About to book on line for a flight out of Stanstead for August. Has anyone had any problems or any advice.
Thanks

RyanAir tends to fly into small secondary airports. I would check which airports you will be flying to/from and be sure there are good connections to your destination city.

As far as punctuality and safety, Ryanair is as good/bad as a traditional airline. Of course, since it's low cost, you don't have any numbered seats and expect to find a few crumbs on your seat! (there is no cleaning team that goes onboard during the 20 minute turnaround time, so theoretically the flight attendants are supposed to vacuum, but more often than not they don't have time to).

I just flew RyanAir from Beauvais (Paris) to Treviso (Venice). You may notice my posting does not say Paris to Venice. Be aware that the secondary airports may be over an hour away from your destination. RyanAir contracts buses but that is a cost and the cost is often more in time than $$. I liked the airline itself but will never do this again because the secondary airports are so far away. Also, there is an extraordinarily strict luggage rule (weight) and size for RyanAir. No checked luggage can be more than 15k and no carry on can be more than 55cm x 40cm x 10 cm and 10k. I saw more people directed to the line to pay the overweight or oversize penalty before getting on the flight than were checking in. The fines are stiff and no matter how much people pleaded there is no flexibility on the luggage. The overhead bins basically would fit a very small bag. Some folks decided it was worth paying the extra $$ for an already ridiculously cheap ticket and take their big suitcase. You only get one carry on and one checked luggage so pack carefully if you are flying from one city to another. You do not have to fly round trip on RyanAir so that is a great deal as open jaw travelling saves a lot.

There are countless &quot;love note&quot; posts from the legions of &quot;us&quot; who <i>love</i> August. The post from Elan has a negative tone (even if entirely factual) that I'd like to counter balance.

The location(s) of the airports they serve are where they are - - they don't hide the or move them on you, so read and look at a map before you go. They don't use a &quot;seconday&quot; airport for Dublin or Sevilla or Granada or Pisa or Palermo or Graz or many wonderful, &quot;real&quot; cities. And thank goodnesss they serve out-of-the-way places like Biarritz or Bergamo or Klagenfurt which are located near borders - - making car rental practical for visiting two or more countries without a drop charge.

Yes, they have luggage rules. I've traveled Ryanair with a family of five and not paid a penny in excess charge. 25 kilogram per person allowed. Do the math - - that's 275 pounds for our family - - we ought to have been shot if we had exceeded that! And we paid waaaayy less than the price of pizza to get from Austria to England!

So, ask questions. Read up. And enjoy your flights on Ryanair!

Best wishes,

Rex

We are taking Ryanair in July. Please convert the luggage measurements and weights to inches and pounds for this metric system-challenged American! Keep in mind I teach English, French, and Spanish, not math!

Thanks!

Okay, though I thought that this calculation was part of the eight-grade proficiency exam. Checked luggage: 15 kg=33 pounds; carry-on bag: 10 kg=22 pounds.

Uggg... just noticed the brain slip in the first sentence of my first post.

...legions of us who love <i><b>Ryanair</b></i> - - not love <i>August</i>!

Hi lyn,

From Stansted to where?

What about the measurements? Two seconds after I posted my hubby called me a dolt b/c I could not convert the weight, but then he could not convert the centimeters!

Hi

We flew from Stansted to Venice with easyjet no problem. Cost &pound;250

This year we are fling British Airways as the flights with them were no more expensive than easyjet and they do give a better service. Gatwick to Naples &pound;265 for 2 adults. I have never flown with ryanair though.

Also the later you leave it the more expensive it becomes even day by day.

My friend has just booked his flight through skyscanner.com

Regards

Bubbles

Thanks everyone for your replies. Sorry that I didn't reply earlier. I will have to work out the best time to post from Australia, so its not in the middle of your night.

We are flying to Nimes and then driving to Uzes.

I think the airport is actually at Garons just south of Nimes. Am I correct?

Thought that since Arles is not far further south we might drive there first and then up to Uzes since we can't get into our apartment till 4pm.

Any thoughts. This will be our first experience driving and navigating in Europe.

I took the plunge and booked our tickets online since they were 20 pounds cheaper than they usually are. Guess they could get cheaper but couldn't afford not to get seats.

Thanks again,

Lyn

Okay... 10 cm=4 inches...

...but I swear that the dimensions are &quot;enforced&quot; only as a total.

Thus, 55 x 45 x 10 = 22 x 18 x 4 inches.

But I think that would be very unusual shape - - a very large, but thin briefcase, for example. While my last Ryanair flight was in 2003 (and I hink that the carryon limit was lower at 8 kg) - - my duffel was ok and I would say it's more like 18 x 8 x 8.

So, focus on the total of 44 inches, L+W+D

I am sorry for the negative tone but having just experienced the strictness last week with RyanAir, I can make people aware of my particular experience in June 2005. Perhaps it was just the France to Venice flights that were so strict but the persons at the check in was literally measuring the bags or asking people to put their carry on bags through the metal basket measurement test. My carry on was 2 inches too wide and I pulled out a smaller cloth tote bag that I happen to have packed inside in order to repack my items in a smaller bag that met the measurements. Then I packed my carry on bag into my suitcase to be checked. This may not be the case I understand in all RyanAir flights. I also think some things may have changed since 2003.