You get what you pay for - or less (Ryanair)

Member Name: mosaic369

Product:	Ryanair
Date:	29/05/08 (123 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You reach your destination in the end

Disadvantages: Not as cheap as you might think

We've just got back from a European trip with Ryanair. I didn't expect much as I'm used to flying with other budget airlines, so I didn't have high expectations to start with, but they have failed to meet even my low expectations. I've found the staff unfriendly and unhelpful. Even though we were entitled to priority boarding with my three-year-old, we ended up boarding the plane last. Yes, me and my young son were the very last passengers to get on the plane. Just in front of us were two other families with young babies, who also refused to join the stampede of our inconsiderate fellow-passengers (most of them young men returning from a drinking holiday) pushing and fighting their way onto the plane. That's not what I would want my son to learn, so we just stood by and waited for our turn. Anyway, when we finally got on the plane, I couldn't find two seats next to each other. Surely, I can't leave a three-year-old sitting by himself? So, I asked the steward what to do. Instead of opening up one of the several rows of empty seats which had been blocked off (why, I'll never know - for their own convenience, I expect?) - he opted to rearrange some of the other passengers. Thus, we ended up sitting next to a very large man, who took up half of my son's seat. My son's only little (as you can imagine all three-year-olds are) but I had to buy a full-priced ticket for him, so surely he would have been entitled to a full seat. Why do Ryanair block the extra seats and cram all the passengers into the remaining ones? And more importantly, why don't they have a straightforward priority boarding procedure for young families? If they don't want families to fly with them, fine, but they should tell us first, so we know what we bargain for. The five-pound ticket ended up costing 120 pounds with all the hidden add-ons and for that sort of money I might have chosen another airline. There's a limit to the definition of "no frills" in my dictionary and if it means being treated like cattle, I would rather choose a regular airline and pay a bit more.

Please note I have published this review/rant on other websites as well.

Summary: The least child-friendly airline in the world