RyanAir Experience-London Southend to Dublin
Flew Ryanair again after 3-4 years. Ryanair is popular for its ultra low cost flight tickets and also notorious for charging for anything and everything. You can read my previous comprehensive review of Ryanair here.
Recently as I was scouting for cheap flight to visit Dublin from London, Ryanair came up as lowest- some 13.5 GBP without bags for a late night flight. The catch was that the flight is from London Southend Airport, some 40 miles east of London and it was a late night flight. I had few options from other airports closer to city, but I decided to fly out from London Southend, mainly because I felt that Southend on Sea is a nice place and I might as well visit it before flying out.
So besides the 13.5 GBP ticket, I spent 11 GBP to reach Southend Central from London, about 1600 INR to spend a night, 2.5 GBP bus to Southend airport etc. So real cost of travel is much more than what I paid to Ryanair, but then I got to spend a day in Southend on Sea, which will qualify for a separate post.
On the 13.5 GBP ticket, I am allowed only 1 cabin bag. Checked bag costs 40 Pounds more, airport check-in costs 10 pounds more and so on. Thankfully I could manage with cabin bags alone. On a per mile basis, Ryanair's 13.5 GBP for 400 miles is one of the lowest transport costs during my trip. Check below for a comparison.
I was suggested by a friend to get print out of the boarding pass else they may charge extra for that. (London to Dublin is an international flight and they need to do visa check for non EU citizens, so I was told to bring printout- otherwise not necessary for domestic flights).
Scouted Southend on sea market to find a shop that would print out my boarding pass- cost me 2.2 GBP. But eventually realized that it is not required- Ryanair check-in counter will issue a printed boarding pass for free as long as I have done web check-in.
Anyways, I reached well in time for the flight, crowd was very less- there were only 2 Ryanair flights that evening- one to Copenhagen and another to Dublin, so cleared all airport formalities within minutes. Staff were nice.
Flight departed some 10 minutes late but reached almost on time. I just managed to get out of Dublin airport, locate the bus stop for last bus to my final destination and get into the bus with minutes to spare. Bus Journey from Dublin airport to home cost me 14 Euros, as against the 13.5 GBP flight ticket. Anyway, had the flight be late by few more minutes, I was looking at spending 50-60 Euro on taxi or find a hotel nearby for overnight stay.
Nothing much has changed w.r.t Ryanair flight experience- the bare minimum setup- safety card printed on back of headrests, non reclining seats etc. I was assigned a middle seat because I refused to pay for seat selection. Anyway since the flight was of one hour only, I could survive without any issues.
Ryanair was in trouble recently with Pilot strike etc- but such issues have affected every airline- even BA & Lufthansa pilots have gone on strike- overall airline remains a good choice if you want to save on air fares and can travel light and without any luxuries. Of course, if you can afford, if you need more luxury and comfort, there're other airlines you can try.
Will be trying a new airline next week- Flybe.. Stay tuned.
So besides the 13.5 GBP ticket, I spent 11 GBP to reach Southend Central from London, about 1600 INR to spend a night, 2.5 GBP bus to Southend airport etc. So real cost of travel is much more than what I paid to Ryanair, but then I got to spend a day in Southend on Sea, which will qualify for a separate post.
On the 13.5 GBP ticket, I am allowed only 1 cabin bag. Checked bag costs 40 Pounds more, airport check-in costs 10 pounds more and so on. Thankfully I could manage with cabin bags alone. On a per mile basis, Ryanair's 13.5 GBP for 400 miles is one of the lowest transport costs during my trip. Check below for a comparison.
Scouted Southend on sea market to find a shop that would print out my boarding pass- cost me 2.2 GBP. But eventually realized that it is not required- Ryanair check-in counter will issue a printed boarding pass for free as long as I have done web check-in.
Anyways, I reached well in time for the flight, crowd was very less- there were only 2 Ryanair flights that evening- one to Copenhagen and another to Dublin, so cleared all airport formalities within minutes. Staff were nice.
Flight departed some 10 minutes late but reached almost on time. I just managed to get out of Dublin airport, locate the bus stop for last bus to my final destination and get into the bus with minutes to spare. Bus Journey from Dublin airport to home cost me 14 Euros, as against the 13.5 GBP flight ticket. Anyway, had the flight be late by few more minutes, I was looking at spending 50-60 Euro on taxi or find a hotel nearby for overnight stay.
Nothing much has changed w.r.t Ryanair flight experience- the bare minimum setup- safety card printed on back of headrests, non reclining seats etc. I was assigned a middle seat because I refused to pay for seat selection. Anyway since the flight was of one hour only, I could survive without any issues.
Ryanair was in trouble recently with Pilot strike etc- but such issues have affected every airline- even BA & Lufthansa pilots have gone on strike- overall airline remains a good choice if you want to save on air fares and can travel light and without any luxuries. Of course, if you can afford, if you need more luxury and comfort, there're other airlines you can try.
Will be trying a new airline next week- Flybe.. Stay tuned.
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