> Treating passengers in a respectable civilised manner should be a given

Then pay more for an airline that provides that.

The RyanAir deal is pretty straight-forward: you will be treated like subhuman cattle, and in exchange you will have very low prices. They optimize many things to save costs, including having less staff for things like printing boarding tickets. They're fairly up-front about it and in general it's a fair deal. Whether you personally like that deal is a different matter.

Except they actively try to scam you for money.

I don't know if that design is around, but they would have the option to add extra carry on (not luggage). The image would be of something that clearly looks like luggage, and next to it a tiny tiny backpack.

If you read the wording carefully, you'd notice that this is just for carry on. You have to scroll down to the bottom of the page, select a submenu and there you can finally see the option to add luggage. That's straight up scammy.

I'd kinda agree if it didn't include actively trying to scam me for extra money. It's not about them saving cost anymore, it's about them trying to trick customers for extra money against their will.

I like it. Or at least I like flying to Lisbon for £40 return.

I've never been treated like a subhuman on Ryanair. I have been treated like cattle.

What's so difficult about checking in with the app? I found the situation pretty painless and you can go straight to security that way, if you don't have to check in any luggage.

> What's so difficult about checking in with the app?

You <------> My point

Simply put; what is so difficult about not adding excessive charges to passengers? And why are you trying to justify this?

It is difficult because having attendants print boarding cards or working with an airport to maintain ticket printers costs money that eats into their margins and increases prices. It's not like they don't warn you that checking in at the airport is paid. I'd much rather save 1€ and check in the way I usually would, even if it means someone who can't read a few warnings has to pay a fee.

Ryanair don’t have anywhere near as many staff at check in, ergo, it’s a cost they save. It’s not excessive, it’s an incentive to do it as they suggest online and keep their costs and thus the total cost of flying down.

Other airlines add excessive charges too, they just put it in the face value of the fare.

People are very (and possibly irrationally) price sensitive to airline costs, so they are willing to put up with a lot compared with many other goods/services.

The old-school airlines never swindle you and they're still around. I'd much rather avoid a few dark patterns and save a significant cost of my ticket, and it seems like most of Europe agrees.