Never ever flown EasyJet or RyanAir. Assume I know nothing and gimme tips. Thanks.

[gussyfinknottle]

I'm flying to Crete with preteen and dh in 2019. I've never flown with EasyJet or RyanAir - two most likely options from Manchester. Assume I know nothing about using them although I am a seasoned traveler (old enough to have had a blue passport ).
Please give me booking/seating/eating/luggage tips. Thanks.

I would advise you dont fly Ryanair for a start. They don't even have pockets on the back of the seats anymore and I'm pretty sure they now charge for handluggage bigger than a handbag (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Easyjet is fine, they allow you handluggage (one small bag) and you can pay for 2 different sizes of checked bags depending on what you need. Budget airlines don't have much food other than sandwiches and snacks usually. I normally buy what I need in the airport and bring it on instead of buying on board.

Cheers. That's really helpful.

Get your food and drink for the flight from Pret, Greggs or Boots at the airport before you get on. Food on board is shit, overpriced and if you're in the wrong place on the plane they will take hours to get to you and possibly not have anything left.

Also look at Jet2. If you haven't booked your accomodation yet, look at jet2holidays packages, as well as flight only. Often cheaper to book that way.

Read the rules about luggage, seating, checking in carefully on your chosen airline's website as they all differ slightly.

I think it's fairly impossible to get out of paying to choose a seat with Ryanair, unless you want 3 middle seats on different rows. Jet2 are fairly good at seating people together, if you check in early enough (can do 28 days in advance) but I have only flown easyjet once so can't comment - we were separated then, but that's because we booked less than a week in advance and only checked in a few hours in advance and they only had a few seats left - we got one of the extra legroom seats for free, but there was about half an inch extra legroom and I would have been rather pissed off if I'd actually paid for that seat.

The ryanair app is good and defaults to selected seat + hold bag costs so you can see what's included ie total price.

Pricewise I'd look at the overall package for what you need. Ryanair might charge extra for luggage and seats but they are often significantly cheaper than other airlines.

It's a bit 'cutting your nose off to spite your face' to discount Ryanair because they charge you £100 ticket + 30 luggage +10 seat when another airline is charging you £150 ticket plus £30 baggage on the same route.

RA now have different classes of ticket and the middle one includes luggage and a seat of your choice, so can be a good option when comparing prices.

One thing I don't like about them however, is that their flight times are often the worst - arrive at the destination very late at night or coming back at 5 am, meaning getting up at 2 to go to the airport for example. Recently, I've paid extra a couple of times to go with jet2, one of their benefits is that they often have more civilised flight times.

But I care not a jot as to whether I get a seat pocket or window blind, so that sort of thing does not come into it.

Great stuff. Thanks so much

I would always avoid Ryanair unless there was no other choice. EasyJet are fine but agree with buying a 'picnic' from the airport before you fly, and prebook seats if you want to sit together.

Ryanair don't charge you for hand luggage - but it goes in the hold unless you pay for "priority boarding" which costs £5 I think.

I agree that flight times are often inconvenient - lots of very early morning ones from Edinburgh, which is not pleasant as means i need to leave home at 4 or 5 am.

Otherwise I think they are fine. Bring some snacks from home and buy a juice/water at the airport as their selection on board is crap and at crazy prices.

Use Google flights tracking to monitor prices - often if there is a big price rise it only lasts a few days and then it drops down again.

I suggest : get over yourself

Then read the information on the website like everyone else

Thanks anyfucker. That's just so helpful I don't know where to start. So I won't bother.

Easyjet let me check in online 30 days before flying last time I used them and they allocated seats for free. No issues ever with being separated, always been allocated seats together.

I would just go with who ever is cheapest. It is only to get you to your destination. I always buy food and drink at the airport.

Don't bother then. I would

Ryanair usually get you from A to B pretty efficiently and cheaply - I've never had any major issues. The booking/pricing system is overly complicated in a bid to part you from more cash than you need to, and the baggage size rules seem to keep changing just to keep you on your toes, but as long as you're aware of that from the start I think they're fine. I mean it won't be an enjoyable experience, but as a means to an end it does the job.

If you are travelling with a child with Ryanair then at least one adult has to pay to select a seat with the child (child's seat is free). Easyjet's policy is that they will seat families together so you don't need to pay to select your seat. Just check in when check in opens (30 days prior to flight) and you should be seated together (I've never had a problem with easyjet) but you don't get to choose the seats yourself (which doesn't bother me as they're all much of a muchness on those aircraft).

I've never had any problems with either airline and I fly with either one of them at least 3 times a month.

I'm surprised about the people buying food to take in a plane! It would never occur to me to buy a meal at the airport.

I never book a seat unless it's long haul. I'm not bothered and I don't need to be sat next to DP or the kids. Most if not all of these flights are only a couple of hours long.

I'm loving RyanAir for putting the cabin bags in the hold. I like not looking for overhead space and messing about with bag.

I never buy a scratch card when they go round although I did feel sorry for the cabin guy not selling any on the flight last week, he looked so desponden.

With both companies download the app. It keeps things simple especially with Ryan air for checking in. It's a lot less faff having your boarding cards on the app!

Ryanair has good efficiency. They do allow hand luggage now. I buy food and drink from Pret and take on board. If you think of it like taking a fast bus-no frills but gets you from A to B. It is not a luxurious feeling though. Glaring yellow inside, sales announcements though flight.

Agree about a yummy Pret buffet being the best in-flight catering.

Download the airline’s app to your smartphone so you can check-in online and have your boarding passes on your phones. You can have the child’s pass on yours. No bits of paper to lose.

Check the dimensions of your carry-on bags carefully, EZY are a little more generous than FR. Low-cost airlines want you to travel light, and price accordingly. Depending on how long you are going for, you may be able to get away with hand luggage only, or one hold bag between you.

Read the restrictions on liquids, pastes, gels & sharp things carefully, and comply. Rules are strictly enforced.

Don’t bother with ‘speedy boarding’, it’s rarely worthwhile. If you all want to sit together, reserve your seats at the time of booking.

Enjoy your trip.

We've flown Ryanair (but not for a year or so) and Easyjet about 5 times in the last couple of years (also flying Easyjet to Heraklion in August from Manchester).

Have you booked? If you haven't, register with the website for notice of when they're releasing flights and set your alarm for an early start that day. I paid less than £800 for 5 return fights in August school hols at 6am on the day they were released, they were about £1300 by 9am.

Check in online (for there and back) before you go & print off boarding passes - we've always got seats together and never paid extra. We also have 5 holdalls/ wheelie cases that are just smaller than the maximum size allowed which is enough luggage for us (we've gone a weeks skiing, a family wedding with posh hats/suits, and a 2 week sun holiday without paying for hold luggage). Bear in mind that some places are very strict - the rules are 1 piece of luggage so if you have a wheelie case, that's it. No handbag. In a couple of airports they've been quite relaxed about that, in Italy last year they were making people put handbags inside hand luggage.

The only disadvantage is toiletries (if you don't have hold luggage) so you're limited to little bottles of everything - although each person can take quite a few.

Yes to buying food & drink at the airport - it's been ok when we've purchased on board but they're quite slow as everyone pays with cards so you don't always get served.

I also think EasyJet is preferable to Ryanair. I've flown lots on both.

Why are you being snippy to the OP AnyFucker ?

Surely it's a standard question if you've never used a budget airline. Some of them have had horror stories in the press. Enough to put someone off...even a seasoned traveller if they've never used them before.

A "seasoned traveller" that sounds like she is lowering herself.

If you can read MN, you can follow a website that even lowlives who use budget airlines can follow

No idea why I'm told to get over myself for asking for tips.
I was pretty ill for ages and unable to fly. I was then too poor to travel abroad. Do I really have to justify why I've never been on a budget airline?
Weird.

I thought the question perfectly reasonable, which is why I posted what I hoped would be a helpful reply.

Perhaps AnyFucker forgot her manners because she had a bad day?

All really helpful replies apart from anyfucker's.
Thanks so much.

Hi gussy, no, you absolutely don't need to justify yourself and Any Fucker really should be apologizing to you. Plenty of reasons why you wouldn't have flown budget before, and asking for tips is eminently sensible before you book.

I would dsay that RyanAir is cheap'n'nasty while EasyJet is just cheap. RyanAir is something of a Marmite airline - there are people who hate the vibe and would rather even pay extra to avoid it, and there are others who are really unbothered by it. Personally I would always go with EasyJet if I had the choice. I've flown with them probably about 50 times and never had a bad experience. Having said that, a budget airline is not going to help you out in difficulties to the same extent as a flag carrier, so it's always wise to make alternative precautions (eg know which hotel options are nearby). I do fly RyanAir if that's the only option to a particular destination, and my feeling is that their gratuitous horribleness has eased off in recent years - since that git of a boss finally realized it was affecting profits. Nonetheless, the main reason I would never buy on board food from RyanAir again is not the abysmal quality or value for money, but because a stewardess once tried to rip me off by refusing to give me my change. I read a book where the same thing happened to the author, so it seems to be a common occurrence.
We're flying EasyJet tomorrow, really looking forward to it. Oh and yes, if at all possible EJ will seat you together on the flight without paying extra, just that the seats will be somewhere in the less popular mid-section. RyanAir actually goes out of its way to seat people separately if they don't pay extra.
I don't find RyanAir significantly cheaper than EJ. For each of them it depends on when you book more than anything else.