ryan air, any tips?

[applegate]

We are flying ryan air in august, are they really that bad...I have just looked at some other threads and they sound awful!!
I wasn't expecting five star service but wasn't expecting a scrum at the airport either!
Any tips we are a family of five, 3 dc 12, 6 and 4. Should we pay for prority boarding?

Not that bad but I wasn't travelling with children. My sister had a bad experience- having to ask people to move seats so she could sit with her children, hostess wouldn't heat milk (I know a lot of restaurants won't either though) her little girl fell asleep on her lap before landing she was then asked to put her in a seat (of course that's reasonable) they then watched my sister wake her up and put her in the aisle seat only then to tell her she wasn't allowed to be there. My sister has twins so probably hard enough flying with them Ryan air didn't make it easier. I paid for priority boarding and booked front seats as pregnant and I had no problem and would fly with them again.

I would pay for peace of mind ..or pay for 2 ( they probably won't let you) so 1 adult and say the eldest dc goes on first and holds seats...

paid for priority booking and think it was worth it with kids. They let you on (a little bit earlier) which meant we could all sit together. The airport scrum was worse than the flight to be honest.

Never had a problem and have never paid for priority boarding.

thanks for replies, I think maybe we will pay for priority boarding, its that typical cheap airline thing that when you have added on a couple of bags to check in and then priority boarding for five its not so cheap, however prob worth it for peace of mind ;)

They are basically a glorified bus service and charge their pax (self loading freight) for everything. Take food and drink with you onto the aircraft. Buy nothing on board. Customer service or any concept of is minimal at best.

I would also pay for priority boarding.

Make sure as well that you print out all the boarding passes for both your departure and return journeys. Ryanair take great delight in charging people a kings ransom for printing such documents out at the airport.

Have travelled with them loads of times never had priority boarding and never had a problem but don't have very young children.
They make their rules very clear on the website and although we have seen people on the aircraft demanding to sit near their children (not had priority boarding), rowing over bags over 10kg or size dimensions we have always reached conclusion that it's because people don't read the rules! or think they only apply to others! They are a great airline, if you need something they aren't offering maybe it's not the airline for you right now.
We've travelled to some amazing places for some amazingly low prices with them.

Make sure you check your hand baggage dimensions as they WILL be checked at the airport. Make sure you print off your boarding passes both ways in advance. Priority boarding is only worth it where you walk from the terminal to the aircraft- no use at all if you have to get a bus to the plane as you just pile in with everyone else. If you have a bag to check in then make sure you get in line 2 hours before departure when the desk opens or you could be caught in a frantic scrabble to get checked in before the desk closes and not enough time to get through security.

They are sticklers for rules, so make sure you abide by any of the restrictions on printing out boarding passes, weight of luggage etc - and make sure you've booked your lugage for the return leg as well as going out.

They used to call families with young children/ mobility issues first so that they could board first - have they stopped doing that now?

Be prepared for a bit of a scrum on boarding. I always let everyone else get off first when we land - saves all the elbowing and clogging in the aisles, and you wont save any time if you're headed for the same baggage carousel anyway.

And finally - do you know how you're getting from the airport to your final destination?

Another vote for using priority boarding. We have travelled Ryan air lots of times and never had any problems as we always make sure our baggage is the correct size and always pay for priority boarding. I have one DS who is nervous and want to make sure we can sit together. I have noticed over the years though that more and more people use the priority boarding, so make sure you queue up in plenty of time as it could still be a large proportion of the plane ahead of you, so still making sitting together difficult.

Enjoy your holiday!

Pay for priority boarding, it makes travelling on Ryanair as a family so much easier. You get on the plane that little bit earlier, you all get to sit together and put the bags away before the main scrum starts.

Also note that they only allow 15kg in hold luggage (other airlines are 20 I think), I was half a kilo over last week. I was told to take something out of my bag, I swapped the flip flops I was wearing for the Converses in the case and job done. Still the same weight going on the flight but at least the case was 500 grams lighter.

On the same trip I flew with Easyjet, another budget airline, completely different story. Polite professional staff on the ground and on board, they put one of my cases in the hold for free (on a full flight) so that I wouldn't have to carry it with me in the airport. Food on board was reasonably priced, allocated seats so no scrum. A world apart from Ryanair. I only fly with Ryanair because they are the only airline from where I live to the UK, but if I could avoid them I would.

Weigh your luggage and check the size of handbaggage! Personnally I wouldn't pay for priority boarding, but then I know I would have to accept the consequences.

Priority boarding would add another £100 to your tickets, if you think that's worth it. I've just come back from a trip with them with ds11 and it was fine having been a bit nervous of them. Quite hilarious really with the horn blowing after landing. Yes we were only 2 and not 5 but there were plenty of young dcs on board. To get to where you want on the aircraft go straight to the departure gate as soon as you know which one. This is where the real queue is to get on the plane.

I agree with float. The worst bit is the queue at the gate to board. We're just back from Palma and Ryanair was fine. I was a bit worried after reading various reviews and had booked seats (not priority boarding as I was that worried!) for DD(8 and very shy) and DH. DS(11) and I just went in the general scrum as he would probably have preferred to fly on his own anyway! Our flight back was at 18:10. They announced the gate at 17:10, we immediately got in line and were probably the 6th or 7th party in the non priority queue. Boarding started at 17:40 and we actually managed to get in the row directly in front of DH/DD. the worst part of the flight was going through immigration in Edinburgh! When the heck did that change?? 30 minute queue as they individually check every passport instead of flashing the passport and walking through!

I actually quite liked Ryanair. I thought the staff were really friendly and efficient, especially at check in. I've had far worse experiences with Virgin, BA and Air France!

Just flown with them and found them fine, but as other posters have said, read the rules and follow them or they will charge you for it! We paid for reserved seats, would def recommend that, peace of mind that the four of us could sit together.

Also paid for the 20kg bags but DS could only have 15kg allocated to him. DD under two, so had to sit on my knee, not great but she was very good luckily. Not sure why you have to pay for infants tbh as they don't get a seat or a baggage allowance?

Print off boarding passes, book seats and weigh your luggage are my three top tips. Oh and we arrived early both flights!

I flown with them loads, never had a problem and never paid for priority boarding. Always got seats together, last year we were late to the boarding gate and ended up with 4 aisles, it was actually really good, we could all talk to each, pass stuff around and didn't disturb anyone when the DD wanted the toilet.

Make sure you print out boarding passes both ways.
check bag dimensions and weight (they check) and remember that if you buy stuff in airport it has to fit in cabin luggage bag.
I normally don't get priority boarding but i would if with children your ages. depending on flights there can be a bit of a scrum otherwise.
also give yourself plenty of time because gates are often the ones that take longest to walk to.

I flew with them a week or so ago.
No, they don't necessarily do the young children thing (did going back, not going out)

So as said before - print boarding cards (both ways),
Make sure you luggage fits - they will get you otherwise
Pack food - at least for the kids.
If you can one of you scout around and work out the gate - we did this both ways and ended up front of the queue - is not rocket science. Or book priority.
For example - Birmingham they use gates 1-3 so you can 'camp out' if necessary..
Other than the scrum pm once you are on its fine.., (and threaten someone with a screaming child and I think they might move - I was offered seats together and mines 10)

Thanks for all the replies! I paid for priority boarding for peace of mind, and may well kick myself for it if the plane isn't that full but it just let me relax a little bit.
Thanks for all the tips, everything is printed and bags measured so hopefully an easy journey awaits us!