No frills but not low budget travel! (Ryanair)

Member Name: cjc3001

Product:	Ryanair
Date:	03/08/08 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for business travel or short trips

Disadvantages: Hidden charges when booking

I've flown with Ryanair a few times, but I think I've now come to the conclusion that I'll always look for an alternative next time I fly!

I recently flew to Rome & back with Ryanair, and whilst I cannot complain about the punctuality of the flight (I think we were delayed by around 30 minutes on take off from Luton), I do object to what I consider to be untruthfulness & hidden charges when booking flights.

What appeared to be a flight which would cost around £40 return at first glance, ended up costing well over £100 - I can sort of understand a charge if you wish to take luggage with you (although I still don't think it's right), you actually end up getting charged twice for the privilege, as you have to pay to check your baggage in, and then as you are checking luggage in, you can't check in online & have to pay a fee to check in at the airport. I can see how this wouldn't matter if you were a business traveller, but when you are using ryanair for a trip which is more substantial than a few days, it's very hard to fit a week's worth of clothes & other essentials in to a hand luggage bag.

I also made the mistake of paying for priority boarding, and my advice to anyone considering this in the future would be to not bother - there is no regulation of this, so you pay for this only to get pushed out of the way by people who haven't, and end up boarding the plane at the same time as everyone else - none of the ground staff seemed at all interested in enforcing this prodecure.

It does make me wonder what Ryanair will start to charge for next - the 'privilege' of having a seatbelt?!

Summary: Reasonable service