Budget Travel - Any good reason to pay 30-50 Euros more for EasyJet vs. Ryanair?

I am looking at some Ryanair and EasyJet fares in September for Madrid-UK and return.

I have flown both Ryanair and EasyJet in the past, without complaint. But my experience with EasyJet is much more recent.

Is there any specific reason why it is worth 30-50 Euros more to fly with EasyJet versus Ryanair on these routes? I know everyone likes to criticize Ryanair, but I'm not sure how much quality differentiation there can be on a budget flight with no food/beverage service and little legroom. I know that Ryanair (rarely) cancels flights, but so too does EasyJet.

I had flyed with both back in 2007 and I will probably just go with the cheaper fare.
However, it was old experience. Not sure what they changed in these two years.

Since both have different fees for luggage, check-in etc, be careful when comparing different prices. Otherwise there is not much difference (from my point of view, you have a little bit more room on easyjet, however for such a typical short flight, this should be no big deal)
757DUD

Don't know about UK-Madrid routes, but Ryanair tends to fly to more remote airports which could affect the time and cost of reaching the center of town. At 30-50 euros more you might even be able to find non-LCC carriers like BA or IB instead of EasyJet...

Are you travelling with checked baggage?

Are you 100% sure that you will be able to print your own boarding pass for both flights?

The answers to these questions could make a lot of difference

Yes, I'll be able to print my boarding pass.
I will have 1 piece of checked luggage.

Don't know about UK-Madrid routes, but Ryanair tends to fly to more remote airports ...Only partially true. In the case of MAD, they use MAD.

The OP doesn't give his/her routeing. Perhaps more relevant would be his/her UK destination. If FR and EZ use the same UK airport, I'd probably go for the cheaper all in fare, i.e. including all relevant charges, though acknowledging that EZ is several steps superior to FR in customer experience.

There were some pluses and minuses to choosing various UK airports, but in the end I decided to use London airports.

Ryanair turned out to be the best choice in terms of schedules and fares and airports. I decided to use Stansted on the outbound, because I wanted to go to Cambridge from Stansted Airport, and that is very convenient. For the return, it didn't matter so much which airport, but Stansted turned out to have the most convenient time.

Both ways, I got Ryanair 0++ fares. With luggage and credit card and check-in fees, the roundtrip fare for MAD-STN turned out to be 90.64 Euros. EasyJet looked to be about 114 Euros (not sure if any other fees would have come along after that), but not so convenient times and airports for what I specifically wanted.

Maybe I should have considered longer, but I didn't think the airfares would get any cheaper.

The only Madrid-London route which Ryanair and easyJet both fly is Barajas-Gatwick. Ryanair also flies Barajas-Stansted and easyJet Barajas-Luton.

I have flown from London to Madrid on both carriers and would choose Ryanair even if both carriers' fares were the same.

Ryanair punctuality for me has been better (although my last two flights on easyJet were on time). I prefer the Spanish-based Ryanair cabin crew (not all of whom are Spanish, by the way) to those of easyJet. But perhaps more importantly, boarding a Ryanair flight is generally more pleasant, especially at airports which have clearly marked lines for "Priority" and "Non-Priority". In comparison, boarding an easyJet flight can be a truly ghastly experience particularly when one has to fight through the "group B" passengers to board.

So, no, there is no good reason to pay more to fly easyJet (in my opinion).

Other than the obvious with checked bags, a less obvious thing to check when comparing is the cost of getting to/from the airport. Given that you are actually flying into MAD, it isn't salient to this discussion, but with many airports you will find that it is as cheap or cheaper to go with a flag carrier.

Also bear in mind Stansted is a long long way out of London compared to Heathrow and there are a whole host of cheap fares with more reputable airlines than Ryanair

Also bear in mind Stansted is a long long way out of London compared to Heathrow and there are a whole host of cheap fares with more reputable airlines than Ryanair

The original poster was interested in Madrid-London. Apart from Ryanair and easyJet that leaves BA (to LHR, LCY and LGW), Iberia (to LHR) and Air Comet (LGW). None of these has fares which, generally speaking, will match Ryanair. As far as the total cost is concerned, much will depend on where your final destination is. For many Heathrow would be a more expensive choice, especially considering that many of the highest fares to Madrid are from LHR.

but once you add the rip off costs of getting into Cambridge from Stansted plus the hours of time you just might find a real airport in London might be worth paying to fly to and using a good bus service. Also bear in mind that the time it takes to get your luggage at Stansted is about the same time it took you to fly there !!

Some of the information here is preposterous!

Please compare Heathrow to Cambridge with Stansted to Cambridge. Is there a train from Stansted to Cambridge? Yes, approx 30-45 minutes journey time. Is there a train from Heathrow to Stansted. No, most transport other than taxi means several changes and heaven knows how much time.

How far is Cambridge from Stansted? How far is Cambridge from Heathrow?

I have only had baggage problems at LHR.

Gosh! :( Honestly!

You may not like STN (or FR or EZ), but there is really no need to post rubbish.

but once you add the rip off costs of getting into Cambridge from Stansted

The train journey from STN to Cambridge takes 37 minutes and the fare is GBP 9.00

just try getting the fare ??? I just went online and it quotes 54 pounds

just try getting the fare ??? I just went online and it quotes 54 pounds:confused:

Which fare are you referring to?

I think bizclassboy is talking about Stansted Airport to Cambridge.
But if you go to nationalrail.co.uk, you will see all the fares are 9 pounds.

I am looking at some Ryanair and EasyJet fares in September for Madrid-UK and return.

I have flown both Ryanair and EasyJet in the past, without complaint. But my experience with EasyJet is much more recent.

Is there any specific reason why it is worth 30-50 Euros more to fly with EasyJet versus Ryanair on these routes? I know everyone likes to criticize Ryanair, but I'm not sure how much quality differentiation there can be on a budget flight with no food/beverage service and little legroom. I know that Ryanair (rarely) cancels flights, but so too does EasyJet.

easyJet are much more transparent in their fares, however they still charge for luggage.

Ryanair fares may appear cheaper, but they charge more for luggage, credit card fees, check-in etc.

For me though, Ryanair are by far the more punctual airline. If both airlines fares and schedules were similar, I'd still go with easyJet. They are by far the nicer of the two.

Ryanair are only the more punctual of the two airlines under discussion because they build wider flying time margins into their scheduling. And with EZY at least you are spared those blaring trumpets ......................

I use both Ryanair and easyJet between Stansted and Alicante and have found no "wider flying time margins" on Ryanair. Scheduled times for both airlines are exactly the same.

Are there any routes on which Ryanair's scheduled times are longer than easyJet's?

Are pax still allowed both a the cabin bag and a handbag/laptop_bag on EZ?

EasyJet says this:

Save where the limits set locally are more restrictive, passengers are permitted one standard piece of hand baggage to a volume limit of 55x40x20cm (including wheels and pockets) (“Standard Hand Baggage”). It must fit without force into the gauges provided at check-in or departure gates. No weight restriction applies within reasonable limits — i.e. a passenger must be able to place the piece of luggage safely in the overhead storage bins without assistance.

In addition to the “Standard Hand Baggage” you may also carry:
(a) one of the following: An overcoat; an umbrella, or a shawl; and
(b) one standard size carrier bag of goods purchased from the departure airport.


Other than for the fact that Ryanair does not specifically allow (a) or (b), I think the rules are otherwise the same for Ryanair and EasyJet. Ryanair does not mention coats, shawls, or umbrellas on their page, but you could easily just wear these items or stick the umbrella in your hand luggage.

I took Ryanair for MAD-STN and STN-MAD and had no problems either way. There is no bright, clear sign leading non-EU people to the right place to get their documents checked, so this is a bit of a nuisance to figure out. Also, I made the luggage requirements for checked and hand luggage, but I underestimated how much having a laptop and peripherals and overdoing the hardcover books this time would make that more difficult.

Glad all went well. I fly both EasyJet and Ryanair and usually choose on price and flight times, not carrier.

i'll simply advice you easyJet, more sure, lower risk I think

If both offer the same route MAD-LGW and the price difference is what you state, pick Ryanair any day!!! They will both charge you to check in a bag, they will both charge you for everything up in the air. So, the difference comes to checkin in, as Easyjet will let you get to the airport without a boarding pass, and print you one for free and Ryanair will not. I am at the moment an avid user of Ryanair on MAD-STN, as in August I did MAD-LGW with Easyjet and August, September, october, november and december, I flew and will be flying Ryanair on MAD-STN and MAD-LGW as they price it cheaper. For me, any extra saving goes to the hotel in London, as I can book a really nice hotel with Hilton Visa Signature promo (75 pounds including buffet breakfast) and enjoy two or three days at the City. Some other times, I just conect to other Ryanair destinations to visit friends.

Pick the cheaper and enjoy the savings in UK. Seat prices in an airline on short and medium haul, work as a commodity being sold. You just buy the cheaper one, as their is almost no difference, because all of the airlines will take you where you want to go on time and safely.

i'll simply advice you easyJet, more sure, lower risk I think
Lower risk in what way?