Ryan Air

First, Ryan Air's cheap flights are only the first tickets. Prices go up when they are sold, but if you can get some of the first ones, they're pretty good.

But, make sure you know ALL the costs. First, they add on "taxes and fees", which are often more than the advertised cost of the flight. Then, check out the airport. Of the fifteen or so most popular airports in Europe, Ryan flies to exactly NONE. Ryan airports are usually an hour farther away from the city then the primary airport, often with only bus service. Beauvais is an hour from Paris by bus. Hahn is almost two hours by bus from Frankfurt. Treviso is over an hour from Venice. These transfer costs can add up; make sure you include them along with taxes and fees when you compare.

Ryan requires you to be checked in, not just standing in line, 40 minutes before flight time. If not, you loose your ticket.

Better be able to carry everything on; Ryan charges, a lot, for checked luggage.

Check out the flight times carefully. Often those to-good-to-be-true fares leave very early in the morning or arrive very late at night. How many times have we had a posting here from someone who booked an early flight out on Ryan, only to find later that there was no transportation to the airport in time for their flight?

Ryan considers themselves a point-to-point airline, with no responsibility for what happens before or after your flight. If you have connecting flights on Ryan, and your first flight is too late for you to catch the connecting flight, even if it is Ryan's fault, too bad.

So, use them if you can, but make very sure you understand the all conditions (airport location, cost and time for transportation to/from the airport, flight times, cost of local accommodations) BEFORE you book.

I've flown with them, and as long as you follow their rules you won't have any trouble. As Lee mentioned, pay attention to check-in times. If you plan to check luggage arrange for that when you buy your ticket online. You still have to pay to check a bag but the cost is less if you tell them during the ticket-buying process. Their flights aren't long, but unless you want to buy food/drinks aboard the plane, take them with you. And to answer your other question, yes, there are many budget airlines throughout Europe. www.whichbudget.com

I was checking them out too but with all the hassles of getting to the airport where they fly out of, plus trying to find transport for my family of four, and baggage restrictions made me rethink. Better to pay a bit more for a plane ticket and less on ground transport and aggravations.

Ryan Air.........will be flying them again this May but the other postings are correct...Manage your expectations about surprises that cost you money. One year, they held our passports at the counter until we paid $100 for luggage that was over the limit. If we had known...we would have simply rearranged a few items. Just be aware that these issues come up and don't sweat it.....

Sarah I am flying Vueling from Paris - Rome for 80 euros, plus 5 euros for one checked bag..
All budget lines crucify for overweight luggage, and will often charge even for checking a bag. With Vueling it is 5 euros if you book a checked bag,, but if you don't book and prepay the cost is something like 12 euros a bag.. read everything , all fine print.
I also paid attention to airport used.. Ryanair uses some obscure ones so watch.

Look at Easyjet and Tuifly, hubby has used them .

I flew RyanAir from outside London to Marrakech, Morroco. Just check all the rules and such with baggage and you should be okay. They are low cost, but it is because you have to pay extra for the "extras." They got us to our destination and back with no issues and the flights were on time.

One thing I disagree with is that the first tickets of the flight are the cheapest. This is not always true - especially if they have a sale going on. My brother and I bought our tickets and then a week later they were $100 cheaper...so it can be hit or miss with the sales.