Ryanair

July 2012 Bristol to Tenerife. We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children 10 and 14). We knew that seats weren't allocated but as long as one of our kids was sat with us each we didn't mind. Check in was quick and easy at Bristol as was boarding. Boarding Passes - it clearly states that you have to print them off prior to travelling and you have 14 days to print off your returns if you read the terms and conditions this is quite clear. Yes food and drink is a little expensive but I have never know an airline yet who sell cheap food and drink if you don't like it then buy it in departures prior to boarding. We experience some bad turbulence when landing which meant we had to take off again and land in the North of the Island. After sitting on the tarmac for 30 minutes we were told that buses were waiting for us at the front of the terminal to take us down to Tenerife South other than a little bit of confusion with the staff at the airport this went quite smoothly. People were moaning and complaining about Ryanair and standing in the aisle of the plane when we had all been asked to remain seated until further instructions were given but all I can say is I was happy to land safely rather than Ryanair attempting to land in such bad conditions and put everyone at risk! Staff were friendly enough the return flight was good and they got us back slightly earlier than planned. The plane did not seem anymore uncomfortable than others we have travelled on and it was clean. Lastly if you have young children I recommend you pay for priority boarding or make every effort to get to the front of the queue before boarding if you all want to sit together.

Ryanair is good for its destinations the small airports closer to where you want to go. In the bigger airports their slots are obviously the cheapest and therefore the most inconvenient for passengers. The flights are cramped and the boarding process is very slow. Staff are often pleasant. The flights are not necessarily the cheapest; in domestic Spanish flights for instance by the time you have added a reserved seat and luggage in the hold you can travel cheaper and more comfortably with Iberia or Air Europa. Flights from Spain however to Baden Airpark or Ancona for instance are convenient because they are not routed through hubs with long conveyor belt waiting-times and one can often find an airport close to one's destination.

Bristol - Malaga. Return flight was booked for family of 4 with 2 bags checked in (already charged £100 for privilege of taking 2 hold bags). For the return my wife had to leave a few days early due to unforeseen circumstances so she departed on a different flight from Seville. At Malaga airport tried to check in with the 2 kids and 2 bags - only to be told had to pay an extra 100 Euros on the spot to 'transfer' one of the bags from my wife to one of the children. Otherwise would not be able to take it. Means I paid approx £130 for the one suitcase plus £50 for the other. Absolute rip off; and the flights were not exactly cheap even before the add-ons. Will never be flying Ryanair again.

I have flown with Ryanair many times and have just returned from Lanzarote flying out of East Midlands I cannot fault the service whatsoever. What I have noticed the same problems occur time and time again. People don't read the rules you don't get something for nothing you know that with Ryanair - accept it. Why do people with children think they have the right to complain when they saunter on to the plane at the last minute and wonder why the are unable to sit together. People get to the check and have to start unpacking cases because they cant be bothered to weigh there luggage. Ryanair is the cheapest not the best I accept that but most of the problems I have seen are caused by the passengers themselves.

Definitely not for flying with small children. I flew to Poland with my nearly 3 months old daughter and got no help from staff whatsoever. I paid for seat for my little girl however was expected to keep her on my lap as she wasn't allowed to have her own. It would be great if I could just lay her down surely we would both be more comfortable. Also women with kids or pregnant get no priority at the boarding gates staff are rude and treated us as a load not a human beings talking down to us. At the end of the day we are paying customers so show us some respect! Will not fly with them again.

My first Ryanair flight was Manchester to Memmingham. What really annoyed me was that my wife and I seemed to be the only people to follow the cabin baggage rules! Everyone else had huge rucksacks that were no way acceptable - and nobody checked at either end! As for families with children and push chairs (have you seen the size of them nowadays) I would ban them from cabins at any price. One saving grace however was that seat backs are fixed in the upright position. Will I travel again with them. Probably yes as it is cheaper than Swissair to Zurich.

Ryanair informed me that my flights from Liverpool to Rimini had been cancelled 3 months ago only 3 weeks before I was meant to fly. I ended up having to stay at home and lost parking and hotel deposit. Since June I have my flights to Rimini from Stansted booked and confirmed for Christmas. My family who live in Rimini have just informed me that Ryanair is stopping flying there from September so I phoned customer service to find out. I was told yes it was true and asked if I wanted a refund. Is that all you've got to say I inquired. After a long silence I was asked again if I wanted a refund; there was no explanation. To summarize Ryanair know that they are not going to fly into Rimini at Christmas but have no intention on informing the poor passengers who are looking forward to being there for Christmas. Not only they are holding on to everyone's money. They will hold you to ransom nearer the time leaving you no choice but to fly to Bologna or Ancona at inflated prices.

I flew recently from Manchester to Bremen in Germany and am already a regular Ryanair passenger. As always the service worked perfectly. We arrived a few minutes late but I do not think 10 mins matters. Staff are always pleasant if a little unconcerned. I feel a little sorry for them having to sell lottery tickets but it does keep the prices down. I have never incurred charges as I read the rules.

Our flight from Limoges France to Stansted was cancelled due to poor weather although other planes including Ryanair flights were able to come and go. The next flight from Limoges to Stansted with availability was 3 days later. So we accepted a flight to Leeds the following day. That was all that was done for us we had to arrange our own overnight accommodation transport to and from the airport etc. My advice is if you travel with Ryanair: Make sure you have access to the internet because you need to react pretty quickly when the flight is cancelled as the airports are usually in the middle of nowhere. Know the location of the other airports Ryanair operate. We were offered a flight from Bergerac the next day but the airport staff could not tell us how to get there by train. Don't book stuff for the day after your arrival. There were people in the queue with connecting flights tickets for the Olympics that they could not use. Based on the above I would not travel again with Ryanair if I was travelling to a tight schedule. In total we got home 26 hrs after we planned.

Flying out of Manchester staff friendly and helpful coming back through Palma a different matter. My hand luggage that was the right size going out was deemed to be too large when I was flying home and I was forced to pay €50 and put it in hold leaving me without my pain medication. The priority boarding I had paid for was non existent traveling with small children they tried to split us up eventually got seats together near emergency exit! To add insult to injury they had no food apart from sweets and crisps.