Sean, since I believe you are focusing on an American audience (your note in the insurance section leads me to believe this anyway), you will want to make sure to correct the information above about online check-in. NO NON-EU PASSPORT HOLDER SHOULD AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE ONLINE CHECK-IN FUNCTION AS THEY WILL BE DENIED BOARDING AT THE GATE. I spell out the details of who, why and how to get your money back in my post "WARNING: RyanAir Online Check-in." If you don't have an EU passport, you should ALWAYS check in at the airport.

Also, it is possible to amend your booking online before the flight to include luggage at the same "discounted" rate as you will pay when booking the ticket. So no need to book luggage beforehand if you're not sure what you'll have.

Another thing to note: if you check luggage, you pay the fee for the bag (9 euros) as well as the airport check-in fee (4 euros). As soon as you book checked luggage (whether you use it or not), you forfeit your right to the refund of the airport check-in fee for non-EU passport holders.

Now onto opinions rather than facts :)

I can't believe the EuroCheapos recommended priority boarding! Unless you are a regular flier and KNOW that your flight will have every seat full (or, say, it is a flight from the UK to a warm Mediterranean isle that only goes twice/week), it does not pay to play. Read your book at the gate while everyone else tires standing in a panicked queue for 45 minutes. Wait till most of them have cleared out before leisurely strolling through the boarding gate and across the tarmac. Head for the rear of the plane, where there are always more seats free. I have never in all my many flights on RyanAir ever been stuck in a middle seat. Generally, the middle seats in every row are free and I have even had entire rows to myself. They never overbook the flights so there is no reason to worry that you'll be stuck without a seat. The stress of boarding is largely one the passengers make for themselves! Calm down, treat everyone nicely, and stop pushing.

I would recommend Which Budget for an overview of which low-cost carriers fly where. You have to do the searching yourself, but you'll get a better sense of what your options are for switching airports and airlines.

Finally, the cheapest way to fly on RyanAir is to book when they're paying the taxes and fees. I describe the method for doing this in my post "Why I Love/Hate RyanAir." I've spent less than 60 euros on my last 24 flights, with RyanAir footing the rest (an estimated 480 euros). That includes the four flights I just booked (Berlin-Frankfurt Hahn-Sevilla and Granada-Frankfurt Hahn-Berlin) for mid-June for 17 euros all-in. Seriously, they are practically paying *me* to fly!

Posted By poetloverrebelspy on May 28, 2008, 10:53 AM

P.S. If anyone not resident in Europe inadvertently books the travel insurance -- or if you are a UK or Irish resident and have changed your mind within 14 days of purchase but prior to travel -- you can request a refund. Details here.

Posted By poetloverrebelspy on May 28, 2008, 12:00 PM

On priority boarding:
I agree with the previous comment, there is no need as more often than not that will give you priority boarding to the bus that takes you to the plane, not to the plane itself. Hence, you get to sit in the bus but that's about it, you are likely to be one of the last to get off (airport ground handling staff always make sure that the busses are pack-jammed before they leave).
You may want to book priority boarding though if you walk through to the plane and if you have a family with young children (but how do you know?). Ryanair does not give priority to families with young children (less than 2 years), in contrast to most civilised airlines, including Ryanair's low-cost competitor EasyJet.

Posted By ALPHAHUNTER on May 28, 2008, 12:32 PM

Hi Sean and Hilary,

As you both point out, hunting down the final price of a Ryanair flight takes some serious investigative skills. Nice job on finding all the small print.

At EuroCheapo, we have also known the shock of paying an unexpected, steep surcharge for overweight luggage and extra bags on Ryanair flights. These charges can sometimes wipe out the relative savings promised by the carrier in the first place.

In our guide to European low-cost carriers, we profile 42 airlines and include baggage information and check in procedures.

For Ryanair, we recommend taking advantage of free priority boarding for those EU passport holders checking in online. (As online check in isn't available to Americans, the extra €5 charge for priority boarding may not be worth it, as Hilary points out. But some will find the cost for early boarding a small price to pay for some peace of mind, especially if your flight is really inexpensive in the first place. Of course, hard-core Cheapos -- Hilary -- will always scoff at any extra charge :)

As for the cheapest way to book your flight, we always recommend booking directly with the carrier (whether it's Ryanair, easyJet, Air Berlin, or any of the others). On our flight search, for instance, we show which carriers fly between cities, but the user needs to search each airline's website to find the lowest ticket price.

An interesting note: On certain non-official airline websites that offer low-cost airline booking, the ticket price will sometimes be much higher than on Ryanair.com. This is because certain agencies include the airline's hidden charges in their result price (including the price for one bag).

In any case, great post! And one thing is certain, as soon as we really think we've nailed down all of Ryanair's small print, they'll change it again!

Posted By Tom Meyers on May 28, 2008, 1:01 PM

The main issue with Ryanair is their total lack of help when things go wrong. For that, you will need good travel insurance that covers you for missed departure and accommodation costs. Despite European law stipulating levels of compensation and assistance, Ryanair simply doesn't provide it. They will rebook you on the next available flight, but that is often days away. The biggest horror stories about Ryanair involve people being stranded at remote airports (and it's worth remembering that what Ryanair calls "Frankfurt", "Paris", "Barcelona" and "Milan" for example are nowhere near those cities).

When all the nickel and diming is taken into account, I usually find it's a cheaper and better experience to fly with another airline.

Posted By Harry on May 29, 2008, 4:40 AM

BTW, as you note, you are flying to Charleroi, NOT Brussels Airport. Charleroi is a long way from Brussels, and you will need to factor in the time and expense of the transfer.

Posted By Harry on May 29, 2008, 5:26 AM

Hi Sean,

I agree with the consensus that you should book directly on airline's website. Forget online travel agents, they'll just slap a booking fee, which beats the point of booking budget flights in the first place.

Forget price-comparison sites like Mobissimo too. When it comes to flights, it is almost impossible to do proper price comparison these days. You can compare base price, but some airlines add baggage charge, airport checkin, credit card payment, etc. to the basic price, while others include this as standard.

Martino Matijevic
CEO, WhichBudget
www.whichbudget.com

Posted By Martino Matijevic on May 29, 2008, 5:47 AM

A couple of suggestions- I've probably flown Ryanair close to 30 times over the last few years.
Priority booking and web check in board the plane together, which now means more than half the passengers on the plane are "priority". Sometimes most of them. Seems silly to pay to board with everyone else, and if your party won't be too upset by not sitting together it can save you cash for something more fun on your trip. They're short flights anyways. Also be aware that in countries where people aren't so good at lining up in an orderly fashion (for example Italy, where I lived for 13 years) the staff will often give up and not even check the priority cards.
The cheapest way to fly is to learn how to pack a carry on bag and live off of that during your trip. Carry on and web check in are the no-charge option and, believe it or not, with a special offer of free flight, including taxes and fees, with only a carry on bag and a web check in I flew from London to Rome in December for €0.02 and from London to Dublin in January for £0.02! Really! I had 4 cents charged on my credit card. You just have to be patient, check out all the offers and be very, very flexible about when you can fly.

Posted By Karla on May 29, 2008, 12:57 PM

From everything I have heard about Ryanair, I plan to take surface travel--trains, ferries even coaches if no alternative--on my upcoming trip to UK, Eire & Scandinavia. It'll be slow but I've got lots of time and hopefully it'll be pleasant and relaxing. Of course, I plan to save a bundle by staying at youth hostels (I'm a life member) and eating in cafes, etc. instead of Scandinavia's horrendous food prices abd generally pricey hotels.

Posted By Roger A.C. Williams on May 29, 2008, 12:58 PM

The worst airline in the world. Extremely poor service and very in humane employees. Will never ever fly Ryanair. And would recommend others not to either.

Posted By sundar on May 29, 2008, 10:36 PM

It is said that when alcoholics go dry, they become as tight as the bark on a tree. The more affluent we become, the meaner we are. Just think back when we had to contend with Aer Lingus ( Cunnilingus ) and we were paying 150 pounds to go home from London for christmas and lucky to get a flight.
Ryan Air has liberated us all and Michael O' Leary is a true champion of the poor. He is a philantrophist and stop whinging about him and his airline.

Posted By finbar Owens on May 30, 2008, 4:54 AM

Ryan Air more than nickel and dimes you!
Last fall my wife & I took a 6-week vacation to the UK and Austria to visit family & friends. We found, on line, a flight on Ryan Air from London to Klagenfurt, Austria for a total of $0.08 round trip for the 2 of us. I knew we would have more luggage than usual, given the 6-week trip, the unpredictable autumn weather, and dressing for a variety of events, from 5-star hotels to a week on a farm. We had 3 suitcases between us to check.

With the overweight baggage fees, credit card fees, departure taxes, priority boarding fees and astronomical prices for a snack, the roundtrip cost of the flight for us went from $.08 to $845.00!.

Ryan Air may be worthwhile if you take a 2 day trip and have just a briefcase or a small backpack, but not if you are on an extended vacation.

Posted By Howard Devine on May 30, 2008, 12:49 PM

In regards to the extra 5 euro for the "Priority" boarding, I respectfully disagree with the author of this article. Say NO! I flew Ryanair from Rome Ciampino (terrible airport by the way) to London. Those who had paid extra to be first in line certainly did get to stand in a special line at the gate, but everyone, regardless of whether they had paid the extra fee or not, got on the bus at the same time (that's right, they bus you to the plane), and got off at the same time. Then, as a mob, you walk up the stairs to the plane and you find your own seat; first come, first serve. Nothing is assigned and those who had paid to be labeled as a "Priority" were pushed out of the way by those who hadn't. Everyone had the same chances of getting whatever seat they wanted. So don't bother paying the extra, it won't matter. All that matters with Ryanair seating is that you're fast and don't mind pushing over (and being pushed by) little old ladies.

Posted By Megan on May 31, 2008, 1:43 PM

I agree with the comments - don't pay for priority boarding especially if you are using an airport with bus shuttle service to the plane. Another tip for after you have booked your travel, don't automatically take Ryanair's travel into the city. Many times Ryanair flys into an airport outside the city. To make it more convenient, they will offer bus service into the city, but oftentimes by using public transportation, you can get there cheaper and sometimes faster. For instance, in Rome, the Ryanair bus costs 8€, but public transportation costs €2.20.

Posted By Beth on June 2, 2008, 2:34 AM

My wife and I flew Ryanair last year in May. We flew London to Roma. The only thing we had trouble with was the overweight bags but were allowed to transfer and repack our bags. We got out of line and transfer the weight. The lady at the gate told us to hurry or we would miss the flight. I didn't pay to board early but didn't have any problems.

Posted By Markus Ledergerber on June 4, 2008, 9:08 AM

Ryanair are practicing racist check in policies which discriminate against travellers because of their nationality.
The airlines forces these 'non eu' customers to use a check in desk, for no good reason. Lots of 'non eu' nationals do not need visas to travel between EU countries or domestic flights but are still required by ryanair to check in and pay for the use of desk check in. They are not 'eligable' for internet check in because of their nationality. This is racist and in breach of various EU and national laws. It's a money making scam, something that ryanair seems to be good at.

Posted By Peter Chaundry on June 12, 2008, 9:22 AM

I have dual citizenship: Irish/US I'm flying from the US to London in July and then plan to travel to France. I'm in the process of booking a Ryanair flight to France. (it's taking forever btw) anyway, can I use my EU passport to travel from London to Nantes or is that frowned upon??

Posted By Ciara on June 18, 2008, 2:57 PM

Hi, there,
Exciting trip plan ahead for you. Thanks for posting a comment.
I face the same problem. I have dual-citizenship, and it could be faster if I waved my EU (Irish) passport. But given how rigorous and careful US border officials are, I am too reluctant to do it. While your planned use of your passport sounds legal, it might make US officials nervous and they might stop you and ask you questions when you re-enter the United States, which may delay your departure from the U.S. re-entry airport.
If you try it, let us know ( post a blog comment) about how it goes.
Either way, have a great trip,
Sean
Blog editor

Posted By Sean on June 18, 2008, 3:59 PM

biggest ripoff airline in world! got to gate 1hr 20 min early. AGENT SAID YOU MUST BE 2 HOURS EARLY AND PROCEEDED TO PUT ON SAME FLIGHT BUT CHARGE EACH MEMBER OF MY PARTY 50PDS MORE (600$).WE ALL SAID THIS WOULD BE THE LAST MONEY RYAN WOULD EVER PICK OUR POCKET FOR. MY WISHES ARE FOR RYANAIR TO BE OUT OF BUSINESS.

Posted By jerry howard on June 19, 2008, 10:28 PM

Never had a problem with Ryanair before but now I need some help. I have book 4 return tickets to Pisa for July but now have to cancel. I know they don't do refunds as their refunds for tax are usually eaten up with their charges. My problem is I have also booked and paid for 4 hold bags and of course then had to pay for check-in as if you are taking bags you can't check in on-line. This cost me an additional £96. I phoned customer service to ask for a refund. They said we don't do refunds and I told her I had paid for baggage and check in, so surely they should refund them but again was told no. I am planning to write to them now and again ask for a refund. Just wanted to know if they can keep my money for something that I paid for as extras. Thanks

Posted By Karen on June 27, 2008, 12:40 PM

Can someone tell me what this means?
Ryanair are required to collect the passport or EEA issued National Identity card details of all passengers departing from the UK, Ireland, Morocco and Switzerland to Spain or th eCanary Island/Balearic Island. FAILURE TO PROVIDE THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION PRIOR TO ARRIVAL AT THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT WILL RESULT IN YOU BEING DENIED BOARDING WITHOUT REFUND.
Now, my question is for the caps. Do you need to go to the airport days in advance to show your British passport because it says prior to arrival at the departure airport. How can you get there prior to your arrival if you need to arrive to show it before you arrive? Sounds like a new way of charging fees.

Posted By Dee on July 2, 2008, 10:49 AM

Hi there,
Being a new budget traveler, I have not done my duty to really read the small print.
I booked a RyanAir flight MAD-CIA and inadvertently checked the "will provide EU national identity" because it kept asking me to check "yes". At that time, I did not know that it might be because I checked "yes" for "online check-in".
I am a non-EU national, and deeply worried that I would be denied boarding, especially after reading the information here.
Is there anyone that can suggest anything please?

Posted By raizamn on July 7, 2008, 9:16 AM

I booked a r/t to London from US with the plan of flying RyanAir from London to Biarritz France, but also got the screen that I needed to be a EU national so I didn't proceed with the ticket and have been unable to contact Ryanair to get clarification. How have US citizens been accessing Ryanair? Do you say yes to EU documents and then show up with US passport?? THANKS

Posted By Ladykale on July 11, 2008, 7:49 PM

For the most recent commenters -- asking questions rather than responding to the original post -- let me refer you again to my post on this subject, where all your concerns are addressed:

WARNING: RyanAir Online Check-in

Posted By poetloverrebelspy on July 18, 2008, 5:41 AM

Ryanair flight policies aren't the only problem. I strongly recommend you don't book a hotel or guest house via the Ryanair Hotels link. We did that for a February 2008 trip. A filthy van picked us up at Stansted airport and took us to a hotel we'd never heard of. When we stated that our reservation was for XYZ guest house, the driver said it was being remodeled and was no longer available. The description online at Ryanair.com// hostelworld.com states airport transfers just 1 pound per transfer (we were charged 8 pounds total for 2 people/2 transfers each); reservation site
said breakfast included(we were told there was a charge so did not eat breakfast there); hair dryers in room (there was none); coffee and tea
making facilities (there was an empty coffee jar and tea bags but no spoon and cups were dirty); iron and ironing board (none there). The driver the
next morning said the XYZ Manor was being sold and was no longer available as a B&B yet months later it was still on the web site with all this incorrect information. The hotel they substituted was a horrible place! I was afraid to step on the worn carpeting with my bare feet. The furniture was
shabby and the lobby looked as if the place was abandoned. Since we arrived late in the evening,
it was not convenient to call around to find other lodging so we had to stay there. When I returned home, I emailed multiple points of contact on the Ryanair site, plus hostelworld. Each one pointed the finger to someone else and kept asking for additional information and never came through with any kind of explanation or refund even after I provided all the original confirmation numbers, etc. We eventually had an email from the hotel/guest house saying they would refund us 50% and asked for our address. After sending it to them twice, they never sent us anything. We definitely plan NEVER to have anything to do with anything related to Ryanair.

Posted By Sue Powell on August 2, 2008, 5:56 PM

I booked a flight for me and my family ( 5 of us )back in January and paid the web baggage fee which was £5.00 each bag checked in each way. as we got a good flight price I checked in 5 suitcases.
Ryan air sent us a travel itenary and as i read through it I saw the baggage fees to be paid at the airport are £16 per bag checked in each way.I am assuming that this change has come in recently and we paid for our at time of booking ( £50.00 ). Surely we do not have to pay again? looked on FAQs, totally unhelpful and when I tried to call the £1 per minute customer service centre the phone was hung up twice. ( This happened on a previous occasion for my husband too ). Does anyone agree this must have been a change since my booking in january and we shouldn't have to pay again? ( At that time we paid £2 check in and £2 priority boarding etc. So that has gone up too!!)

Posted By Rachel Street on August 10, 2008, 1:45 PM

My problem with RYanair (and most European cheapos) is that if you are even one minute late they will NOT let you on the plane. I arrived at the airport in time, but took a little too long walking the long distance from the train and the counter closed as I walked through the door. I went straight to the help desk, but nothing I said would make the agent let me check in. THe flight was still an hour from departure, but they are VERY strict. I lost what I had already paid, had to buy a new ticket for the next day, had to find a hotel in the middle of nowhere, as well as losing the deposit I'd made on the hotel near the Venice station (as I was arriving late night I had to find something near the airport as I could not make it into Venice the same night I arrived) THe "svings" of the low cost flight were certainly outweighed in the end. I'd be reluctant to use them again.

Posted By Fisher7 on August 28, 2008, 9:59 PM

We only dealt w/ Ryanair once. We planned our trip from Newark, NJ to Shannon, Ireland for September 13, 2001. We were making a side trip to the UK on Ryanair. When the planes hit the twin towers, Newark Airport closed. We got a full refund from Continental. When we spoke to Ryanair we were told "Too Bad, no refunds". This was something totally out of our hands, a once in a lifetime happening. They were very rigid. No refund -- no good will from Ryanair in a very sad situation.

Posted By donegalpat on August 29, 2008, 9:28 AM

Very informatiive and timely article, since we are using Ryan for the first time in October, 2008 to fly back and forth between Dublin and Newcastle, England. We used the Ryan website to book tickets and were somewhat confused about what to do, but eventually figured it out. This article would have helped us at that time. Thanks for all the good information.

Posted By Pnemiller on August 29, 2008, 3:09 PM

I purchased tickets from Hahn to Seville online and did not see any warning about the inability to check in online as a US citizen. When I tried to check in online I received the warning that I had to have a EU passport and so I did not proceed. When checking in at Hahn on 30 Aug 2008 I was made to step out of the line and go pay a 25 Euro per person penalty fee for at the ticket window for changing my mind and checking in at the airport. The Ryanair website could easily give a warning prompt at the time of purchase to avoid this misunderstanding. Their failure to do so is in my opinion just an attempt to extort money from a customer who is in no position to argue with a flight or vacation hanging in the breeze. This is an unfair and in my opinion borderline criminal business practice. I am glad to hear that I can apply for a refund- thanks to those who paved the way with your advice above.

Posted By Henry on September 1, 2008, 3:24 PM

I flew Ryanair last week between Glasgow and Stockholm. I was very impressed with the service and found that even with the added fees, the flight was still much less expensive than any other alternatives. I have to dispute a few assertations in the articele however. You state, "don't try to pool or share luggage within the same traveling party." My partner and I were booked on the same confirmation number. His bag came in over weight limit and my bag came in under the weight limit. The check-in staff averaged our weights and did not charge an additional fee. Also, it is true that as an American you cannot check in online. However, the check-in staff waived the airport check-in fee for us because we Americans and unable to check in online and we did not have to ask for this.

Posted By Brian on September 7, 2008, 10:41 PM

I must express my outraged for what I consider extortion by Ryan Air. We traveled from Paris Beauvais Airport to Barcelona August 28. We were told at the check in counter that we were allowed only 10 kilos for our carry-on. They requested that the bags needed to be weighted. Needless to say, the bags were over 10 kilos. How can you travel through Europe with 10 kilos? (You have better not buy any gifts or souveneirs, let alone have extra clothes.)We were charged 20.00 Euros each plus 5.00 more for the check in charge. That is a total of 400.00 Euros for the four of us. That is a total of $600.00 American Dollars. Can you believe it? You would suspect that I am not looking forward to traveling through Europe anytime soon, let alone encourage my family or friends.

Posted By Esperanza Mahan on September 15, 2008, 7:01 PM

I thought I had read everything about Ryanair, and how they had horrible customer service, I will say they do not have customer service at all. I was flying from Barcelona to Stockholm, I had 13 Kgs, extra baggage, and I had already paid 30Euros on line when I reserved my ticket for a second bag, when I was told I had 13 kgs extra, I offered to get rid of the second bag and put everything on my one bag, she proceed to tell me she had no time, and she was closing the counter, after I had waited 1 hour in line. All I need it was 2 minutes,she would not give it to me. In all I paid 90 Euros over what I had to pay had she let me transfer everything to one bag. It does not pay to travel with them. Never again for me

Posted By Margarita Perez Mullor on October 22, 2008, 11:02 AM

Everything I have heard about Ryanair makes me glad I avoided them. My advice is take the train. Train service in Europe is far better than Amtrak's skimpy routes. Seat61.com is loaded with information on rail travel worldwide.

Why do Americans have to check in at the airport? This baffles me. I tried to check in online in Stockholm for the flight to Chicago, connecting to Denver; but it didn't work. Neither did SAS' self-service checkin at Arlanda. I gave up and checked in just fine at the counter. However the good seat assignment I'd gotten months in advance somehow got lost and I wound up with an inferior one I couldn't change on line either. Tried to at Arlanda but the original one was taken. Otherwise the long flight was good and so was the meal. Wine (2 tiny bottles) was free while United charged for it Denver-Heathrow which used to be unheard of on overseas flights.

Posted By Roger Williams on November 6, 2008, 4:34 PM

After reading all the comments about Ryanair I am surprised that EU countries allow it to fly at all.
The apparent bait and switch tactics and dubious strategies for getting more money from passengers are policies that would not be tolerated in the U.S. If Ryanair really plans to begin transatlantic flights in the future, it will have to change its "customer service" and provide clearer information on its website. Otherwise, U.S.
laws will not allow it to operate in the U.S. If the bad publicity from mistreatment of passengers doesn't end its operation in the U.S. first, the U.S. government imposed penalties surely will do so, even to the point of driving Ryanair into well deserved bankruptcy!

Posted By jrw on November 6, 2008, 4:55 PM

Ryan Air is great....if you don't mind flying into and out of airports that are 50 - 100 miles from major cities and can get by without checking baggage. I fly Ryanair all the time from Frankfurt Hahn and would rather fly into Stansted than Heathrow any day of the week!! I have booked flights on RyanAir.com from Hahn to London and From London to Shannon, Dublin, Edinburgh and Paris for FREE!!! At times you can find flights on their website for absolutely nothing, no taxes or fees or anything!!! Of course as an American you will pay for the airport check in fee and it varies from airport to airport. Also do not pay for priority boarding. There is no need. They pay little or no attention to the priority passes after about 10 minutes anyway. Also do not buy anything on the plane unless you like to give away money. If you truly like to save money fly RyanAir, stay at travelodges in the UK and rent a car from Car rentals UK.....my father and I spent nearly two weeks in the UK last winter and we never spent more than $70 for a room, even in London, and for two weeks we drove an Opel Astra for less than $150, not including fuel of course. Our flights from Hahn to London, London to Shannon, Dublin to London and London to Glasgow and Glasgow to Hahn cost us less than $200 total. You can't hitch hike and stay in Hostels for that kind of money!!!!

Posted By Bobby Hunt on November 11, 2008, 2:11 PM

To all: I just saw on the news that Ryan Air is going to charge $1.40 in coin for every trip to the bathroom! I hope they re-think this, but it looks as if it's going to happen. Sheeesh.

Posted By Charli Holtz on February 27, 2009, 4:34 PM

At least, Ryanair won´t have the special tax for fat people (viz http://blog.flylowcostairlines.org/2009/05/08/ryanair-will-not-introduce-fat-tax/). It would be just too much. O´Leary should maybe change his strategy a little bit. Don´t you think?

Posted By low cost airliners on May 18, 2009, 7:07 AM

At least Ryanair won't introduce the fat fee (viz http://blog.flylowcostairlines.org/2009/05/08/ryanair-will-not-introduce-fat-tax/). You know i think toilet fee is not "kocher" too - O Leary is not having the best strategy

Posted By petra on May 20, 2009, 4:35 PM

Ryanair does nothing illegal. If they advertise flights for €1 - you can get one! You dont have to pay for luggage if you go for few days to have break, dont need to buy insurance, priority boarding or online check-in if you grab one of those offers (note that rules about online check-in has changed radically since this discussion was started). You just need to spend a little bit more time on ryanair website to get really cheap fares... I was very suprised about US citizien said above that EU countries allow Ryanair to fly and that it would not be allowed in the US! The law in the EU is definately on the same level as in the US and Ryanair is still "legal". I expect you accepted Ryanairs terms and conditions, didnt you? There was surely note about online check-in and anyway you should have checked it out as Europe might different is some ways. I have flown Ryanair maybe 30 times, it was always cheaper than train, have never had a problem (even when we landed at different airport due to bad weather conditions, there was a bus to scheduled airport in 30 mins). I just think Americans are jealous that they do not have such airline...

Posted By Dan on August 26, 2009, 4:40 PM

what a great thread/article !!!
exactly what i have been looking for.

i am an american citizen and of course upon discovering ryanair.com i have been finding flights to places id love to discover..so..
am i reading all of this correctly ?

1. the "online check in only' option (on ryanair.com)(which is the .01$ and 1euro flights) is NOT for non-eu citizens ?

2. what if i purchase a cheap flight and miss the flight /? will i be penalized ? will my credit card be charged for a full amount ? anyone ever done this/ had this happen ?

thanks again !!
very informative reads here !!

Posted By mojo on September 24, 2009, 12:16 PM