Ryanair . . . no-brainer?

[LeevMarie]

Hi,

DH, DS (who will be nearly 5) and I are travelling to Spain in early July with parents in law.

I've been looking at the costs of the flights and we can fly into the same airport with Ryanair and save nearly £350 for our family of 3 vs booking the same flights with Jet2. The times are very similar (early morning outbound and midafternoon returning).

I mentioned this to my mother in law yesterday and she warned me quite strongly against booking anything with Ryanair. I know they don't have the best reputation for punctuality, but she even said that irrespective of what we choose to do, she's not going to fly with Ryanair and would rather pay the extra. 😂This is crazy, right? Or am I missing something?!

I've flown with EasyJet before and that was pretty terrible, but it's only a 2.5 hour flight. I can tolerate pretty much anything in order to save this amount of money.

Is Ryanair really that bad? Flying to Malaga, so there maybe some stag or hen parties on the flight, I guess, but surely that's a risk you take regardless?

[whiteroseredrose]

We've flown with Ryanair dozens of times and never had a problem (touch wood). Same with EasyJet.

I used to avoid Jet2 as they included hold luggage, which I don't want but it looks like it is an add on now.

My analogy is that EasyJet and Jet2 are like flying trains while Ryanair is a flying coach.

To be fair to Ryanair the staff were lovely, the problem was the rowdy passengers on the Manchester to Alicante route (one of the worst routes, apparently).

[InSpainTheRain]

It's not the punctuality it's the add on costs - look into those very carefully before you use them.

[TheDogsMother]

The airline of last resort for me. I've experienced delays and also having to wait 3 hours for baggage to get from the plane to the carousel. I'd be interested to see how the prices finally compare once you have added seat allocations , baggage etc etc.

[MaireadMcSweeney]

@InSpainTheRain

It's not the punctuality it's the add on costs - look into those very carefully before you use them.

Literally the only add on costs are baggage which all budget airlines add and seat selection ditto. The difference is that Ryanair charge for a 10kg hand luggage bag but IIRC easyJet did that too last time I used them.

[Lightningrain]

I’ve flown with them loads of times and the majority of the flights have been on time. Any delays I’ve had were less than an hour.

They do charge you for every conceivable extra but as long as you double check what you’ve purchased and don’t need to do it at the airport it’s usually still considerably cheaper than the other airlines. I don’t think the service I’ve had has been any different to other budget airlines.

Their airport staff were really helpful when someone took my bag by mistake too.

[MaireadMcSweeney]

@TheDogsMother

The airline of last resort for me. I've experienced delays and also having to wait 3 hours for baggage to get from the plane to the carousel. I'd be interested to see how the prices finally compare once you have added seat allocations , baggage etc etc.

You know the baggage handlers work for the airport not Ryanair right? Baggage delay is nothing to do with the airline.

[userxx]

I flew into Malaga last week with Ryan Air, couldn't fault them. Lovely clean aircraft with no delays going out or coming back. It was only a short break so didn't pay extra for luggage, I used a small bag which had to fit under the seat. I was amazed at how much could fit into it.

[countrygirl99]

I regularly fly Ryanair as it's the only airline that flys directly to where my son lives from the UK. I've never had a problem abd flights have never been more than a few minutes late. My only alternative is to fly BA from Heathrow, which is a lot less convenient than Stansted, to the capital 3 hours and a change of trains away for twice the price. And quite frankly the mist uncomfortable flights and the worst delays I've ever had have been with BA.
But son doesn't live in a beach holiday destination and the booze there is £££££ so maybe the clientele is different.

[Hoppinggreen]

We’ve used Ryanair lots of times with no issues.
The worst experience I ever had with multiple cancellations, crappy customer service and late flights was with Lufthansa

[countrygirl99]

@MaireadMcSweeney

You know the baggage handlers work for the airport not Ryanair right? Baggage delay is nothing to do with the airline.

Correct @MaireadMcSweeney. We had that at Heathrow last summer with a scheduled airline. Piles of luggage all around from days before.

[PurBal]

I agree with PP about the extras. I actually worked out the cost of flying EasyJet and adding what we needed on (a mix of hold and hand luggage), seats together (small child) and it was cheaper flying BA business class (and then you got priority security and lounge access) I’m not even joking. But it very much depends on the time of year.
I’ve only down RyanAir once (about 10 years ago) with a small back pack only and it was okay but I wouldn’t choose it. Lots of people were getting charged at the gate for hand luggage (people who had brought the exact same bag on the outgoing leg), and I needed a sick bag the poor stewardess managed to find me a crumpled bag with a few foundation smears on it (RyanAir stewards have to buy their own). I also hated the fanfare that went off when we landed and people applauded: it’s literally the bare minimum to expect to get there safely.

[Regularsizedrudy]

I would never EVER fly with Ryan air again

[ShandaLear]

I’ve flown to Malaga with Ryanair from a regional airport a few times. It was fine.Took a small backpack, headphones, a packet of polo mints, and my Kindle. Only paid for the flight, no extras.

[bigbluebus]

I've flown with Ryanair many times to various destinations. Have also flown with Easy Jet. DS last flew with Whizz Air (I think they were voted worst airline). The worst any of us have ever 'suffered' is a short delay (1 hour max). Yes, it's like travelling on a bus but even 6ft 4 DH has managed in their standard seats.
I think they're fine as long as nothing goes wrong at which point you'll have to be prepared to sort yourselves out and battle it out with them later.
Remember you get what you pay for and your expectations will be lowered.

[Wiennetta]

Honestly a lot of people’s complaints about ‘Ryanair’ are often issues outside the airline’s control - delays for example can be due to ground staff, weather, slots, strikes, etc.
Or issues because the customer hasn’t booked the right luggage/hasn’t googled the luggage allowance and that sort of thing.
And a lot of airlines - including non-budget airlines - charge extras for seat selection, luggage and so on.
Of course some people have issues with the customer service or other things that are clearly Ryanair issues, but honestly if it’s £350 cheaper I’d not think twice. That’s a lot of extra spending money on holiday.

[America12]

I fly a lot and Ryanair are no worse than easyJet or Wizz. Never had a problem.

[Chersfrozenface]

Flew with Ryanair last summer. 7 hours delay. No compensation, no response to complaint, no response with Resolver.

Never again.

[thimblewomble879]

I don't like their business model so I won't use them if it's possible to use someone else. I just feel we should vote with our feet

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

The prices are so cheap that to add luggage almost doubles the cost. So check that. £20 per cabin suitcase per flight, £40 per hold suitcase per flight (usually). As a family of four we also pay £8 per flight for sitting together (kids and me get free allocation if we use up a row so the £8 is to get dh near us).

Our flights were 40pp return though so can't sniff at that! This is booked for a couple of months time.

We've not flown Ryanair since about 16 years ago Dublin to Newcastle and we vowed then never to fly with them but what ya gonna do?? Flying this up coming trip with anyone else was over 1200.

[WimpoleHat]

Well - it’s not a luxury experience, but I don’t enjoy flying anyway - and Ryanair often gets you to the smaller airports close to your destination (and in some cases, will be the only airline to fly there). So I fly with them pretty regularly. Wouldn’t say they were that much worse than anyone else for short haul flights.

[WhatHaveIFound]

I have NEVER been on a Ryanair flight that's been on time but sometimes I have to use them because they're the only choice for my route.

Booked flights for an employee and they were delayed 12+ hours with only £3 food voucher (obviously I covered everything they needed) and zero information as to whether they would even be a flight. No compensation for the delay.

Like I say they're a last resort so if you have a choice I'd pay extra not to fly with them.

[PoBaFla]

We've flown several times with Ryanair from Edinburgh and never had any problems. Flight always been more or less on time.
We usually pay to book a suitcase in the hold as cheaper than paying for everyone to take on hand luggage.
And be aware you will need to pay to book seats as their algorithm definitely splits you up otherwise. DH and I flew home once with a whole row each to ourselves, but we were in different rows!

[Choconut]

I don't like Ryanair as haven't had great experiences but would fly with them for that difference in price. They fly out of airports that aren't convenient for us though so often it's not worth it even if it is cheaper than easyjet.

[FannythePinkFlamingo]

I've done several RyanAir trips and although basic, they've always been on time and I've never had cause to complain. Similarly, EasyJet. We're using RyanAir again this summer to go to Alicante. Hope I haven't jinxed it now!

[pncr]

I had a 2.5 hour baggage delay last year flying easyJet to Manchester.

As far as I'm aware, baggage delays are to do with the airport not the airline.