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I know the hate is strong but I'm not after getting in to all that. Mrs ws has booked us two cheap return flights to Spain in October, they are of the no priority type so we can only check in two days before etc. Now obviously we can upgrade at the usual ryan air costs but wondered whether it's worth it? The only thing we're that bothered about is sitting together. Is there likely to be no chance if we don't pay for the upgrade etc.
I think the size of the bags allowed in the overhead has changed, worth checking out. Mrs has done the upgrade for our next trip, I hate the scramble but can tolerate Ryanair for the few hours it takes.
In my experience they're fine if you go in with zero expectations.
Chances are they'll split you up purposefully unless you upgrade, which is what has happened to us every time we've used them. If you're bothered, pay the extra.
Also, they're pretty good at making people check bags at the last minute. So if you have a mini suitcase for a cabin bag, expect to have to hand it over at the gate. They don't seem to care about rucksacks though as me and my mate strolled on with full hiking style packs while other with neat little suitcases were collared.
We've got a hold bag of 20kg paid for and know that the only bag you can get on the plane is like one of those little things that the ne'er do well kids buy from sports direct to go to school with. It's just the sitting together thing which would obviously be nice as mrs ws ain't the greatest flyer and it's our first time abroad without the kids.
In my experience they’re fine if you go in with zero expectations.
As you know I don't like flying. Went to Dublin expecting it to be a 55 minute bus, and it was. A bit garish and a cup of tea was overpriced but that went on work expenses anyway.
Almost everyone is on "Priority Boarding" so they can take a bag in the cabin.
You'll not be sitting together unless you pay for it.
The seats are uncomfy for > 2hours.
They'll try and get you on the plane really early. Last call for boarding is about 5 mins after the gate comes up on the screens.
The seats don't have a pocket on the back to put your book etc in. Needless penny-pinching there I'd think - even a wee net would be fine.
You can buy scratchcards on the plane!
We've never had a problem with Ryanscare, but we read and follow their rules. Which do seem to change all the time.
Our experience is that they'll sit you apart unless you pay for seats as well, so we always pay for seats. All the extras can cost as much as the basic airfare but if they are still the cheapest they'll still get my money.
The thing that used to boil my piss was if you'd booked a return with a duration over 2 days, you were forced to pay for early check in on the return as it was impossible to check in just for the outbound flight. This seems to have changed as Mrs PB flew Alicante to Newquay in June and she checked in for both flights with no charge. Btw, where in Spain are you going, we live here and run a little B&B in Cataluña.
Apparently if u check in late, like the day before, you get the best seats they were hoping to sell but no-one took.
Ry are awful but cheap, just spend the saving on something nice.
I ve flown ry a few times never had a problem but I know the rules.
And last time I flew they had oversold so were offering 100 quid to fly that evening, that was alc to man, v tempted I only paid 30 quid for the ticket.
We did Ryanair from Birmingham to Faro and back. It's a very basic bus with Surly trolley dollys.
Boy2 is autistic, so we booked special assistance, mainly because he can't handle queuing and above all rude people in queues. We'd booked seats to avoid being split up. He had the sunflower "disabled" lanyard on and needed to wear noise cancelling headphones, especially for take off and landing. I tried to explain this as we boarded first, but the trolley dollys didn't want to know. Then they tried to split us up to accommodate other passengers. That was the first argument. Then insisted that he remove his headphones. That was argument number two. Argument number three was remove his headphones for landing.
On the return, delayed 2 hours, same arguments as outbound flight. Then they hadn't called for special assistance for us or another passenger, and expected him to cope with overcrowded buses back to the terminal.
I'll never fly Ryanair again. Utter shower of shite.
And to answer the OP, yes pay to sit together. You might be lucky and actually be on the same flight.
You can bring a pretty decent sized backpack for free with Ryanair now, about 20 litres
Daughter's went to Spain last month with Ryanair.
I did checkin for the outward flight 2 days before the flight and printed off the boarding passes as it said they needed printed passes.
Of course I couldn't print off the return flight boarding passes as you can't do that without checking in.... And you can only check in more that 2 days before the flight if you buy seats.
Bastards.
That's what I just said!
They cancelled my bro's return flight by text as he was on his way to the airport and were exactly, literally zero help in getting home, just "make your own way and we'll reimburse costs", which they mostly did after battling for five months to make that process as hard as possible. I'll not fly with them again (although he has!).
Used them a few times in the past when booking through “on the beach”.
Always found them to be efficient, flights were on time taking off and landing. Crew were always warm and friendly. Bit of a hike to the arse end of the airport to board them though.
Son has autism too, never had the headphone issue as mentioned above. I guess it all depends on the crew you have. Little one was only 4 at the time so may have had something to do with it. At the end of the day, they want you to hear the announcements, but it’s not like a 4 year old is going to take it on board.
Sunflower lanyards are bloody handy for getting though the queues mind .
The only issue we had was he wanted to keep the blind down when taking off and landing, the stewardess gave him some sweets to change his mind though.
We always book the seats though, as we do with all flights we take.
Deliberately not used them since they started going on strike a few years back though.
RA is a walk in the park compared to some eastern European airlines. I fly wizz air a few times a year and it's pure torture. Ryan Air is nowhere near the worst anymore.
Yes. Took the family to Perugia rtn from stanstead this august. All worked perfectly and getting to and spending time in stanstead was by far the worst element.
We had a family luggage pack but no other extras. Can,t see why priority boarding is a thing. Why would you want to spend more time on the plane! Just let the lemmings queue, join end of queue and all four if us were given adjacent seats via the boarding cards. Only complaint was no flap on back of seat to put book or snacks but prettying minor.
Deffo get the app for your return boarding cards (electronic). You will need to pay extra to sit together as the split us up but we paid a little more to sit together. The system put 4 kids in the escape seats on our return flight - Cabin staff wanted the passengers to ask people to move... didn't go down well.
They are tolerable for short journeys , reasonably punctual compared to most airlines , and have a large european network.
everything else involved with using them is just miserable tbh.
though i find the in flight scratchcard service just chavtastic lol
Brilliant service for the route I regularly take. Luton to Kerry. Leave house at 2pm at my destination by 6. Late only once. I am sure that’s not representative.
We used RA for the return flight from our holiday in France this yer. It wasn't luxurious but for the price of the tickets it was fine. No seat pockets is a bit annoying but not the end of the world. We paid for a couple of extras but the price was still significantly less than other airlines on the same route.
My favourite part of the RY experience is watching other passengers getting grumpy and moaning about the service / plane / staff / boarding gate. RA have been around for a long time now. We all know what we are buying when we book the flight. My experience and from watching others suggests that if you talk down to the staff and are grumpy they treat you like cattle. If you smile, follow the instructions and are polite they treat you like a valued customer.
The worst thing with ryan air seems to be the other passengers (bet they say the same about the big bloke sat next to them!).
Its got better with allocated seats, put your luggage in the hold and enjoy the scrum as people try to fit small suitcase in the overhead lockers.
I've done a few Ryanair flights on the last year.
Don't pay to get priority anything - the last flight 3/4 of the plane had done so. All of them queued and then sat on plane while I finished my work and drank coffee on a vaguely comfy seat, watching the boarding crew argue with those who didn't read the bag sizing rules or when they ran out of locker space as so many paid extra for hand luggage....
If you go expecting nothing other than a flying bus, and read the rules, they're ok.
They're fine, I use them a lot going to and from mallorca. Their flights are usually at decent times and the prices are good, they usually get there on time.
Just be aware that if you want to take a small wheely case in the cabin you have to book priority boarding, if you don't need that then def don't bother paying for pri boarding.
Same as Matt above. Why sit on a plane any longer than necessary. They've always been punctual when I've flown. Last time we didn't book seats but there's nearly always a good chance you can move seats if someone is sitting on their own next to your partner. The first five minutes are always musical chairs.
The single worst thing about Ryanair is that god-awful fanfair when the plain lands. Like it's something to be grateful for that the pilot has not killed everyone.
The bottom line is the tickets at <50% the cost of traditional airlines. We use them a lot and yes you are treated like shit but they do a good job of moving planes around on time.
You need to be capable of sorting yourslef out if it goes wrong as they certainly will not.
Ryanair is like a greasy roll van parked up in a layby on an A road. If you want excellent service, high quality and robust aftercare don't bloddy well go there. If you just want something, can handle the odd grim experience and don't expect to receive any aftercare in the event of being poisoned then carry on.
yourguitarhero
The seats don’t have a pocket on the back to put your book etc in. Needless penny-pinching there I’d think – even a wee net would be fine.
I think that's so they don't have to bother emptying them between flights.
I'm not sure they do anything other than the most cursory tidy up possible. A couple of times I've flown with them, gone to get in my seat and found it still had all the rubbish from the previous people lying about.
just booked me and the wife to spain next month, spending all week with her so a few hours each way apart on the plane doesn't matter. last time she had an empty seat next to her on the way back but i didn't bother moving.
payed for a 20kg case as its just about the same as 2 priority and there's a good chance a priority case might go in the hold which then negates the advantage of priority, waiting for lugagge.
using the mobile app to check in and for boarding passes makes it easy
He gets everywhere doesn't he?
A better experience than Jet2. Mind I was flying Reus to Luton the double whammy of crap airports.