Ryanair...might get you there
Written: Mar 06 '03 (Updated Dec 03 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Extremely cheap prices for intra-European flights.
Cons: There are obvious reasons why the fares are so low.
The Bottom Line: Not my first choice among discount airlines operating in Europe. Inform yourself well, be prepared for contingencies, and use this airline at your own risk.
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| lyagushka's Full Review: Ryanair |
Late last year, my husband and I heard that RyanAir was giving away tickets for flights within Europe. The special offer was available for three days in mid-November for travel through mid-February. "What the heck," we thought. "Free travel! Can't beat that." The offer turned out to be mostly as presented. The flights were free, but we had to pay the airport taxes, which were very modest since RyanAir uses less popular, smaller airports. We'd never flown on RyanAir, so we were probably exactly the kind of customer the company was looking to attract with this special offer.
We chose flights for a long weekend in Cambridge, England and a week in Italy, flying into Pisa. Our total costs for the two round-trip flights for both of us amounted to just over €100 (which works out to €25 per round trip flight). We couldn't complain, although we knew the reputation RyanAir "enjoyed." We were willing to see how it went. Taken as a whole I'd have to say we got about what we paid for.
Ticket Purchase & Check-in
We booked our tickets online and printed out the confirmation pages that appeared after our payment was processed. Unfortunately when we arrived at the check-in counter at Charleroi airport for our first flight, the agent asked for our confirmation number along with our passports. We flipped through the pages, looking everywhere for a number. There was none. The agent took our pages with a sigh and a disgruntled look and wrote the confirmation number on the pages for us. Looking it over later we saw a little box on the page that said "your confirmation number:" with nothing at all after it. Was the number in color on our computer screen? Is that why it didn't show up on our black and white print out? I have no idea, but it was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, other than an attitude from the clerk, there were no problems with this. We weren't asked for a number for our flight to Pisa.
We checked no luggage for our Cambridge trip and only two small bags for our trip to Pisa. The weight limit for checked luggage on RyanAir is very low: only 15 kilos per person. And the overweight charge is a whopping €6 per kilo. Carry on is limited to one bag of 7 kg or less. Frankly, I think this is a bit excessive, even for a no-frills, cut-rate air carrier. But I suppose that's how they're able to offer such staggeringly low fares. Be sure you're traveling as light as possible if you choose to travel with this airline, especially if you plan to bring back any purchases from your trip.
RyanAir does not assign seats for its flights. We received a boarding pass with just the flight number on it, not even our names were printed there. For the return flight from Stansted airport in England, the first 60 passengers or so had the word "priority" handwritten on the pass and were allowed to board en masse, ahead of the other half of the passengers. For the other three flights, even this nominal concession to order was absent. Travelers who have flown with Southwest Airlines in the States will be familiar with the concept.
Boarding
Predictably, boarding was a bit of a madhouse. Luckily, I've put in many hours of training standing in line in Russia. No one maneuvers better in lines than Russians, and with this sort of training, the Belgian, Britons and other western Europeans around me stood little chance of edging ahead of me. Once boarding actually began and we made it out to the tarmac, we found that boarding was proceeding through both the fore and aft doors of the airplane. This sped things up a bit. We had no trouble finding seats together on any of the flights.
The Cabin, the Flight & the Crew
The cabins of the Boeing 737's were always reasonably tidy, but RyanAir's seat pitch was among the worst in the business. Truly, there was no breathing room in the non-exit row seats on RyanAir. My estimate is that there was less than 10 inches of clearance between the edge of my seat and the one in front of it. One money and space saving practice that RyanAir has developed is to place nothing at all in the seat pockets other than the safety instruction cards. An attendant passed through the aisle just before take-off offering passengers the RyanAir "in-flight" magazine. This turned out to be a duty-free catalog. There wasn't a single article in the magazine. In fact, there may not even have been any text, just pictures and prices.
Meal service is basically non-existent on RyanAir. Anything you want to eat or drink (and honestly, you don't want to eat any of this, trust me) will cost you extra. My overall impression of the cabin crew was that they were young and inexperienced, merely going through the motions of their work, with little interest or enjoyment in their jobs. They seemed a bit harried and overworked, despite their neat appearance and the regulation donut-shaped hairbuns each female attendant sported. Clearly, this was a bare bones operation aimed at stretching money in every way possible.
Fortunately, all of our flights were non-smoking and less than two hours long. On such short hops I can put up with a little discomfort for a low (or free) fare.
Now the real crux of the complaints I'd heard about RyanAir was that they offer zero support if for any reason a flight is cancelled, delayed or otherwise unavailable. We were familiar with this reputation going in to our four flights with them. As it happened, we were lucky three out of four times.
On our return leg from Pisa however, our luck ran out. There was snow in Belgium and our flight was cancelled. Understand, I don't hold RyanAir responsible for the weather, or the closure of Charleroi airport. Likewise, I realize that no airline will take responsibility for their passengers' lodging or meals when weather delays occur. However, I still have a bone to pick with this company. Only one representative was available to handle all the passengers from the cancelled flight. When we finally spoke to her she told us that there would be no extra flight the next day to make up for the cancelled flight and that the next available seat on that route was four days away. Other options offered to us were to fly to Frankfurt, Germany or Stansted, England where we would then be on our own as far as getting home to Belgium. The only other option was to get ourselves to Ciampino airport outside of Rome for the flight to Charleroi early the next afternoon. By the time we got this information it was about 10pm. We needed information on train schedules to Rome the next day and a hotel room for that night. RyanAir was no help there, but at least we could talk to tourist information in the airport. The train journey from Pisa to Rome turned out to be a long one, and Ciampino airport well outside of Rome proper. This meant getting up at about 4:45am for an early train to Rome and a long bus ride to the airport.
We were less than thrilled with RyanAir at this point. It seemed to me that adding an extra flight to replace the cancelled on would have been a reasonable solution to the problem. It's not as though Charleroi's fight schedule couldn't have accommodated another flight. All together, the weather delay ended up costing us a pretty penny - probably what we would have spent if we'd actually paid a normal fare for our tickets. How much of that is RyanAir's fault I'll leave to you to decide.
I should note though, that RyanAir bills themselves as a strictly point-to-point service. What that means is that they do not advise their customers to book connecting flights with them, and especially not with another airline. They assume zero responsibility for getting you to your connection on time, even if that connection is another flight on RyanAir. If you're late, you're out the money. We discovered all this in the fine print of their tickets at Pisa airport. Be sure that you keep this in mind if you decide to patronize this business.
Punctuality
RyanAir's performance with regard to punctuality was mixed in my experience. Two of our flights took off and landed within 20 minutes of schedule, which to me means "on time." One of the other flights was about 35 minutes late for departure and arrival. The fourth, well, you already know the story.
Pricing and Routes
RyanAir's normal fares are among the cheapest you will find for flights within Europe. As I've related, they do this partly by eliminating some service guarantees, in flight amenities and by charging for every conceivable extra. Another way they achieve such low fares is by flying primarily to secondary or tertiary airport. For example, the one we used in Belgium is Charleroi airport. But, and this is an important thing to keep in mind, the fare is advertised on RyanAir's website as originating in Brussels. Charleroi is a good hour's drive from Brussels, and transportation from Charleroi to Brussels is decent, but not fantastically simple or quick. This is one of RyanAir's major hubs. Likewise, the Stansted airport is presented as "London," which is quite a stretch indeed. Since we live in Belgium and our destination was Cambridge, we didn't care that we were flying between these off-the-beaten-path cities. Other travelers may not have plans that can accommodate these issues though. If you want to fly with RyanAir, be sure you thoroughly understand the implications of the destinations you select. Caveat Emptor!
Charleroi Airport & Ciampino Airport
If the atmosphere of the airports you fly in and out of means anything to you, I doubt you'll be pleased with flying on RyanAir. Charleroi and Ciampino airports were third-rate sorts of places, offering little to nothing in the way of charm or comfort. There weren't any gangways to get passengers on or off the planes. Instead we walked out on to the tarmac and climbed the steep staircases to the cabin. In cold or foul weather, this was less than pleasant. How they handle passengers with disabilities or mobility problems, I have no idea.
Final Thoughts
I might consider flying on this airline again if there was a direct flight from Charleroi airport to someplace I wanted to go. But there are several things that would make me decide not to use this airline for a specific journey. First off, if Virgin Express (another discount European airline) was flying a similar route, I would sooner choose to fly with them than with Ryanair. Secondly, I would never fly with Ryanair if I really needed to get somewhere by a specific date. I also wouldn't book connecting flights with Ryanair, as they offer absolutely no guarantees on connections and take no responsibility for stranding their passengers. I certainly would not recommend this airline to friends or family without listing all the aforementioned cautions.
You now have the benefit of my experience and opinion. So make your decisions carefully about this airline.
Here's my run-down of several places we visited via RyanAir:
• Cambridge - home to the majestic university, loaded with charm
• Venice - the good, the bad and the gorgeous of La Serenissima
• Bassano del Grappa - a wonderful medieval town not far from Venice, in the foothills of the Dolomiti
• Florence - another one of Italy's big three
• Sevilla - Southern Spain's lovely hotspot
• Dublin - and County Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland
• Stockholm - expensive but lovely
• Riga - a beautiful and somnolent Baltic Capital
Flying into Rome/Ciampino? Try these cheap hotels for a decent room near the train station:
• 69 Manin Street
• Le Real de Luxe
Recommended:
No
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