RYANAIR review :  11 May 2009 : by L Piercy  (UK)

Just got back from and expensive trip to Dublin. We booked the trip on-line for a party of 8 including 2 cousins from Australia. We were given the cost of the holiday and we paid by credit card, They had taken an extra £80. (£10.00 per person 'handling fee'). At Leeds Bradford airport we were charged £20 each check in fee. On the return journey we eventually managed to check in online for free. We presented the boarding passes at various check points- no problem. Unfortunately when my cousins got to the departure gate they were told they would not be allowed on the plane as they had not had a 'visa check' which we knew nothing about. They were treated appallingly by the staff who were aggressive and unsympathetic. Consequently they had to pay for another flight to Manchester but they booked with a proper airline (Aer Lingus) who treated them like human beings. Also they did not need a visa check. Ryanair has lost another 8 customers.

RYANAIR review :  11 May 2009 : by M Baker  (UK)

I took my mother to Bristol Airport for a flight to Knock, which my daughter had booked on line. On arrival at the airport, we found she had to pay £20.00 because she hadn't printed a boarding pass. This wasn't made clear when the flight was booked. This wasted a lot of time at the Airport which meant my mother who is in her 80's having to leave me in a rush, as well as the extra cost. She also has to print a Boarding pass to return, or pay again at the Airport. We were not the only people caught out by this and find it a totally unacceptable means of getting extra revenue out of paying customers.

RYANAIR review :  10 May 2009 : by P O'Neill  (Spain)

Tenerife to Dublin. The web page is a bit tricky to use. I found that I had to re-read everything, and I still managed to incur extra penalties for not checking in on line early enough. Flight was delayed 40 minutes at check in. The wife and I did not want to queue up before the flight so we agreed to sit wherever we found a seat. She was on the opposite aisle, one seat back. Some people stood in the queue for an hour. The cabin crew were pleasant, and the flight attendant making the safety announcements very funny. I did not check in any luggage and brought only carry on stuff. Way cheaper than Aer Lingus.

RYANAIR review :  7 May 2009 : by Pam Alonso  (Spain)

Madrid-Santiago de Compostela, Spain, return. Around 150 people flying. Around 20 had incidences with the luggage (I think is too much people!). All explanations and emergency instructions were marked and explained only in English (although flight was within Spain). Boarding gate was changed 2 times, finally it disappeared from the screens, and at the end appeared as "boarding", so all people run to the gate. We had to wait 20 minutes before all this, cause the plane was still flying (Ryanair planes are non-stop machines!), so it landed late. The plane interior was dirty (pringles, plastic bag, paper etc). Technically, I consider impossible to check anything in the short time the plane was on land. That makes you feel so insecure! For all this, I asked for official complaint form at Ryanair desk and they denied to give it to me. They asked me to go to the airport authorities(!!). I suppose at every country is the same, any business has the due of providing formal claim forms, at least, here in Spain, you can do so and its submitted to the Industry authorities, but it didn t work for Ryanair. I would appreciate if any one that has a problem with this airline in Spain, claims to the authorities. Sorry for my English!

RYANAIR review :  7 May 2009 : by Colin Haworth  (UK)

Bournmouth to Girona return. Both flights on time and priority boarding (worth the cost involved ) worked a treat. Crew fine and plane clean. Less than £50pp including extras and with cabin luggage. Just make sure you keep to the required baggage weight levels and do not spend on board.

RYANAIR review :  6 May 2009 : by F Rowland  (UK)

I was caught out by the ‘Visa Check’ catch on the printed ticket in Dublin. As this hadn’t been stamped, I was denied travel at the gate, forced to re-book and had to stay at a hotel for one night. Okay, error on my part, but a couple things to note: in Edinburgh, for the flight over to Ireland, the “visa” was checked at the gate, on a computer, with no problems at all by Ryanair staff and, second, the Irish Citizen’s Information website, not to mention the Irish Immigration Act 2004, stated that I did not need a “visa” to visit the country with an Australian passport. Thus the questions arise: why is the online booking system set up with this so-called Visa Check when Irish law states that is not necessary and why is Ryanair the only airline that enforces this ridiculous check? The ‘piece de resistance’: when I went to the Visa Check desk this morning at 05.00 the woman stamped my printed ticket without even looking at my passport. “Don’t you want to see the ‘visa’?” I asked her. “No, it doesn’t really matter.” And that’s about £120 later. Ryanair is a disgrace.

RYANAIR review :  6 May 2009 : by Rachel Bland  (UK)

Liverpool to Malaga and back. I travelled with 3 other adults and a two year old. We had no hold baggage just hand luggage, checked in online but did pay the extra for priority boarding. The whole process went without any problems. Staff efficient and polite. The one slight grumble I would have is the price of the food and drinks onboard, however you do not have buy these.

RYANAIR review :  5 May 2009 : by W Paterson  (UK)

Edinburgh to Malaga. Paid only £10 return (plus £10 credit card charge). Had carry on luggage only so didn't have a problem with check in, which I did online for both flights. Both flights on time. I was travelling alone so the scrum on boarding didn't affect me but I could see it being a problem for families, especially when several rows of seats were left empty by cabin crew. The priority boarding would be useful for these airports as no buses were used. In flight no problems, food/drinks expensive so I didn't partake. Ryanair operates a bus on wings philosophy and as long as you realise this then you should know what to expect.

RYANAIR review :  1 May 2009 : by E Le Moine  (Canada)

Haven't flown yet with Ryanair. Haven't even been able to book a seat. Having sourced and confirmed flight details and provided card details, website reports "Your session has been locked. Please wait 10 seconds and if you are not redirected back click here." Waiting and clicking returns no different result. Telephoning Ryanair results in 10p per minute provision of irrelevant information before eventually being given the opportunity to pay £1 per minute to report problems with website and request clarification. Of course, there is no guarantee that clarification will be forthcoming. Question is: has my booking been processed and am I just being prevented by their system glitch from knowing that it has been processed? Or, do I need to make time later to go through the booking procedure again? Why is there no other way to contact Ryanair? Because I am so valued as a customer? I suspect I know exactly how much I am valued by Ryanair - Zero.

RYANAIR review :  30 April 2009 : by Helen Essien  (UK)

Last week we flew Ryanair to Malta and back. The flight out arrived early and the return on time. We didn't have to queue long to check in and made sure we were under the 15kg per hold bag limit, so we managed to avoid additional charges. It is well worth paying the few pounds to have priority boarding, as it means you will be able to find two seats together. On the way out we were lucky enough to have front row seats, as my husband is 6'4" he benefits from the extra leg space. On the return journey we didn't and the seat pitch did not seem that bad. The inflight service is pretty basic and not particularly friendly - we didn't try the food so I can't comment on that. All in all a lot better than I had been dreading!

RYANAIR review :  27 April 2009 : by J Milnes  (UK)

Used Ryanair for the first time last week - Doncaster to Girona. After 30 years of flying I have never experienced a check-in which took longer than the flight. 2 hours of unorganised chaos at Girona airport. Problem could be solved by the use of a formal queuing system.

RYANAIR review :  24 April 2009 : by P Mulvenna  (UK)

Belfast-London Stansted-Belfast. I'm a frequent flyer and have managed to avoid Ryanair until now when I was forced to use them by work who booked the flights without consulting me. In both directions a lengthy period of queuing up in the corridor before the plane was ready (or even there on the return journey) really annoyed me. Why do "final call" 40 mins before departure time when the plane hasn't even landed. OK, so they want to board quickly, but 40 mins is excessive. Outbound all passengers were on board 20 mins before departure time (first flight in the morning so plane was there). Departure time passed and the constant stream of adverts being played over the PA system was interrupted to tell us we'd be delayed due to a standby cabin crew member not being there yet. We finally departed when she arrived 25 mins late and then landed 10 mins late. Seats very cramped and uncomfortable and no seat pocket means nowhere to keep stuff like a bottle of water or newspaper. On the return journey we were delayed around 40 mins on our scheduled landing time. I heard the staff at STN trying to charge someone £225 excess baggage as they'd missed the fact that after paying £80 to be allowed to bring 2 bags on a return trip, you're still only allowed a maximum weight of 15kg across the 2 bags! Beware of this as excess baggage charge is £15 a kilo. Do yourself a favour though and choose an airline that actually care about their customers as by the time you've paid all the fees and charges and listened to constant advertising on board, you'll most likely wish you'd just paid the extra few pounds for a proper airline.