HI:<BR> First, I am new here and hope I am in the right forum. Has anyone flown on Ryan Air?<BR>Are they reliable? I am looking for low fares to Europe and then want to travel within Europe. Ryan Air has some interesting<BR>connections and what appears tobe low fares.<BR>My concern too is the flight back to London is at Stanstead at 11:20 pm. Anyone been<BR>to Stanstead airport? (I realize Ryan Air is only for Europe) <BR> Any comments on Ryan would be helpful. <BR>Thanks,Gloria

I've not flown RyanAir, but many of my friends have .. and here is the scoop:<BR><BR>Stanstead is out of London and you have to take a shuttle or taxi to get there. I think my friends paid around 10-15 euros to get out there from Heathrow.<BR><BR>There is a definite weight limit on RyanAir which I believe is about 13 kilos .. they are pretty strict because there isn't room on the plane.<BR><BR>For the most part RyanAir is on time .. but many times they are late and they will NOT compensate you for a missed connecting flight. <BR><BR>You can get steals of a deal on the website, but also remember that if the fare is 0,99 euros for a flight, the tax could be 20,00 euros.

I have flown Ryanair twice, and countless other people have reported good experiences here, though some did get taken by surprise by their (gennerally?) enforcement on baggage allowance fees (surcharges) which are all spelled out on their website.<BR><BR>Flying ryanair again three times this coming May. Graz-Stansted, then Stansted-Prestwick roundtrip.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

I just booked some flights on europebyair.com , you might want to check that out!

I fly Ryanair several times a year as it is the cheapest fares from Dublin to many place in Europe. I just flew to Milan (Bergamo) last week and it was fine. It's really a no frills airline and I prefer they keep the frills i.e. free drinks and food and charge me less for the fare. Personally I have never had a problem except for the occasional delay. Stanstead is not a tiny airport but is approx a 1 hour train trip or 1 1/2 hour bus ride from London Liverpool station. They are currently undergoing works on the train so it's a bus only option at the moment and you need to be early for check-in at Stanstead as it is usually mobbed.

Problem with Stansted is that you may get to Liverpool St (London station for Stansted) but by the time you get there, your connecting trains or underground may not be available. So be prepared for the taxi fare to wherever you are then going.<BR>Ryanair itself is fine - not great leg room and sandwiches if you do not have anything to eat beforehand are a rip off - over priced and pretty crap. But for some of the ticket prices, you cannot really complain too much - Austrian Airlines serves up the same hot ham and cheese roll for every flight until about 3 hr journey time and for that privilege you pay 00s more.

The website applefares.com includes many low cost airlines including Ryan &amp; Easy Jet. Sometimes there are other options besides Ryan on a given route from more convenient airports. It has recently been posted here that Iberia is now offering very low price fares on some intra europe routes. Also BMI (British Midlands) has some new routes out of Heathrow at low prices (ie Heathrow-Venice)

Bringing your message back &quot;up to the top&quot; since it is your first question vere here on the Europe forum. There is a much less sympathetic view of Ryanair on frommers today, but it may not be applicable to you (it IS applicable to me and my family), regarindg delays/missed connections:<BR><BR>http://www.frommers.com/cgi-bin/WebX?128@@.eeae7d5<BR>

I second SiobhanP's tip to make sure you arrive at Stansted in plenty of time. I was there yesterday and the place was mobbed. As well as the check-in desks being pretty busy, increased security measures mean that the queues through security and passport control were extremely long. We got there 2 hours before our flight and spent all that time checking in and clearing security - no time for airport shopping or coffee before the flight!!<BR><BR>Bear in mind that as well as the Stansted Express train/coach service to Liverpool street station, you can also take the &quot;Airbus&quot; line A6 from the airport into London Victoria. You buy your ticket at the National Express desk in the airport, and it's �15 for a round-trip ticket, or �10 for one-way. The coach drops off at various points along the way, including Marble Arch. When travelling from London to Stansted though, you have to get this coach from Victoria Coach station as they don't pick up from any other points. They run every 20 minutes.<BR><BR>Oh, and Ryanair's fine - just read the small print and make sure you allow plenty of time for connections, as they're not obliged to reimburse you if you miss an ongoing flight or whatever due to a delay.

RyanAir was fine when I flew from Stansted to Italy (Ancona) and back. But you DO need to stay within the weight and size restrictions they set for baggage and carryon. If you goof, you will pay dearly. Those surcharges are a profit center for them. We found the planes fine; like the other airlines. Take your own sandwiches &amp; water on board. They hawk their wares &amp; duty free items so don't expect a silent flight. No assigned seating, so be prepared to line up early for boarding &amp; sprint for seats together. Our flight out of London was one hour late. Flight back was on time. If the fare is right, you can live with the luggage restrictions given on their website, and you have no connecting flights to worry about, I'd say go for it! They are short flights for the most part, after all.

Oh, Stansted. While crowded at check-in &amp; security, much of it is newer than similar facilities in Gatwick &amp; Heathrow. With all of the emenities you'd expect or need. I prefered the train from Stansted to Liverpool St. (though a tad longer) to the one from Gatwick to Victoria. Hope that Express connection is back in place before you have to use it!

I've not flown Ryan Air, however, I notice that the airports that they use are sometimes fairly distant from the cities they advertise they fly into. I was looking into flying to Stockholm because of the cheap fare, but noticed that the airport being used was not the main Stockholm airport and that it was some distance away. Easyjet, however, does use the closest airports. Consider that before booking. Look at what airport Ryan Air uses. Also, I've gotten extremely good airfares just using Travelocity &amp; Expedia and putting in London as the starting point.

Hi Glori,<BR> We utilized Ryan air from Rome ciampino to Frankfurt Hahn. Ciampino is closer to Rome than Fiumicino, but Hahn is about 40 miles from Frankfurt. Except for a 30 minute take-off delay and an last second aborted landing @ Hahn- the experience was fine. They have great new planes (Boeing 737-800),but the least service in flight that I have ever seen. We paid $57 for three to fly Rome-Frankfurt. What a deal. Tim

Flew Ryanaiar 3 yrs ago, Gatwick-Dublin and back. Flights were fine. Had no trouble with excess baggae (by travelling buddy had about 60 pounds, but I had about 15 and they were checked in together. But as reported on the website Rex quoted, a poster mentions a very high excess baggage charge.<BR><BR>Be on time. When the door is closed, they won't open it up, even if you are 5 seconds late!<BR><BR>Unlike Southwest Airlines, they don't board by groups, but it is strictly first come, first in. If you want to sit with someone, better to get near the front of the line

Hi<BR><BR>I fly them several times each year.<BR><BR>Search on Ryanair to read past reports.<BR><BR>They deliver very slightly more than they promise !<BR><BR>Generally worth every cent, but don't expect anything extra.<BR><BR>Regard<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR><BR>

there is a direct bus service heathrow to stanstead takes 1hr 40 min cost 19 pounds.go to www.GoByCoach.com.