General Chat

We have flown with Easyjet, Monarch, Thompson, BA, Virgin, Iberia Air, but never with Ryanair.

It looks like when we go to Lanzarote later in the year we only have the choice of Ryan Air from Birmingham. Does anyone have any experience of travelling with them and are they as bad as they are painted? We would need hold luggage as well as cabin.

you know it doesn't make sense so why do it ?

We travelled once with them to Malta.

Check-in , flight, staff etc were fine, no problems, but we were only taking hand luggage, as in-laws were already on the island.

Rollo :-D so helpful!! Maybe have to drive across country to Gatwick then.

Gwyn, confused, hold luggage containes my clothes, underwear, nightwear etc not sure how in laws there would help with that??? :-S

Is it true you have to supply your own fuel?

would the tanker count as carry on? or hold........

AnninGlos,
Take no notice of Rollo or Bobtanian.

I have flown with Ryanair a few times and I have had no problems.

I make sure hold luggage slightly under the weight just in case.

Enjoy your hols.

Sue In Yorkshire - I agree with you.

Sorry Ann.

In-laws had an apartment on Gozo.
It was November.
We were flying out to join them for a long weekend, so no need for towels, shampoo and other toiletries.etc.
We just took a few mix and match sets of clothes and our underwear, so could travel with minimal luggage.

Ah Gwyn I see what you mean. Don't normally take towels and just take small bottles of toiletries. Our cases, although they feel heavy to us, are usually well under the weight required. Worse when going for four weeks although with Iberia there was a higher allowance.

Thank you Sue and Dermot.

Daughter went to Spain for 5 months so we flew over on an airline with a bigger luggage allowance.

During the time she was there, we flew back and for with which ever airline suited our dates and pocket best.

No problems with any of them but on budget flights we had to pick an aisle seat for her 6'3" boyfriend.

So long as you read their luggage rules them you will be fine.

Thanks all

Going by reports in the Travel section of the media, you do need to watch the cost of the 'add ons'. Quite often the apparently higher priced airlines work out the same but with a more traditional service.

Yes that is true with other budget airlines, thanks for the reminder though. I am more concerned with some of the reports of the way they treat their customers. However I did see that they were trying to improve their customer service and wondered if they have.

In the end we may have no choice. In all our years of visiting Lanzarote (quite a few and often twice a year in the 90s) and then Tenerife we have never had a problem with flights. Really struggling this time. And surprised at how much it has gone up. Last time we went was two years ago. However we are tryinf to fly on a sunday to Sunday which I know makes a difference going there.

They are the only airline which has had multiple bollockings for flying without enough fuel ( though inside legal min ) resulting in the flight having to demand priority landing rights after being stacked ... given the not very flat topology of Tenerife something to think about.

They are to say the least not known for user friendliness and in my experience indifferent at best.

Any minor matter will be used as a reason for a dramatic increase in ticket prices.

Use of airports miles and miles from intended destination.

Worse than B.A. at handling hold luggage known to take off without discharging luggage when they are late.

Overcharging for in flight food and drink.

Tiny seats though if you are size 12 or less / bloke under 70 kg you'd be ok.

OTOH anybody who likes Tenerife is unlikely to be disappointed with Ryan Air :-)

By and large I have found last minute tickets on proper airlines better value for money. I never book accommodation I haven't seen.

IMPORTANT !!!
From Jun 8 you MUST get a driving licence code from DVLA before travel if you need to rent a car. It is only valid for 72 hrs. If you need a second week then the car hire company may have to contact DVLA from Tenerife, Paris, Timbuktu. This is because the driving licence paper form has been abolished and will no longer be valid. You will also need the code to rent a car in the UK. Most foreign car hire companies are unaware of the changes so may accept yr current paper part but don't count on it.

"OTOH anybody who likes Tenerife is unlikely to be disappointed with Ryan Air "


Rollo would you care to elaborate on this comment made in your last post.

Wendy, ignore that remark. Rollo likes to court controversy.

Rollo yes we are aware of the fuel pronlem and we are going (this time to Lanzarote, probably in your mind worse than Tenerife. We love both North Tenerife and Lanzarote. However we probably wouldn't like your choice of destination, good job we are all different.

I will however check out that info re driving abroad and the driving licence.

I have just looked at this driving licence thing and it is because any convictions, penalty points etc are no longer visible to the car-hire people, but are only on line.

You log-on to the website, click on "share licence details" give the code to the car-hire people and they then do their bit and can see the other details from your driving history.

It seems unlikely that you would have to do it again if hiring a car for more than one week!!

Also, my OH has just said that in all the years he has been hiring cars abroad, nobody has ever asked to see the paper part of his licence. :-S :-S

Andy's Mum, the problem that will arise is if, like us, you hire a car in the second week of your holiday, we usually don't bother the first week but do the second. And true, just asked my OH and he says he has not been asked for his paper part of his licence either. Hopefully problems will be ironed out by the time we go in October (when/if we eventually get a flight.)

My son has used them a few times as well as other airlines.

His advice is make sure you read the t's and c's several times over so you know exactly what you are paying for and what restictions and conditions apply then you shouldn't have any nasty surprises.

You pays your money and takes your chouce, as the saying goes.

Ann, I think that, if you have internet access, you can go into the DVLA website the day you hire the car, and get the code then.

There is a short video under "share licence details" which tells you how and why.

We also like Tenerife and Lanzarote, and have just returned from the Algarve.

Re Ryanair, if you have no luggage and like no frills flying, they seem OK. My son had to travel frequently between Bristol and Dublin. As he only had a briefcase, it cost him just £5 each way!!

There was a documentary some time ago about them, and there was a group of teenagers in Birmingham who used to go on day trips to Dublin for just 1p each!! It was a promotion at the time, but the kids thought it was brilliant,