Ryanair

Enjoyed a wonderful nine day break in Spain/Portugal. This whole break was marred by the Ryanair who think its acceptable to charge 140 euros for a two minute process of online check in which I had already done - funny how all our personal/passport details were already there along with the 'premium' seats I booked at the time of online checking in of our return flight. As we were in remote places with an old blackberry phone we were prepared to pay the still unreasonable boarding pass printing charge. Ryanair are in the position where they can hold you hostage until you pay. Their trump card is the fact we all have to get home even if it means paying a ransom to get there and they are not interested in considering the 'customer' might be right.

Edinburgh to Pisa 14/4 returning 16/4. Excellent service at check in and in flight from Ryanair staff and flight crew. Enjoyed the coffee on board smiling efficient and helpful cabin crew as always.

Flew from Luton to Malta April 1st. Plane late arriving but we were kept on the apron in the cold for the best part of an hour. No apology or explanation. We then missed our slot so another hour delay. To add to our misery plane had 20 or so "ravers" who were in a loud and lively mood. Stuff being thrown around no chance of any peace and quiet. Cabin crew did speak to the main perpetrators with little effect. These selfish idiots should not have been allowed on the plane as they were the worse for drink. Never had a flight like it.

After returning from Lanzarote yesterday with my family (3 generations) I was concerned about flying with Ryanair after all the bad press. However the flight time was good and the price was even better. I did pre-book seats as we were travelling with grandparents. The flight was ok. The crew were polite and helpful but despite offering an extensive 'cafe' service the only food available was a hot panini. As others have mentioned families were split as the flight was full then these people expected others to move so they could be together. I was not asked but others were annoyed. The flight was delayed and I lost count of the times the cabin crew and pilot stressed it was because of earlier problems at Manchester Airport not their fault. Minor niggles but t made for an uncomfortable atmosphere. All in all the crew were polite the flight was good (only an hour delayed) and the seats were fairly spacious.

Four of us flew from Stansted (London) to Dublin on Good Friday April 3 2015. The gate crew and on-board crew were all friendly cheery and helpful the plane itself was surprisingly comfortable (muchmore comfortable than the United 757s we flew to/from Dublin the week before) and on-board food and beverage choices were decent and not horribly pricey. We departed promptly on time arrived on time and getting on/off was efficiently managed by the crew. Nearly everyone else on our flight was part of a huge school trip (kids about 12-14 plus their "keepers") and the crew members were great with the kids - kept them as organized as possible and were flexible about changing seat assignments so that friends could sit together - very nice to see! Here are the only two reasons I didn't give Ryanair an overall "10" rating: 1) I received mobile-phone alerts reminding me to do online check-in and get mobile boarding passes. Sounds easy enough but after four tries I was still unable to input our information - no explanation given. Finally on the fifth try it worked: I added all of the requested info (passport numbers etc.) for our party and then got a message saying "We are unable to issue mobile boarding passes" - again no explanation at all. Since I didn't have access to a computer or printer I began to panic especially after reading that there was a fee of 70 pounds per person to check in at the airport! Thank heavens our B&B owner came to the rescue and offered me the use of his personal computer and printer to complete the online check-in and print boarding passes. 2) We arrived at Stansted with more than two hours to spare before our flight got through security in record time and began checking the boards to see which gate we'd depart from. We sat down in the Coast to Coast restaurant to grab brunch while waiting all the while keeping an eye on the Departures board but out gate number wasn't posted until 15 minutes before departure time! Worse it turned out that our gate was a nearly 10-minute walk from the restaurant so all of on this flight had to do a mad dash for the gate at (almost) the last minute. I've never ever seen a gate number posted so late in the game especially when the gate was fairly far away - that was just baffling. Other than those two glitches however the Ryanair flight was a great deal for the money and I'd certainly fly them again.

Flying home yesterday from Dublin flight FR 664 I felt unwell on arrival at the airport. We came to gate 105 and my wife spoke to the two check in girls to see whether we could embark first. They suggested that as we had pre-booked seats that we wait until everyone was on board to save queuing. They kindly organised a wheelchair and the cabin crew assisted me up the steps and into our seats. They also stowed our cases quickly. They also arranged for a wheelchair at Birmingham. We had wonderful service from everyone.

We flew Bristol to Girona and back. Flights left on time and arrived early. The cabin crew were helpful polite and cheerful. Priory boarding at Bristol and Girona was hassle-free and efficient.

Manchester to Brussels during the French strikes. Ryanair continues to deliver what they promise and they are to be commended on that. Online check-in and only hand luggage meant that we were through security in under 10 minutes. Flight was delayed because of the strikes but the crew were cheerful and entertaining. If you follow their guidelines you don't really have an issue. We've flown 6 times with them in the last year (with pre-booked seats and priority boarding) and not really had a problem at all.

Flight 2094 and 1672 for the return. 2nd-3rd April. Flew from Porto to Lisbon and back again. I was not expecting much given how little we paid for out tickets but was pleasantly surprised. Boarding at Lisbon was hectic and somewhat like an airport in Mumbai but that may just be the airport. Planes land passengers walk out and you board in all of twenty minutes. Fast and efficient. Flights were on time and pleasant overall. Seats comfortable and quite roomy accommodating my 6'2 frame easily but of course they don't recline. Print out your boarding passes always goes without saying. Unbelievable value for money if you follow the Ryanair formula and abide by their constraints.

I fly with either Ryanair or Monarch at least once a month. Ryanair check in make me feel like a second class citizen as I often need a wheelchair. I have been made to stand away from my husband whilst they check my medication bag. I offered to bin it but they argued that my letter states that I need the injections. I now go without it if I fly Ryanair much to my consultants dismay. The last time the wheelchair assistance helper even had to speak to the check in desk as they were so rude to me. It's cheap so I put up with it but that is all they have that makes me use them each month.