S2 and a buddy are traveling through Europe in June (post-grad trip) and plan on using Ryanair for at least 1, maybe 2 flights. A friend of mine warned them to be very careful with baggage size, boarding passes, a stamp (?), as they charge a huge fee for not following guidelines for these things.
After a quick search, I did find a ton of negative comments about the ridiculous fees (up to $96 if you need to check-in and print boarding pass) but also read that Ryanair has started offering mobile boarding passes, but only at some airports.
I suppose that is all fine and good, if you are staying in a hotel where you have printing facilities and wifi (although this is pretty easy to find) but otherwise could get pricey, quickly!
Our family has taken approximately 15 vacations using Ryan Air but we only travel with a carry-on backpack and have a large family. The last trip my spouse said never again due to our last flying experience with them! They are extremely picky down to the paper your boarding pass is printed on. The travelers need to understand and follow their rules online without exception because they will ding you if you are even a gram over. Many times we have been in airports where people were pulling clothes out of their suitcase to avoid the fees and tossing them. I equate flying with them to our MSC Cruise experience…like a flying Motel 6 or Greyhound Bus Passengers clap after every Ryan flight lands =D> that takes getting used to. Have them look at airlines such as Lufthansa. Sometimes when you add in the fees, the cost is about the same.
Wow @InEurope - sounds miserable! Curious when was that last trip? Looks like they are trying to improve things with their new mobile boarding passes and new Business ticketing option but who knows? I think the guys may just try it given the price difference. Don’t like the clapping thing… %-(
We were booked on an Easyjet flight from Rome to Berlint. EasyJet sent an email 45 days before flight that they were cancelling that route. Beware of EasyJet they are notorious for cancelling routes and individual flights.
German wings was outrageously expensive for that route - and they only fly certain routes on certain days.
We wound up flying with Ryan. I had several questions relating to H’s CPAP equipment and was able to ‘speak’ via on-line chat and get all of my concerns addressed. They issued a medial exception notice - sent via email - so that the CPAP did not count toward the carry on allowance. You can check in 30 days in advance of your flight and yes, you have to read the fine print. We decided to purchase a fare which included one piece of checked luggage, a carry-on, a ‘personal’ item and priority boarding. We paid for one extra suitcase. You just need to do your research. They won’t take your checked baggage any earlier than 2 hours before your flight. You need to be AT THE GATE an hour in advance. They fly to out of the way airports. I found them better than some US airlines.
We are doing a hop from London to Berlin on British Airways. Their rules and small print are no better than Ryan.
We use Ryanair quite often. Just follow their rules, and you’ll be fine. Make sure your bag fits their carry-on guidelines (clearly stated on the website), print your boarding pass at home/at the hotel, have your passport checked before you get to the gate (nonEU citizens only), etc. We’ve not had any bad experiences with them. It’s budget travel, but it gets you there.
My daughter ran into trouble when flying with Ryanair from London to Dublin.
She needed to get some kind of stamp on her boarding pass, prior to getting to the gate. (I’m not sure of the details, but this was some sort of extra stamp only they provide or require, so she didn’t realize she needed to get it.)
She almost missed her flight, but either was able to go back and get it or they very grudgingly let her on the plane without it.
Agreeing with megpmom. Ryanair are incredibly particular about following their rules- but all the info is there on the website. Follow the rules and you will be fine. And- they are currently working on being nicer to passengers in person!
Fwiw, W!ZZair also flies Budapest-Rome and is similarly priced.
@fendrock - we had the same issue as your D. Apparently, nonEU citizens (when flying out of UK at least) have to go to the ticket counter to get their passports checked and boarding pass stamped prior to going through security. We didn’t do this the first time, and a very surly gate agent almost didn’t let me board. H was in another line and his friendly gate agent just told him to make sure that he does it next time!
@collegemom3717 glad to hear they are trying to be nicer to passengers. @dwhite Ryan is the only air line in Europe I have experienced clapping on all 30 flights. Weird now to not hear people clap on Lufthansa and Delta We flew them for years because you could not beat €100 round trip total for six tickets. FWIW, it was not the rules that caused us to stop flying Ryan…we had them down to a tee.
Passengers clap after every Ryan flight lands =D> that takes getting used to. Have them look at airlines such as Lufthansa. Sometimes when you add in the fees, the cost is about the same.