As for the question on Ryanair vs. easyJet:

Ryanair is ULCC, easyJet is more of a traditional LCC. Ryanair is a bit more restrictive when it comes to hand luggage, its IRROPS handling is less customer-friendly, and it relies more on low-fee airports in non-central locations (e.g., Ryanair flies to BGY, easyJet to MXP; Ryanair relies primarily on STN in LON and SXF in BER, whereas it's LGW in LON and TXL in BER for easyJet).