EasyJet or Ryanair?

[NorthernM]

Need to choose between the two and would appreciate any recent experiences. Ryanair has a historically awful reputation but I have heard that's not been too bad in recent years. Would be to Europe from Manchester or East Midlands. Thanks in advance

We use them both fairly regularly, i don't think there's much between them. Both absolutely fine when everything is ok, both dreadful when it's not.

Just have no expectations and you'll be fine.

I avoid Ryanair these days. Too many of my friends have had horrendous delays with them or flights cancelled.

easyJet have been brilliant throughout the COVID period. I moved one set of flights 4 times because we couldn't make them. No charge at all. Because of that we booked our summer holidays last year with them. Both flights on time, treated well. No problems. Friends on Ryanair ended up sitting on the floor for hours with no information. Other friends had to get a bus instead of their return flight which took 30hours.

I am taking a trip to London next month. I could fly Ryanair but instead I'm paying double and taking the train.

easyJet

Ryanair. Our last experience with easyJet left us stranded in the middle of the night with 2 small children and absolutely zero customer assistance to try and help us. I know flights get cancelled but the way they (didn't) deal with it has put me off ever using them again.

EJ by a huge margin.
RA have dreadful customer "service". We've been called to the gate & kept waiting for hours without a word of explanation or info about likely departure time. Not just once, but several times.

Out of the two choices, EJ can’t stand RA.

The fanfare and applause on landing with Ryanair puts me off thought not flown with them in years so it could have changed. Flying and landing the plane is literally the basic requirement for an airline so it freaks me out.

EasyJet are much better. I think there’s very little between EasyJet and BA economy (Eurotraveller or whatever it’s called) these days, as the latter either serve you nothing or a small bottle of water and a tiny bag of pretzels. In both cases, checked luggage is extra.

EasyJet app is very, very good.

I last flew with easyJet early last week and found the ease of using the app a huge bonus. Flight was fine.

Have avoided Ryanair for years after a bad experience. They may have improved, I don't know.

I would use Ryanair again if I had to, but given the choice I would use easyJet.

I fly with easyjet quite a bit. The planes are fairly comfortable, the app is great, very easy to navigate, it's easy to keep track of how much your various add ons are costing. Customer service has largely been fine. Ryanair has cramped seats, a horrible website, and seems to design its processes deliberately to catch out the unwary and charge extra fees.

I have used Ryanair many times without issue. They also refunded during Covid times. Have never understood the bad press, tbh.

Me and DH vowed never to fly Ryanair again after an awful experience a few years ago, horrendous staff essentially trying to start an argument with us. Horrible service, horrible cramped planes. We said even if it’s the cheapest option, we’ll never fly Ryanair again.

Flown easyJet a lot and never had a bad experience.

Ryanair retained far more staff than Easyjet during the pandemic and therefore cancelled less flights, both during the pandemic and last Summer. I think they deserve some credit for this.
Fly fairly frequently and use both, there will always be good and bad experiences. That said I think Ryanair get unfair press, I'm very happy to fly with them. Their punctuality rates are actually better than Easyjet.

EasyJet!
the crew are nice, the menu is very good for snacks and drinks.
Ryanair feels like you are getting on a bus.

I've never had a problem with Ryanair and have flown quite a lot. They don't cancel as many flights as other airlines do. They refunded our tickets during corona SO much quicker than BA. You do need to pay attention to the departures board at the airport because they always get the cheap gates which are furthest away from the terminal.

I prefer easyjet. We usually use Ryanair who if you don't pay extra to sit together purposely place you miles apart. Kids included. Easyjet actually gave us seats together both there and back even though we didn't pay the extra to choose.

I'd say easy jet in my experience are better and their hand luggage is slight more generous too I think. Have you considered Jet2? I think they do just flights (not only package holidays). I find them really reliable and great service. Plus their seats are a bit bigger too.

I prefer easyJet to although don't rule out Ryanair.
Check what airport Ryanair actually fly to as it's sometimes not the main one, which can be a pain.
Flight times can also be inconvenient.

On my one round trip with Ryanair there were big problems both ways, and (trivially!) I can’t stand their colour scheme and slippery seats.
Over many trips with EasyJet we’ve had no major issues.
As well as Manchester have a look at Liverpool, which is a much more pleasant airport.

Easyjet by a thousand times! I've had loads of issues with Ryanair over the years - often their delays are 2 hr 55 mins or whatever, so just under the 3 hr delay that entitles you to compensation.

My main bugbear with them is that they DELIBERATELY split up your party if you don't pay for seats together. It's happened to me every time. Whereas the opposite is true with Easyjet - if you dont pay for seats together then you usually get seated together. I've always been next to/in front of/across the aisle from my partner. We got lucky recently on a flight with them where we checked in about 12 hours before the flight and got seated together in extra legroom! I'm guessing as they keep those free for the longest time in case someone wants to pay to sit in them so they allocate them last. Tip there about maybe leaving it to the last minute to check in, rather than 30 days before...

I also say this as someone whose flight was cancelled with Easyjet this weekend and got stuck in Amsterdam. Now be prepared to be self sufficient in those circumstances as I will accept that their app was not working as it claimed to. They only had the option to refund the flight, not to rebook. Also it was meant to give you the option to book a hotel etc and this wasnt on there. So we booked that ourselves and a flight etc as we knew our rights and would be compensated. I put through the claim on Monday and it was decided in our favour today (Thurs!) Ok we'll see how long it takes for the money to clear but it has been processed and says 7-14 days to be in the account.

Also just to clarify above, my claim was for airport hotel the night of cancelled flight (as no other flights home), new flights home, and for all food and drink - lunch/dinner/snacks for the extra day we had to stay abroad. So they were very fair in reimbursing that.

Both the same really. Surely it's down to who offers the more convenient flight time and airport?

Flew EasyJet last week. Flights were punctual and I felt very safe throughout.

However was mistakenly charged to take my bag into the cabin when it should have, and I wanted it to go into the hold. Issue resolved at the boarding gate but money not refunded. Now in dispute.

I was on my guard about being tripped up about unnecessary charges, and so was. When I would have otherwise challenged the check in process.

100% Ryanair.
They were the only airline to keep going throughout covid and as a very regular traveller I find their flights are ridiculously cheap.Yes- you have to know how to use them and play by their rules.

EasyJet