Ryanair

Day return with Ryanair from Brussels Charleroi to Manchester for just under €300. Non-Schengen waiting area at Charleroi overcrowded and unpleasant, this part of the terminal is just too small. Outbound flight delayed by 45 minutes due to engine problem, but we were kept informed by the flight deck (boarding had already been completed when the problem arose). Otherwise uneventful flights. Hand luggage only, no checks for size were made at either airport. Good value.

Weeze to Rhodes. Experienced one of the positive changes in Ryanair service. I made a mistake in the dates of the flights I've just booked. Due to the new rule that minor mistakes can be corrected without charges within 24 hours, I was able to put it right for free. At first the website didn't work correctly, but via the online chat-function everything was taken care off.

Copenhagen to Kaunas on 23rd of December 2015. The low-cost price of my return Ryanair ticket was € 310. Not exactly what I would call cheap for a 1 hour 10 minute flight. Safety and security instructions were given on a low volume PA system so that few people could barely hear it. Onboard, the seat was filthy from last passengers' food waste, the carpet was filthy with chewing gum, food and chips, and even the shabby looking steward didn't bother to put his shirt inside his trousers. Also, it looked as if his shirt apparently hadn't been ironed for a few weeks. Ordered a drink and a sandwich, was prompted to pay €17. After having done the maths for the stewardess, the price was suddenly €10. Ryanair has some kind of lottery sale onboard their flights. I don't know what this is all about, but it seemed a lot more interesting for cabin staff than the safety instructions. Upon landing in Kaunas I asked a steward what the local time was, but he had no idea that the time zone was one hour ahead of the departure airport. This is a filthy airline, and staff couldn't care less. Some claim that low-cost is the future of flying. However, I have absolutely no trust in this joke of an airline.

We were stuck on the tarmac for over 2 hours after boarding because according to them, they had problems with air traffic control over France. I've never had this problem before, even flying with Ryanair before which was okay because I had extra legroom. This time I didn't get any extra legroom and the time on the ground was another 2 hours of torture on top of the four it took to get to Tenerife. Because the seats are so close together. Let's just say it was painful on my legs. I'm flying back to Birmingham on Ryanair as well in a couple of days. This time I managed to get extra legroom. You better not disappoint now Ryanair!

The problem with Ryanair is that they seem to have the price table in Pounds and Euros, but it costs the same amount units, for example, I wanted to add a bag to my trip, it costs 25 inbound and 15 outbound, that's £40 or 40 euros depending in where you live. Now I do not know any other company that does this! 40 Euros is £29! So why I am being asked to pay £11 extra than the chap from Euro zone? On top of that there is 5eur/GPB charge for adding a bag after you have booked the ticket (not sure what this covers as this is simply to add to my eTicket that I have also booked a bag). So that's another 10£, so in total I have to pay £50 when a chap from euro zone pays £36(50 Euros) on the same flight! I'll be honest if I had a choice I would never fly with this airline, unfortunately I don't as they are the only airline that fly to my destination direct.

Since Ryanair gave up making you feel like any error will be severely punished, I also noticed the hand luggage verification is less strict than it was once, and I am starting to enjoy travelling with them a lot more. This is good as one of their main European hubs (Orio al Serio) is 5km from my house and from there I can fly everywhere in Europe. I flew to Zaragoza for a short business trip two days ago and everything went very smoothly: on-time departures, clean aircraft, friendly and polite crew. The price was EUR 120 return but I booked just 9 days before so it is still a good price considering this destination is very difficult to be reached via Madrid or Barcelona and a direct flight from my hometown is a huge plus. I think their website did improve a lot too, less tricky than before and much easier to use. If they keep improving this way, they will likely see me more often onboard.

Return trip with Ryanair from Dublin to Malaga. Dublin airport T1 busy but all security desks open, so all checks took about 15 minutes. Heavy rain in Dublin so flight delayed by 50 minutes due to air traffic restrictions. Plenty of information from the flight deck so all aware of ongoing situation. All aspects of the flight thereafter went smoothly, crew were professional and efficient. Able to change to exit seats once airborne. Return flight went very smoothly. Crew again friendly and professional. Although seating is tight, acceptable for a 2.40hr flight. Just love that seats don't recline and impact on your space. This flight on time. Like the new friendlier Ryanair. Happy days for 61 euro return.

The most annoying airline and it is cheap for a reason. I wanted to check in but I couldn't check in for the flight back because it is more than 7 days away. They insisted that I pay for the seat with a minimum of £11. Kiosk check in will cost me £45. Just unbelievable!

Bologna to Madrid in March 2015. The service was pretty good, there wasn't much queue for boarding / deboarding at the airports. There wasn't so much legroom in the seats, but I asked the crew to sit on the seats that are near at the emergency exit, where there was more legroom and they said yes. The food and drinks aren't free at all, a glass of water or a cup of coffee costs about 3 euros, but if you consider that the flight costed something like 30 euros that was acceptable.

Horrendous experience, flying with Ryanair is basically what I imagine hell might be like and if I never have to fly with them again it will be too soon. Cramped seats, tacky promotions and they try to sell you all manner of things from food to watches and toys. The back of the seats reminded me of a McDonalds menu with the tacky yellow plastic. Our flight was also delayed due to technical faults and we were told we could leave the gates and the next information would be made available in 20mins. No further information was given so we returned to the gate anyway and were ushered through by two staff drinking pints of beer. Simply unbelievable and incredibly unprofessional.