We are an American family planning our summer 2004 trip. The low fares of Ryan Air obviously interest us. We are particularly interested in the Stockholm to Glasgow and Glasgow to Dublin routes. When I try to book on their web site, it says not available and gives 3 or 4 possible reasons. I suspect the primary one is that July, 2004 is too far out. Does anyone know, and if so, when will July dates be available to book? Also, can Americans book on their site, or only countries that Ryan Air flies to? Do you get assigned seats or is it open seating? Any other unusual aspects that a new customer should be aware of? Thank you very much for your help?

Americans can book on the Ryanair site. There is open seating.

The most important thing is to be at the airport in plenty of time, because there is absolutely no leeway if you arrive once the check-in window has closed.

The second most important thing is to check your baggage weights, because there often is strict enforcement of the rule that you can have only one piece of checked luggage up to 15 kg, and one piece of carry-on luggage up to 7 kg. I did take a shopping bag on also. In my experience, the check-in agent weighs all the family's luggage at once, but I don't know if that always happens.

>Does anyone know, and if so, when will July dates be available to book?
>
Usually in December.
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>Also, can Americans book on their site, or only countries that Ryan Air flies to?
>
Anyone can book a seat with a credit or debit card.
>
>Do you get assigned seats or is it open seating?
>
No assigned seat. Those who check in early get to board the plane first, after young families and disabled etc.
>
Any other unusual aspects that a new customer should be aware of?
>
It's strictly point-to-point and doesn't do connections, thru ticketing or luggage transfer. Fares are strictly non-refundable. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, all you get is a seat on the next available flight or sometimes full refund. No meals, hotels or transfer to another airline. Only 15 kg luggage allowance, and strictly enforces £4 a kilo excess charge. No free food or drink on board. But the planes are well maintained and safety record has been outstanding, and has good puntuality.

Their "no luggage transfer policy" also applies to their own flights.

So if you're American, and coming from Sweden, you have to go through UK immigration at Glasgow, wait for your baggage, go through Customs (actually a non-event, since you don't get stopped), go to the normal checkin desk - some distance away - and go through all the palaver of checking in (at least 30 mins before takeoff or you get bumped and lose all), going through security again and - if a bunch of Irish psychopaths are playing games again - going through the Strathclyde police interrogation.

Allow lots of time, or lay over in Glasgow till the following day.

Ryanair is not always strict (hand)luggage weight. Much depends on the check-in personnel. In Brussels South we didn't have to check our overweight carry-ons. In Venice however we had to check both, although one was only 300 gram overweight!
Check-in closes 30-40 min. before departure, depending from the airport.
Re punctuality: we were lucky that all the passengers boarded early with the result that our plane took off half an hour before scheduled!

Ryanair website is currently showing bookings up to 30th March only. (Follow the 'Destinations 'link).

Brian

Just a tip - I wouldn't book the Ryanair flights as soon as they become available. Wait for them to have some sort of super cheap sale. I paid $40 r/t from London to Dublin booked 4 days in advance. You may not want to wait that long, but do wait for some really cheap fares. Have fun!

What mek17 says makes sense. However, the longer you wait the higher the price you will pay.
Point is that you don't know beforehand when they will give seats away for free (that is 0.1 € + taxes), which happens very often.

If you sign up for their email updates, you're notified as soon as one of their sales happens, with a summary of that sale in the message. They often have great sales that only last 24-48 hours.

Thanks for the very quick and thorough responses! They have been very helpful.

Royce

Ryanair offers good value on many flights but they are not always the cheapest on every route.Their prices change rapidly as planes fill up.Generally speaking you will get better value from them if you book as early as possible at www.ryanair.com.
Incidentally even though they are an Irish company with headquarters in Dublin I note that they are quoted on Nasdaq too and are part of the Nasdaq 100 Index Fund (QQQ). Almost half the airline is owned by American investors.