Twenty reasons never to fly Ryanair

You have to admire the audacity of everyone’s favourite love-to-hate chief executive Michael O’Leary.

His latest stunt, to cause outrage by suggesting that Ryanair might start charging holidaymakers “a pound to spend a penny” onboard, made it on to the cover of The Daily Express. In the process, one imagines, reminding several hundred thousand hard up Britons to take advantage of the airline’s spring seat sale.

This week The Sun reports: “A saucy stewardess is putting the thrills in no-frills airline Ryanair.”

The “34B Czech stunner” , it alleges, has been given her bosses’ blessing to moonlight as a porn star.

Depressingly, all publicity is good publicity when you are the world’s leading budget airline and Ryanair doesn’t give a damn whether you like it or not. O’Leary knows that when it comes to the crunch, especially this credit one, you will still turn to him for a cheap weekend jolly.

But while the airline can be cheap, the customer service truly sucks. So, here are 20 things to remember next time you are led into temptation by those 1p flights.

1. 1p flights are never 1p

Even if you strike it lucky and find a 1p flight you actually want to take, Ryanair charge you for the pleasure of paying for it. To the tune of £4.75. For each passenger. Each way.

And that doesn’t even include…

 2. The check-in charge

If you want to book a bag into the aircraft hold you must check in at the airport, which will cost you  £4.75 per passenger, per way, if you book online and a whopping £10 per passenger, per way if you pay at the airport or over the phone. And it doesn’t matter if only one person in your party takes a bag, everyone else still has to pay to check in at the airport too.

This week Ryanair announced that it’s all change from May when airport check in will rocket to £20 per person, per way. That is a grand total of £160 for a return flight as a family of four.

All without factoring in…

3. The baggage charge

Which is an extortionate £9.50 per bag, per flight. Or £19 if you book at the airport or over the phone.

4. The sneaky weight limit

Ryanair set its weight limit for hold luggage at 15kg catching the majority of passengers off guard.

You’re not allowed to pool bags either so, even if you have a party of four sharing luggage, if the bag weighs 16kg you will be charged £14 per additional kilo. Nevermind that it makes not a jot of difference to the weight of the aeroplane.

5. Queues glorious queues

If you’re still talking to your partner following the inevitable blazing row about why you shouldn’t just pay the bloody charges listed above, you won’t be after being told to join the back of the enormous queue at the ‘payments’ desk.

6. The additional baggage charge

Probably best to wear all of your clothes at once on the flight if you are travelling somewhere for more than a couple of days (until Ryanair start charging passengers for excess body weight that is). Check more than one bag in and it will cost you another £19 per extra piece of luggage, per way.

 7. The website is rubbish. On purpose.

You have no choice but to book a Ryanair flight through its website so the airline may as well make it as stressful an experience as possible. The website is ugly for starters, and it crashes. All the time.

Because you can’t easily browse for dates when cheap flights are available you have to dedicate at least five precious hours of your life to sitting in front of the screen and laboriously trying different combinations to find a good deal.

And if you don’t understand what the hell you’ve just pressed there is no one to e-mail. Because Ryanair want you to spend more money and phone its…

 8. Premium rate internet helpline

Calls cost £1 a minute to speak to someone in a call centre. Be amazed if you can explain what your problem is for under a fiver.

9. You can only fly cheap mid week

To get the bargains that make the pain of Ryanair worth the gain you have to be prepared to fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, which can rule out the bargain European weekend break. Kind of why you wanted to book with Ryanair in the first place.

10. You have to travel at obscene hours.

Not only are you travelling on a Tuesday you also have to be prepared to wake up at 2am to get to the airport two hours ahead of your 6.55am flight. Or, if you choose a more civilised evening departure time, arrive in your destination at midnight with no where to stay because…

11. The destination airports are in the middle of nowhere.

Don’t expect to fly to Frankfurt if you book a flight to Frankfurt, to name one of many examples. Frankfurt Hahn airport where Ryanair land is 120 km from the city centre.

12. A bottle of water on board costs £3

I know the moral of this story is to buy a drink from WH Smith before you board, but it’s still annoying.

13. Sweaty, plasticky seats

 Whatever you do, don’t wear shorts or you might be stuck to your seat forever and forced to listen to…

14. The in-flight musak

Pray that your flight is not delayed before it takes off or you’ll have to put up with the bleepy, computer-game inspired musak that is played on loop as your board, over, and over.

15. The fanfare

Do we really need the shrill fanfare that sounds when/if the flight lands on time? Or does it just ruin the first three minutes of each passenger's holiday?

16. You can’t book a seat

As if the British holiday ritual of crowding round the baggage carousel isn’t enough to warrant the use of blood-thinning medication, Ryanair invite you to partake in the extreme sport that is racing across the tarmac to get a seat next to your companion. Flip flops are a distinct disadvantage.

17. No refunds, ever

Unless you have a spare few days to waste do not even bother trying.

18. Poor compensation

A report by the UK’s Air Transport Users Council has found that the world’s airlines lost more than one million bags in 2007 and more than 42 million pieces of luggage were mishandled worldwide.

Guess who it named as the worst airline for compensation if your bag goes missing or is damaged?

19. You are always being flogged stuff

No we don't want your ridiculously overpriced travel insurance, car hire or Ryanair tea-towels. Go away.

20. Michael O’Leary himself

Don't tell me you can bear to make him any more smug? 

By Laura Whateley

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Comments

[Christian Benesch]

Get over it.

They will invent a surcharge for using the oxygen masks soon, I am sure.
And yes the advertised 1p flight will turn out to be £12.33 including a credit card handling charge which increases with the distance of the flight(never understood this logic).

But the bottom line is:
You will still fly return for £12.33

The trick is to take it for what it is:
An airborne bus service
It has no charm, no style, no comfort, but it gets you there.

[Gary]

Truer words were never spoken.

I've just come back from a trip to Spain on my one and only flight with Ryanair and blogged about it at the Flying Cafe. (http://twurl.nl/7zesye)

This post pretty much mirrors my own thoughts on this airline.

How do they continue to get passengers when they treat them so badly?

[Edward Giles]

The answer is so easy. Do not ever travel with Ryanair. You WILL at some point be scammed or ripped off by Mick and his crew. STOP using them and lets see them go under. Book with a decent airline, it will work out cheaper in the long run. You only have yourself to blame.

[Jacques Francis]

Ryan Air offers a very, very inexpensive way of getting to distant destinations. You don't have to accept their offer, and if you want to travel in more comfort, then pay 20 or 30 times more to one of the long-established airlines. To pay GBP 10 or 20 for a flight then complain that you don't get any frills shows a profound lack of knowledge about commerce and a lack of common sense. Would you pay GBP 10 for a pair of shoes then complain that they fell apart after a week? Would you pay GBP 10 for a pair of earrings and be surprised when they lasted only slightly longer than a Marks and Spencer prawn sandwich? If you don't like Ryan Air, don't use it.

[Mike Armitage]

You CAN buy a 1p fare for 1p. I have done it. Amount taken from my card - 1p. Get your facts right!

[Lily]

On the one and only flight I ever had the displeasure to use Ryanair I got caught for several surcharges, being unaware of them and their reputation. Suffice to say I'd rather pay any amount to avoid setting foot in another Ryanair plane again. I hope they go under because they are a disgrace to travel in any form.

[m wilson]

all you need to do is piss on the floor and that will change policy toot sweet.

[AJ]

And what about having to put up with Ryanair passengers?

No thank you, I'd rather not...

[Davey]

On 7 (spending hours on Ryanair website), why not use skyscanner.net ?

Having said that, I'd still avoid Ryanair like the plague!

[Miriam]

I booked a flight from Bologna to Paris for early April. A couple of days ago I was advised that Ryanair had changed the flight to 5 hours later meaning that I would arrive in Paris too late to catch the train. Will now have to fly from Rome and pay for a hotel night and a train fare. This is not a low cost airline, it is a false economy airline.

[Michael]

Never had a problem with Ryanair, or any other budget carrier.

If it's a choice between flying Ryanair from my local airport or paying considerably more for a British Airways service that invariably involves a connection in London, Ryanair will win everytime.

[bob404]

Yawn. None of this is news. fact is before Ryanair and easynet et all BA charged hundreds of pounds to travel from Dublin to London, for example. Think of Ryanair as an inner city bus. Most flights take around an hour so what on earth is the problem of no frills for that length of time? Just bring a newspaper & a bottle of water and pee in the terminal before you board. And anyway worst part of flights is the under staffed security at the airports. Takes forever to get through, once actually on the plane its generally fine.

[S.]

Just make sure you play the game right! I'm flying to Germany this weekend for £15 return- including the credit card fees. Next time I'll get it even cheaper because I've opened an account that gives me a Visa Electron card- so even the card fees will be a thing from the past. I never take check-in luggage (but will wear multiple layers of clothing, if necessary) and make sure to book in advance or check regularly for cheap fares. They also fly closer to my home town than other airlines- so really I couldn't be more happy. Ryanair has made air travel within Europe affordable for anyone- a huge improvement compared to what it used to be like 10 or 20 years ago.

[DAvid Potts]

"Depressingly, all publicity is good publicity when you are the world’s leading budget airline and Ryanair doesn’t give a damn whether you like it or not." And here you are giving them yet more free publicity! Duh!

[Bankrupt Britain]

why hasn't this Irish fraudster been investigated by the Fraud Office, or Trading Standards
what are the lazy Government officials doing to protect the public from charlatans & spivs as Ryanair

[Ian]

This author is a plonker. I have been flying with Ryanair for many years and never been given less than I expected. Obviously they try to make their money through other revenue streams but you can avoid the majority of these. If you want cheap flights to Europe, go with Ryanair. If you want to pay for all the additional comforts regardless of whether you use them, go with BA or one of the scheduled flights and pay for it.

[Gareth]

You're wrong about the first reason: some cards (e.g. solo cards) attract no separate fee, so you can (and I do) get 1p flights for 1p. I've flown for free too. Complete agreement about how ridiculous it is to pay a separate fee per person per direction even where there is only one transaction.

[jason]

For each pound of weight removed from an aircraft, fuel consumption for that aircraft is reduced by an average of 20 gallons per year.

[Catherine]

I hate, hate, HATE the fanfare!

[Sean K]

I think this post shows the amount of snobby people about. People are motivated by money (or charges)so to have these charges means people will avoid them. Does Lara not see the fact she wrote this post in the first place is publicity for M O'Leary. Nobody is forced to take his flights. I think hes a hero bringing affordable travel to everyone! Keep up the good work!!

[Paul Griffin]

Unsurprisingly one of your respondents has a pop at fellow passengers. Personally I can cope with the chavs and stag parties by not going to the sort of places they head for. Ryanair flies to plenty of places where culture, history and education take precedence over cheap booze and strip joints. What does annoy me are the snobs who spend most of the flight loudly complaining about the Ryanair extras whilst utilising the service to get to their south of France/Tuscan bolt hole! Surely these people are educated enough to know to expect from Ryanair?
And yes the cheap flights do exist. I've flown to Stockholm (Vasteras) and Tours (France) in the past for 1p, and have just returned from Krakow (£15 each way including card fees). Best tip here is search for the flight first then book your accomodation around that. Of course midweek is going to be cheaper than weekends, supply and demand and all that.
As for the pound for the toilet. Hey if it keeps the tickets cheap, I'm cool. Just one thing make it a Euro so I can lose the coins! The only one that is bugging is the proposed £5 charge to check in on line. Now Mr O'Leary I'm saving you money by doing this. Little bit naughty that one!

[Laura]

The irony of Ryanair is that often they're not cheaper. It's not unusual find BA or other flights that fly into the correct major airport for exactly the same price, or cheaper, and they give me a seat and a drink for free. Even a sandwich if I'm lucky! Granted, they lose your bags too, but you can't have everything. I can honestly say I avoid Ryanair at all costs. Given that I normally have to travel on the Stansted Express to take one of their flights (another £25 return is it?) it has to be a good £50-£60 cheaper for me to even consider it. It's not worth my sanity. They do my head in.

[Bjorn]

Have to dissagre with you. I recently bought a 1 euro cent trip Liverpool to Nantes in France, and that was the total I actually paid. You avoid the so called credit card charge, which I agre is nothing but an annoying tax, by using a Visa Electron. I got that card purely for buying ryanair tickets with :-)

[Malvin Tyler]

Great Article - I have printed it off for reference before I fly.

[Gilli]

My goddaughter worked as a ryanair stewardess last year. She had to pay for her 6 week training, 6 weeks in an hotel in stanstead, and her uniform (which had to be cleaned each week). She earned less than £200 per week and after 6 months was flown to Dublin along with the rest of her team only to be told that they had decided not to renew her contract. Another way Ryanair makes money . . . .

[Roger Leach]

Why is everyone knocking Ryanair? We have used the service nearly 30 times in the last few years to Spain and never had a problem. Just check out the rules to avoid surcharges. Thank you Michael and ignore the critics.

[David Valentine]

So just a thought, say you want to fly your family, and you don't want to pay for all that luggage, have one member fly on a separate airline, with all the luggage, and pay your little fees there, while everyone else flys dirt cheap, w/o luggage expenses,just have a carry on with soda and snacks...

But I must agree, a company like this can't take off for long

[oggers]

They're not a charity. Check the small print to avoid disappointment and don't be such an airhead.

[Frequent Flyer]

Before Ryan air came on the scene, i used to pay in excess of £200 on certain european routes. Yes i did get a bag of nuts and a sandwhich.

Now on those same European routes, i can sometimes travel for 2p return, depending on what options i want and which card i use to make payment. However, if i add in all the extras that i would have with a regular airline, that 1p can become in the region of £60 ... still a hell of a lot cheaper, and i get a wider choice of sandwhiches and snacks in Boots !

However, you can now fly with some of the regualr airlines for around £60. Great, so all the people shouting for Ryan air to go under, what happens to prices when competition decreases ??? thats right, they go back up. So love them or hate them, you need them there to keep other airline prices down.

I must have flown over 200 Ryan air flights and only ever had one problem with them. I have flown other main stream airlines and had many problems with them.

What i do dislike about Ryanair is the fact that you cant just call customer services or email them. That is nt bug bear with them, but considering how many £1000's of poundsi have saved either directly or indirectly because if them, i will live with that one.

In the meantime, i shal look forward to my 1p flights. I have 3 more trips booked over the next few weeks and have already had 3 this year.

[Rob Fielding]

Erm... I've had plenty of 1p flights, and I have the card statements to prove it! It's very easy to get hold of a Visa Electron so there's no excuse not to get 1p deals!

Is their any point to this article? It's the same on all budget carriers, bmibaby being worse for hidden charges!

If you want to check in at the airport and take four years worth of luggage with you, then pay for it! Why should I have to subsidise those taking luggage by paying higher fares when all I take is hand luggage? On Ryanair I don't have to. And when all the fees are added, they are probably still cheaper than the competition.

So stop complaining! Pay more and fly another airline! I would have expected a such an article to be from the Sun rather than the Times, though I suppose most reporters at their will be flying business class everywhere....

[Steven Froze]

Ryan air are appaling.on a UK internal flight,They wouldn't let a Nuclear submarine officer,fly england to scotland, using his driving license, MOD ID, RN ID because he didnt have a passport!
I will never be tempted by the 1p flight,it is not worth the indignation of travelling like a peasant in 1850. BA all the way!

[David Taylor]

Reading the comments its quite clear which have been posted by Ryanair employees and which have been posted by genuine travelers. Just stop using them and we can make them go under.

[JP]

A filthy company that treats its passengers, staff and management from top to bottom like dirt.

Agressive bullies.

[Gareth Jones]

Whats all the fuss. You travel cheap, you take the knocks. You want pampering, fly with the 'regular' airlines.

[Ryan Despair]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3315495.ece

[Dave]

Why did you stop at 20? Seriously.

I see Saga now use RyanAir. A perfect match - old and infirm passengers, and a scramble for seats at an ungodly hour. Expect Saga to go bust as the over 50's switch their holiday arrangements elsewhere - anywhere.

[Steve the neighbour]

Love em, and love the model. I even love the complaints which cheer me up no end and make easy jet sound palatial. Course, I would never dream of using them...I am not livestock.

[Jenny]

Ryanair are simply awful.
I will never fly with them again. I travel to and from London to Dublin quite often and Ryanair offer many flights each day. Take it from me travel Aerlingus (as long as Michel O'Leary doesn't manage to take them over!). They are usually just as cheep and they treat people with respect and simple common courtesy. Travelling Ryanair is a stress that I just don't need. From the minute you get there to the minute you get off its horrible.
I don't care how cheep its just not worth it.

[Bernard]

I'm not sure how you judge "the world’s leading budget airline" but by most measures that ought to go to Southwest - they're bigger and have been profitable for longer. They also have one of the best customer service reputations in the World. Cheap does not have to mean bad! Come on European, time to show Ryanair the door.

[Golodh]

Ryanair is a reasonable choice for backpackers who:
(1) don't care if they do or do not arrive on time
(2) don't care about inordinate queues
(3) don't care that their fare is forfeit if they fail to make it into the aircraft in time for whatever reason (like long queues because of insufficient ticket windows, inefficient procedures and additional payments)
(4) take care to calculate their *entire* fare (including all sneaky markups for bags and "excess" baggage (note the unusual 15 Kg limit !)) and then compare Rynair's price with that of competitors like Easyjet, BMI, and BA (Ryanir isn't always cheapest when you do a full comparison).
(5) include the price of transport to and from the airport or were planning to rent a car anyway. Ryanair's choice of out-of-the-way airports (like Frankfurt Hahn) usually means that public transport to and from those airports is poor and infrequent, and that taxi fares to the nearest railway station (let alone the nearest large city) are about 50-70 quid. Unless you were planning to rent a car anyway, access and egress costs alone can make Ryanair's oft-claimed price advantage evaporate rather quickly.

Ryanair is especially to be avoided if you have a connecting flight or need to be somewhere in time. Due to its disorganised boarding procedures Ryanair often misses its slots, and (as bottom-bargain airline) is always last in line for replacement slots. This means that Ryanair flights tend to be delayed. Ryanair accepts no responsibility of any kind whatsoever for missed connections, not even if it delivers you 2 hours late so that you miss a connecting Ryanair flight. Since you missed the flight, your fare is forfeit, and you can book anew (if you want to travel). Of course at high fares, matching or exceeding those of established airlines.

[MarkS]

Well I have honestly never had a problem with Ryanair flights. last week I went to Paris on Jet2 and got stung for about £13 at the end of the booking for credit card fee. They were very nice on Jet2, but the plane was not as new as the Ryanair 737-800s so you wonder about safety issues (probably needlessly, but even so). Jet2 also insisted on charging £10 for anyone who wanted to sit in the extra leg room seats which they had failed to sell previously (for £12.50). No-one volunteered, and I and my colleague sat hunched up with inadequate leg-room for an hour.

One wonders why the low frills airlines have to operate like this. Wouldn't an extra 10% on ticket prices cover these problems? Or 20%?

[Tony]

I flew to the Netherlands for under £20 with them once, and the service was great. It costs me £20 just to go into London for the day, but RyanAir gets me abroad. Fantastic stuff!

[Ade]

Yes, Ryanair is a pretty hateful company, with some decidedly nasty "gotchas" if you accidentally screw up. Or if they screw up... in which case, you get charged.

But.... but but but. They can be dirt cheap; and sometimes, cheap is fine. I wouldn't like to be sat in a Ryanair chair for more than an hour, but for short hops to Ireland, they're bearable.

About that fanfare: landing at Jerez some years ago, the pilot landed like he was trying to dig holes. Cue fanfare. Cue much laughter and scoffing in the cabin (a reaction to nearly getting buried at the end of a Spanish runway, I suspect).

[sean]

I vowed never again to travel ryan air. I flew on a delayed ryan air flight from dublin to stansted and missed the connecting ryanair flight to oslo torp..thus missing my connecting flight from there to trondheim..Ryan air did nothing to assist or help me and I had to find my own way the next day form heathrow on BA business class..I found and paid for my own hotel..
The would not take any responsibility and the whole experience cost me an extra 900 pounds
not to mention the hours spent on the airport internet machines trying to find an alternative.The staff at stansted were most dismissive..Ryanair is a disgrace to the travel industry..they seem to loath their own customers and never accept responsibility..never again will I fly in their sheds with wings

[Andras]

I remember the days when flying was relatively rare, convenient and glamorous. More expensive, too. I don't want to blame budget airlines for the security measures or the taxes either.
In 2001, I flew with Ryanair from Stanstead to Frankfurt. Yeah, that was to Frankfurt am Main, well over 100 km away. Fortunately, my brother collected me. Suddenly, the tolerable price of £50, one-way got just a lot more expensive. That was when I learnt the phrase 'false economy'. I flew with Easyjet a few times, they were better, but still a lot of annoyances and delays. I like British Airways. They are good on price too!

[Andrew Francis]

I have never travelled with Ryanair and never will. A rubbish airline run and staffed by rubbish people. Easyjet although can be troublesome is far better. I usually fly British Airways or Virgin. I would love to see Ryanair fold but unfortunately people will want to fly with this useless airline as people perceive they are cheap, which they are not, as this article clearly states. So why don't people just save on the hassle and book with another airline, that is actually cheaper.

[Clay Bruce]

Hi Laura Whateley,

This is not a good for timebusiness to comment on a particular airlines like this with 20 points. I could find more than 20 points at your website. TimeBusiness seem to be thinking smart by blaming others at this point of time, when people are struggling to come up against the bad economy. I saw another post "50 reasons not to buy an iPhone", whereas the whole world is appreciating iPhone.

[Andrew Francis]

I agree with M. Wilson and AJ. Who in their right mind would want to fly with Ryanair passengers? And as for the toilet issue, I agree just piss on the floor, the airline wont mind, if they try and charge you for that just tell them to get lost and deny it. They wont be able to do anything about it. Only idiots fly with Ryanair, and they know it.

[Dan]

Of course flying with Ryan is a horrendous experience, and once all the extra costs are factored in they are usually no cheaper.

However, there are times when they are cheaper, and when this is the case, you need to calculate the "Humane Premium" you are willing to spend i.e. what it is worth to you not to be treated like a hijack hostage by the airline you are flying with.

For me it is usually about 40 -50 quid (meaning I almost NEVER fly with Ryan). I do not want my flight experience to ruin what may otherwise be an enjoyable sejour.

Once you know your premium, you really have no right to complain.

You don´t have to fly with them!

[stephen]

I'm sure anyone who has flown with them could come up with 200 reasons not to fly them again. Here's a credit crunch tip; stay at home for the weekend! It's cheap and far less of an ordeal.

[Doug Crawford]

I am an American (Santa Cruz, CA) who has never flown Ryanair.

I have flown many miles on our Southwest Airlines, I guess the comparable airline in our 3,100 mile x 2200 mile nation, is FANTASTIC. Inexpensive, on time, luggage arrives with you, and the employees are a joy. No frills - and no surprises either. But still free peanuts, coffee, and tea. You get a free flight for every 8 you pay for. I have 6 "legs" available. Let's see - Vegas, Miami, or New York state this fall just to see the fall foliage? Ha - Ha!

Out of your 49 comments 42 are negative! That means 87.5% of you Brits are being drilled - HELLO!

[Bob T]

My Ryanair flight Luton-Brittany rtn cost £155, a fellow passenger thought as I did that the garish all-plastic seat backs were for easy "hosing down" between flights and every on board item was charged for. Ugh!

[richard]

you dont have to fly. so stop moaning about a well run airline.
so what if they charge for extras.
in co2 emmissions per passenger mile . its probably the best airline.

[Mike McGrath]

This "article" is the most one-sided piece of drivel I have ever read in a quality publication. Ryanair single-handedly transformed the European travel market at a time when national flag carriers were fleecing customers thanks to their monopoly position.
If you want to be molly cuddled while you fly then fly BA etc but don't attack one of the most efficient companies in Europe, instead thank Michael O'Leary for the fact that the likes of BA have had to lower their prices to compete with him.
You also forgot to mention that as well as the lowest prices, Ryanair also has the newest aircraft, the best on time record and the lowest number of lost bags of any European carrier.

[Aidan Wade]

I love Ryanair. I check in online with no bags. I have flown with them perhaps 200 times, they have never lost a bag, only once cancelled my flight and their flights are almost always right on time. This is a stark contrast to many of the flag carriers I have used.

EVERYBODY KNOWS there are extra fees, EVERYBODY STILL FLIES because they STILL WORK OUT CHEAPER and then EVERYBODY COMPLAINS.

[Tom]

I have flown to Prague and krakow this year with Ryanair with no problems at all. Off to Krakow again next week for £20 return and Madrid a week later for £7.50 return. Now tell me, what other airline is there who canmatch those prices? I got a virtual Visa Electron card online through www.entropay.com just so i didn't have to pay the credit card charges. Long live Ryanair because i will be using them again a few more times this year.

[jimbo d]

I have also had a ticket for 1p and on many occassions get tickets for a fiver or else including charges.
The planes are mostly new and on time it seems to be one of the companies that are running well in this country. Good thing about it is, if you dont like them you dont have to use them. I wish people would put so much effort into moaning about the train service in the UK which we have to put up with and the cheapest ticket from colchester to london never gets close to a fiver one way on Ryan, If Ryanair did not exist, cheap tickets I am sure would be a thing of the past unless we could get the tax payer to sub them like the many banks!

[Susan]

Think you have problems with Ryanair?
Try AIR BERLIN for 'rip off' tactics.When problems occur, their answer machine, states..'"Office hours are Monday to Friday"...not much help when stuck at Stansted at weekends, where the check in desk is invariably closed.

[Simon]

I always find Ryanair pleasant and polite, unlike other airlines. They are definately the most efficient with flights generally on time and they always make up lost time in the air if they are late. They should be used as an example of how it's done, not as an easy target for some lazy journalist to sneer at.

[Nigel Williams]

Its their saftey I'm worried about, saving a fiver is not worth dying for!

[Bunny]

If you want to spend up to four hours sitting next to the detritus of humanity thats up to you. For me its BA every time.

[DAVID]

As a uk travel agent I never recomend Ryanair to any of my clients,The cheap fares may be great but I wouldnt want any of my clients to be at the mercy of such a ruthless airline which offers no customer service if things go wrong.

[Penny Stokes]

AIDAN WADE
flies with no bags AND praises Ryanair for not losing his bags.
Is he stupid?
Is he a hired Ryanair PR spammer?

Imagine when all companies are run like Ryanair. What a horrible world that will be.

[Barrie Redfern]

You forgot one more thing: the huge queues at security caused when he schedules so many aircraft with similar take-off times. At Liverpool I experienced a queue skirting right round the upper floor of the building down to the security area on the floor below. I had to pay another fee to jump the queue. I presume he pays the airport peanuts hence the reason why he gets such a bad service in return - otherwise extra staff and facilities would be employed to prevent this. Oh, and points 14 and 15 are spot on. His awful overlong jingle, played so loud it was distorting in the speakers just inches from my ears, was genuine torture as there was no escape. I would not wish to endure this again even if he paid me. A rendition flight and a stay in Guantanamo would be more comfortable - and possibly open to more realistic forms of compensation too.

[John Carr]

I've flown Ryanair dozens of times with no problems. They are better than a UK train, you always get a seat, they are usually on time and always offer a good price if you have flexible dates.
Why not pick on another airline for once? For example, ONE reason not to fly BA is that it's 777 fleet is unsafe and should be grounded.

[peter]

Ryanair is a sign of our times. It's tactics are being used more and more: big headlines, and then trying to get money out of you in sneaky ways (forgetting to untick boxes etc.). Sometimes, i use these cheap airlines if their times suit me better, but I always leave the plane stressed.

[Gordon Hall]

I have used the 1p flights in the past - as long as you pay by Electron you can avoid any fouther charges. People should stop moaning - and save up their money to use other airlines.

[marie]

What a poor piece of journalism!! Ive flown with them loads and they are always nearly on time, extra charges no more than other low fares airlines, planes nice and new and the cabin crew nice and friendly!

... and i think you'll find the music on board is now mozart... Good research.

[Alex]

Easy Jet is just as bad with claims for lost and damaged baggage. They basically say "Don't bother to try to claim".

[rubik101]

69 million passengers fly with Ryanair every year. If 6900 of them complained, it still represents only 1%.
They have the lowest number of bags lost int eh EU and the best punctuality in the EU.
The seats are leather, not plastic.
Get your facts straight before you write such drivel.
Pan the success stories, ridicule the rich and beautiful and big up the underclass.

[rubik101]

And which sub put the heading, 'The greatest conmen of all time' without a question mark, above the picture of O'Leary?
I would say he has grounds for libel.

[TK]

Andrew Francis said: 'I have never travelled with Ryanair and never will. A rubbish airline run and staffed by rubbish people'

How on Earth can you make a statement like this? I'm by no means Ryanairs biggest fan, but on the occasions I have used them the staff have been polite and efficient. I have never had any serious delays, in fact I have generally had worse experiences with BA at 4 times the price!

If you're going to make such a bold statement at least have had some dealings with the company rather than just regurgitating what you have overheard in the BA lounge!!

[MattVauxhall]

All these moaners are not content to fly with other airlines....they have to MOAN on about it...Im glad when i pay for my Ryanair flight I dont have to fund your desire to travel with excessive baggage. The plethora of recent articles in papers is surprising given people already have a choice....and are continuing to make it...

[Steve Williamson]

I find it hilarious when people comment on the quality of service they experienced on their £45 flight to Africa.
The majority of reasons why not to fly Ryan Air occur becuase of the stupidity of the passanger and not the underhand way in which Ryan Air list out their option. In my vast experience with Ryan air and easy jet despite the charges applied they are always cheaper than the likes of british airways and other more slick service providers; at least Ryan air give you the option to understand your ticket price unlike other providers who in some situations can charge you over 3 times what ryan air do!

[Donna Staffs]

Having flown Ryanair many times I cannot relate to any of the above...people get on my nerves moaning about baggage charges...just take LESS ! hand luggagge is ample for most journeys...and get this NO check in ! you are right about the website.. tacky and boring..but think the 5 hours is a wild exageration...i suggest said reader gets broadband !? If Ryanair want to charge me quid for a wee...i dont care because for the last 4 flights to Europe I have taken they have cost me less than 50 quid return...double that for any other lines... and no I do not work, sleep or know anyone connected with ryanir!

[Mick]

Do most of you lot work for the company?

[James Rickwood - Dodsworth]

Being 'cheap' is no excuse for poor service and hidden charges. £45 for a nightmarish Ryanair flight to Africa? Pah! Tigerairways will fly you from Singapore to Hanoi for £45 - a longer trip, with infinitely better service. It can be done!

[Hah]

Reason 1 - Because you've used them once before.

Have not used them since 2001 and shall not again.

[Tony]

I too have flown on Ryan Air, from Stanstead to Pisa in Italy. The one pound fare each way eventually cost me over 200 pounds. My stupidity at not using a normal airline, as I lived 30 mins from Heathrow, was the reason.

The flight left from Stanstead at 07.00 and because I was using public transport and there was nothing available to get me there by 5am, I had to travel the evening before and stay in the airport hotel for the night. (Train and hotel 130 pounds)

As it happened, the flight was 2 hours late leaving. The return was just as bad, it should have arrived at 10.30pm and I would have caught the train back to London. We actually landed at 1am and all there was was the night bus to Victoria, which I managed to catch. I finally arrived at home at 5am after having paid another 70 pounds for the bus and a taxi from Victoria. Never never never again!!! I could have flown from Heathrow for 80 pounds on a real airline. You live and learn!

[Julian]

Astroturfers out in force on this article... does the PR department of Ryanair have nothing else to do?

[Phil]

I really do get the impression that loads of these comments that praise Ryan Air have been put on by employees. I cant believe that there are that many satisfied customers

[Barrie Redfern]

I see Ryanair as a form of S&M with Mr O'Leary as the sadist and the passengers as masochists. You would pay good money for this treatment elsewhere.

[Liz]

We've used Ryanair scores of times in the last 8 years - it's fine for short trips and the website has never crashed on me. You pay for what you get - every customer knows that - and it's fine.

[dcthompson59hotmail.com]

We fly with ryanair from france to the uk the last time was christmas and we paid 30 euros there and back for the two of us. You can't knock that.

[alun]

I travel by Ryan air all the time ,they are always on time and very cost effective,I only use hand luggage and check in on-line , if you travel light and have an ability to use a website then there is no better airline .I suspect the majority of anti Ryan Air comment might well come people who have not used the airline ,or are parroting articles first published in the daily mail

[Peter]

Ryanair,virgin,thomas cook,globespan all treat their passengers like rubbish.As a result I've given up flying altogether.

[Dr. Keith Anderson]

You missed one out. If the luggage is more than 15 minutes late arriving at the aircraft then they take off without it, but don't tell you. So half of my short trip to Brussels was spent queueing up at the lost baggage desk ('lost'? - they took off without it on purpose) then driving back to the airport the next morning to claim my bag. A Ryanair customer once only; never again.

[Richard Hall]

Mick really has got his employees busy posting positive comments on this article. You can take a few people as mugs but not the majority of us who would never use your service. Once bitten... you know the rest.

[Tom Franklin]

Ryanair is, quite frankly, the shittiest (there really is no other adjective more suitable) company in Europe.

The Chief Exec is a man with an Airbus stuck up his own backside. Listening to him speak, he genuinely sounds as if he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The flights are never, ever as cheap as they look.

You'll arrive at some airport in the middle of nowhere, with no Ryanair staff on hand to provide assistance.

The cabin crew are the dregs of customer-facing staff. They are rude, skanky, repugnant messes in the kind of Amy Winehouse way, who exist in the mistaken belief that customers are interruptions to their daydreaming and personal chatting.

Take the cabin crew rejects who are even thicker, and you've got the call centre operators. Of course, O'Leary merely regards that as yet another revenue opportunity - if you put your thickest staff on the phones, the calls take longer as the customer vainly tries to get an answer to their question, and at £1 per minute that's c-ching, c-ching, c-ching.

The website really does crash. All the time. Which forces you to phone. C-ching, c-ching.

The dirtiest head rest covers in the world. Hard to sit for the duration of a flight and not put your head back on the filth.

All of the points in the article.

Plus, besides the banks, is there any other Chief Exec who regards his customers with such contempt and unhidden disgust?

Why would anyone wish to put their lives, money and trust in this man's hands? I stopped flying with them a few year's ago, even if they really are the only flight near to my required destination on a particular day, I will not fly with then and I will change my dates.

Life just gets better if you never fly Ryanair.

[John]

I've flown with Ryanair from Oslo to Prestwick many times and never had a problem. The flight has always been on time and I have saved a fortune compared with what I would have paid flying with SAS or BA. Their value proposition is well understood, i.e. low cost, no frills air travel and if you want anything "extra" then that costs extra. Why is that so hard for people to grasp?

[John C]

Despite all the knockers, including the writer of the article who should be taken to court to answer for the liable, Ryanair remains the most popular and fastest growning airline due to the fact that people who are not natural moaners and pickers find it excellent value for money. Cutting out the fat, the rubbish and getting rid of the moaners makes it a very attractive airline to fly with, to a great number of us.
John C

[Steve]

Three words to describe Ryanair. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

[Neil McGowan]

I see O'Leary's daleks are busy posting here in praise of him.

Fly Ryanair?? No, I'd rather walk.

Never again, O'Leary - you can shove your stinking airline up your idiotic arse. That's the last time you shout obscenities at ME because you changed the gate at 4 minutes notice and told no-one, you idiotic prick.

[Richard Hall]

John C, working for Mick by any chance?

[Steve Jackson]

Great article because it exposes the values Ryanair brings to the marketplace: marketing hype, squeeze every penny out of the customer and treat them like dirt. What a lovely business model for the 21st century! I do admit, though, it's our decision who we fly with. This article helps inform that choice. Can anyone create a clever viral email around this article like the one about Virgin meals which went round recently?

[Matt]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "plastic sachets" of spirits that are "served". Or maybe they were only served on the one Ryanair flight I ever took.

The whole thing felt like an exercise in degradation: how much humiliation are passengers prepared to accept in return for a supposedly "low fare"?

I'd rather travel fewer times in better comfort, as I actually value every minute I'm alive. Not just the time at my destination.

There's much to be said for making travel affordable but when it crosses over into humiliation, that's enough thanks.

[Gill]

Why doesnt everyone stop whingeing. you pay your money and take your choice. Nobody is frogmarched and forced onto a ryanair flight. I have flown with them countless times, and no they are not perfect, but get a grip! you pay very little and get where you want to go. There are a lot more people worthy of my wrath than Mr O'Leary.

[Tokhir Dadaev]

I have used Ryanair quite a few times. Honestly, this airline will not leave you with smiles. But the quality is way above for the price you pay! It does the job!

Stop moaning.

Extra hidden charges? You have to plan ahead, keep your eyes open and read some small print, and stop moaning about hidden charges. The website clearly states on every step the charges. How many times you saw the magical word FREE on shop windows and ended up paying loads? E.g. Mobile phone retailers.

And please see the planes in same par as busses. You should see it as a must do thing and do not expect champagne with chocolates. It is just a transport! Do you have a designated seat when you board the bus?

The sky high charges for extra luggage is to “enforce” us to take only a hand luggage and nothing more to speed up the “check in – take off – land – start enjoying your holiday” process. Do you really need everything in that bag?!

Ryanair could save even more by removing Flight Attendants altogether on two or less hour duration flights.

[AA]

You forgot the main reason not to fly with them.... . They buy very old planes from other airlines as they are so cheap. I'd rather not take to the skies in an old L reg thank you very much.

[SIR RS KC]

Being charged for body weight... someone is having a laugh at out expense!