Ryan Air

My flights with Ryanair have always been great (most recently Glasgow to Barcelona last August). What other opinions were you looking for? From Dublin, Ryanair flies out of the main Dublin airport. I haven't flown with them into Prague, so I can't help with destination information. You can use www.whichbudget.com to find other budget airlines that might fly the same route, too. The key with budget airlines is to make sure you understand their rules and follow them exactly. If you do that, you shouldn't have any trouble. In my experience, Ryanair has always left on time and sometimes arrived at the destination early, no problems at all.

Martin,

RyanAir is also not one of my favourites, so I'd also be looking at any other airlines. I'd probably look at Aer Lingus first, as I believe they have flights operating on that route.

Although it would more trouble, another option I might consider would be to travel by train to Belfast (which may require an overnight stay, depending on flight times), and then use EasyJet to one of the London airports and from there to PRG. That's in line with my "ABR" (anything but RyanAir) strategy.

Good luck!

Martin, according to www.whichbudget.com, only Aer Lingus and SmartWings have direct flights to Prague from Dublin. For Aer Lingus, it's a 2hr25min flight. I see a fare of $83 on Skyscanner. Other airlines, including Ryan Air will fly you to another airport where you will change planes.

if you do elect to take a RyanAir (I wouldn't but everybody is different) route including a plane change you must collect your hold luggage (if any - I wouldn't pay their exorbitant prices but everybody is different) and then re-check it for the next leg. They don't do through ticketing.

They seem to draw very sharply defined groups of potential passengers, those who love the very low (until you start getting nickel and dimed to death) fares, their good safety record and their on-time performance; and others (like me) who would rather crawl naked through barbed wire than support anything to do with Michael O'Leary and his exceedingly unpleasant airline.

It is best if you read all their terms and conditions really closely and then make your own mind up.

Somebody must like them as they are the biggest operator in Europe.

If Harold in NYC is around this weekend maybe he'll share a song with you.

Note as well that Ryanair and many of the other budget lines which sell only single-flight tickets will charge all the standard fees for the second flight, same as the first, and have the same advance-ticket and check-in requirements for each leg of the journey.
On the other hand, some of the traditional airlines, competing on short routes, can come close to the budget price but with more of the conventional check-through services.

Just say no:

http://www.ihateryanair.org/

I like them, because I find them easy to use, the website is clear about their rules and if they weren't so cheap, I wouldn't have been able to go to Edinburgh or Rome. Hard to turn down 11 € round-trip fare. Add in the bus each way at 12 €, and I have still had a bargain. (bus is now 14 euro)

Some complain about the distance to the airport. Hahn is 120 km from Frankfurt and the trip takes about 1.5 hours. I know people that drive that far to work 5 days a week, so I don't see why this should be a problem.

If their schedule works for you, then go for it.

I read something earlier this week online about Ryanair making some terms changes in the near future.

They're aware of their reputation, and that they're missing a lot of business because of some of their business practices.

Maybe Ryanair a year from now will be easier to live with.

Since you have given us no information about when this trip would be, I did a dummy booking on Ryanair for a random date in April, and Ryanair fares for that time are running about 43-60 euro, depending on day of the week. It is direct, nonstop, leaving at 13:40 and arriving at 16:55.

Nancy is correct. When I looked above, there were no direct flights anywhere in March. But, I didn't look at April. The Ryan Air website shows direct flights beginning April 1, 2014. They fly daily except Tuesdays and Sundays. But, that's only April. Beginning in May, 2014, they don't fly on Wed and Sundays. Just plan carefully.