One more question for the panel on this Nimes to Luton ticket idea. Unlike the many situations where someone uses Ryanair despite the remoteness of the airport, in my situation, the flight is in just the right place at the right time.

However, I noticed in Ryanair's T&Cs that they can move the flight time by up to three hours, with no refund. Such a change could blow the whole deal for me. Anyone know how often they change the flight times? Also, is there a point at which they would be very unlikely to change a mid-July flight time?

Well, that isn't too bad. You are welcome to check the BA board for an example of an airline that moves flights days away giving no real refund (I mean what good is a refund 5 days before your long-haul flight? You more often than not can't find reasonable fares).

I have travelled a few times on Ryan air and regretted it on most occasions. Their main London base is at STN> Even in that part of the airport, it's like entering some Russian 1970's airport. It is so depressing. The staff could not care less and always look so tired. This carries on to the flight. Cramped plane. Seats Ok. Uncaring staff. Rip off food/drinks. Secondary airports. Middle of nowhere (Remember when they were trying to pass of Malmo as Copenhagan!).
The worst thing is the amount of time it can take for baggage to come off. Once it took an hour at STN.
In comparison, I think that Easyjet is absolutely fine. You know that they are a LCC. But the planes are clean, staff are friendly and airports are the real ones - not 90 miles away.
A few observations:
I think it is now so competitive between the LCCs and full service airlines that very often it is pot luck whic airline will actually be cheaper.
Some full service airlines now offer a low cost service within Euope(Ib, EI)
Finally, ryanair have often tried to compare themselves to Southwest airlines. they built their model on SW. However, I have flown on Southwest and nothing could be further from the truth. SouthWest are great. They have comfortable seats, good legroom and friendly staff. Everything that Ryanair isn't

Any more comments/thoughts all ? Excellent feedback so far

A friend of mine travelled with Ryanair recently and she didn't check what the baggage rules were. Needless to say when she turned up at check-in she was hit with an excess baggage charge that cost more than her flight!

And I guess you've heard that FR has openly said that they don't care about the new EU-legislation. Hence still now service etc. in case of delays.

Source??

As you yourself point out this is legislation not simply guidelines, they opposed them at every step but the rules are now in force and they have no choice but to comply or face severe repercusions.

I can't remember where I read it and tried to search now. However, instead I found one article saying that FR will honour the new rules and another article saying that Ryanair still will not offer food or drinks in case of delays. Link in swedish Perhaps someone else is better in searching?

A couple friends and I easyjetted and ryanaired a bit a couple years ago. Considering what it cost and the fact that is was a short flight, it was good enough. Needless to say, it is not going to be the highlight of your trip. But it is quicker than a train.

777 Global Mile Hound

"I'm with GodOspoons when it comes to wanting to pay a little more for the better quality roomier carrier.
And usually you can solve problems a bit better when they happen."

... with all due respect, but, GodOspoons seems to be under the impression that Ryanair only charge 10-20% less than main line carriers, If you check out the fares, you will see that the differential is a LOT more than that.

I have flown with Ryanair on many occasions, and to be honest (and maybe I am lucky) I hve never had a bad experience..maybe its because, I know that I am not going to be pampered, I know where I am flying to, I know its cheap and sometimes free...

I would say %90 of the time, Ryanair fares are excellent value for money, if people want service etc ertc, why not pay the extra and fly with others, I really do not understand why people keep on complaining about Ryanair, yet keep flying with them

As to the arguements about the exact places that they fly to....ask yourself these few questions......

How far is it from..
LONDON Heathrow to London
Paris CDG to Paris
Milan Malpensa to Milan
Rome FCO to Rome

I have no doubt all the begrudgers will be up in arms at the thoughts of "anyone" supporting Ryanair

RYANAIR is not that bad- it depends where you are flying from/to. I have used RYANAIR for business- as have several of my colleagues- and it is OK. The nightmare of a flight op issue has been dealt with through the EU- and RYANAIR is complying with it. BTW, flight op issues with AF, AZ, and even BA are not always dealt with very well- that is just the way it is. You would certainly never want to do a long-haul with them- but for a 90 minute point to point (ie Treviso to STN or Treviso to Rome)- it is a far better option than connecting through another airport. I fly most frequently from VCE to LGW on BA or VCE to LHR on BD- it is more comfortable- but sometimes the fare spreads can be outrageous- for example, two weeks ago the RYANAIR price was 19.99 EUR each way. BA was 245 EUR each way. 500 frequent flyer points and a lounge is not worth 490 EUR vs 19.99. Worst case scenario- I end up buying the dreaded walkup fare ticket at LGW to return- I will still be ahead.

On the other hand, from:

London Stansted to 'London' 45 minutes on the Stansted Express
Orio al Serio to 'Milan' 1 hour and 10 minutes via bus/train

For a start, there's never such a thing as a free flight, as taxes, charges and booking fees are always added at the end. Secondly, Ryanair's fares may be excellent value if you're prepared to fly at the crack of dawn or at other unsociable hours, indeed, on routes which Ryanair compete with the traditional carriers, I have found Ryanair's fares to be substantially higher for travel at weekends or on popular dates than those of the traditional carriers. And their lack of customer service when things go wrong is enough to make sure I 'll never set foot on one of their planes.

Yes, the reason why people continue to travel with Ryanair is because in some cases no other carrier(s) serves a particular route so the poor consumer is left with little or no choice. And LHR, CDG and FCO are nowhere as far as "Frankfurt" Hahn is from FRA. What a joke!

UK Flyer

OK, I know free means you pay the taxes etc etc, but that goes for all airlines...can you tell me of many airlines that allow you fly, if all you pay are the taxes!!!

And of course you would expect to pay more travelling on weekends and popular travel dates, but speaking from experience, and I am travelling from Dublin 90% of the time, FR generally speaking offers better value for money than EI.

As for service, ask any of the 290 passengers at Dublin about 2 months ago, after their DUB-LAX flight was cancelled how they were treated by the national airline..me thinks you might be very surprised at how "caring" Aer Lingus was about their troubles.

As for Frankfurt Hahn not being as far from FRA as some of your examples.....I can guarantee you, that if you fly into MXP and travel by bus into Milan city, it will take you longer than Han to Frakfurt city centre.

CDG into the centre of Paris, by RER takes at least 90 minutes (including exiting the terminal, getting the bus to the RER station) If you fly into BVA, it takes the same length of time to get into the centre of paris on the FR bus

FCo is the airport of choice for Rome by most mainline carriers, but Ryanair fly into CIA...now who flies you closer to the centre of Rome

As long as one realises the type of operation that FR has and service it supplies (or lack of), one cannot be dissapointed. I have flown on many "full service" airlines who live a lie about passenger service, and I have been let by them on numerous flights and told to look after myself, including a cancelled BA flight out of CDG and told to come back the following day and they would "see" what they could do for me

UK Flyer

OK, I know free means you pay the taxes etc etc, but that goes for all airlines...can you tell me of many airlines that allow you fly, if all you pay are the taxes!!!

And of course you would expect to pay more travelling on weekends and popular travel dates, but speaking from experience, and I am travelling from Dublin 90% of the time, FR generally speaking offers better value for money than EI.

As for service, ask any of the 290 passengers at Dublin about 2 months ago, after their DUB-LAX flight was cancelled how they were treated by the national airline..me thinks you might be very surprised at how "caring" Aer Lingus was about their troubles.

As for Frankfurt Hahn not being as far from FRA as some of your examples.....I can guarantee you, that if you fly into MXP and travel by bus into Milan city, it will take you longer than Hahn to Frakfurt city centre.

CDG into the centre of Paris, by RER takes at least 90 minutes (including exiting the terminal, getting the bus to the RER station) If you fly into BVA, it takes the same length of time to get into the centre of paris on the FR bus

FCo is the airport of choice for Rome by most mainline carriers, but Ryanair fly into CIA...now who flies you closer to the centre of Rome

As long as one realises the type of operation that FR has and service it supplies (or lack of), one cannot be dissapointed. I have flown on many "full service" airlines who live a lie about passenger service, and I have been let by them on numerous flights and told to look after myself, including a cancelled BA flight out of CDG and told to come back the following day and they would "see" what they could do for me