On a recent trip to Spain I spent a whopping £18 on a one-way ticket from London to Madrid with Ryanair. Ryanair are famous for their dirt cheap prices, but surely there must be a reason it’s so cheap. In this Ryanair Trip Report I take a look at the whole Ryanair experience. From a surprisingly comfy seat to being herded like cattle onto the plane.
I’m sure most people are familiar with Ryanair and already have a strong opinion, whether good or bad. However, controversially I think they’re pretty good, assuming you go in fully prepared. I find them the be cheaper and have better service than easyJet and Wizzair. And whilst I usually choose full service carriers like British Airways, I sometimes question whether it’s really worth paying twice as much when Ryanair will get you there anyway.
In this review I’ll cover Stansted Airport (bad), the cabin crew’s service (pretty non-existant), the aircraft (fine) and the seat (better than expected). I’ve also made a video review on Youtube below, so please enjoy my Ryanair Trip Report!
Ryanair Overview
Most people are probably already familiar with the (in)famous Ryanair, but I’ll give an overview of their history and business anyway. Ryanair is Europe’s largest airlines by both passengers carried and fleet size. With over 500 aircraft (according to Wikipedia) they are one of the largest budget airlines in the world. But the fact they only operate one aircraft type (the Boeing 737) means they can keep costs down and offer ultra cheap prices.
They do have a reputation for being ultra cheap scrooges though. For instance, if you forget to check-in online they’ll charge you £55 for the privilege of printing a boarding pass.
London Stansted Airport
Considering Stansted is the UK’s 4th busiest airport, serving almost 30 million passengers in 2019, it is exceptionally poorly designed. One of my least favourite international airports in fact. This bad design I think is exemplified by the below map of their departures area. You’ll notice that it’s actually quite big. However, the single narrow, twisting path and being absolutely crammed full of shops makes for a bad combination. First, the single path through is a massive bottleneck, especially when busy. You’ll be stuck behind slow walking people with no way through. Secondly, the fact they’ve filled every available area with shops means there is hardly anywhere to sit. The central seating area for example has been almost full everytime I’ve visited.
There are areas to sit at the gates, however, they only announce gate numbers shortly before boarding so you’ll just have to choose one at random. Even worse all the seating around the gates are dirty, falling apart and uncomfortable. Really I don’t have anything good to say about this airport.
If you have Priority Pass or fancy spending £30 on some peace and quiet there is a single lounge at this airport. I did a full review of The Escape Lounge here, but suffice to say it is nothing special. It is relatively large and wasn’t too busy when I visited at least. However, food is bland and it isn’t kept very clean.
The Seat and Aircraft
Our aircraft today was an 18 year old Boeing 737-800, registration EI-DHA. Despite its advanced age it actually felt good as new at first glance. On closer inspection there were some signs of wear, such as the frame around one window coming loose. However, overall the plane was clean and in good condition.
The seats were also a pleasant surprise. Clean and free of any scuffs or stains. They are quite well padded too, however, I do have one complaint. The seat depth felt extremely shallow, almost like you’re perched rather than fully sitting. This would definitely be an issue on longer flights. But 2 hours is just about bearable. The good news is that this short seat depth allows for more leg room.
Compared to a recent flight I took with easyJet it definitely felt like I had more legroom with Ryanair. The seats are comparable in terms of comfort though.
Unfortunately the toilets were a bit on the grubby side. With wet toilet paper on the floor and some very cheap soap. Not the worst I’ve ever seen. But certainly not good.
The Experience
Service from the cabin crew was pretty much non-existant. Besides a friendly hello when boarding that is. If you wanted food or duty free there is no magazine either. Instead they now give a QR code on your seat which directs you to their website showing the menu. In theory this is good, Covid-friendly and better for the environment. However, given Ryanair don’t have any in-flight wifi you’ll have to open it before takeoff. Firstly Stansted Airport has terrible mobile data signal so it’s hard to open to begin with. Then when the page finally loaded I left it open on my phone and went back to look mid flight. Maybe it’s an IPhone thing but the page had refreshed in the background and just said “no internet connection”. So basically it was impossible to read the in-flight menu in flight. Something to bear in mind if you plan on buying anything.
Of course being Ryanair, you can pay exhorbitant prices for any sort of extras imaginable. Ryanair have a full list on their website, but below is a brief preview. Simple things like seat selection, overhead luggage, check-in at the airport will all cost you dearly.
Bottom Line
For £18 per person I think this flight was an absolute steal. Of course, things rapidly get more expensive if you add extras like seat selection, luggage, priority boarding etc. In fact, it can easily become more expensive than a premium airline like British Airways or Air France if you’re not careful. However, I generally only fly Ryanair when I know I just need the bare basics. So on this flight I just had a small backpack, and no priority. And really I have no complaints.
Of course you’ll have the typical small issues, like long airport queues, not using jet bridge to board, minimal service etc. But these are more forgivable when you’re paying so little. In my opinion Ryanair is perfectly average, and I mean that in a good way. From memory I’ve had much more positive experiences than either of their main competitors, easyJet and Wizzair. Whislt I think they’re outclassed by Norwegian, my favourite budget airline. However, Norwegian do tend to be more expensive and have far fewer destinations.
Finally, for my return flight I paid £235 for Iberia’s business class on an Airbus A350. I mainly did this just for the novelty of having a lie flat seat on a short haul flight, however, it was very disappointing. I actually found Iberia’s lie flat seat more uncomfortable and the cabin crew were much less friendly. The only advantage of this business class flight was fast track security, lounge access and a good in flight meal. But I definitely do not recommend spending 13 times more for Iberia’s business class.
More from me…
Please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- Iberia’s Airbus A350 Business Class – Lie flat seats on a short haul flight in Europe
- British Airways Club Europe London to Geneva – Another “business class” short haul flight
- Norse Atlantic Airways Premium from London to Oslo – Another unique widebody flight within Europe
And if you fancy earning some fantastic rewards and Avios points through American Express, please use my referral links below:
- The Platinum Card – You Receive 50,000 Membership Reward points after spending £3,000 in the first 3 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGgRA5?CPID=100493012
- British Airways Card: You Receive 8,000 Avios after spending £1,000 in the first 3 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEG42lN?CPID=100503089