Ah, Ryanscare. Once had the dubious, dubious pleasure of flying back from "Paris" Beauvais with them. Had to deal with a ferocious young lady called Tara (or Taaaaraaaah) who quizzed me if I wanted to buy something from the trolley. When I said I didn't want anything, I was fixed with a glare that could only be described as "Basilisk meets Arctic with a soupçon of Tory". Never again. Never in a trillion years. Awful, awful company.

I think Thomson Airways and Ryan Air are locked in a battle to the bottom.

Unless you travel weekly, save a little extra and fly with an airline who actually value your custom.

Any business that has the attitude that they're doing their customers a favour deserves none of your money.

I used to have time for O'Leary. Some of his schemes made genuine sense; the charging-for-the-toilet idea was designed to stop people using the loos on 45 minute flights. This in turn could allow 2 of the three toilets on the plane being removed and 6 new rows of seats to be put in. Net result: by getting passengers to adopt more economic behaviour, they can enjoy lower ticket prices.

However, this is just sheer moneygrabbing. EasyJet should see a healthy profit from this.

Ryanair is terrible i went to berlin this summer the crew on the way were very professional especially at 6 in the morning. However the space between each seat is too small for me unless i sit at the exit aisles. I also dont understand why they sell smokeless cigarettes when you cant smoke them on board. On the way back the staff were horrendoes panicing frankly messing about and chatting without taking any notice of the passengers.

You get what you pay for.....but with ryan air you get what you pay for plus an extra £50 cost

Dare I get to be the first one to say it...?

"Ryanair doesn't advertise. They come up with ridiculous stunts involving toilets and standing-room-only flights and wait for the free publicity to suck the custom in"

And pass notes has fallen for it. Again.

Ryan air allows people like me to fly from Italy to Spain for less than 18 euros A/r, if you have a prepaid Mastercard you don't even pay crredit card fees.

Now you can rant about downsides and complain about their service but nobody obliges you to fly with them.
If you do it's because they're still dirt cheap, especially compared to Easy Jet, with yet more destinations you can dream.

And use of on-board toilets is still free of charge as I'm writing...

My girlfriend and I spent a good 2 hours reading everything twice whilst booking her flight trying not to get caught out. We both have degrees in communication. Both flummoxed. Think we got away with it.

Ryanair's practices made me so angry that I don't fly anymore. Not with any airline.

Amanda Knox flies British Airways... economy, no less (in stark contrast to the Guardian's speculative article of last week)

I'm just sayin'

Ryanair is what it is. I've flown with them close to a hundred times and I've had my share of delays and frustrations. However, I've also had a few absolute gems - navigating my way to Vienna during the height of the Euro 2008 Championships and back to Glasgow for a total of £65 pounds (Prestwick to Stanstead, Stanstead to Salzburg ((that one cost £3) and Vienna to Dublin, Dublin to Glasgow). Bearing in mind £30 of that was an Aer Lingus flight & free train ride using match ticket.

It never fails to amaze me what people moan about when it comes to Ryanair, terms and conditions are very clear. I'm fed up of people acting shocked and giving theatrical shows of indignity when they're challenged over the extra bag they've decided to bring, or the luggage weight. And believe me, I've had to put 4 days worth of clothes on to board a Prestwick to Stanstead flight to get my bag under the limit.

Many of the staff are complete jobsworths, I have horror stories to tell, but they provide a valuable pricing point in the market which hopefully causes other airlines to be more competitive. I tend to fly BA these days which despite the longer "flight" time with taxi from Terminal five for domestic flights to Glasgow, is a far more pleasant experience. Easyjet from Luton is great. But for hop-skipping around Europe, Ryanair can prove invaluable.

Loathe Ryanair. I fly all the time to and from Beflast and I will never, ever, ever fly with Ryanair with luggage ever again. I can just about bear it with hand luggage.

My girlfriend and I spent a good 2 hours reading everything twice whilst booking her flight trying not to get caught out. We both have degrees in communication. Both flummoxed.

There's your reason right there. Next?

Some of his schemes made genuine sense; the charging-for-the-toilet idea was designed to stop people using the loos on 45 minute flights. This in turn could allow 2 of the three toilets on the plane being removed and 6 new rows of seats to be put in. Net result: by getting passengers to adopt more economic behaviour, they can enjoy lower ticket prices.

Adopting a more economic behaviour? What about children, the aged, pregnant women? How dare he tell his customers when they can and can't use the f**king toilet.

It's disgusting behaviour which gives business a bad name. He only gets away with it because the regulations are a joke and people are willing to be treated like cattle for the sake of going on holiday.

LittleLabel

Well, quite. Everything the man does is to generate free publicity. At his end of the market, any news is good news. His offer of a transatlantic service offering a 'bed and blowjobs' to first-class customers was just another such a ruse.

Kulhwch

He wasn't doing it for the money, he even suggested donating the proceeds to a charity to cure bladder weakness. There would still have been one toilet on the plane. His idea was to get passengers to behave in a certain style that would reduce costs, but for some reason people still want to buy tickets for 18p and then bitch about how they aren't receiving first-class service.
Tip: If you really, really, weren't sure that you couldn't last 45mins without the loo then you probably wouldn't/shouldn't have bought the ticket in the first place.

Ghastly airline.

I have flown them once on a week-long business trip to Eindhoven. It was my first experience with a Low Cost Carrier after moving to the UK from Australia in 2006.

I paid £220 return for my ticket (it was booked through our corporate travel agent)

Remember: I was used to Domestic travel in Australia, where it never took more than 10 minutes to get from the cab to the gate.

Where to I begin? After 40 minutes in the check-in queue, I was then expected to pay £20 to check my bag (I was cluess back then and had not read the fine print - I assumed paying a full fare you got free check in bags. I was wrong). This was demanded from the rudest person I have ever encountered in all my years of airline travel. But the stinger was I couldn't simply hand her the £20 - I had to join another queue and deal with another surly agent, THEN head back to the check-in queue again. And the REAL stinger? The woman who was to take my £20 was sitting right next to the nast cow refusing to check me in.

After all that, then there was the security queue (not the airline's fault, I know) but added up to two hours from drop off to gate. I had never experienced anything like it before.

This same dedication to rotten service I got at the check in clerk was evident onboard as well. I had never experienced airline staff who actually resented their passengers before.

I know there are people who can master Ryanair's mean and tricky fare system and use it to their advantage. All power to them, may they have many flights.

But I am afaird that one experience has put me off Ryanair for life. Even though Stanstead is my nearest airport, I'll take BA at LHR, thanks. In fact, if the choice is Ryanair or not going, I won't go.

Thought about flying to Dublin on Ryanair, but once I'd factored in all the hidden extras, it was cheaper to take the ferry, which also included a night's cabin accommodation and an excellent buffet dinner and breakfast.

BS. Everyone expects the 50's through to the 80's experience of being in the jet set.

That ain't there anymore unless you want to pay top dollar.

Try two return tickets from Dublin to Salzburg for 60 euro.

Yup, We had to change at Stansted and had to reclaim our luggage and check in again.

Nearest comparable price was 1200 euro.

I bought wine in the flights. Crap wine at 5 euro a pop.

I still came out ahead.

Book ahead and know what you're getting.

@newenergyinspace

45 mins + boarding + getting off could end up being a couple of hours on a busy flight. Not everyone checks how many toilets will be on board - all I'm saying is that having one toilet between hundreds is indecent, he knows it but he doesn't give a shit - and neither can his passengers ;)

He wasn't doing it for the money, he even suggested donating the proceeds to a charity to cure bladder weakness.

I think this was irony, if he said it at all.

I agree with @kulwch. We're told all the time to drink lots of water, especially when we're flying, becuase its good for us and then we can't go to the toilet? I know that I need to go to the loo at least twice during a 1.30 hour flight and that's not because I'm drink alcohol, but because I'm trying to keep myself hydrated and feeling normal during and after the flight. Honestly, Ryanair thinks it can push people until the limit of taking "steerage".

Kulhwch

I actually believed him, it made sense to use pay-toilets as a method to change behaviour. Ryanair is bottom of the barrel, and at that end of the market there are plenty of people who will put up with any level of humiliation or depravity as long as the airline eventually gets their arse from Luton to Ibiza.

If you really want Ryanair to have it's backside spanked, support European rail expansion and use Eurostar more.

Flown with them once and won't ever do it again. The attitude of the staff at the airport and on the plane was genuinely shocking. There are a few plaec I'd like to go to but won't because the only way of getting there is Ryanair ... I have gone to Toulouse by train to avoid them.

I regularly fly Easyjet and FlyBe and have never had any issues with staff attitude.

Ryanair? I agree with Adolf.

http://bit.ly/roFI3H

I have flown with Ryanair on 4 occasions. Round trips from UK to Agadir & Algarve. I have not once had a problem with their service, to be honest i think they're one of the most efficient airlines. Ive never had any delay if anything they have arrived earlier than the expected time, yes they do bombard you with sales mid-air but thats how they make their money. I only paid £60 rtn for Agadir and £100 for Algarve which is massive bargain. I flown with Jet2 once a main competitor i was only met with several hours delays. Think people just need to read carefully, because if you do make a mistake e.g like forgetting to print your boarding pass (Lily Allen) then they will charge you heavy, as i said they have to make money somehow as they are delivering bargain flights. No problems for me, touch wood and i will continue to fly with them.

This sums up Ryanair :

Cheap Flights - Fascinating Aida

I actually like the business model of paying only for the bits of service you actually want: I don't want my ticket price to cross-subsidise other people's meals, baggage, etc.

But I deeply dislike Ryanair's concealment and ambush techniques. My favourite airline (when I can't avoid flying) is Easyjet: cheap and cheerful, clear and upfront about what you're paying and what you're getting for it.

I can understand people using them for business trips and necessary travelling between A & B (via C) , but I don't understand people who use them to go on holiday unless they are totally brassic .
Flying should be part of the holiday and Ryanair completely sucks the romance and excitement out of it.

@newenergyspace

If you really want Ryanair to have it's backside spanked, support European rail expansion and use Eurostar more.

People always make this about business and business sense but a line has to be drawn somewhere, I'm afraid.

If I opened a corner shop and sold food that had passed its sell by date at 75% off food standards would go apeshit. It's the same principle: I'm not making anyone buy it, but people would all the same because it's cheap and they don't think about he consequences.

O'Leary is just flaunting a much less effective set of regulations.

Killing the Golden Goose to comes mind anytime I have flown Ryanair recently. For business purposes it brings me close but not close enough to several European cities for a quick morning to afternoon meeting. But for leisure and non-urgent travel it is just passable at times. My main objection to Ryanair are the excessive charges, many multiples of inflation, for using a credit card. In their defense they offer something of their own but that's not the point.

They are not the only beavers in this river. Many ticket booking companies also like more than the standard commission for an online booking.

I have flown all over Europe with them and I must admit that while every negative word people have to say about them is true, if the flight time is less than 3/4 hours I really dont care about a complimentary newspaper or croissant I can buy multiples of those with the hundreds of pounds I save by flying Ryanair.

In some cases flying Ryanair is enough of a saving compared to the next cheapest ticket to cover my hotel costs. I dont have a problem with their business model, you know what you are getting, nothing, accept that pocket the difference in the flights and move on

@Subz93

Compare the flight times from one destination to another with Ryanair and then another airline and you'll see why they come in ahead of schedule.

No-one is putting a gun to your head and making you take the cheap flight option.

If you want to pay out your ass for extras, fine, choose another airline.
If you are too stupid to read T&C's and dont "get" how this works, fine, choose another airline.
If you want a cheap, safe, (more often than not) on time flight, choose Ryanair. If your dont, Dont.

Easy.

Don't despair at any Ryan Air toilet charges ... just take the mickey ... as the 'plane heads to the terminal pretend to be Scots by wearing a kilt and exclaiming loudly "Oh My God the Nappy is Leaking ... " Your friends can help your performance by uttering loud expletives of the sort that refer to bodily functions and making jocular references to dodgy kebabs, cheap lager and egg curry or that speech by Lady Macbeth.

Just watch the expressions on the flight crew's faces.

Or perhaps you could merely shout an apology in a foreign accent about that leakage to the passengers waiting to Ryan Air flights in Departures and let xenophobia do the rest ....

kulwhch

Adopting a more economic behaviour? What about children, the aged, pregnant women? How dare he tell his customers when they can and can't use the f**king toilet.

I totally agree. So why is it that children, the aged, pregnant women have to pay 30p now to use a public toilet almost anywhere in Britain?

I do love a bit of Ryanair...when it's bought in advance and not last minute at some eye watering fare. I've got returned flights to Berlin for a tenner, Glasgow for 6 quid...at that price, how can you complain?

However, Just had a look at this new pre-paid mastercard site... I had hoped I could avoid the ''inactivity'' fees by only putting small amounts on it. But the minimum initial top up is 150 quid (!)... I can never see myself spending that much on Ryanair, and the charges for using it elsewhere are too much

Dear god I hate Eire O'Flot with a passion. By the time you've factored in the astronomical range of fee hikes, the cost of travelling from a cabbage field somewhere a long way from London to a cabbage field somewhere else in Europe and the inevitable food and drink you'll buy during the delay, you might as well book with a grown-up airline.

@tufsoft

I totally agree. So why is it that children, the aged, pregnant women have to pay 30p now to use a public toilet almost anywhere in Britain?

They don't.

But that's irrelevant anyway, if you had read the comments the issue is having only one toilet to serve a couple of hundred passengers.

The no frills face of capitalism – money is everything

British Airways is getting all Ryanair-ish too. After November extreme cash penalties will be charged against canceling or changing a reservation. This whole flying thing is getting really mean and nasty.

its interesting that not one commenter has yet mentioned safety....yet, i would imagine this is going to be one of the most crucial areas in which costs are cut/savings are made. Along with pilot competency mechanical checks are the most important factor in airline safety.

Budget airline pilots tend to be young, inexperienced and over-worked, while thorough mechanical checks take time (ie money). Factor in a profits first corporate attitude, crowded airways and under-funded regulation and I'd say its a wonder there arent more airline accidents such as in other parts of the world.

So, the question is not whether your 6 quid flight is good value but whether you value your safety at 6 quid.

Capitalism at its worst.

People can always say "you don't have to fly with them"

I say.... a doorstep loan shark is still a hideous profiteering git even if you don't use him.

I'd rather pay twice the price to fly with anyone that raynair

For fucks sake.

If you want top quality service fly BA Aer Lingus Lufthansa etc.......... if you want cheap flights fly Ryanair.Its simple. If you fly to Madrid for £50 ( how much does a 20 mile taxi ride cost?) what level of service do you really expect? Grow up and stop whinging.

As LucyQ says, BA are getting more akin to Ryanair every day too, as are the other airlines, and not only airlines: you KNOW that every airline/bank/mobile phone company is gonna screw you... the idea that "the customer is always right" is long dead (when dealing with certain industries).

That being the case we can either moan about it, or accept it and try to carefully manage our dealings with these service providers. Don't give them what they want, let that fall to some other mug. I certainly won't be buying anything on the plane... I won't take mobile providers' dodgy offers for my internet line, and I'll (desperately) try not to run up any debt with the bank... as long as you know you're dealing with total c*nts and treat them as such (which they all are), why not take advantage of the low prices they offer in return for treating us like cattle?

With the money you save I'm sure, really sure, you can find some other use for it to put a smile on your face.

Just like the pay-to-use-the-toilet hoohah, this is all just publicity for them.

Ehm, what's annoying the hell out of me is that no one seems to have noticed that you have to load £150 on to it as a minimum to get the card... Which, despite the fact that I fly home to Ireland often, and the card would actually be of use to me, I don't have the kind of money sitting up front!

Ryanair. A stand alone company, if ever there was one. And you either love 'em or hate 'em.

Over the last couple of decades I suppose I flew with them something approaching 100 times and I got their booking forms and regs. down to an art and so long as I said Mogadan, Mogadon to myself from the time I joined the queue at check in until touch down, I survived the abruptness, actually no rudeness from the staff. Frankly, I felt sorry for them.

But it did what it said on the tin. Not once, in all the times with them was my luggage lost and only once was a flight delayed but as snow was the culprit I could hardly hold them responsible.

However, I would not ever fly with them again.

A pensioner friend of mine who lives in Edinburgh needed to come south for a funeral and despite being afraid of flying I talked her into taking a trip with Ryanair. I talked her through the booking procedures and told her that if her baggage was one pound over weight to expect to pay. I also told her told breath deep and leave loads of time ahead of flying and told her I'd be at the end of the phone if there were any problems.

She phoned me once at the airport and told me that she had checked in and as we half expected, had to pay excess luggage (she was using the trip down south to lavish gifts on people she rarely saw). She was OK with that.

She was checked in and went through security, no problem and went to the gate and as I had instructed her, just sat and sat and sat for her time to board.

Come that time, she was refused boarding. Why? Because she didn't have a passport. She has never had a Passport but then she doesn't fly.

And, to be fair to Ryanair it is stipulated that only a Passport will do as official documentation. But their downright surely, rude attitude to my flight-shy friend just compounded her complete disorientation. Hideous. I had her in floods tears on the phone. Not only had she been severely discomforted by Ryanair's staff, she was at severe risk of missing the funeral. Luckily, I steered her towards BMI and they were lovely, came to her aid, mopped her tears, looked after her from start to touchdown and made sure she actually made it in time. Many thanks to BMI from both of us.

So, what's the problem?

The first is that at no point, prior to boarding did anybody check that she had a Passport - if they had she would have saved around two and a half hours in departure with a screwed up stomach (remember she's a non-flier).

The second is that they refused to refund her fare which although I reluctantly accept they can do on the grounds that she didn't present herself as "fit to fly" (which I think is despicable but hey, ho). No, what REALLY went beyond all limits was that they refused to refund the monies my friend had paid for excess luggage. Which is nothing short of disgusting. Robbery actually, in my opinion.

AND, what happens to all the taxes paid at the time of booking when refunds are refused on the grounds of non-flying, for whatever reason? Do these tax sums collected at time of booking get handed onto the Treasury or end up in Ryanair's coffers?

Although as I say, I had had no problems with Ryanair, I haven't used them since what my friend went through - I stick to EasyJet where, I'm happy to say, the staff are lovely. No more Mogadon needed.

@hamstrung

Have I understood this correctly - if you fly Ryanair you need a passport to fly from Scotland to England? Is that the same on other airlines now? Why don't they accept other forms of photo ID? Having to buy a passport when you never intend to leave the UK is ridiculous!

I booked my flight from somewhere in the south of france to london and when i tried to check in on line to avoid the check in fee at the airport was told that my flight had been changed and was leaving in an hour, (4 hours earlier than booked) being an hour from the airport there was no chance of getting there on time. When I said why didnt you tell me? they said oh we emailed you and it probably went in your spam box. No phone call then? absolutely not. money back? had to write to them to lodge my complaint, and the next flight was going to cost in excess of 200 euros more than the one i booked and wasn't leaving until the next day. I flew BA and paid even more than that, but my luggage was included and i got some food and drink on the plane. i would never travel with ryan air again.

Why fly Ryanair when you can pay 200 times as much and be bullied and threatened with arrest by British Airways?

They're a kind of palendrome - ryanair - rianayr. l like that.

They are a bus company in the sky. They fly more routes and are convenient and cheaper than almost all other airlines. Get on, get off and get there - that's all. KLM lost my luggage and the flight was delayed 4 hours the last trip I took - who gives a fig about a complimentary sandwich and cup of coffee, I'd rather just get from A to B on time with minimum fuss.