But it does make you think whether you actually *need* checked baggage. A short trip can easily be done using a suitcase that fits within the maximum dimensions.

In terms of food, many people make a picnic at home (or buy something from a supermarket) and have that on the plane. Things like sandwiches, crisps, cereal bars, chocolate and fruit all go through security with no hassle whatsoever.

I would say "no longer deserve" as they have improved quite a lot but generally agree with the substance of what has been said.
Ryanair are reliable and consistent. As long as you do not expect rules to be waived for you, they are perfectly OK in a get-what-you-pay-for kind of way. The remarks about " the constant selling of food, lottery tickets, bus tickets (or was it train?), duty free, you name it" strike me as rather out of date too. Announcements are nowhere near as intrusive as they used to be.
The only thing which could be more of an issue is, as somebody else mentioned above, irrops handling. OTOH, FR tend to be reliable and irrops fairly infrequent with them.
I certainly would have no qualms whatsoever in using FR and do it occasionally.

There could be a third factor which is comparative cost of reaching the airport but none of these have any relevance for DUB-AMS, since the alternative will be EI, where bags and food will have to be paid extra and the airports used are identical.

It is worth noting that having to pay extra for baggage on lowest fares is becoming pretty much standard on an increasing number of European carriers. Conversely, you can also buy fares which are luggage, fast track, priority-boarding and preferential seat assignment inclusive on LCCs, including FR.

As to food, there is always the possibility of buying something at the airport, which will typically offer greater choice and value (even with airport-inflated prices) than anything on-board. Personally, I would not regard the extremely basic catering offered by most full service carriers on flights other than long flights (3.5+ hours) as a deal killer but to each their own.

Yes, I have flown FR, but it has been two years and I swore I would never do it again. My routings are to/from Spain and the passengers have always been a bit rowdy, even at the crack of dawn. Maybe I'll try it out purchasing priority boarding along with my noise-cancelling headset and see how it goes.

Nothing wrong with FR these days. They will never be my favourite airline and I will only pay so much to fly them ( has to be cheap ) but having taken a few flights recently I really could not fault them. All flights on time and landed early. Crew pleasant enough albeit a bit amateur. I say that as on my last flight it took 2 crew to work out the difference between EUR/STG when a guy was paying some in Euro and some in STG.

Seats ok but on anything longer than 90 mins I would certainly pay for an Exit row.

Priority boarding well worth it. Buy on board over priced and hot food nothing to write home about and that is being polite.

If the fare is cheap enough and the times suit then go for it. ^

I went ahead and just booked a LH/LX flight VLC-DUB since it is in my alliance. The price was only 30 euros more than Ryanair w/priority seating. Not direct, though.

Sometimes if there is only that much between them I go for the legacy carrier also even if its not direct. ^

Correct.

Booked far out, FR is consistently cheaper than legacy carriers by a significant margin: at least, on the routes I fly. Within a few weeks, or days :eek:, of departure that can change.

Where the margin is only slightly in FR's favour I'll go for the legacy, but only if the schedule/airport combination works.

Not entirely sure why food is a must on short-haul flights: if it's to keep the kids happy you could get some treats at an airport shop. On my travels I'm amazed to find I suddenly I can live without the G&T on FR that I'd get for free on BA...

As for paying for checked-in bags - adapt or pay :D

I would agree, if you have the luxury of scheduling that far out in advance. Since my trips in Europe are usually 1-4 days, I can get by with my carry on and not check luggage in. I'm going to try them again in a couple of weeks with the wife and daughter, BCN-FCO. Will report back how it went.

For many of my trips for both work and leisure, FR (and W6) offer better schedules, to airports closer to my final destination than big hubs. I don't mind too much.

The G&T's you mention are a big factor in another way, dare I say it. Flying FR/W6 9 times out of 10, your tenth flight in J on a legacy carrier suddenly feels like a lot of luxury, even in euro style business!

I don't think FR (or W6) are particularly bad, but to me it always serves as a remainder to enjoy (and appreciate!) all other flights and the gin tonics and champagne to the fullest :)

Good way of looking at it. I certainly do enjoy going back to a legacy carrier after U2 and FR flights, but a lot of them are not much better than U2 and FR these days and do a poor job of imitating them: think SN, SK, LO, OK among others. The problem with U2 and FR is I just don't like the "feeling" onboard. But the onboard "feeling" is much worse on 4U, in my opinion.

Flew BCN-FCO r/t with my wife and daughter. Front bulkhead seats 2DEF both ways. Observations:

*Visa check was a hassle--even though we have EU visas (US passports), we had to get our tickets stamped--long line and only one attendant.

*Boarding was a madhouse in both directions. No priority boarding, just a general cattle call. Ground staff obviously stressed.

*Lots of oversized luggage being brought on board, and I mean huge--22" and over.

*Seat width is TIGHT. I'm 5'10" and 180 with a 34" waist but mercy they really cram you in that chair!

*Uneventful flights--noticed they have changed the "landing tune" to a full band rather than the trumpets (which I kind of missed).

*Not one of the very professional crew was Irish. Just found that interesting.

*Those crazy Spaniards loved buying those lottery tickets! No one won as far as I know.

Suggestions:

*Have two separate lines for priority and regular pax. Actually let priority board the bus/plane first.

*designate a section for pax with young children/lap babies. I had a mom with a lap baby right behind me on the return and that little one kicked my seat the whole time.

This does happen, it's just the ground staff don't always tell you this. At the front of the boarding gate, there should be a blue metal "cage" for measuring hand baggage (rarely used these days). At the top, there will be a sign that says "Priority Q" on the left and "Other Q" on the right - these designations are no longer printed on the online boarding pass (unless you use the legacy website). The theory is that passengers with Priority Boarding queue from the left and everyone else from the right. If this doesn't happen, a passenger with priority boarding would be well within their rights to jump the queue as they have paid to do this.

They had the sign out, and we were waiting near the front--but in both BCN and FCO they had the "Priority Q" side cordoned off, and only the "Other Q" side open. Once they called for boarding, it was a massive pigpile with both priority and non scanning at that one lane. At FCO, they were boarding a group of students, when I said "Priority?" they said "group first!" Again, the staff was stressed so I didn't push the issue.

^ I perhaps would not have said fantastic but I have had zero issues with them and taken 20+ flights with them. All you say above is correct. I use them LPL-NOC and also into SNN and even took their old BPL -DUB flight.