Ryanair. Would you or are they the pits?

[Girlsnightin]

The package price for our family holiday is £££ and I can save £500 by booking direct with the hotel and using Ryanair. Just concerned as I hear soooooo much bad press about them, I'm worried that they'll manage to screw something up and I rue my penny pinching ways.....

I can afford the £500, but would feel a bit ripped off. Package deal has slightly worse flight times.......

Never had a problem with Ryanair - if you follow the rules then they are fine. Might be worth adding up all the extras to see if they are still cheaper than another carrier but as a solo traveller with carry on only I can't fault them. definitely dont pay for food or drink on board!

They frighten me because they they are set up to make money from peoples mistakes or it seemed to that way a few years ago.. Eg... Oh no paper check in, bang 100 extra... Bag a millimeter too large bang 200...

Etc. Scary staff I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. No customer care or service either.
Much prefer easy jet.

I can’t believe you would be happy paying an extra £500 for what would presumably be another low cost, no frills carrier (because most of the ones the holiday companies use are). Especially for what I expect is only a short flight?

A close family member is a pilot for Ryanair. They are the newest fleet on planes out there, with pilots who have had identical training to those on more expensive airlines, and I believe one of the best records for being on time.

Agree with the pp who said to watch out for the extras, and obviously check the costs to travel from the airport to your hotel.

I would never fly with Ryanair. As a PP said, I'd rather stay at home than fly with them.

re the YT video I shared (which is very funny and worth watching) ... after flying RA I had the dubious pleasure to fly Aer Lingus - upon sitting down I said: "I think I prefer Ryan Air" and got a laugh from fellow travellers one told me not to be cheeky. I didn't mind Ryanair.

I've been fine with them the 2 or 3 times we've used them. We only use them for short hops to places like Paris or Amsterdam. We have backpacks that are specifically made to their measurement standards and they have never taken them to put in the hold. They've been on time. Food not an issue for short flights. Like taking the bus, really.

We flew Ryanair last October.
Just took hand luggage and didn't pre book seats.
But there were 5 of us and spread all over the plane. Stupidly, they sat our 2 kids near the emergency exits 🙈 so there was a bit of tooing and froing but all was fine as there were a few empty seats so we ended up all together.

Flown with them probably around 100 times (used to commute weekly to Italy plus a few other stints living abroad) and never had a problem.

I'd always go with Easy Jet myself. Only ever been delayed with them once and got a load of compensation with absolutely no quibbling from them for it, which I immediately used to book more flights.

I have had problems with easyjet though.

I fly with Ryanair often and they're not great - we've had delays so many times. But if you read the fine print carefully it does work out to be cheaper. Their baggage rules are confusing and I've seen many people get caught out.

expect a seat on a plane - nothing more nothing less and you will be fine. I find people have issues with Ryan air when they are used to the frills free drinks etc.

I fly them 3/4 a year and will be again at the weekend and touch wood never had a problem.

£500 although you can afford it is a big chunk towards another holiday in my mind.

oh one small thing I love about Ryan air is the seats dont lie back I fucking hate people who think its perfectly acceptable to lie their seat back giving no room my husband had a woman have a go at him because she couldn't lie her seat back on tui yeah because hes 6ft3 idiot

To be fair, these days you pay for seats and luggage with pretty much airlines.

We flew with them last year and they were great, comfy seats, fast check in, etc. However as others have said make sure you follow their rules to the letter or you will end up paying loads extra.

If you book your suitcase on the flight when you arrange it its much cheaper than adding it after.

As others have said you get what you pay for.... we use them a lot and as pp said it's the difference between one or 2/3 holidays a year! However, read the baggage policy v carefully more than once as it is pretty confusing the hand baggage included in the standard price is NOT like a standard cabin case (much smaller) so likely you'll need to add on either additional cabin bag or checked in bag. As an aside, we are using Thomas Cook Airlines this time who actually came out cheaper than Ryanair to Lanzarote with a more straightforward baggage policy.... worth comparing

Never had an issue. I've done multiple short-haul with them.

As mentioned above people have problems because they are inflexible (so even if you are 'only a small bit' over the weight or size you'll be charged).

They also are to the book. You get what you have selected and paid for. With regarding to delays and cancellations you're not getting anything more than is in the terms and conditions (and aviation law).

If you miss a flight, it's not their issue it's yours. If you miss a flight because a connecting flight was late, it's still not their problem (if you tend to worry and you are doing connecting flights I strongly recommend a different airline. Not worth it.)

depends how far you're going... it's fine for short haul. I've used them many times without any real issue. A bit small and uncomfortable but serviceable.

Have flown with them lots of times and have never had an issue. Read and follow the rules, don't expect anything you haven't paid for, and book everything (tickets and extras) at the same time. And take out travel insurance for your trip.