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[Rog]

I think as you are prepared, you'll be fine.

Whilst, lets face it, they are cutting all their costs to the bone, and use any excuse to upsell, most of the trendy slagging of them is by taking what comes out of O'Leary's gob as fact.


Get there early to avoid the retards who cause delays by demanding BA/Virgin service at Ryanair prices. Even if it means sitting in the shopping area for a while, and buying expensive coffee.  2 of the last 3 times I've flown (both with Thomson), we have struggled to check in and get through security before the flight closes, despite arriving significantly more than 2hrs before .  In fact that 3rd one would have been similar, but fortunately the flight was delayed by a couple of hours.  I do think this is more of the incompitence of Birmingham and Luton airports, rather than the airline, but still something you need to bear in mind.

That really is the point. 

 . . . and for a short flight of a couple of hours or so, live with it.

[Sir Tigger KC]

I've always thought a good comparison for Ryan Air is getting on a local bus for a long distance coach journey because it's dirt cheap!!   

I don't think that their strict cabin baggage policy is a bad one to be honest.  When I flew back from The States with BA a couple of weeks ago, people were taking bags into the cabin that were bigger than the one I'd checked into the hold! 

When I got to my seat all the overhead lockers were crammed and there was nowhere to put my bag. Luckily the seat next to me was empty so my bag went on the floor, had that not been the case then it would have gone on the floor by my feet which would have made for an uncomfortable flight! 

How much crap do you need with you for a 10 hour flight?! 

[SandBoy]

Always best to shop around,whilst RyanAir seem to cheapest,they are not always and depends where you fly from.
We flew from Gatwick to Teneriffe with BA which was £35pp cheaper than flying from STN,what about the petrol/travel you say,when you take into account onboard rip off drink prices etc (BA all inc) we saved a good deal of money and hassle.
In November we are going from LGW again to FUE by Norwegian (Direct) at a cost of £95 return pp (includes reserved seats and 20kg pp).
Dont forget it's only one bag into the cabin pp.(the wifey needs to put her handbag in the case) and sometimes they wont let you on with duty free bag and case!
Coming back (although we always leave our toiletries) our case is usually same weight as going out! They always seem to try to charge you extra kilo's.
If you dont mind the cattle run for seats,then they are OK,they once tried to sit our grandchildren on their own,argued it was against the rules,was told if I dont accept then we would be off loaded!!!

If you have youngsters with you,reserve your seats,it includes speedy board,so dont do both,their website will let you!
And try to pack drinks and eats for the kids in your flight bag.
Most of all have a good flight and holiday

[Varche]

We fly a lot with Ryanair to and from Britain.

Why? well the flight times are good and the prices.

You can't take drinks on for the kids unless you buy them after security. The huge queues at security at the fault of the airport (and ultimately terrorists of course). Luton came bottom of airports in a recent survey.

You do need to understand their processes. Like checking in on line saves you time (you don't need to be there two hours before with the sheeple. ) However if you leave it till within four hours of flying then you can't online check in and so you have to pay- 70 euros and be there two hours before!

Non reclining seats. Hurrah for that. As a tall person I hated the fact that the first thing the tiny person in front of me did was to recline their seat.

You can pay extra and reserve a seat. Most flights we go on have spare seats.  If you are travelling light (just a cabin bag ) you can reserve a seat near the front and be off and out of the airport before the poor blighters at the back are even off the plane. Different if you have a suitcase in the hold.

A good tip is to try and have the right change for your coffee (3 euros). They have a scam where they say "haven't got any change , I'll come back later." They forget. By the way take Euros to buy stuff on the plane. They are a Euro company and do take Sterling but at their exchange rate.

My pet hate is little people reserving seats that have legroom. WTF. That is a separate debate. For a 2 and a half hour flight I can manage folded up into my matchbox space.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

As always, I will only say you get what you pay for.

Pay peanuts and expect to be treated like a monkey!

[SandBoy]

I would rather have a banana

[ted_one]

Reading these posts has just help to remind me of why I have let my passport lapse,each to his own I guess but it's not always you get what you pay for, as a few years ago we were travelling to the U.S first class and when we went to check in they announced that the aircraft had been substituted due to a technical fault and that we would be travelling economy.
No aplologies were offered,just a take it or leave attitude,so I told them to stick it where the sun don't shine and went home and that was the last time  I ever entered an airport and I have absolutely no plans to ever fly again regardless of which ever airline it may be.
So I guess if you can get a good deal and are happy to accept the T's & C's that apply to that airline...well and good,and as long as they operate without cutting corners on safety then it's a no brainer

[05omegav6]

I watched a programme about Ryanair last week. It was about safety and fuel levels, 3 Ryanair flights to Spain were diverted and had to make quick landings because they only carried the bare minimum of fuel. It was an eye opener

That is just the tip of the iceberg they run EVERY aspect of the airline with the same disregard for everything but the final penny.

That is the main reason why I will never use them.

The other reason, which simply reinforces my view... my brother and SIL booked with them to fly to Majorca a few years back, based on price and flying from Bournemouth, (they live in the New Forest). As soon as he told me I suggested that it was a bad idea, and that they would be better off cancelling and flying with someone else, both financially and mentally.

His response was that he knew they were crap, but it was cheap. Anyways, they checked in online, paid for hold luggage and cabin baggage, and followed all the small print, but when they arrived at the bag drop, they found that both bag allowances had been reduced, so they were charged something in the order of £80 extra each to be allowed to fly with their bags. The 'excess' weight pretty much doubled their ticket prices.

They left a load of things behind coming back, and sent one suitcase back with a courier rather than risk getting stung on the return.

[albitz]

Ive flown fly&dare a few times. Never had a problem tbh. But wouldn't be surprised if I did. 

[SandBoy]

Another story regards them.
I had my own travel agency and used to fly to Mallorca on a regular basis,booking flights months in advance.
I received email from them saying that online check in was to be introduced,but because I had booked my flight before a certain date (I cant remember),I needed to check in as as normal.
Got to STN and there was lines of people waiting to check in,confusion everywhere  (I had got there early to allow for the obligatory pre take off pints!)
Staff just pointing to machines and saying have you got your boarding card,errr no,thats why I am in the line because I have a bag to check in
2 hours or more later after witnessing crying women and children who had missed their flights I got to the desk,gave the bloke my paperwork & passport and weighed my bag (12kg when I left home).

Bloke say's "where's your boarding pass and your bag is 18kg"....."dont think so mate and thats what I am here to collect,my boarding pass".....he then goes on to tell me blah,blah,blah....I told him no I had booked flight 4 months earlier and was told to check in as normal.....he pointed to the machine and said you need to get your pass and it will cost you an extra £60+ plus you are over weight with your bag.
"Well take you friggin foot off it then and you will find that it is 12kg" "and NO I am not paying any extra"  By this time the line behind me was getting aggressive and so was I,security was called and I was ushered away from the desk   Pulled away went to Easy Jet obtained a flight for £40 and took off 30 mins earlier than the original!

Got back,wrote to O'Leary via the travel trust enclosing a copy of the email received from them,I received a reply from him stating that " as I was a member of the travel trade I should have known that checkin protocol had changed and that heavy delays at STN were inevitable"

Sorry for the long winded explanation,but the bloke and his airline can go get stuffed,yes people will fly with them for convenience and possibly price.
But I bet I can find flights as cheap if not cheaper in 80% of cases,something seriosly wrong is going to happen with these "low cost" airlines one day,25 minutes from landing to take off....it dosnt fill me with much confidence!

[05omegav6]

Twenty five minute turn arounds are fine if the aircraft is late in. You simply do what you can to send it back out asap unfortunately for Ryan Air passengers, that doesn't include cleaning, as it isn't budgeted for rather, unfortunately because it isn't budgeted for, the minimum wage cabin crew get to do it, with mixed results

With a bit of effort, we used to clean the cabin of a typical charter Boeing 757 in an average of twelve minutes , our record was seven minutes between boarding and clearing

[redelitev6]

Yep, that's the way it usually goes, the flight I nearly missed had the four of us all seated separately, not ideal when your kids are only 5 and 8 (at the time). We then moved together into some empty seats which they were keeping empty for take-off and landing for weight distribution

Thought FAA regulations state that children of a certain age had to sit next to the parents for emergency evacuation reasons?

[Big_Al]

As always, I will only say you get what you pay for.

Pay peanuts and expect to be treated like a monkey!

not quite the issue here Lizzie    nothing to do with cost 

I needed to go & return on these 2 set dates  . . .no + - 3 days etc.

Only flight available on that Sunday  was Ryanair  . . .   Just gotta keep cool if things start going wrong 

Sure it will be alright 

[jonnycool]

Yep, that's the way it usually goes, the flight I nearly missed had the four of us all seated separately, not ideal when your kids are only 5 and 8 (at the time). We then moved together into some empty seats which they were keeping empty for take-off and landing for weight distribution

Thought FAA regulations state that children of a certain age had to sit next to the parents for emergency evacuation reasons?

Wouldn't surprise me, but there was no mention of this in my case 

[05omegav6]

Yep, that's the way it usually goes, the flight I nearly missed had the four of us all seated separately, not ideal when your kids are only 5 and 8 (at the time). We then moved together into some empty seats which they were keeping empty for take-off and landing for weight distribution

Thought FAA regulations state that children of a certain age had to sit next to the parents for emergency evacuation reasons?

Wouldn't surprise me, but there was no mention of this in my case 

Regulations and Ryan Air are mutually exclusive.