Budget Travel - EasyJet Vs. RyanAir

Everyone, very quickly I am planning a trip to Europe in early May and I wanted to hear the experiences people have had between EasyJet and RyanAir. I am flying to Paris and I am looking for the best way to get around in Europe, thank you.

First of all, when Ryanair flies to "Paris", they actually fly to Beauvais, which is about 50 miles or so from Paris, and could be a problem actually getting in/out of the city.

Secondly, Ryanair is notorious for abandoning their passengers in the event of irregular ops (delays, cancellations, etc.).

My advice, for what it's worth, is to avoid them and stick with one of the more reputably LCCs. Do a lot of research here and get a feel for the ins and outs of intra-Europe travel. Also, check out whichbudget (http://www.whichbudget.com) for a good look at what's available. One can often find flights for as little as 1 euro (plus taxes and fees) depending on the city pairs.

I have heard very little negative about EasyJet, and my personal experience with SkyEurope has been very positive.

Avoid Ryanair at all costs. Or, as is often the case with regard to their flights, even at low costs. With Ryanar, you get what you pay for, if you're lucky, and even less, if you're not.

easyJet is a fine budget carrier. No frills, but excellent value. And, as noted, you can skip the god-awful bus ride to BVA, which to be honest, is positively awesome in comparison to the circus tent that is the airport's gate area.

I am a bit concerned since I need to get back to Paris from Rome to complete my return trip to LAX. I originally wanted to do some sort of LCC from rome to paris on the day of my return trip to LAX but it now looks like I should not do this. I will plan on returning to Paris a day before my return to LAX. Thank you for your comments

You could also look at taking the night train from Rome to Paris - depending on what level of accommodations you take on the train (seat vs. sleeper) it may be cheaper than spending the money on a hotel in Paris.

If you do end up flying back to Paris on the day of your flight be sure to leave plenty of time for your connection back to the US - if your LCC is late in getting you to CDG (or if you fly into an alternate airport and get stuck in traffic), your carrier is not required to reaccomodate you.

I must say that I have flown both Easy Jet and Ryan Air, and while the two airlines got me to my destination safely, Easy Jet has always been the more economical.

From London to Cologne on Easy Jet the price in 2005, including fees and taxes, was only $25, whereas the Gatwick Express to the airport to take that flight was almost the same price. (I've since discovered you can get regional trains, which take only ten minutes longer at half the price).

From Salzburg back to London on Ryan Air (admittedly a larger distance) the fare was three times higher, about $75. Plus, I find the fees added on to the deceptively low prices appear to be much less with Easy Jet than with Ryan Air, which makes me suspect a scam on their part. After all, taxes should be the same or similar.

Last October, I flew Easy Jet from Paris (CDG) to Lisbon and from Barcelona back to Paris (ORY) for about $110. So, in certain instances you could make a connection to a transatlantic flight with Easy Jet in Paris. I used Vueling Air (a Spanish carrier) to get from Lisbon to Barcelona for about $60. Both flights were fine and they handled the baggage excellently. Also, Ryan Air for quite awhile was only allowing 15K, as opposed to these carriers which gave you 20K. The fact that Ryan Air is now charging for baggage puts another negative in their scorecard.

Having said all that, these carriers have allowed us reasonable fares (assuming we plan ahead) and the possibility to get these fares on one-way routes, so that the triangle flight I took in October was possible. In the past, you had to fly one carrier round-trip in order to get some sort of decent fare. And the problem was that you might have headed to another location by train in the country you flew into and the second location did not provide a flight back on the carrier that got you to the country.

Just check what's convenient for you. I don't know about Beauvais outside Paris, but I do know that the idea of flying into Stansted in London scared me until I researched it and saw that there were cheap express buses from the airport into London -- much cheaper than the train -- and it only took about 45 minutes (as opposed to half an hour from Heathrow).

All in all, the flights were safe and generally reasonable, and that's what counts the most.

Everyone, very quickly I am planning a trip to Europe in early May and I wanted to hear the experiences people have had between EasyJet and RyanAir. I am flying to Paris and I am looking for the best way to get around in Europe, thank you.
Ryanair, EasyJet and several other European LCCs all offer low fares and minimal service.

Only Ryanair seems to treat its passengers with disdain and the mere units of profit they represent. Check these wesbites for more info then decide if you want to use their services:

http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ryanair
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ryanair

I am a bit concerned since I need to get back to Paris from Rome to complete my return trip to LAX. I originally wanted to do some sort of LCC from rome to paris on the day of my return trip to LAX but it now looks like I should not do this. I will plan on returning to Paris a day before my return to LAX. Thank you for your comments

No, what we're saying is - fly LCCs, but don't fly Ryanair. Especially not if you actually have to get to where you need to be in a timely fashion. Chances are, everything will be fine and you'll only be annoyed by Ryanair's constant onboard announcements trying to sell you stuff. But if things do go wrong, Ryanair have no qualms whatsoever about leaving you stuck whereever the heck you are.

Other LCCs tend to take a slightly more customer-oriented approach. I would not hesitate to fly them. But with Ryanair there is always a certain risk of things going horribly wrong, causing you significant additional expense.

Of course, on the Rome-Paris route, you would still have options if things go wrong with Ryanair, but these would involve a very expensive last-minute, full-fare, one-way ticket on one of the major carriers (Air France or Alitalia).

I would recommend flying EasyJet from Rome to Paris, but be aware that EasyJet uses Paris Orly airport (ORY), while most intercontinental flights from Paris use Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) and you need to allow time for a transfer between them. I believe there are bus services between the two, for a fee.

I have flown EasyJet, Ryan Air, SkyEurope, and Wizz. I will shortly be flying Germanwings. The only problems I have had with delays or cancellations have been two flights on SkyEurope, but the airline handled those reasonably well.

My my choice is EasyJet because of their more lenient policy on carryon luggage. My last choice is Ryan Air, not from personal experience, but from the stories I read about them.

...be aware that EasyJet uses Paris Orly airport (ORY), while most intercontinental flights from Paris use Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) and you need to allow time for a transfer between them. I believe there are bus services between the two, for a fee.A couple of months ago we flew from ORY to BUD (on Skyeurope). I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by Orly airport.

It is much smaller than CDG and is actually closer to the heart of Paris. Transportation in and out of the city is relatively inexpensive and quick, and all the other hassles of a major international hub (security, customs, etc.) were minimized.

Yes, if you have to get from ORY to CDG to make a connection it could be a problem (but, of course, there are many ground transportation options), but if I were flying into ORY in order to spend some time in Paris I wouldn't hesitate for a second.

There isn't much between both companies but Easyjet have much friendlier staff and as already mentioned better luggage allowance. Ryanair have better punctuality though.

I would recommend flying EasyJet from Rome to Paris, but be aware that EasyJet uses Paris Orly airport (ORY), while most intercontinental flights from Paris use Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) and you need to allow time for a transfer between them. I believe there are bus services between the two, for a fee.

The RER B train also connects the two airports and would be my personal preference.

I have flown Ryanair a number of times now and after each trip I tell myself i am never going to fly them again, but for some reason I keep doing it. My first experience was from "Gatwick" to "Paris". The amount of connection time there was hardley worth it. Next I flew "Frankfurt" to "Milan" and back. It worked out ok but I had very long layovers on both ends. I live about an hour and a half away from the "Milan" (Bergamo) airport now. I flew "Milan" to "Amsterdam" and nearly missed my flights in both direction dues to trains/busses not arriving on time. It can be a pain to get to the little airports. The airports are far away from the major cities and it usually takes at least 2 hours to get to from the major city to the airport.

Ryanair is generally cheaper than Easyjet.

I was just looking into Milan-Amsterdam for March and Ryanair was going to cost 44Euro vs. Easyjets 135Euro. But when I compared the total cost flying Ryanair with getting to/from the airports and with travel time vs. the cost of Easyjet, Easyjet came out to be about 50Euros more expensive but it saved me 6 hours of travel and allowed for a full extra day in Amsterdam. Unfortunately I waited too long and the price of easyjet went up and it became cheaper for me to just fly KLM and ear some miles along the way.

So can anyone tell me why I still bought a Ryanair ticket from "Milan"-"Barcelona"? Oh yea, it was only 20Euros.


All in all I say you have to weigh the cost/time of the two carriers. I've never had a Ryanair flight cancelled on me but I have had some pretty sketchy landings.

Also note that I don't check bags, and if you do it costs 9Euros/bag.

Having flown with both airlines, I wouldn't hesitate using easyjet again, flight was civilised, clean and professional, and they fly to 'proper' airports.

Ryanair oth, it always felt like a dodgy bus service, you spend loads of money to get to remote airports, the buses that go to the airport are run by ryanair, many of the airports I've been to are no more than a shed with a runway (with few exceptions) but what tempts people is always the price.

whatever you do, always have a good travel insurance, I missed my flight from STN to PIK on ryanair once, the replacement flight was £180 inc tax, railway ticket was £80 :)

I have flown LCCs on numerous occasions (primarily EasyJet) with quite good success. However, they did leave me high and dry on a trip from LGW-SNN this summer which was only rectified by me shelling out significant money on a last-minute flight. And that is krux of this story. When all goes well on LCCs, you can pat yourself on the back for saving money. When things go wrong, you can often find yourself in big trouble, particularly if you are connecting onto a flight on a different ticket.

To illustrate this point, a colleague of mine got stuck in ADR (Rome's hub for LCCs) for 24 hours. Although the initial delay was weather-related, the airline (EasyJet?) was unable to get another plane into ADR for 24 hours because of flight scheduling issues. When she finally got to ORY, she had to shell out 100+ Euro to catch a taxi to CDG to catch a flight she had booked on a seperate ticket. Needless to say, it was a stressful 24 hours, it cost her significant money and she would have been SOL if she missed her flight out of CDG

Because of this, I would recommend looking at cheap flights on primary carriers as some of them are now beginning to offer fares comparable with the LCCs (BMI, SAS, SNS come to mind). The benefit of this is that most operate multiple flights a day to primary destinations (meaning you're less likely to get stranded) as well out primary airports (meaning your less likely to have to switch airports). If you select a carrier in the same alliance as the connecting flight, I would think you would have a reasonable chance of having the connecting flight modified in the event you get stuck at the original desintation.

Be careful. EasyJet may not notify you that a flight has been cancelled. I purchased tickets on EasyJet to fly from Paris to Milan on Christmas Day. The tickets were bought on September 28, 2006. On a hunch, I went back to their website on December 2 and noticed that the flight was cancelled. This was also the only flight of the day. I called EasyJet and they agreed to refund my money, but it took almost 6 weeks for it show up in my bank account. They sent out no email notification at all and my preferences were set to allow them.

The main problem with Pikeyair - sorry Ryanair - is the way they will screw every last bit of money out of you they can, often in ways that aren't obvious or which other airlines would consider civilised behaviour but they consider to be a money making opportunity

For example, they charge for checked luggage - but if you only have hand luggage then they'll "assist" you by slapping on a charge for Internet checkin and being able to board the plane first for which you've got to find the link to remove it.

If you are a family then the only way to virtually guarantee seats at the same end of the plane is to pay for the privilege.

Then you get to the end of the booking process and you pay by CC you discover that they charge a CC fee PER PERSON PER FLIGHT rather than one transaction charge for the whole booking.

I flew into Paris on Germanwings and it's the best LCC I've been on. I'd strongly recommend them.

As far as Easy vs Ryan, I'd go with EasyJet hands down. RyanAir is just depressing. EasyJet, I flew them from Athens to London and it was actually nice! And yes - the whole getting from Paris to Beavuax (sp?) to fly out on RyanAir sucks!

Ryanair are OK, I've flown on them 50 or more times and EasyJet at least a dozen times.

They aren't my favourite airlines, but when they do flights for < £10 and sell one way tickets without charging stupid prices (ie £500 like BA used to do) you can't complain. I feel a bit like I've been robbed when I've have had to pay £150-£200 for a seat though.

Watch out for all the hidden charges to check in bags, online checkin, credit card fee etc. Don't arrive late for check-in or they will refuse to board you and make you buy a new ticket.

Watch out for the airports they fly to, all the low cost airlines have a habit of flying to airports in the middle of nowhere. Factor in the cost/time of transfers against the fare.

If there is choice of airline, I'd pay up to £20 to fly on a non RyanAir/EasyJet flight but no more than that. If you are worried about getting service on board then spend £10 at a sandwich shop on the way to the airport and eat like a king when you are on the plane. :D

The good news is that Ryan Air are quite punctual and because the low cost airlines have a very fast 20-30 minute turn around for their planes you tend to get your bags quite quickly too.

Dunno where you are based but also consider Eurostar train....

I had no problems with EasyJet LIS-CDG last October, and will most probably use them again in the future. I'm sure you know this, but it's worth repeating that legacy carriers sometimes offer fares that are competitive with the LCCs and you should, as a result, use a fare consolidator to find cheap fares instead of automatically assuming that you'll get the best bargain with a LCC. Example: I ended up using BA on a LHR-LIS leg; LCC fares were equally expensive and less convenient (eg. departures from STN).

Wow, thanks everyone I will probably stay away from RyainAir unless the price is much lower than other alternatives. How about traveling to venice which LCC is the carrier of choice?

The only other LCC between Paris & Venice is Myair.

Have you considered the Sleeper Train (http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#Venice)?

Try http://www.skyscanner.net/ to compare low-cost airlines.

From London, I like BMI because they don't have RyanAir's baggage fees, and they fly out of Heathrow (which saves 8-10 GBP $16-20 in transfer fees).

Mitchell

Wow, thanks everyone I will probably stay away from RyainAir unless the price is much lower than other alternatives. How about traveling to venice which LCC is the carrier of choice?

One of the better kept secrets in European air travel is that on the major carriers you can often fly into one airport in a country and fly out of another airport in that country for the price of a normal roundtrip.

In your case, you can fly Paris-Venice/Rome-Paris for the price of a Paris-Venice-Paris flight. Check out www.expedia.com and use the "multiple destinations" search under the "Flights" tab to see what I mean. Depending on when you book, LCCs can definitely be cheaper, but I'm getting prices of 170 Euros return for CDG-Venice and Rome-CDG. Both flights serve the cities' main airport, i.e. Venice Marco Polo instead of "Venice" Treviso and Rome Fiumicino instead of Rome Ciampino, which can be a plus.

At the risk of repetition - avoid Ryanair at all costs.
Sometimes in life it's worth saying no - no matter how cheap the date is !
In my experience Easyjet have staff who can speak English and understand the meaning of civility.
They also have many more gay stewards which is always a good sign,I think !

If you're entertaining any sort of idea that you might use Ryanair to get you to a destination from where you need to make a connection or where you have anything to do that is time sensitive then please read first the horror stories that abound on the internet including my own (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-518017.html).
There are also many examples on the Skytrax site (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm) as well as the Ryanaircampaign (http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/) site.:(

I have found Ryanair to be ok, but difficult. I much prefer Easyjet. They seem friendlier and more professional. They are on time more. But Ryanair is cheaper.

However contrary to the general theme of the posts here, rest assured what I'm about to say is even more contrary to what I actually do in practise.

Ryanair, for all their hassles and quirks, does one thing and they do it very, VERY well. They get you from point A to point B for less than anyone else. Notwithstanding the fact that point A and B might not be anywhere near where you want to go they still do it, they advertise it, and it's critical to know about it, so this is why we read Flyertalk in the first place, eh?

Anyway, in my experience Ryanair is the most valuable when you want to go "somewhere" and you can get there in one hop from where you are (maybe two, but you're pushing it... more later). For example: I have a long weekend and can get to DUB the night before. This means I can get to Sweden for 20 euro. Sure, it means I have to go to Malmö, but I just want to get away, right? So I go to Malmö, and take a bus to Copenhagen. One flight, one bus, done. Same thing on the return. (compared to the 300 euro I spent to go to Oslo last time, it's a great deal).

Ryanair does one other thing marginally well, and that is to BE flight insurance. I had to get ORK-LHR last Christmas when LHR was shut down due to fog, but STN was still running. 1-cent Ryanair ticket + tax = 30 euro, which is nothing when the alternative is to miss the only seat for days on a transatlantic. I didn't even check in, since the Aerlingus flight factually took off, but it could have been a lifesaver for 30 euro.

Now, if you want to go to a specific place or are relying on a plane to do X so you can make a connection, don't use Ryanair. And if you need to connect somewhere, don't cut it close. In fact, if you need to connect somewhere, consider flying with someone else. I've seen a friend miss two Ryanair flights in a row because he relied on a tight bus-airport connection (to be honest, the first one was because of a security thing where they just cancelled his flight and 300 people rushed the ticket window to rebook). So if you're in a situation where you "need to be on this flight", you might want to hope that flight is with a different carrier.

So try to pick the flights that are going to run smoothly ;)

Anyway, if you have the time and have no problem playing by their rules, Ryanair can get you to some great places for basically nothing. They're clean-ish, comfortable (moreso than a park bench), you can meet some interesting people (like the guys on the way to Eindhoven who polished off a fanta bottle full of gin while we taxied out), and I hear it's nicer than a Cambodian bus. And if it's the choice between them and the bus, you know I'll take Ryanair... unless there's anything else available.

I have flown Easyjet from Glasgow to Nice and back from Madrid to Glasgow and found them to be quite efficient! I'd definitely fly them again!

At the risk of repetition - avoid Ryanair at all costs.
Sometimes in life it's worth saying no - no matter how cheap the date is !
In my experience Easyjet have staff who can speak English and understand the meaning of civility.
They also have many more gay stewards which is always a good sign,I think !
:td:...

Now I will tell you from experience that I have flown both more times than once. I prefer to fly easy jet over ryanair but some routes dictate ryanair. One time I was flying into Paris and booked a flight on ryanair via phone (when you could) later I was looking and studying other options and discovered that the flight apparently took off out of BVA instead of CDG as I had requested. I called them back, she said yes it flies out of CDG, I pointed out the website and all of a sudden it became BVA. I was irrate, my connection time was 1:25 which is not a problem at CDG but now changing airports it would not work.

She even had the gall to tell me that I could do the connection it was a short trip between airports. BS! I then said I wanted to cancel and she said no. I said wait I just booked this online about an hour ago with your company under a misrepresentation. She stated that there was nothing she could do. I would have to write the home office for a refund. Guess how far that went? Never answered! After six more letters, still no response!

So therefore it is my opinion that you fly easy jet over ryanair and ryanair when there is no other choice or a 40% or more savings. I have done Aerlingus for about the same money with FF miles :D

Press reports about Ryanair (http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/ryan-be-fair.cfm) and other issues concerning their employees

Or at least that is how the Guardian describes it this evening!
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2075788,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

Ryanair offering 10 million seats for £10 including taxes:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=07&month=may&story=gen-en-090507

Of course the downside is - you have to fly Ryanair! :D

Both Easyjet & Ryanair have just bought lots of shiny new planes - unfortunately they aren't getting the shiny new bottoms to sit in them.

Already this year some airlines have been consolidating schedules or cancelling them totally so it looks as if there's going to be some financial blood split.

Ryanair are just doing what the big boys in any industry do - reduce their prices to force everyone else out of business then once they have a monopoly they can up the prices.

BTW note that the prices Ryanair quote don't include baggage charges, CC fees or any of the other "optional" fees that they "helpfully" add to the price of your ticket, so - as always - check your booking VERY carefully before placing it.

Well its been said once. Its been said many times. And i'll add to it. Avoid RyanAir... and sometimes NOT the cheapest.

2 x BHX - DUB (Day) Returns on FR = £190... on EI = £180 (on a bank holiday sunday)

Yes. Its £10. £10 = a few pints of the black stuff in Temple Bar :D

I've suffered Ryanair before, and much as I like the fight to the seats, the inflight sales... and I'd avoid them.

Admittedly, the nicest LLC I've used is.. Germanwings. Unfortuantly... they pulled out and TUIFly/HLX moved in instead with a completly inconvient timetable....

Reading this thread makes me glad that I missed the cheap seats I was about to buy from STN to MMX. I'm flying to CPH on EasyJet now instead - granted that means a 40 minute train ride to get to Malmo, but I can spend some time in Copenhagen first.

I usually fly EasyJet or KLM within europe. The only reasons I was going for Ryanair were a)a friend swears by them to hop to and from Ireland, and b)they were 30 pounds cheaper....

Easyjet was just so much more comfortable than Ryanair!

I know you asked about the airlines, but why fly when the trains are great! Enh- if your gonna fly - fly Easy Jet. I haven't flown them (we used Hapag) but they seem to better regarded across parts of Europe, and in this thread.

I used to teach English abroad. The company would send us off to a school in a random country to teach for a week. We'd take over the normal curriculum and have an English week.

The company therefore had to send out 5 - 15 teachers out at a time to various places in Europe. These all revolved around LCC. Sometimes it'd be Ryanair, other times it'd be Easyjet.

The journey would be a joke most of the time. I was off to Vienna to teach for a week then another week in Gratz. Problem is, they didn't actually send us to Vienna, they sent us to Brataslava. I was so confused for that journey.

"Ich spiele tennis ...." I get a crazy look. I ignore them, seeing as I am talking a to a stranger in a different language I don't understand.

"At last we're in bloody Vienna". People smirk and I hear chuckling.

"You not in Austria". A moment of dread occurs as I plough through my notes on where i'm supposed to be.

Anyway, this company routinely sends hundreds of people out a year on quite short deadlines. After teaching at one school for a week, they sometimes arrange for you to teach in another country. You'd go from Vienna to Gratz to Rome and back to Vienna, all by overland train or an LCC.

The point which i'm not making very clear is, despite the aroma of a hotdog being microwaved for £4 filling the cabin, LCCs do work in getting you from A to B in a timely manner most of the time. YMMV.

Well, I flew EasyJet today, and apart from a delay in taking off because of some problem with a temperature sensor, things were OK. The staff provided drinks (albeit water due to customs restrictions) when requested and they were very polite and apologetic.

We arrived only half an hour later than expected - so they made plenty of effort to make up time, and my baggage arrived in one piece, for a change.

The flight was packed, but that's not suprising, and I'd happily use them again.

I have heard horror stories of people being on RyanAir flights on ultra-cheap fares... but then the flight gets cxld and RyanAir simply refunds the fare - leaving the pax stranded at a remote airport, and the only option being to purchase a last-minute fare to get back home. Has anybody here experienced such a scam? Does RyanAir still pull these stunts?

Also, am I correct in reading that RyanAir charges a fee to do online checkin? This seems just bizzarre, as online checkin is cheaper for the airline than in-person checkin.

How is RyanAir able to charge a fee for people to use their credit cards for payment??? I thought this was explicitly prohibited by the merchant agreements of Visa, MC, Amex, Discover, etc.

I have heard horror stories of people being on RyanAir flights on ultra-cheap fares... but then the flight gets cxld and RyanAir simply refunds the fare - leaving the pax stranded at a remote airport, and the only option being to purchase a last-minute fare to get back home. Has anybody here experienced such a scam? Does RyanAir still pull these stunts?

Also, am I correct in reading that RyanAir charges a fee to do online checkin? This seems just bizzarre, as online checkin is cheaper for the airline than in-person checkin.

How is RyanAir able to charge a fee for people to use their credit cards for payment??? I thought this was explicitly prohibited by the merchant agreements of Visa, MC, Amex, Discover, etc.

UK law was actually changed so that you CAN charge more for payment by credit card. Some small shops wanted to be able to do this as the card fees were high.

Yes, you pay for online checkin, for baggage, for any baggage over the (very very modest) weight allowance, all food and drink, priority boarding and the £4 each way per person credit card fee. It is likely that - when you add this together - you'd be paying about the same to fly BA, LH etc with free food and better baggage allowances, plus more convenient airports.

The usual policy if the flight is cancelled is that you are given the next available seat. However ... since Ryanair flights are usually 85%+ full, the next available seat is often 4-5 days away if you're at the back of the queue. Ryanair would NEVER send another plane to pick up passengers from a dud one. You either have to accept you're going to spending another 4-5 days in Biarritz or you make your own way home at your own cost by other means.

If you don't like it, don't book it.

I don't fly Ryanair if I have a choice, but they do fly to a lot of places where mainstream carriers don't go and, to give them credit, they have opened up huge amounts of Europe which were previously a flight-free zone.

Yes, you pay for online checkin
No you don't - you pay for airport check-in

see the list of charges (http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=CHARGES)

No you don't - you pay for airport check-in

There was a time when they did charge for online check-in - which is probably where the confusion comes from. They went from charging for online check-in (but not for airport check-in) to charging for airport check-in (but not for online check-in) from one day to the next some time last year.

I have flown all the discount "evils"...
Interestingly enough, the only airline to strand me on a regular basis this year was AF, and each time I was "on my own" and ended up flying Myair to Orly from Venezia. After three times, I moved over to Myair for my Paris flights, which is discussed on this thread.
Now, between EasyJet ad RyanAir- I much prefer EasyJet- it seems to be a more professional operation, and less chaotic than the good ol Ryan. This being said, for me last year and this year the Ryanair "Paris" basis at Beauvais was very convenient for me as I was working about 75 k from Beauvais with a client. Ryan never stranded me, but I was always a bit traumatized by their shocking and distressing blue and yellow interiors which are completely painful. EasyJet for me has been very good for service to LGW, although frequently their pricing is almost as high or higher than BA- depends on sched what is more convenient I guess unless you Upgrade to ClubEurope.
Cheers and Happy Flying- stick with EasyJet before moving to the nasty Ryan...

I have heard horror stories of people being on RyanAir flights on ultra-cheap fares... but then the flight gets cxld and RyanAir simply refunds the fare

There are stories of this happening, but it is probably less frequent than some would have you believe.

On a practical level, I would never fly Ryanair without an 'exit strategy' - make sure you know the other carriers which fly the route (including nearby airports) and how to get to and from the airport. Obviously, a route with one flight a week to a remote airport requires a different strategy to LON-DUB.

I just read the entire thread and didn't see an answer to this question.
Does Ryanair cancel flights arbitrarily, in other words, if the load factor doesn't match their profit goals will they cancel a flight?
I need to fly from one of the northern UK airports (Luton or Stansted) directly to Kaunas, Lithuania and Ryanair has a flight that leaves a near-perfect time for me....I'm willing to pay the baggage fees, suffer a groaty cabin, etc. but wouldn't like to be dumped by a carrier that flies when it's convenient (i.e. profitable).

I flew Ryanair on Thursday, had no choice. On landing awful triumphant music started playing, Ryanair congratulated themselves on another ontime landing, 90% of Ryanair flights arrive ontime, I don't disagree. The reason for 90% ontime is if there is a possibility of a delay Ryanair will just cancel the flight, leaving people stranded for days and days if there is no flight with available seats. When I heard the triumphant music I thought they were congratulating themselves on landing safely:D.

Go with Easyjet, it is much better.


I just read the entire thread and didn't see an answer to this question.
Does Ryanair cancel flights arbitrarily, in other words, if the load factor doesn't match their profit goals will they cancel a flight?
I need to fly from one of the northern UK airports (Luton or Stansted) directly to Kaunas, Lithuania and Ryanair has a flight that leaves a near-perfect time for me....I'm willing to pay the baggage fees, suffer a groaty cabin, etc. but wouldn't like to be dumped by a carrier that flies when it's convenient (i.e. profitable).

I flew Ryanair on Thursday, had no choice. On landing awful triumphant music started playing, Ryanair congratulated themselves on another ontime landing, 90% of Ryanair flights arrive ontime, I don't disagree. The reason for 90% ontime is if there is a possibility of a delay Ryanair will just cancel the flight, leaving people stranded for days and days if there is no flight with available seats. When I heard the triumphant music I thought they were congratulating themselves on landing safely:D.

Go with Easyjet, it is much better.

Unfortunately Easyjet doesn't fly to Lithuania

I just read the entire thread and didn't see an answer to this question.
Does Ryanair cancel flights arbitrarily, in other words, if the load factor doesn't match their profit goals will they cancel a flight?

Yes.

I have it on relatively good authority that, for example, the second-last DUB-ORK flight of the day has a very good chance of being cut and all passengers shuffled to the next flight in 2 hours, just because the plane isn't terribly full. Apparently, do not book that flight.

On the other hand, this is likely also a bit motivated by the fact that it's a short flight with high frequency, and a cut like that will not force people to stay extra days.

Not to say they won't arbitrarily cancel a flight or six (and I've seen it happen multiple times) but there's usually more than "it's not cost-effective". There's not a high chance they'll cancel it on the day because there aren't enough people booked. I've been on FR flights with 33 people, so it's not that they won't do a money-losing run.

I've been on FR flights with 33 people, so it's not that they won't do a money-losing run.
But the return flight might have been full

On a practical level, I would never fly Ryanair without an 'exit strategy' - make sure you know the other carriers which fly the route (including nearby airports) and how to get to and from the airport. Obviously, a route with one flight a week to a remote airport requires a different strategy to LON-DUB.

Good advice - always have an exit strategy, I always do the same when flying FR. I've been left for dead twice by FR - they closed the airport at Vasteras in the freezing snow and I was on my own (but found a hotel eventually). I read in Business Traveller or some such publication that whenever Ryanair has to hotel a plane load of passengers, "someone gets fired", such is their vehement denial of any rights under EU law EU261/2004 'Duty of Care'. Whether or not you agree Ryanair should look after passengers at times of bad weather etc., the law is the law - FR just choose to ignore it.

But the return flight might have been full

That was the last flight of the night, so I suspect it also had something to do with repositioning the plane, and it was a short one anyway.

There are stories of this happening, but it is probably less frequent than some would have you believe.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7607633.stm
But it's not Ryanair's fault, you get that? :rolleyes:

Easyjet are probably the best of the european low cost carriers, with a much better reputaion for reliability and and service than Ryanair.

Having used Easyjet many times without problems I would use them again.

Ryanair are in my opinion very much an airline of 'last resort' to be used only if there is no viable alternative. Other people may have different opinions.

I've flown both airlines once. Ryanair from Manchester to Dublin and back and Easyjet from Paris to Liverpool. Both were fine experiences. Easyjet was more civilized. Both got me to my destination fine and cheaply. The flight on Ryanair cost I think 16 pounds for me and my girlfriend and it would have been cheaper had I not had to pay an extra 3 each way to check in at the airport. Then not having to check bags was great too. If you're going for a short trip with not much luggage I think these airlines can be extremely cheap.

I haven't had a bad experience so I'd say yes to them.

I haven't had a bad experience so I'd say yes to them.

You've flown with them once and nothing went wrong so you think they're fine?

I used to fly with Ryanair quite a lot (for convenience, they're the only airline that flies to LBC), but gave up flying with them after too much had gone wrong - and some of those issues were safety issues.

Like cabin crew who don't share a common language with their passengers (you can read "would you like a scratchcard?" from a script, but what if you need to actually COMMUNICATE with passengers, especially in an emergency?). Like their cost-cutting policy of always trying to use the runway that is most closely aligned to where they are going to/coming from, as opposed to the one that is more closely into wind (landing with a tailwind on 1800m of wet tarmac and nearly running off at the end was the last straw for me)

I had quite a few Ryanair flights where nothing went wrong - but I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole now.

Avoid Ryanair.

There are plenty of other European low-cost airlines which offer reasonable fares, yet manage remain decent, civilized and unlike Raynair don't treat their passengers (and employees) like sh*t.
EasyJet, Germanwings, SkyEurope, Air Berlin...

Here's a classic example of how different the two airlines are.

Following the collapse of XL airlines:

Easyjet:
http://www.easyjet.com/EN/News/rescue_package_xl_airlines_passengers.html

easyJet rescue package for XL passengers
Following the announcement that XL Group has suspended all of its operations, easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, will offer those passengers stranded at their destinations, a special rescue fee of £75* to return home to the UK.

easyJet has made this offer available to any XL passenger due to travel inbound to the UK during the next seven days (offer available until 23:59 Friday 19 September).

To claim the exclusive £75 rescue package, passengers should call easyJet customer services on one of the numbers listed below. Passengers must provide the agent with their XL booking reference number and present their XL booking confirmation at check as further proof of booking.

*Includes all taxes and charges and one checked in bag up to a maximum of 20kgs. Excludes ATOL protected customers.

Classy!^

Ryanair:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=08&month=sep&story=gen-en-120908
Ryanair Brings Stranded XL Passengers Home

Ryanair, Europe’s leading low fares airline, today (12th September 2008), in response to their request, offered the CAA the use of one of its aircraft for the next two weeks in order to secure the return of stranded holidaymakers abandoned by the closure of bankrupt airline XL Airways. Ryanair is using one of its spare 737-800 aircraft to help the authorities in the UK and Ireland provide services for outgoing and returning passengers who have booked with the now defunct airline.

Commenting on the collapse of yet another bankrupt airline, Michael Cawley, Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, said:

“This is proof positive that passengers should not book their holidays with flaky, financially stretched airlines such as XL. Passengers should only book reservations with financially strong airlines such as Ryanair whom they know will be here for the long term. We are pleased to be able to rescue these passengers and facilitate the CAA in their efforts to repatriate them. We strongly advise passengers to be more discerning when they book their holidays and look first at the financial position of the airline with which they book”.

Unclassy!:td:

Says it all though! Also, Ryanair's press release about high fares following the demise of Futura...

NO ‘FUTURA’ IN HIGH FARES

Sheesh...