Anyone travel on Ryanair with baby?

[Snowi]

Anyone out there travel on Ryanair with a baby? Would you recommend it or steer clear?

hmmm travelled with dd aged 4years this year and properly wouldnt recommend it. Weight allowance is not much, every person has own allowance and your not allowed to add weighs together, eg 15lb each, but each bag has to be 15lb or less.

getting on board is a scrum, foot room is tiny and staff werent helpful at all.

Lisa

If you can fly with a "proper" airline to the destination you want to go to then check that out first. You may find that it's about the same price or cheaper as Ryanair add on loads of charges that are not at all clear unless you read the small print very carefully.

Ryanair are an airline of the last resort IMO, I only ever fly with them if they are the only direct option to my destination.

My cousin has travelled with them between Glasgow and Dublin quite a bit and has been reduced to tears on a few occasions when her DCs were little. Including one time when they boarded the flight and then had to get all the passengers off for some mechanical reason. Because she had two under 3 she was last off, there was no more room on the bus so the driver wouldn't let her on and the Ryanair crew didn't care, they said it was an issue between her and the bus driver, on an intervention by angry passangers got her to the terminal.

We took DS to Ireland when he was 14 months. I think we might have had to pay exess baggage iirc because we were going to a wedding so extra stuff...it IS pretty tight.

But in terms of teh experience, no problems, flew Stanstead to Cork, families with small children allowed to board first, etc. It was fine.

Yes, but never alone, always another adult to help out, so I was absolutely fine, but obviously it's much easier with another pair of hands. Have found them quite inconsistent as to whether small children board first.

I went ryanair this summer and we were lucky as the flight wasn;t full, so we plonked ds on the middle sseat of 3 and he was fine. Didn't board first adn tbh, wouldn't want to, as it just means more time with a wriggly child on your knee waiting to get going.
Went long haul when ds was 16m and that was a 'proper' airline and not really any better. But I agree about the hidden charges, the cheek of £10 for your 15kg suitcase! Going Ryanair again in a few weeks time and there are moxed blessing by ds being just 2 by a few days when we fly - he pays full price ticket, but at least he gets a seat! (And last time, his infant fare was higher than me and dh's adult fare!)

We are flying with Ryanair in a few weeks time and a friend has just told me unless we pay even MORE money for priority seating there's no chance of sitting together! I always thought it was first come first served .
I have visions of all the dds having to sit separately!

i found it fine. i travelled a lot with them in my pre baby days so knew what to expect. tbh you get what you pay for. my dad lives in france, we like to see him as often as we can so i am happy to get flights for peanuts and take the ryanair service you get. i also find the leg room fine, but am only 5ft 2!

are you flying on your own or with a partner/friend? the way we do it is dh runs ahead and gets seats, i mooch along at the back in my own time with dd. i take the pushchair to the door of the plane and ask for it when we land again.

the baggage allowance is tight, but for us it's fine cos we're staying with family so don't need to take lots of stuff iyswim.

Ryanair is cheap for a reason.

I applaud them, they have changed air travel forever. ( The green part of me does not, but the part of me that likes to go home does.)

It is like taking a bus, you can still be first on if you are on the ball and at the top of the queue. The days of an infant or toddler being the get out of jail free card are long gone.

flew loads of time with R. since DD was 5 months on my own. Mainly ryanair as it flies directly to where both my parent live, which makes it much more convenient than a 2 hour journey, especially with a tired baby.

If that's the case I'd recommend it. BUT BUT BUT you must be prepared. The staff are not helpful one bit (neither are the pasengers I must say though - never anyone helped me with the pram down the stairs), and you must get what they call 'priority boarding' (2 pounds) which allows you to get on the plane first so that you can get a sit with an empty one next to you. You're on a queue like everybody else otherwise, which is shameful TBH. (only in Calabria where they are really hospitable - Italy they did not care and let families first regardless).

does not sound too great does it?

well if you have a choice a 'proper' airline is more relaxing. However, it is not that bad, trust someone who does it 5/6 times a year.

If the flight isn't completely booked the seating system means you might get an extra seat as not many people will want to sit beside a baby! I've always found them fine.

Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate Ryanair.

Bloody Michael O'Leary with his HUGE profits just keeps finding more and more and more ways of fleecing passengers and making travel an ordeal. All the other airlines are jumping on bandwagon too but without the cheap seats.

Yes they did start cheap travel but boy are we paying for it now.

I will only travel Ryanair as a last resort.

However. It can be done with a child. PUSH your way to the front of the queue - I still do with a 6 year old on normal airlines. Or pay for the priority boarding. Then head down the plane - people fill up the front seats first. Sit in middle seat with baby in window seat. If flight is full you will have to move into seat by window but if not one person will sit in aisle seat and you may get a spare seat.

We've travelled with them loads and it's fine if it's a short flight. They let parents with babies board first so you get your pick on seats.

Loony, they don't anymore... You have to pay for priority boarding. Depends where you go though. On way out, they refused to let me on first with DD, 3 months. Seems ridiculous if they're trying to save money by quick turnarounds as it takes ages to settle yourself and a baby if you're having to squeeze past everyone already on there and put bags in racks etc. On way back, nice air steward too pity. I hate Ryanair and only fly with them if I have to. They're not even that cheap anymore when you pay for all the sodding extras. As with everything in life, I find you end up banking on kind people you come accross. Try getting your luggage and a car seat of a carousel with a baby strapped to your front and a changing bag on your shoulder.. hmmm.

i too HATE ryanair. they are alway uteerly unhelpful - it seems as though they will be unhelpful even when it takes more effort to be so. I've used them to fly to Sweden many times, and have just had to be really prepared myself - raisins, books, toys, push to the front, just put my children in seats, whether paid for or not, and luckily there has never been a problem as the flights have never been full. but if I could afford it, I would ALWAYS use a different airline! good luck!

Really SydneyB? That was one of my reasons for flying with them. We last flew with them (to Italy) last August. has it changed since then?
I do still find them pretty cheap but a lot depends on the route and how early you book. We're flying BMI this year (to the south of France) for the first time and they were pretty cheap.

Yep, they changed it this year I think. Does depend on who you get at the gate. If you're lucky the steward will let you on after the priority queue. When you fly from London, it doesn't seem to happen in my experience and its astonishing how rude other passengers can be... When I flew back from France, they did let me on first but its definitely Ryanair policy not to.

Actually having to pay for priority boarding pisses me off. This could potentailly result in a family having to sit in separate seats -I wonder if the staff are willing to look after children who have been can't get seat beside parent - definitely not customer focused. They just keep finding new things they can charge you for.

That's what I was worried about in my earlier post.
I don't mind a scrum or even queuing early for seats as long as it's fair, bearing in mind these are all economy seats. Being able to pay for priority seating is not 'fair' in my book. That's what first class, business class etc is for.

Even Aer Lingus have started to find more and more ways to charge people. They brought in a system where after you had booked on line you could choose your seats. Great. Last time I flew went to do this to find you now have to pay for the privilege of choosing your seat in advance - I think for 10 euros you can have emergency exit or front of plane. Think it is 3 euros to choose any other seat. Of course bloody Michael O'bloodyLeary has bought up lots of Aer Lingus shares in the hopes of a takeover but was blocked by EU.

God I HATE the man.

I don't understand why people with little kids want to get on first. What an ightmare,being cooped up like a battery hen for a second longer than you need to.

i fly loads (all sorts of airlines0 with my kids and aleays make sure I get on last of all.

Ryanair is cheap because it's shit. Gets you there though.

How do you know that you will all be able to sit together though?

Oh God,who care about that? I'm glad of the peace frankly.

Yes, completely agree actually!
Going to Florida I wasn't with any of my dds - bliss! I meant in the case of a young child having to be on their own as only separate seats available. Or is that unlikely? I'm just panicking slightly about dd3 and her asthma. Well, basically just panicking about flying full stop. It doesn't take much

Steer clear. I was in tears at the end of my flight to Glasgow. They'd assured me throughout I'd be able to put my pushchair in the cabin ... then refused me at the last minute. I had a big, thrashing, heavy baby and a 4 year old. At the other end I waited what seemed like hours. The pushchair came on the carousel last, after everyone elses stuff (I'm still holding a thrashing, crying baby with a four year old talking non stop and stuggling on my own with baggage). When the pushchair did come they'd dismantled it to poke it into some gap and it had tape all over it.

It was almost physically impossible. I'm a fit and capable mum of four and I was at the absolute limit of my ability with no help.

It was deeply traumatic.

That sort of experience is not exclusive to RyanAir Spider.Have had similar with Lufthansa and Turkish Air.I've learnt my lesson now when travelling alone with children.I refuse (pleasantly) to leave the plane unless the pushchair is brought to me.