Thoughts on Ryanair?

[Aanniilleess]

I've never flew with them myself, but my friends in Ireland use them all the time to come over to the UK due to tiny cost. They always just say 'it's an hour flight, I don't want to spend loads'.
I know they get a lot of bad press but I was surprised to learn they've NEVER had a fatal crash ever.
Any thoughts and experiences with Ryanair? specifically like the route between UK and Ireland.

*do not

I use them for cheapness .. but the big game of musical chairs after take off is quite funny .. no one wants to be bothered to pay for seats together so everyone leaps up to swap. .. I'm flying to Spain with them on Saturday .. I really need to check cabin baggage rules .. can anyone assist to save me reading them .. can I take my wheely case and a handbag .. or just my case ??

If you want case and handbag in the cabin you need to pay for priority boarding, which includes the extra bag.

Pay for hold luggage...put a large suitcase on the conveyor belt at the checkin desk

Pay for priority boarding...you can take a "cabin" (small suitcase) and one other small bag onto the plane and keep it with you

Pay nothing..."cabin" size suitcase tagged and put in the hold just before you board and take just a small handbag on the flight with you

Clear ? I think it is perfectly fine.

4 of us have just flown with them. We paid for one large suitcase. We took 2 small suitcases which were tagged and free of charge and taken off us which suits me. Then we each took a small bag/camera bag on board. Perfectly adequate.

They were appalling when a relative's wife died whilst they were on holiday - ripped up her ticket in front of him and charged him excess baggage to bring her belongings back. Never quite been able to bring myself to use them after that.

@Buteo that is disgusting behaviour. A bit of sympathy wouldn't have hurt them.

I have also heard of them charging people for coke when they have had a hypo and their sugar levels have dropped.

I was once stuck on the tarmac for 5 hours on a Ryanair plane .. the only way you got water was to buy it ...

Tbf, that's the same for many airlines.

I've been stuck on the tarmac for 4 hours with American Airlines and it was after we;d landed and they'd run out of drinks! And my cousin has just had a 3 hr sit on the tarmac in Cyprus with Thomson or Thomas Cook.

My best horror story was stuck on the tarmac in Southend one Christmas (Alitalia) because all flights were diverted there because of fog but they didn't have enough steps to get us all down.

Can't stand them would never fly with them again.
I've heard racist comments from check in staff, been practically screamed at by cabin crew to take our seats so we can leave on time, and just been generally treated like crap by them.
Vile airline.

I have flown with them a number of times with no issues. You have to check, check and check again when booking to make sure everything is correct relative to bags, seats etc.

I also generally travel alone on short haul so couldn’t care less about which seat I sit in. Don’t buy their grim food, take my own water, them trying to sell me things goes right over my head.

In return for a cheap flight I know I won’t get the sort of business class experience that some people seem to expect.

If you have to take any luggage then easyJet are often cheaper. I regularly fly short haul and easyJet have always been cheaper and more convenient.

Ive never really had any real issues with them, and they've been no worse than any other budget airline ive used.

We did have a lengthy delay in the UK with them a few years back but I have to say that then they were great. They kept us updated throughout, within 30 minutes had given us meal vouchers to use in the airport, and we had the forms for compensation before boarding the flight. We applied, using Resolver, whilst away and the money was in our accounts within 3 or 4 weeks - and it was more than we'd actually paid for the flights in the first place.

We treat them like we would a bus in many ways. Just pay heed to the guidelines, don't over do the luggage, and pay up front if you want any of the extras such as hold luggage, keeping cabin bag, specific seats, priority boarding, etc.

@Aragog depends on your own experience I guess. I got delayed in the snow back in feb in Denmark. They didn't refund for 6 months. Played stupid when I tried to claim food and hotel costs as if it wasn't their fault. They eventually paid up €200 forhotel.

It is really up to the people they deal with case by case basis as they treat everyone differently .

One member of staff told my aunt she couldn't fly back or book the flight on the Monday and had to wait as when my mum rang and asked she said yeah no problem we will get that sorted.

Ryanair are all good when there are no problems!

We flew twice with them this year. They have the French market sewn up almost and are hard to avoid. Our flights were great. We fouhbf the cabin crews to be young and friendly and had no.problems, apart from a two hour delay on one. The strikes make me nervous. I don't want to choose them and have potential difficulty but then again the prices are so good