Not even on my list of worries, don't really need dog food on 90 min flights. You need food on long-haul, it is a total waste on any short flight.

It would make a difference, because more people would then turn up without boarding passes, which would slow down baggage drop, which Ryanair are trying to minimise anyway, and they'd have to pay Servisair or whoever for another hourly block or however they charge it. The knock-on effects would probably be more than that.

That could be true if you've got nothing else to do that day but, say you're dashing from your office to a meeting, someone is meeting you at the other end, then possibly the only time you can sit quietly and eat is on the plane. But that's why they have Boots Meal Deals in UK airports.

Other airlines are only cheap because Ryanair are cheap. When Ryanair put their fares up so do the others. Most are happy to mug the Ryanair haters for an extra tenner or 2 on the same route.
If you are a couple, jet2 may assign you seats at the opposite end of the plane to encourage you to pay extra.

Ryanair is conistently cheaper than Aer Lingus on the Ireland/UK route I use regularly.
The flight is always on time and the young staff friendly and efficient at what they do.
Both airline and staff make no pretence that they are anything other than a no-frills airline.
I have never,ever had a problem with FR but then I take the time to complete the online booking correctly.
Aer Lingus,however,still labours under the mistaken belief that it is a state carrier with arrogant staff attitudes and poor customer relations to match.
O'Leary has shaken up European air travel for good and tens of millions of people every year vote for them with their wallets.

Post-flight impressions: Very favorable
 

I have just completed two RyanAir flights intra-France. Here are my impressions.

RyanAir has a dual personality. It acts like Snidely Whiplash with its online sales pitches and its frightfully confiscatory fees at the airport. Yet when you travel with them you discover a family-friendly Dudley Do-Right.

First, the bare facts. I measured RyanAir's carry-on sizing bin (a steel cage) at 22 by 42.5 by 56.5 cm, significantly larger than the stated requirement of 20 by 40 by 55 cm. I was very pleased to see so much leeway being given. At one airport every bag was weighed at the entrance to the security checkpoint but I didn't see any bags checked for size. At the other airport no bags were weighed (there was no scale except at luggage check-in, where I weighed mine) but several were checked for size. Again, both these airports were in France. In other countries your experience may differ. However I would expect the sizing bin to be the same size as the one I measured.

I carried on 32-liter (20 by 29 by 54 cm) nylon bags I bought via ebay from a UK-based seller. I couldn't stuff enough into them to exceed 8 kg, far short of the 10 kg limit. Next trip I'll take the time to find a small roller bag because 8 kg gets kind of heavy without wheels.

RyanAir's seats do not recline but they are thick (unlike the new LH seats) and reasonably comfortable for a short flight. The seat pitch is acceptable, equaling or exceeding (for exit rows, greatly exceeding) the pitch in Southwest's new compressed Evolve interior. This was quite a pleasant surprise. By European coach standards, seating is roomy. All aircraft are 737-800's with 188 seats.

Children were numerous on my flights, which makes sense given that RyanAir's market is leisure travelers.

In the security line and at the gate, I noticed that almost everyone had a carryon of the correct size, significantly smaller than a standard roller bag. A few people seemed to have bags about 24 cm thick, but most bags were near the required 20 cm. These passengers seem to be very familiar with RyanAir and its rules. I made no special efforts to observe everyone, but I saw no instances of a passenger being charged extra for size or weight or absence of a printed boarding pass. Perhaps in France the RyanAir staff is not compensated according to penalty fees collected?

Based on this limited experience, I have to conclude that RyanAir's management is probably very nearly correct in stating that its high penalty fees are designed more to achieve behavioral results than to raise revenue.

On the other hand, RyanAir's non-punitive fees are set at reasonable levels. On my first flight only 3 people had bought priority boarding or a reserved seat. On my second flight I saw at least 10 priority boarders. I didn't buy that add-on and I don't recommend buying it. Most RyanAir travelers are in groups of 2 or 3, so the plane has plenty of good seats for all but the last boarders.

I now believe that RyanAir makes its money on its routine non-punitive ancillary fees (checked bags, priority boarding, and reserved seats) and on a mix of fares ranging from loss leaders to walk-up pricing. I would applaud RyanAir for bringing its penalty fees back to Earth, but now I see those fees as a minor character flaw rather than as a core feature of the airline.

My second flight boarded VERY early. When they say the gate closes 20 minutes before departure, they really mean it. They closed the aircraft door 18 minutes before scheduled departure. Keeping ahead of schedule when possible is crucial for a point to point airline with thin routes and no backup fleet.

On board, food and beverage service was lightning fast because nothing is free and almost nobody buys anything -- including the electronic cigarettes (60 Euros a pack!) and the raffle tickets (the proceeds of which go to charity). The food offerings were priced reasonably, which makes sense when you consider that they compete with similar airport offerings when the flights are short.

Finally, I'd like to illustrate the value of FlyerTalk. I learned here that many RyanAir passengers avoid the exit row seats, incorrectly believing them to be reserved for people who paid extra. (The Reserved Seat markings at the top of the seat promote this behavior.)

I was able to score exit row seats on both my flights, even boarding in the last 15% or so of a 95% full flight. It helps that when boarding from both ends, the exit rows are the farthest from the entrance. Seat pitch in the exit row is enormous, at least 10 inches more than in the regular rows.

My wife was very favorably impressed by the efficiency and convenience of RyanAir's operation. Small airports are great. Yes, some of RyanAir's policies are unreasonably inflexible and draconian, but if you make the effort to comply you will have a good trip and a very inexpensive one. Getting there cheaply can be an important part of a fun vacation.

Nice report.

Nice report, from your two flights.

Only two flights, but consistent with my experience of many more, as well as having employees fly Ryanair quite often (because it's the only option).

Note that "Ryanair staff" is a misnomer at all but their hub airports. Ryanair use contract check in providers such as Servisair, for limited time periods, another reason why they can't just extend check-in times at a customer's whim.

:-: Excellent :-: report ^ ^ ^

Thanks for taking the time and getting back to us.

EmailKid

Very pleased it all went well for you.That has always been my experience.
You followed the formula for a trouble free flight and its no surprise that it all went well.
Their business is about putting bums on seats and they will not achieve this without keeping most of their passengers happy.
The plan over the next five years is to add an extra 30 million passengers, bring their total up to an incredible 110 million pa.

Just been looking at flights,Edin to Alicante for Oct . £66 rtn. Crazy

Really? That definitely used to be the case but when I board now they generally have reserved signs on them and a member of the cabin crew standing there telling people not to sit in them.

Did you approach them when most people had already boarded and it was obvious they were going to be empty?

Glad to hear that it all went ok! And great to get so much feedback from you :)

I would just like to add a few things of my experience to this:
This depends on the airports, I don't often get my bag both weighed and measured on Ryanair flights, only one of the two. I do guess that the sizing bin are standard as they all look the same (and am quite surprised also that they are larger than there requirements!)

This also happens regularly, if the plane arrives early and they can take off early, then they will try and make the most of it, and take off as soon as they legally can if they are ready (that is why it is important to be there on time for boarding, and not just a bit before take off). This is very route dependent though, on a lot of routes it does not happen (On some routes they seem to plan excessive time to plan for delays, I often arrive about 30 minutes early from Beauvais to Göteborg, so the return will always be on time, if not early).

although I have never bought them, I think that you the electronic cigarettes are 6€ not 60€ ;)

The exit rows and reserved rows of seats are blocked during the boarding process. If the flight is too full, then at the end of the process they will allow anyone to sit there to speed up the process (as filling every single empty seat is very time consuming). I have also managed to get an exit row seat boarding almost last, but failed to get a first row seat boarding at the start on a 100% fully booked plane (all seats were sold, but a lot of empty seats were on the plane by people not flying their tickets).

And thanks again for sharing your experience

Would you mind clarifying which 'intra-France' routes you took?

I would second the opinion that the sensitivity of the ground handling varies widely from airport to airport. A family member held a seasonal job for Ryanair ground staff in the UK a couple of years ago and there are targets and bonuses for correctly identifying and rectifying outside/overweight cabin baggage. I have also had EXCELLENT ground handling service at FKB.

For a pack of 10?

With only 3 people in the Priority Boarding category, I think that wasn't necessary. Buying a reserved seat gets you Priority Boarding, correct?

On my other flight I boarded near the end. Both front and rear stairs were in use. The plane filled up from the front and the back toward the middle. People just took the first seat. The exit rows were among the last to be occupied.

BVA sized some bags but weighed none of them. CCF weighed every bag but sized none.

It's beyond stupid to have inconsistent enforcement when you intend to charge confiscatory fees for minor overages. You don't maximize revenue AND you infuriate customers who expect leniency and suddenly don't receive any. If O'Leary really intends to modify passenger behavior, his first step would have to be to ensure that enforcement is consistent. Right?

as with all things Ryanair - read the small print!
It's been a while, but the last time I checked the writing there was only some undisclosed amount that actually goes to charity.