Ryanair London Gatwick to Skavsta (Sweden)
 

I recently flew Ryanair from London Gatwick to Skavsta in Sweden (described as Stockholm, but not really). Some observations...

1. LGW has some exceedingly rude employees and large numbers of unattractive transit passengers. I survived my several hour layover there, but can't say I enjoyed it.

2. Non-EU passengers have to stop at the luggage check-in counter even if they aren't checking any bags. You must already have checked in for the flight and printed your boarding pass in advance. I'd arrived several hours early via Eayjet from Spain, in initially the agent told me I'd have to come back later as it was too early to check my bag, but as I was not checking a bag (and I voluntarily put my single 9.6 kg on the luggage scale for him to check), he was able to go ahead and stamp my boarding pass as having been checked. He did not tag my bag in any way.

3. Security at LGW either entirely incompetent or devoting considerable effort to giving that impression.

4. Final check to enter gate area involved inspection of boarding pass and assessment of hand luggage number and size. I was one of the very few who'd followed the rules: one bag and one nag only. Ryanair agent actually smiled at me as he handed me back my boarding pass.

5. Swedish passengers terrible at queuing: rude, a bit of shoving, deliberately ignoring others. At first I thought this was just the Ryanair effect, but it turned out to be the norm in Uppsala (where I was for work). Surprising.

6. Skavsta is about 1.5 hours from central Stockholm station. Buses meet the Ryanair flights. You can save yourself time and money by purchasing your ticket in advance via the web: your 2-D barcoded printed ticket is scanned as you enter the bus. I sat to a very nice young Swedish woman returning from a family visit to London.

7. Spent the night at a hotel just outside the central station in a small, windowless but very nicely-equipped transit room (other rooms at hotel have windows). I'm claustrophobic, but had no problem with the room. Hotel was the Nordic Sea. Or was it the Nordic Light? Never mind, they're sister hotels located next door to each other.

8. Late buffet breakfast (included with room; I could have chosen room service at no additional cost) followed by quick and easy train trip to Uppsala.

Oh, and the Ryanair flight took off on time and landed a few minutes early. Plane clean, flight attendants pleasant if not too anglophone (noted Czech tabloid newspaper in galley area).

<<< large numbers of unattractive transit passengers. >>>

Perhaps the Style Police were on strike

<<< I survived my several hour layover there >>>

35 minutes by train to Brighton

<<< He did not tag my bag in any way. >>>

Why should he?

<<< Non-EU passengers have to stop at the luggage check-in counter even if they aren't checking any bags. >>>

Ryanair is the only airline to require it.

<<< Security at LGW either entirely incompetent or devoting considerable effort to giving that impression. >>>

How?

<<< Skavsta is about 1.5 hours from central Stockholm station. >>>

RYanair say so.

I'm not sure how often you travel by plane these days.

Besides the interesting facts you mentioned about BP check and stamp, bus connections, and hotel in STO, the rest sounds more or less like the norm of what you experience at any airport on a busy day.

There are smoother ways to connect from one Schengen country to another than through a busy UK airport. If you connected in Germany there would not even have been a security checkpoint to pass.

And why didn't you fly with a regular carrier to Arlanda? No need for long hours of transit in LGW and an extra night in Stockholm. And easy access to Uppsala as Arlanda airport is already half way between Stockholm and Uppsala.

I think you booked cheap and complicated, and you got cheap and complicated.

Worth repeating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc

A bit lost in translation here: I'm not complaining (even if some of comments are negative; some of them are positive) so much as sharing my observations about a very specific experience. I fly frequently and knew exactly what I was getting into when I booked my inexpensive flights that day. The cost of my work travel is shared among my not-for-profit academic employer, budget-minded professional societies, and myself, and the USD 1000 that a mainlline carrier ticket would have added to my USD 1200 fare was rather more than I could afford.

I did look at alternate routing through other airports (MXP comes to mind, though there were surely others) but this option was the best overall. I considered a visit to Brighton but in the end decided I'd be cutting it a bit close. I also considered going into London to have a late lunch with my friend, Fiona, but she happened to be visiting New York that week, so I just sat and read.

As for the LGW transit crowd, I didn't sat that I found their clothes unattractive, so nothing to do with style. My opinion was very possibly influenced by my earlier interactions with security and the various airport vendors.

It's not uncommon for mainline carriers in the US to tag carry-on bags as having been approved for carry-on based on dimensions, weight, and or number. My bag bears a tag from Delta indicating such at this precise moment, and I'm almost certian that I've gotten similar tags from Air France in the past.

The tagging isn't absolutly required, but given that Ryanair has a strict weight limit of 10 kg and the bag was weighed, I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been tagged as within the limit. The Ryanair gate agent was not weighing bags, and most passengers were likely over the limit due to alcohol purchases (alcohol is very expensive in Sweden). My last Ryanair flight was out of Bremen, where my bag was weighed (9.9 kg) and approved. I don't recall whether it was tagged or not, but it was a small security/boarding area and the check-in agent also worked the gate.

Very funny link, Patrick. I should have contacteed you or jamikins when my plans with Fi fell through.

I've actually had pretty good experiences with staff at both Stansted and Luton. The security staff at Luton didn't seem to mind showing well over two thirds of the passengers how they needed to pack their liquids for carry-on. Again and again and again.

LGW and their very pleasant and competent staff...

The experience is summed up by the presence of signs throughout that warn passengers of the penalties for any sort of behavior towards staff that might be interpreted as threatening. No talking back, no raising your voice, no asking them if they'd been dropped on their heads as babies. Not that I would ever consider actually doing any of those things. They just happened to cross my mind that day.

So, I've finished with very pleasant man at Ryanair document check/luggage drop and proceed to security. I am stopped by middle-aged female uniformed official with following query:

Female Official: Any masacara? Lip gloss?

(no, actually, I don't wear either, but never mind that)

Yours Truly: All of my liquids ands gels are in quanties less than 100 mL and they are contained in a single 1 L ziplock bag.

FO: Are you sure?

YT: Yes, I'm sure.

(does she think a person could have spontaneously generated this information without knowing exactly what was reqired?)

FO: Are you sure it's the right sort of bag? Is it like ours?

YT: Yes, I'm sure. I travel a lot.

FO: But airports vary, you know. Don't you find that airports vary?

(well, no, I find airports and airport security to be remarkably consistent, with this inquisition being unique in my experience, and by the way I'd be willing to bet money that resealable plastic bags were invented somewhere other than the UK)

YT: Umm.... (I am at a loss for words, and really don't know what to say that won't get me carted off for a cavity search).

FO: How about I look at the bag to make sure?

YT: Ah, yes.

(pause while I retrieve it, followed by disappointed pause when she sees it)

FO: Fine. Go ahead.

Next stop is a man who looks at my boarding pass to make sure it's got the correct info. No issues here.

We were just speaking of you at our get together this week here in London! Definitely let us know if you are in town again!

Sorry, but I giggled when I read your post - I totally get what you are talking about haha!

Next stop is real security, not just this random sort of pre-screening that I've just been through. And I am delighted to find that the three passengers in front of me have neither the correct sort of bag for their liquids/gels nor the correct sign-off on their boarding passes. After some time I am permitted to place. So that pre-screening step is working wonderfully.

I step through the metal detector and an alarm sounds. I am surprised, as I never carry any sort of metal in my pockets. Another female officer approaches me for a pat down. I tell her that I've got quite a bit of metal in my ankles, so perhaps that's the source of the alarm (though it's never set off an alarm before, and I've been through at least twenty airports since my surgery). She explains that I've been pulled aside for a random search and proceeds to pat me down while I watch my boots being crushed between bags on the conveyor belt and eventually drop to the floor where other people walk over them.

At a certain point she puts her hand INSIDE the waistband of my jeans (which fit a bit loosely, and I wouldn't have minded if she'd warned me first) and I jump a little bit and she warns me stand still lest we bump heads.

Finally I am released.

Ah, jamikins, that explains that curious burning sensation in my ears. Hope you're both well, and the little guys as well. I'll be in Dublin for work next September and will probably lay over for a couple nights in London, so will definitely look to meet up if I do.

And to clarify some points from first post, I had of course already printed my boarding pass and booked my bus ticket from Skavsta to Stockholm from my office the US, well in advance of my travel.

Even Hitler didn't like Ryanair: http://triphunter.co.uk/hitler-ryanair-rant/

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

This thread is of interest to me because I plan on traveling from London to Stockholm on September 13. I checked the Ryanair site and only found a flight that gets me to Skavsta at 23:30 which is bit on the late side. After reading about Therese's experiences at Gatwick, I would much prefer leaving from Heathrow.

So, any advice on traveling inexpensively from London to Stockholm without a huge amount of hassle? I can even handle the unattractive transit passengers as long as I feel safe. :-)

After reading about Therese's experiences at Gatwick, I would much prefer leaving from Heathrow.

Really not worth choosing to fly from Heathrow rather than Gatwick.... In fact I probably prefer Gatwick and susp[ect I've flown through there more times than Therese

I agree - Gatwick is easier to get to on the train (well faster for me) and while I dont really like any airport experience I cant say I've had a much better experience at Heathrow.

Try BA - they also fly to Stockholm via London City which is the best airport experience I have had in Europe. Not busy, luggage comes right out, barely any lines anywhere and most frequented by business travellers that know how to do security (ie. no water, know to take their jackets off and take out their laptops).

Therese
Can you give details of how to buy the ticket for the airport bus into Stockholm? Can't seem to see it on Ryanair's website. Thanks