Flying Ryanair: An Outsider’s Guide to the Pros and Cons

Ryanair was created in the 80s as a small, Dublin-based, budget airline flying small planes at competitive rates from Dublin to London. It is now the top budget airline in Europe, currently serving 153 destinations in 26 countries. If France is just one of your European destinations, it’s worth checking out their booking website to find out what deals might be available.

Because of Ryanair’s foothold in the market, air and train travel have become much less expensive in Europe. Companies like AerLingus and British Airways have to compete with the budget airline’s low fares, so it can also be worth it to shop around a bit.

As an American, I didn’t know anything about Ryanair when I arrived to live in France. I had only heard rumors of flights for 5 euros, and I had to learn from experience the advantages and disadvantages of flying with an airline whose aim is to save as much money as possible. Here I’ll lay out the facts (and my opinion) about the cost and comfort of flying Ryanair, along with facts about the location of airports and my own personal experience.

Cost

Ryanair can be a very inexpensive airline for traveling within Europe; keep in mind, however, that advertised prices (sometimes as low as 0€-5€) do not include taxes and fees:

Taxes - often 25€ or more
Checked baggage fees - 15€ for one; 50€ for two; max 15 kilos (33 pounds) each
Online check-in fee (5€ and mandatory–don’t forget to or you’ll pay 40€ at the airport)
The mysterious ‘handling fee‘ that online shows up on your confirmation - 5€

Other charges include:

10€ (each) - baby equipment such as booster seats, travel cots and car seats (one stroller is allowed for free)
40€ (each) - sports equipment including golf clubs, fishing rods, bicycles, canoes, skis and snowboards
40€ (each) - musical instruments
None of the above items may exceed 2o kilos (44 pounds)

Free items/services include:

ONE (and I do mean one) item of carry-on luggage

Item must be under 10 kilos (22 pounds) - In my experience, hand luggage is not often weighed.
Item must not exceed 55cm x 40cm x 20 cm (21.7″ x 15.7″ x 7.9″) - You will have to prove it fits in such a space.
Any purses, handbags or laptop bags must fit inside carry-on luggage or constitute only item of carry-on luggage.

Special assistance in the form of wheelchairs and walkers, aid or service dogs for passengers in need; also the option for no assistance for those traveling with sighted companions, service dogs, or unaccompanied; you must request assistance at the time of booking, or it may not be available on the day of your flight
As mentioned above, one stroller per passenger may be checked, free of charge

As you can see, a “free” or cheap ticket can quickly become a 50€ ticket (one-way). When searching for flights, look for tax-free bookings (they do pop up now and again), as that will save you the greatest amount of money.

At the end of the day, Ryanair tickets are still quite cheap by American standards, but you will get what you pay for. Read on to find out more about Ryanair’s (lack of) amenities.

Comfort

If you decide to book a flight with Ryanair, prepare to fly in minimal comfort. Many of the airline’s planes feature seats that don’t recline and an absence of seat-back pockets. Don’t imagine you’ll be entitled to a free bag of peanuts, either. Bottled water, soda, coffee, tea small snacks and sandwiches all go for prices at least 2 times their value.

NOTE: I’d advise you not to be so bold as to request a glass of tap water. I did one, and what I got was so off-color-yellow, tepid, and opaque that I couldn’t bring myself to drink it. I just went thirsty.

When collecting your Ryanair boarding pass at the check-in counter, you’ll notice that you aren’t given a seat number. This is another unique airline practice — first come, first served seating. If you are desperate for a window or aisle seat, you can pay 4€ for Priority Seating, the privilege of being “one of the first passengers to board the plane.”

On a short flight and for a budget traveler, none of these woes are too much to bear. Be warned, though, the airline is currently in negotiations with Boeing to create planes for standing-passenger flights and equipped with pay-toilets.

Location

Check out my post on Beauvais Airport for details on flying Ryanair from Paris. As I mention there, most airports served by the airline are located at least an hour outside of the purported destination city. This means, in addition to the additional costs as listed above, you may also have to take into account the cost of getting to and from the airport once you arrive.

When booking a Ryanair flight, use to airport code to find out exactly where you’ll be landing, and what transport services are offered to get you to your final destination.

Personal Experience

When I first moved to Europe, I flew Ryanair a lot. I was living in a small town in France, so another hour to get to Beauvais airport on top of my two-and-a-half hour train ride into Paris didn’t seem like too much of a hassle. As time went on, however, I grew tired of Ryanair’s notoriously bad customer service, the tiny Beauvais airport, and waiting in a line out the door while one employee tried to check in every passenger for the flight.

Ryanair has created a competitive market (as I mentioned above), and I soon found that other airlines’ prices were comparable to Ryanair’s (when all fees, taxes and transportation costs were added in). The Eurostar train also became a favorite alternative of mine when traveling to the U.K. It is a high-speed train that travels through the Chunnel, and if booked at least several weeks in advance, costs only about 60€ (one-way).

There are plenty of horror stories on the internet about the airline, but there are also those who praise its services and give good advice about how to avoid most of the fees.

For the budget traveler, Ryanair is a dream come true. For anyone who lacks patience or is easily frustrated (like myself), however, it’s worth the extra cost to get a little service.