to fly with Ryan air? Anyone had any experience, good or bad?

[dandycandyjellybean]

prob wrong place but need a quick response. Trying for a cheap holiday and their fees seem very good. I know you have to pay extra for baggage, but are there any other hidden extras? Any advice gratefully received.

Had to take DS to Graz last year (from Scotland). When I added up all the Ryanair extras it came to practically as much as Lufthansa.

Flew recently with them and my ds was very ill on the flight and we nearly diverted. They were truly AMAZING . Pilot kept checking on us, arranged medical assistance as soon as we disembarked, offered to divert the plane, air hostess couldn't have been more supportive and surprisingly good medical training.
I really must e mail to praise them. I was absolutely dreading flying with them too.

I much prefer Easyjet. Can't stand ryanair and will not fly with them.

We flew with Ryanair 23 June 2011 to Faro, Portugal. The departure was late and we were dumped in the wrong country in the middle of the night - in Malaga, Spain. The pilot said he didn't know why we couldn't land in Faro -an obvious lie. We had to continue our journey by coach - nearly 7 hours across 2 countries through the night, on top of a 4 hour flight (delayed by 1.5 hour). No toilet, no chance to sleep on the coach (it was more like a bus), upright rigid seat backs, no airconditioning, obviously no drinks or food arranged for by Ryanair. Arrived in Faro in the morning the following day. A day of holiday wasted, a 7 hour coach nightmare endured, arrival 11 hours late.
Note - it wasn't a safety or bad weather diversion (the weather was perfect, +30 degrees), it was merely because Ryanair departed late and were too late to land at Faro as it was closed by then. Instead of putting people up in a hotel for the night, and letting people fly on the next flight, they put them on a coach. Beware - with Ryanair you do not necessarily end up where you booked, you will end up where it's cheaper and more convinient for them.
On the return back, we had such a bad landing, it felt like the plane broke into 2, my back hurt for days after.
Flew with them a few years ago as well - was delayed by 2 hours, because they said there seemed to be a bag missing and they were counting bags.
Altogether I flew with Ryanair on 2 return bookings - that's 4 flights. Half of them were unacceptably late with the most recent of them ending up in the wrong country and being late at my destination by 11 hours. This is the worst airline ever, stay away from them, you never know how much money you'll end up losing with them. No refund or compensation was given to me for the disrupted flight (through their fault) 23 June 2011.

Why take a baby on a fligth? What if the baby shrieks for 2,3,4 hours in a constraint environment? Have you thought of other passengers who wouldn't be able to get away from you? I'd never travel with a baby, it's very, very selfish.

Low baggage allowance (15 kgs) or you are charged more (all other airlines have an allowance of 20kg, some 22). One year passengers who had been to Christmas markets in Germanhad their Ryanair flights cancelled were stranded and took days to come home by coach/train with no compensation. Have known many people fly Ryanair and have no problems. I have never done so and would only do so if no other option or if other flights appreciably more expensive.

We spent 18 hrs stuck in Dublin airport after all flights grounded. Ryan air gave us nothing, no water or food. Then told us no flights back to Leeds until 3 days later. We had to fly to Liverpool in the end, back to preston, then to Leeds to pick the car up. Was absolute hell

rollittherecollette feckin' class!

As much as I hate to admit it though OP, I've flown Ryanair many times as there was no other choice, and I've never had any kind of problem whatsoever.

MK79810 I'm flying next week (not Ryainair) with a baby AND a toddler alone as they haven't seen their father since April and if we get on this flight they get to spend 10 days with him.

Very, very selfish am I? Hope you're not on the flight. Arse.

You need to understand that they are a point to point carrier who will not take responsibility for anything that goes wrong. They sometimes offer very cheap flights so if you can accept that if things do go wrong you might have to pay for more flights and make your own arrangements, fine. If you look around and add on all the extras they are no longer always the cheapest. I used to find it really stressful travelling with them with small kids because there is no guarantee you will end up sitting together, the last few times i have been on my own and have paid for priority boarding and they have been absolutely fine.

MK79810 - with all due respect, how deluded are you?!

You must be one of those people who is married to someone from the same town as you, and who has both sets of grandparents right around the corner, and all family as well.

Me, I'm a Kiwi married to an Irishman and we were living in London. We now live in New Zealand. In order for our kids (one baby, one toddler) to see their grandparents, uncles and Godparents, flights on airplanes are a necessity.

But yes, I guess it could be construed as selfish for us to want them all to, um, meet and, I dunno, have some sort of bond and relationship...

As for Ryan Air - a friend of mine (Irish, lives in the UK) who used to work for them says she will never travel with them again, not after her last experience of them, flying with two young children.

MK79810 "why take a baby on a flight?"

Er I dunno, maybe if you have to fly somewhere and you have a baby?

Why register just to bump a load of old threads about Ryanair?

The reason I would not fly with them is that they abuse their employees, especially cabin crew. I do not use the word lightly. If you fly with them, you are getting a cheap price through the exploitation of young workers. I couldn't live with flying them.

I can't stand Ryanair and will never fly with them if I can possibly help it. Much prefer Easyjet. Actually when you total up all the add ons etc they do end up being the same price as Easyjet.
But you have to pay for priority boarding which we don't with Easyjet
They are very strict with hand luggage and nowadays they weigh it.
Easyjet baggage allowance is more

Easyjet offers 20kg hold luggage, Ryanair 15kg.
They are really horrible about had luggage, they wait till you get to the gate and more or less have no choice, haul over anyone they think might have bigger hand luggage. The customer is then left with no choice but to stump up the extra fees.

A few years ago we flew with 1 year old DS and 80 year old grandad. They used to let children have speedy boarding but then abolished it. We stood in line whilst the staff came down the queue trying to hawk speedy boarding. I mean they will squeeze every tiny bit of money they can.
Can you tell I don't like them??

"They are really horrible about had luggage, they wait till you get to the gate and more or less have no choice, haul over anyone they think might have bigger hand luggage. The customer is then left with no choice but to stump up the extra fees."

Every airport I've flown with them from has had the metal grid/compartment thing beside the check in desk where you can see if your hand luggage is suitable. They then have people re-checking beside the gate because people are obviously ignoring it/expecting they won't get found out.
Bottom line is if you stay within the agreed terms they can't charge you extra.
I've never had to pay anything extra with ryanair because I know what the terms are and I know that if I go outside them the charges will be ridiculous.
The customer who is getting cought out at the gate had the choice to bring appropriate hand luggage.

I am not a fan, mainly because I don't like the attitude - they are out to gouge passengers for as much cash as possible in any possible way. When I travel I like to be treated with some respect and like a valued customer rather than a walking wallet. I won't fly them if there is an alternative, even if it costs slightly more.

BUT I end up flying with them a few times a year, because the inlaws have a house in France and RA are the only airline that flies from the UK to either of the two airports nearest the house. The flight is only a couple of hours and if you do what many people on here are recommending - make sure you stick within the luggage allowance, take your own food and drink, print your boarding passes, etc it's fine. Not a dream start to a holiday but fine. The one thing I do wish they would change is the check in desks. There are never enough and you are left queuing for ages to drop a bag (we usually take one hold bag between us for short trips, mainly so we don't have to decant all our toiletries into tiny bottles to get through airport security). It's not unusual to queue for an hour just to bag drop, something that most other airlines seem to be able to deal with in just seconds with minimal queueing. I think it helps if you fly with them fairly frequently rather than once in a blue moon, as you get to know what to expect.

I've never had the staff be rude to me. They are not as smooth as cabin crew on other airlines. But the only staff member on a flight I have ever had cause to complain about was a rude twat on BA's Lon-NY route.

They are fine as long as you read all the small print beforehand. We took hand luggage and sandwiches and bought bottles of water at boots after the checks. Print boarding passess too.