RyanAir experience

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Ryanair B737-800 economy - Business Traveller

Found this article which gives a nice summary on flying with FR, after the recent changes it has put in place.

To be honest, I fly them a lot to ORK as EI is often much more expensive and for such a short flight it doesn't make sense to pay a 2-3x premium. I've never had any issues with them and have also flown to Oslo (Rygge) and Gothenburg, which are ~1.5-2 hour flights.
 
I flew with them twice whilst living in the UK. The only reason I did so was because they flew from where I was, to where I needed to go without having to transit somewhere else. So in that sense they were convenient.

However, they were not pleasant experiences:
- cheap and nasty terminals in out of the way places
- so many rules to make sure you're not going to be stung with extra fees
- completely disinterested cabin crew (who looked... I don't know... unwell?)
- the only times I've walked off a flight feeling 'dirty'

Whenever I had a choice I chose Easyjet over Ryanair. Even for a slightly larger fare. Reading through the article was a reminder of why I don't think I'd fly them again.
 
Tried to fly them once, flight was cancelled for operational reasons, which I presume is ryanair speak for not enough dummies stumped up the cash. Consequently I'm not prepared to give them second chance.
 
Tried to fly them once, flight was cancelled for operational reasons, which I presume is ryanair speak for not enough dummies stumped up the cash. Consequently I'm not prepared to give them second chance.

Believe it or not, Ryanair actually have an incredibly good record when it comes to on-time arrivals and (lack of) cancellations. IIRC they are in the top couple of airlines in Europe by those measures, and significantly better than any airline in Australia.

That said, if you had managed to fly with them you'd probably have found many other reasons to dislike them!

Joking aside, as a young person living in the EU with limited funds I travelled with Ryanair extensively and was happy to do so. It really is no frills, but if it wasn't for them and their ridiculously low fares I wouldn't have been able to see half the places I visited.
 
I flew Ryanair last month on a domestic flight in Portugal FAO - OPO. It was the only airline flying direct without having to waste most of the day transiting through LIS, so I took the risk. In other words, I didn't choose them for price reasons.


I paid extra on booking for 2 checked bags, 2x15 kg. I also paid extra to select a seat and get priority boarding. I had 3C. Would have preferred 2C but after I selected it during a dummy run on the booking it thereafter showed up as allocated (even though it wasn't, and was empty on the flight. I could have had 2D but it was a bulkhead and I like to have my handbag nearby, not in the overhead bin).


I remembered to print my own boarding pass and managed not to lose it all the way from Australia transiting through UK and during my few days in FAO.


At checkin I was terrified because my bags were actually 1x18kg and 1x8kg and couldn't really be repacked to distribute more evenly, but the guy didn't make a fuss about one bag being >15kg and just checked them both through.


They gave about a 20 minute window to get to the gate after they announced what gate it was. Like most European airports I went through on this trip, the gate number was not revealed until about 45 mins before scheduled departure.


"Priority boarding" meant that I got to be the second person down the stairs, on to the tarmac and waiting by the red rope to be allowed to approach the aircraft. We stood there for about 15 mins. Luckily it was a nice day as there was no shelter at all if it had rained or been blazing hot. The queue behind me appeared to be a total scrum.


On board, the first 6 or so rows had a total of 3 pax. The rest of the plane was packed. I guess the first 6 rows are reserved for those paying to select a seat. A few people tried to get themselves a bit more space after take off by moving forward but the crew sent them back to their allocated seats.


The FAs were a mix of Portuguese and Irish. The pilot was English (going by accents and languages spoken).


Almost all pax brought a wheelie bag onboard and most of them looked like they were at or over the weight limit. Even though the first 6 rows were practically empty, all the overhead bins were crammed.


During the 50 minute flight the crew came down the aisle 3 times to try to sell stuff, once more to distribute a small magazine and once at the end to collect the unwanted magazines. There was no IFE.


The flight was roughly on time and it took about 15 minutes to get the bags on arrival. About 5 pax had paid for checked bags.


Overall I would rate the experience as about 6 or 6.5 out of 10. I had been expecting an epic fail but it was actually not too bad. They will never be my preferred airline but they did their no-frills job ok and I got where I wanted to go. The main thing I didn't like was the constant feeling that if I made some kind of mistake and didn't follow their myriad rules, there would be no latitude from Ryanair for human error and I would be penalised.
 
Got what we paid for on our flight with them & got to hear the ontime bugle as we made a heavy landing!
 
I've never flown them (and never will) but I understand they recently changed many of thier policies in an attempt to woo business travellers (god help employees whose companies put them on Ryanair!) and I understand they now have allocated seating, a much easier to use website and have lowered some penalty fees.

I don't understand why so many people complain about them yet continue to fly them. Insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results.
 
The main thing I didn't like was the constant feeling that if I made some kind of mistake and didn't follow their myriad rules, there would be no latitude from Ryanair for human error and I would be penalised.

That is probably the main thing which would put me off flying them. Whilst I'd say 95% of my trips have gone 100% to plan, there are a few in there where things have changed or things haven't lined up as nicely as I'd like. The thought of having to pay £300 on a £10 airfare if something did go wrong is only likely to compound the problem. I like my airlines to work with me to resolve issues, not charge me big dollars and make things difficult.

In my mind, it's when things go wrong that is the measure of a good airline. Any idiot (in the airline industry) can make a plane go from A to B when all the chips fall into place, it's when things don't go right that you see the airlines true colours.
 
(god help employees whose companies put them on Ryanair!)

A lot of companies in Europe, even some very big companies, have a strict BFOD policy irrespective of airline service level. So if Ryanair flies the route you're travelling on, chances are that's who you'll be flying with. The only saving grace is that in many cases Ryanair doesn't fly to the same airport as full service carriers, which facilitates some flexibility in how you interpret the cheapest fare for the route in question!
 
On board, the first 6 or so rows had a total of 3 pax. The rest of the plane was packed. I guess the first 6 rows are reserved for those paying to select a seat. A few people tried to get themselves a bit more space after take off by moving forward but the crew sent them back to their allocated seats.

Did well there! :)

Almost all pax brought a wheelie bag onboard and most of them looked like they were at or over the weight limit. Even though the first 6 rows were practically empty, all the overhead bins were crammed.

I don't think there is any weight limit. EasyJet has a 10kg I believe and BA has an astounding 23kg :shock:

During the 50 minute flight the crew came down the aisle 3 times to try to sell stuff, once more to distribute a small magazine and once at the end to collect the unwanted magazines. There was no IFE.

IFE is very rare on any intra-Euro flights, even full service carriers. It's completely BYO in Europe, even in J ;)

The flight was roughly on time and it took about 15 minutes to get the bags on arrival. About 5 pax had paid for checked bags.

Beats a lot of full service carriers ....

Overall I would rate the experience as about 6 or 6.5 out of 10. I had been expecting an epic fail but it was actually not too bad. They will never be my preferred airline but they did their no-frills job ok and I got where I wanted to go.

I think this sums it up perfectly. They provide a service and so long as you go in expecting what is offered, not what you'd normally get on a full service carrier then I think you'll be fine flying them. I've been lucky that I've always managed a spare seat next to me due to careful planning/strategy, however now that all seats are allocated (rather than just the front ones / exit rows) it will be interesting to see how it goes.
 
Ryanair cabin baggage limit is 10kg and there are also size restrictions.

Either it's changed ... or I had them the wrong way around :)

EZ doesn't seem to indicate any weight: Cabin baggage | easyJet
No weight restriction applies as long as you can place and retrieve the cabin bag safely in the overhead lockers without assistance
On busy flights you may be asked to place your guaranteed size cabin bag under the seat in front. Small items must always be placed underneath the seat in front for safety.
 
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