Okay - I have been around the block a few times, but I have never seen airfares such as 0.99 EU for a one way from Paris to Rome on Ryan air in November. Yes, there are taxes and yes they charge for checked bags,but...is this too good to be true?????

Ryan Air really does run terrific sales. Even with the extra charges, it is usually still a great deal. Just watch out for the excess baggage charges. They can be really high, even costing more than your airticket. If you see something you like, get it. The seats go quickly.

Ryanair is the most successful low-cost airline in Europe, and its stocks are worth more than most airlines in the world. So, the fares are totally legit. However, you have to know about their:

- very strict baggage rules (as nibblette already described)

- airports they use. In "Paris", it's Beauvais, about 85km (50miles) from Paris. Taxi fare is >100 Euro during the day, >150 Euro at night; or you need to take the shuttle bus ~3hr15min before take off at Paris Porte Maillot (which is two metro stops beyond the Arc de Triomphe, not exactly central Paris). In Rome, it uses the closer Ciampino, not the larger Fiumicino.

- the cheapest fares are often just one or few flights a day, often at very poor times. For example, only the very first flights between BVA and CIA are 0.99 Euro. Some can be up to 120 Euro. A 9:30 BVA departure mean you need to take the shuttle bus at 6:30am from Paris in the morning.

- if you miss the check-in (closes 40 minutes prior to take-off, at least at the hub in Stansted), then you buy a new ticket. And the later flights may be more expensive too.

As everyone else has said, the low cost specials have a price to pay: limited selection of flight times, very strict rules (which have been touched on by the other posters), which come with expensive penalties if broken.

I'd also like to add that my personal experience with this airline has been:

Flight and check in staff exceptionally friendly.

Flights often delayed, but not horribly so. (I used to fly this airline every other week for a year, and it was hardly ever on time.)

Do your homework before booking on Ryan Air. Yes they are cheap fares but you have to add the transportation costs between where you are and the out of the way airport. Sometimes it is cheaper to pay a bit more to the major airport because transport costs to and from the airport are less. This is especially true in London as the Standstead express is 16 GBP each way. Make sure you also pay attention to the fact that you have to get there early for these flights. I missed a flight on them becuase the lines were so long and didn't get checked in before the 40 min cut off time which cost me another 40 GBP per person. When they say 2 hours they mean it becuase it will take that long to get checked into their crazy 1-2 check in desks per flight.

Yes, the phenomeal deals on ryanair are every bit as good as they seem. I've flown them twice with my wife and three times with wife and thre daughters - - a total of 19 tickets, totaling about maybe $600-800 altogether. Easily a savings of $5000 (if not double that) over any ther form of transportation we might have used.

With one exception, my ground transportation to/from
"their airports" has been rental cars they we would have chosen to have anyway, so I do not factor in ground transporetation costs.

By the way, charge for checked bags? Their website - - http://www.ryanair.com/termscond/conditions.html - - says nothing about starting any new policy on charging for your "reasonable" (under 15 kg) checked bags. And they have recently - - http://www.ryanair.com/press/2004/ju...en-300604.html - - posted statistics on their lost bag rate; while British Airways lost 14 bags per every 1000 passengers, Ryanair lost less than one (bag per 1000 flyig passengers).

Best wishes,

Rex

I use Ryanair frequently from London. Recently went to Rome for £35 return (can't beat that!). They are reliable, delays can happen to any other airlines. My husband's Irish, we have only ever use Ryanair to fly to Dublin several times a year. Bags allowance aren't great but for what you pay, can't complain. They have increased hand luggage to 10 kg recently. Book early & you'll get a better deal. The later you leave it, the more expensive it gets.

It's not necessarily the case that you do better booking way in advance. Ryanair often has sales and other times drops the prices without advertising it. The two times I took Ryanair, I had booked about three months in advance. In both instances, the prices later dropped substantially. However, I agree the principle is generally true.

Three cheers for Ryan Air! We booked this for a student group of 11 students/4 moms that we took on a European tour, just got back last Tuesday. I was very concerned about the airline and especially the weight restrictions. Here's the scoop. The weight limit for checked baggage is 15 kg or 32lbs. The carry on weight limit is 10kgs. We had thought that our TOTAL weight limit was a maximum of 15 kgs. and packed light. Packing light was great for getting around, but not necessary just for Ryan Air. Ryan Air also allowed us to pool our checked baggage weight so that even though some were overweight by a kg more or less, most were underweight and we sailed through.

We flew from London to Salzburg and later in our trip from Rome to Paris. The Salzburg airport Ryan Air uses is the only airport in Salzburg and just a few minutes from town by taxi or bus. We took the train from Salzburg to Venice and then from Venice to Rome. While I enjoyed the experience of the train, the ease and speed of Ryan Air was terrific! Even w/ arriving early for your flight and allowing time to clear security, Ryan Air is the way to go. We bought our tickets in May and the total cost for both flights, including all fees, was ~$100US.

Oh, someone mentioned the Ryan Air bus from Paris Beauvais to Porte Maillot, the trip is no more than 1:30 hrs and is on a full size coach bus. It can be hectic getting on a bus that isn't yet full, but you will get on one, just go w/ the flow. With the efficient Paris Metro, Porte Maillot is just a few minutes on the Metro from the heart of the left or right bank with an easy switch of lines.

Also, we took limoservicerome.com, per this board's recommendations, from our Rome hotel to Ciampino. It was 10Euros per person and door to door service. We found that the door to door service was worth the money when you are tired and lugging suitcases.

The only thing you really need to look out for with Ryanair (same with easyjet) is that it is a point-to-point airline, which means you're taking your chances booking more than a direct flight with them. They do not transfer luggage and if your first leg is delayed, they will not necessarily put you on the next flight to your destination, and will likely charge you any fare difference.

Seafox: A friend of mone just booked 2 flights from Dublin to Paris .99 cent each way. With taxes and charges it worked out at 98 euro. Cheaper than staying at home!!

We flew Ryan air from Pisa to Brussels for 37 Euro two years ago and it was great. I was really worried about the luggage allowance because we had shopped a lot in Italy but they didn't even weigh our bags and we were way over. I was just prepared to pay but we had no problems. I will us them again.