then the scanner cannot pick up the whole code , a beam has to pick up all the lines , you will notice that boxes cause no problems generally but things like packets of crisps are a pain , you have to straighten out the packet , and sometimes barcodes printed on labels and stuck on items can be badly printed or distorted , and these are the ones that mean the numbers have to be tapped in.

technology is great and time saving when it works, its just that humans come along and mess it up.

thanks andy66....that makes me feel a bit calmer ....I always tend to see what can go wrong and it usually ensures things go right for me as I sort things out before they can go wrong....but when its things I havent a clue about and what is or isnt accepted it getts me in a tizzy.....and as its £40 each person each way for re-issue of a boarding pass according to the terms and conditions its £240 worth of tizzying ......tweetie

ps....sons got a lazer printer thats he says is working fine....so am going to re-do them.....but will need go round to his with all required details and do it again on his computer so I can print them off on his printer.....as the download file they send you is only a link to the site and times out for security reasons...you can get it again but you have to input all your details again on the site for a reprint....you cant take the file on a memory stick to print it off else where....

Tweetie

Just go onto Ryanair website and click the Manage my booking tab on the front page. When it takes you to the next page check the On Line check in box. It gives an option of 3 ways of logging in. eg date of departure, email address and flying from and to. It is very easy. Dont stress, it will be fine.