Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

Last night we have had lots of fireworks which is a first here, well around midnight the firework spooked the bullock's in the shed, now farmer has to rebuild a block wall, the fire works weren't from any close neighbours but a big-ish display furter away but had very noisy one's

 

There was more fireworks around here last night than around Nov 5th this year.

 

I'm sure you'll come up with something soon

 

Firstly happy New Year to everybody. When much younger I would still be “critical” in bed after a fairly riotous New Year but getting older has a few benefits and my liver is feeling fine this am!
My moan is related to the post that @shiney posted in the latest moan 2024.
I do have a mobile which is normally mislaid as I do not have it attached to my person at all times but I do not have, need or want a smart phone.
I am planning to fly somewhere in the not too distant future and read the dreaded Ryanair which is probably my best option ( yuk but it is a short flight thank god) are doing away with check in staff so you have to check in by smart phone as far as I am aware. Fan bl..dytastic. My only option as far as I am aware is that I will have to take my IPad, hopefully connect to the airport’s network and check in that way. Since when may I ask was it basically law that you have to do everything via a smart phone. I know why, cos it saves companies money reducing their workforce.
Already, after a horror experience flying or not! with EasyJet, my daughter has decided that unless it is absolutely essential she will not fly within the UK again and go by car. She and the rest of the passengers were basically abandoned in Berlin airport at about midnight and there were zero EasyJet staff to advise them what they should be. God knows how I would have coped not having a smart phone to be able to find an alternative flight….might still be there!

 

I've got a smart phone but it would take me ages trying to work out how you check in at an airport let alone look for alternative tickets.
I'm not good working tech stuff under pressure, I even struggle checking in at screwfix as my screen always shuts down after not touching it for a minute, then have to go through all the rigmarole of getting it back up.
Plus phones are so small to use and you can't touch anything.
I wouldn't want to be without it, but that don't mean I want to use it for everything I do.

 

My first moan in 2025 is that I was unable to respond to a post in 'Latest Moan 2024' and we're less than 12 hours into the new year!

 

I can't speak for Ryanair but certainly Easyjet still do an 'old-fashioned' e-mail inviting you to download and print boarding cards. Another alternative might be to see whether the SIM card in your phone is compatible with your i-Pad, which would enable you to use that in lieu of a smartphone. If the current card isn't compatible, it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to get one that is? OH's cousin travels the world using her i-Pad for absolutely everything

 

I don't fly anywhere and i wouldn't use a smart phone to book.check in any way my smart phone is for making calls & texts and as my last phone got swicht off for not using it

 

Since airlines introduced e-tickets, we always check-in online for our trips to Thailand. Most airlines don't offer a free seat choice when booking your flight, they charge you. However, when online check-in opens, which is normally 48hrs before departure you can check-in, you can then choose your seat for free and you will automatically emailed your boarding passes to print off, or you have the option for it to be sent to your mobile. If you use your mobile to check-in online, your boarding passes will be sent to your mobile, you just have to enter the telephone numbers of the other passengers for their own boarding passes to be sent to.

Even though we use check-in online, you still need to go the counter to check-in your baggage, this will still need to happen with Ryan Air when their new system comes into force, it's only the passenger that has been checked in, not your baggage, So for us, we find it far quicker when we arrive at the airport after we have checked in online, as we go through the online check-in line and if there is no issue with over weight baggage, its a breeze to check-in. So even though Ryan Air are saying they are doing away with check-in staff, there will still be a counter to check-in your baggage regardless, so it will still be staffed should any passengers have issues with checking in.

We generally fly to Thailand with the middle east airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar and I have registered with all of them, even though sometimes I have booked the fare through a 3rd party. The details of my booking are visible on the airlines website when you enter the booking reference, I even get emails telling me not long before your trip. Then when check-in online opens, which you will receive an email, we check-in. No need to take a laptop or iPad to check-in at the airport as we are already checked in.

In the past I had both printed and mobile boarding passes, it has been the paper ones that have sometimes caused issue's at the gate, not the mobile one's.

So my advice is, if you book through a 3rd party, go and register at Ryanair's website, which you can do below, then when online check-in opens, check-in.

Check-in