The Ryanair experience....
 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=985_1392881383

Firmly cements my policy to never fly that piece of trash airline. PAX appear to handle it quite well by the looks of the video. Feel for the staff... having to defend policy which is nothing short of scandalous. I suppose if they side with PAX, they are fired.

Unfortunately, people are willing to pay for FR.

I do - a few times a year. It's always been alright, particularly if you pay the extra for an assigned seat in the front row (you often get it to yourself, your locker space is usually reserved, and you get priority boarding - not that you need to be on early anyway).

They fly from an airport half an hour away (as opposed to an hour and a half) and I fly them when they take me to small regional airports I actually want to go to. And they're usually much more punctual. So I'll generally save 3-4 hours by flying them. Which makes it all worthwhile - even more so if you live away from London.

Very willing to accept that they are extremely poor in IRROPS, but then, I can tell you some pretty awful stories about BA, KLM and pretty much all of the US-based airlines in that regard!

I'm sure FR are fine in when everything's going to plan, but if this is what the 'new' Ryanair is like in IRROPS at one of their home bases, I think I'd rather still avoid them.

Presumably the passengers are due their EU261/2004 compensation for the delay, but is there any redress for the apparent complete lack of duty of care by the airline?

(also, would having a US-style Tarmac Delay Plan have been any help here?)

So they're flying a budget airline with adverse weather conditions around and have probably paid €29.99 for their tickets which is why they're on one of the last flights out of STN.What do they expect ?

I've lost count of the number of times I've flown FR without any problems at all. Consistently the cheapest and most punctual airline across the Irish Sea. For what it's worth I've been on plenty of rubbish BA flights and suffered long delays without much help from staff.

If they want to be cossetted and given free stuff when crap happens pay full fare.

I find it difficult to comprehend your feelings for Ryanair.

I have flown Ryanair many, many times (up to 50 sectors per annum) and can recommend the airline. Good crews, safe, reliable, punctual and excellent value.

For context (in case anyone may think my positive view is due to not ever travelling on other airlines and therefore not having anything to compare Ryanair with), the vast majority of the rest of my air travel is in first and business classes with BA and Emirates'.

I've read enough Ryanair horror stories to be convinced they are not an airline I want to do business with. So, what are the opinions of Aer Lingus, are they any better?

I've never flown Ryanair, but it's clear that a reputation has built up around the airline (fostered by many blogs and travel sites such as FT) that it is an unpleasant flight experience. In the US, Southwest had this reputation as well for many years (and, in fact, still is no favorite of the bloggers). I have had experiences on Southwest that appear similar to yours on Ryanair that make me suspect that some aspects of FR's reputation are blown out of proportion and that for many routes that it serves, it is a serviceable mode of transportation. I would also suspect that Ryanair's flaws, similar to Southwest's, are more noticeable the longer the flight or the less direct the route.

Several posts in this thread would certainly make me consider FR if the need ever arose.

FR is ok if you travel with the understanding that it will be expensive (so many extra fees), you will be cramped, and you will be sold things incessantly. For some routes, however, it's worth paying what I call the FR premium in extra fees and discomfort in order to arrive much closer to one's destination.

I used to do this quite frequently when travelling to DNR, for example, as it was so much more convenient than flying to Paris and then taking a train. As long as one's expectations aren't too high, FR is usually fine.

Never flown Ryanair as I'm US-based and when I travel to Europe it's usually to major destinations (LON in particular).

As to EI, I've only flown them across the Atlantic, but I've found them to be absolutely fine. I'd go as far as to say they were on a par with BA, although perhaps with older planes. While they do have a reputation as moving towards an LCC model, I didn't really see evidence of that from their long-haul product. I was more than satisfied.

80 million passengers a year seem perfectly happy with Ryanair who also own 25% of Aer Lingus. Of the two I'd rate FR every time for punctuality,price and modern fleet.
EI have all the attributes of a LCC but without the prices.

:confused: Sure you get what you pay for, but being treated like a human being and with dignity shouldn't depend on the price of your ticket (not mentioning that probably 10% paid 29 and the other ones much much more). Getting a cup of water or some aircon on board after many hours is not "being cosseted", it's actually a legal obligation/AND SOME FREAKING COMMON SENSE
The Ryanair attitude is totally unacceptable (and it's not limited to Ryanair, but they're an extreme case), no matter how cheap the ticket was. The problem is how they train their staff and pressure them (with menace of firing), so that in the end they lose all common sense out of fear of what their hierarchy will reproach them with. They do it with FAs, gate agents, pilots, and it's endangering people's lives (fuel reserves issue for instance...). It's a scandal, no matter how cheap the ticket, and no matter what advantages they offer (supposedly being more often "on time").

I've flown then four times and all flights went without a hitch. Considering I only paid something like a £1 for each of the flights it's no wonder my opinion is good.
However that was a long time ago so things might have changed especially the extra add on costs which didn't seem to be so much in evidence back then. The only regret I have about Ryanair is the fact that they weren't around when I was a young financially embarrassed backpacker.

I would never pay big bucks to fly with them but would if the price was reasonable enough.

We fly RyanAir often back and forth to Lithuania, and, as everyone has said, you get what you pay for. Rarely do we pay more than 75 euros a head though, and we know to expect absolutely nothing. With Ryanair you just need to be ready for the tricks (I'm amazed the currency exchange fee one is even legal). Still when you add it up it's just a cheap flight, nothing more, and you pray for no IRROPS.

Funny but pathetic story - I elected to take Ryanair to one of my client sites last year as it was a nonstop flight to this remote destination and cheap. I probably paid about 30 euros for the ticket. You can guess the punchline - my AP department wouldn't reimburse the cost for months because I bought the ticket on my own (Ryanair isn't in their system), and I couldn't prove that on the day of travel I couldn't have gotten a cheaper ticket through a legacy carrier, even though I had correspondence with my travel department beforehand. B*tards.

I have flown Ryanair regularly. My daughter, S-I-L and grand kids live in County Galway. The airline often makes the most sense on schedule price etc. I have NEVER had a problem with them since I firts flew with them in the eraly 2000s. I have done BPL-DUB, LPL-SNN, MAN-SNN, LPL-NOC. They are safe and low cost and reasonably reliable. I would fly with them in a heartbeat tomorrow.

And there's the rub.
All these so called horror stories about Ryanair basically stem from the fact that some numpties are still unable to access their website,follow the clearly stated T & C's,print off a boarding card,pack hand luggage within the clearly defined limits and present themselves at the check-in desk.