Is Ryan Air indeed the cheaper option?

So about a month ago, I was looking to take a holiday and booked really cheap tickets from Lübeck, germany to London Stansted. The total cost, return, was 108 euros for two people. The alternative option was booking with Easyjet airlines, which would have been 374 euros, return, for two people. Being your average couple, money-earning wise, I was looking to save money and so booked our flight with Ryan air. It seemed the obvious option at the time. Please bear in mind that the airport Ryan Air uses in germany is a 2 hour drive from home, as opposed to the 1 hour drive to Hamburg international airport, had we taken the Easyjet option. So that in itself was an extra cost. Plus we had to pay for parking at that remote airport for at least 3 days. We wouldnt have to park in Hamburg since we could have someone drive us. There is always somebody going to Hamburg, but Lübeck is (as the german's say) 'am arsch der welt'. Yes, in retrospect, we all have 20/20 vision. Also the flights with Ryan air are almost always at the wee hours of the morning, so take into account that the underground in london does not operate during those times (again, a lesson learnt after the mistake was made). Easyjet of course had its flights at more reasonable times. So hail a taxi we must. That in itself costs a pocket full of pennies and a bit. Plus with Ryan air, boarding gates close 40 minutes prior to departure, a little footnote that we missed out on when we printed out our tickets. EasyJet closes 10 mintues before boarding and doesnt leave without you once you have checked in. Ryan air can and will leave without you regardless of your checking in. From the point of arriving at the airport to the point of the gate closing, we were waiting in queues for 1 hour and 30 mintues. We missed our return flight by 5 minutes exactly and they were not going to open that gate for us. We had to book another flight. The only available flight was the next day since Ryan Air flew to Lübeck only once daily. Oh, and the fair was, this time round, 200 euros. For two people. One way. We also decided to stay at a hotel at the airport since we weren't very keen on getting up too early, again, and missing another flight (also at 6am) and being delayed yet another day. Of course the reason we had missed our flight the first time round was not only because of the long queues that Ryan Air bestowed upon us, it was also because the express train from london to stansted was delayed by a mere 10 mintues, but those 10 mintues were crucial when you miss your flight by 5 minutes. Another thing about Ryan air. You are guaranteed a place in a line somewhere. And these lines move really slowly. The security lines were far longer but it was a mere 5 minute wait for security clearance. Ryan air is the only airline i noted had queues at that airport. Of course many would ask 'why not fly with a different airline, then you wouldn't have to book into a hotel and lose an extra day'. We couldnt book with another airline because our darn car was parked at Lübeck 'airport' which Ryan air had so conveniently created as it's own and from which no other airlines travelled to and from. Oh by the way, at check-in for our second return flight, after waiting in the check-in Queue for 30 mintues, we were told that we should stand at another queue to check in our bags, since they were not going to do it there for some or other reason. We decided to forego that option and take the bag with us (luckily, it was small enought to carry on). Of course we had liquids inside which we had to dispose of but the cost of buying all that again was considerably less than what we paid staying an extra day.

We ended up paying 500 pounds more for that extra day. Which leads me to conclude that no, Ryan air is definitely not the cheaper option. Even if we had not missed our flight that day, the total cost we would have saved if we had paid a little more and flown with Easyjet (or any other airline for that matter) would have been around 200 euros. No more Ryan air for us.

PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT

So at the age of 33, I have finally learnt that everything my parents have been telling me is actually true. Not that I ever doubted what they said, being the feeble child that listens and accepts what mommy and daddy say, no questions asked (or paradoxically, rebel, no questions asked). I ask myself ‘am I the only one to feel this way? I guess this is why I’m writing this. Are there other’s out there? I don’t know what to believe anymore. I feel tricked, but not in the emotional kind of way. Maybe that’s because I’m still in the shock phase but all I feel at the moment is like a friend of a friend of a friend of mine, that I never met, got hit by a car and died.
Ok, first things first. I guess that would mean starting with definitions. I’m not going into any details since that is what we have the internet for, but I guess from a dummy point of view, or perception management for dummies, the expression in broad terms would be a euphemism for brainwashing. It sounds old and cliché I know, but what I’m talking about when I say I found out this whole brainwashing thing is real is that there are major businesses out there that make money out of this so-called cliché. As is it’s something we can actually feel and touch. And yes it’s been going on since way back in the early nineteen seventies. Let’s use an example; Say for example Mr. X Citizen would like to promote his product Y and has no clue about it because he is just a genius in creating product Y stuff. So instead of doing it himself, he goes to a company called P and asks them to promote it for him, at whatever cost. Make them believe that without it, they are not part of normal society. They ask him if he has a conscience and he convinces himself that what they are doing is not wrong. I wouldn’t know what exactly they would do since, if I did, I would probably join in and get my own piece of that pie.
But if this is the case, PM could be used in almost anything, from starting a war, all the way down to celebrities, business, sports, fashion, etc, etc. I mean we have a financial crisis and the movie and soccer industry is earning more money than ever. Come on; don’t tell me you haven’t thought there is something not quite right with that picture? Or even the fashion industry. How could people still possibly afford to by $4000 handbag with a credit that’s the length of my great grandmother’s sagging breasts!
But anyways, all the ‘we knew that since ages ago’ put aside, if we all know this, then why are we still letting it get to us? Why are we still thinking that if we don’t have Gucci products, we are not good enough or rich enough or whatever the hell it is they are promoting for that stupid brand name. Why are they still getting richer? Why do we still pay hundreds to watch David Beckham play soccer or see Madonna in concert or watch a Julia Roberts movie?
I don’t want to talk about the government and secret service agencies and how they use this method to brainwash us into believing stuff they want us to believe since I am really not keen on pissing off people in high up positions, but if you want to, go ahead.