I Flew Ryanair, Saved $200 And Didn’t Die! My Review And A Giveaway For You
I’ve had airline elite status in some form or fashion for almost 20 years. I’ve had top-tier status on at least one airline for the past 10 years. And yet, as the Big 3 of American, Delta and United Airlines have reduced benefits, I’ve flown more and more on low-cost carriers. Southwest has been a staple for years, connecting the dots between a handful of cities for me each year. Lately, even more low-cost carriers have started to creep into my flight history.
I flew Frontier Airlines, saved $400 and didn’t die. It was an easy decision, given the savings. Now, bad things can happen when you book with a low-cost carrier. But, I’m open to using them situationally for my business travel. I’ve flown Spirit Airlines and didn’t die, either. Saved a bunch of money, too. But, I’d never flown the Mac Daddy of them all, Ryanair. Until last month.
Booking My First Ryanair Flight
I found Ryanair’s booking process to be pretty straightforward. There are plenty of add-ons, hotel rooms and other gadgets to sell you along the way. I think the only thing I wasn’t offered was a toaster. Ryanair sells three levels of fares, Standard, Plus and Flexi Plus.
The advice I received from a number of friends was to buy “Plus” if you’re checking a bag. Generally speaking, I’d say that’s the right idea if you’re going to check a bag. I haven’t willingly checked my own bag since the 90s, though.
Priority Boarding Versus Plus
For folks who aren’t checking a bag, priority boarding may be a better fit for you. Thanks to Peer on Twitter for reminding me that I forgot to include that here. You won’t see the Priority Boarding option until after you get through seat selection. This doesn’t come with an upgraded seat assignment, like a bulkhead row. But, if you don’t care about your seat selection and just want to bring a second bag, this is likely a better value. In my example flight where it was approximately 25 Euro more to purchase Plus, if you purchased a standard seat assignment and Priority Boarding, you would save somewhere around 15 Euro.
Interestingly, though a lot of people chose Priority or Plus on my flight the bins were nowhere near full when I boarded. In my sample-size of one, purchasing Plus or Priority doesn’t necessarily mean you need to board first. Heck, the only reason I ever get on a short flight early is to make sure I have room for my carry-on bag. Ryanair’s fee structure and policing of the overhead bins may make that less stressful.
For my 2.5 hour flight from Ponta Delgado to Lisbon, the price to purchase a seat is pretty insignificant. The most expensive option was 10 Euro for a seat with extra legroom. In Ryanair parlance, that’s the bulkhead or exit row. Heck, you an even plunk down $3 to pick an aisle or window in the back of the plane.
Once you’re done booking your ticket, Ryanair wants to make sure you have all the details you need. They’ll even offer to send you an SMS text of your flight details if you want that in addition to the e-mail confirmation they send. It’s only 4 Euro to get a text of your flight info.
My First Ryanair Flight
I arrived at Ponta Delgado airport and quickly made my way through security. Azores Airlines actually maintains a lounge in the tiny terminal. So, when my flight posted an hour delay I went to hang out in the lounge. I walked out about 15 minutes prior to boarding and realized my first mistake. A lot of people had purchased a Plus fare. The lines were quite long.
Ryanair appears to have a bit of a sense of humor, like Southwest or Jetblue.
Because we were delayed, the Ryanair team was trying to get as many people outside and queued up to board the plane as they could. They stacked us up outdoors opposite the airplane for about 15 minutes while they finished servicing the plane.
Interesting tidbit I don’t recall with any other airline I’ve flown. Ryanair boards using their own stairs. That’s common on smaller regional jets, but not something I recall seeing on larger single-aisle jets like the Boeing 737 we were flying. Maybe it saves them money on airport fees if they don’t have to borrow equipment?
Once onboard, flight attendants were checking each suitcase to see if it had a tag to allow it to be stored in an overhead bin. I was a bit surprised that even with the large number of people purchasing a Plus fare there was still plenty of space in the overhead bins.
I had chosen a window seat near the front of the plane. The legroom was just fine for me at 5’9″.
Ryanair finds some interesting ways to save a few bucks. The plane I was flying on didn’t have any seat back pockets. Instead, the safety card was part of the headrest in front of me. The color definitely made it hard to miss.
Ryanair doesn’t do reclining seats, so no need to waste time finding the button.
The overhead bins have frames for advertising. Alas, all we had to look at was the yellow interior.
The flight attendants walked through the cabin handing out thick magazines that contained a menu and a lengthy catalog of merchandise for purchase. The prices really weren’t that bad. I had planned to try the Bolognese to take one for the team and see how it was. Alas, it wasn’t loaded on my flight. I settled for a Coke and some Pringles.
The tray table was also bigger than expected. And, because of no reclining seat in front of me, I actually had a pretty easy time using my 15″ MacBook Pro throughout the flight.
The Final Two Pennies (And A Giveaway)
I got pretty much exactly what I was expecting on Ryanair. I got the seat I selected, a clean plane and a courteous crew. It cost me next to nothing. The flight was about an hour late departing but we made up a bit of time in the air, ultimately landing about 45 mins late. I was off the plane and onto a bus a few mins later, a common occurrence in Europe. 10 minutes after that, I was walking out of Lisbon Airport. I don’t think I’d hesitate to fly Ryanair again. I’d also recommend them to my readers, though I’d keep an eye out for labor strikes. They’re having a small issue with that right now.
I also picked up some Ryanair scratch cards on the flight and I have two multi-packs to give away to readers of my blog. They give away cars, cash and other prizes, with a top prize of 1 million Euro. They also give a small portion of the proceeds to charity. According to this article, your chances of winning the grand prize are worse than getting struck by lightning. But, all you have to do is leave me a comment below for a chance to win. Let me know if you’ve flown Ryanair or not. If not, tell me someplace fun you plan on going soon. I’ll draw winners this weekend, Saturday December 8th and mail two winners a pack of scratch cards.
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We’ve been flying RyanAir for years…! Spent many nights on airport floors because of delayed or cancelled flights out of small European airports!
have not flown RyanAir. might try them in a short haul situation but it’s something to be avoided for me.
thanks to Iberia, I’m going to BCN and LIS in ’19.
I’ve never flown Ryan but now that I live on the east coast, I see some Europe trips in my future!
I flew RyanAir between Fez and Madrid. It was a fine flight.
I’ve never flown Ryan but now that I live on the east coast, I see some Europe trips in my future!
Being based in Berlin it’s. Wen Ryanair or Easyjet for the majority of flights in the last ten years. Never had a single problem on any of the flights (roughly 6 returns a year) – completely different if I do use legacy carriers, they kind of always screw something up badly..
i haven’t flown ryanair yet; i’ve flown vueling instead due to slightly cheaper costs when traveling inside Spain. I plan to travel mostly within the US soon, with my first destination in 2019 to Las Vegas
We have flown low cost carriers in Europe, but not Ryan Air. We will be going to the Azores next April so we look forward to reading your posts about it.
Never fkew with them as of yet.
Haven’t yet been on a Ryanair flight but not opposed to trying it in the future.
Have not flown Ryanair. But, I do own stock. Planning Turks & Caicos.
Leaving a comment, but I don’t want the scratch cards. Regarding flying FR again, I would caution that ***as long as you are not flying out of one of their “remote” city / local airports***, you should be fine. For example, back in 2003, I flew FR from Paris to Barcelona. What I didn’t realize at the time was that FR serves Paris out of BVA (Beauvais) which is about an hour north of Paris proper, and to get to that airport, I took a Paris Metro from near Opera to near the Hyatt Regency Etoile, then had to take an FR bus (which at the time cost 10 EUR) to BVA. Then when we got to Barcelona, I discovered that the airport they use, Girona (GRO) is also about an hour away from Barcelona, and – you guessed it – there was a RyanAir bus for 10 EUR to go to downtown. That was my first lesson that not all budget airlines – and the airports they serve – are alike.
Nice review! I have never flown RyanAir but am now considering it as an option on our next trip to Europe.
I’ve flown Ryanair once from Stansted to Rimini. They brought back the flight last year after being off the schedule for years. Aside from an hour-long ATC delay where our plane sat on the tarmac (French ATC workers were on strike again at the time), the flight itself was perfectly acceptable for a 2 hour hop across Europe.
Considering Ryanair has a monopoly on the route with no convenient alternates (only other flights were through Russia) – the fact my flight with Priority only cost about $40 was amazing. Had this been a US airline monopolized route I’m sure basic economy would have cost $400.
I’ve always been hesitant to book low cost carriers but now that i’ve known that you didn’t die, I might as well try them. I’m still waiting for some good deals that will allow me and my family to go back to Europe.
never done ryanair. i’m soon off to a town called talking rock (yeah, that’s right!), ga for a care taking gig of a 500 acre property…and a horse!
Never flown RyanAir. Hoping to be going back to Europe at some point.
I flew Ryanair to John Lennon Airport (Liverpool). Yes, people do line up early so be prepared to stand for quite a while. The flight was comfortable and about what I expected, and I (like you) didn’t die.
I did fly Ryanair this past year. It was great because it went from the small airport we were by to the other small airport. I had read up in advance and knew what we needed to pay for and to make sure I had my boarding pass before I got to the airport. We couldn’t sit together, but it was a 90 minute flight and we’re both adults so no one was going to die over it.
I actually like the fact that the seats don’t recline because you know your space will not be invaded.
I have heard that they are useless if mechanical or weather issues arise, though.
Haven’t flown Ryanair yet. For somewhere fun, I am going to Toronto next weekend to eat. Lots of delicious food there.
I have flown Ryan Air once from London to Dublin for a quick 1 night stay. A great experience for $40 RT especially when I only brought my backpack for no baggage fees!