Ryanair

Ryanair is one of Europe´s biggest and best-known budget flight companies. It flies to 55 destinations from Barcelona Girona Airport. Here is a list of their destinations:

Aarhaus, Alghero (Sardinia), Altenburg (Liepzig), Basel, Billund, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bologna, Bournemouth, Batislava (Vienna), Bremen, Bristol, Brno, Brussels (Charleroi), Caliari (Sardinia), Doncaster (Sheffield), Dublin, Durham (Tees Valley), Dusseldorf (Weeze), East Midlands, Eindhoven, Stockholm (Skavsta), Fez, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Glasgow (Prestwick), Gothenburg, Granada-Jaen, Graz, Hamburg (Lubeck), Karlsruhe-Baden, Linz, Liverpool, London (Luton), London (Stansted), Maastricht-Aachen, Madrid, Malta (Luga), Manchester, Marrakech, Milan, Newcastle, Newquay, Oporto, Oslo, Paris (Beauvais), Pesara,  Pisa, Poznan, Rome, Shannon, Tenerife South, Trapani (Sicily), Venice (Treviso), and Wroclaw.

Reviews

Ryanair is one of the cheapest of the budget airlines, and has become the biggest international airline worldwide. It started in 1985 and now flies over 30 million passengers every year.

Positives:

Ryanair offers some of the cheapest flights in the world, and is the most frequently used airline from Girona airport, flying to 55 different destinations. The flights are basic, but given that their prices are so reasonable, you can´t complain. There´s no fuel surcharge, which means there´s not too much added on to the original price. So if your flight is 0EUR, you´ll pay 9.99EUR after tax. The staff are reported to be friendly and helpful. There´s also a priority boarding option which will allow you to choose an exit seat if you want more leg room.

Negatives:

A frequent problem with Ryanair is that although their website is efficient for making bookings, it´s almost impossible to contact them by phone. Their main line will take to you through a series of automated messages for 1 pound/minute, and you might not even end up getting through. The best thing is to send them an email, or try calling their helpdesk at a specific airline. Their number at Girona airport (listed above) is only open Monday to Friday until 17.00. It´s very difficult to make a cancellation with Ryanair, as they tend not to respond to phone calls or emails. You can send a fax, but it can take up to a fortnight to clear.

There are often delays reported with Ryanair, but with so many flights this is inevitable and they have no more delays than other budget airlines. As with most budget airlines there´s no frills, so don´t expect a great choice of food, or seat reservations. 

People complain about extra fees for baggage, as they charge 10 euros per kilo for every piece of luggage over 15kg. This is more expensive than other airlines like Easyjet, who have a 20kg limit and charge less for excess baggage. 

Baggage allowance and extra charges

Ryanair´s baggage policy has changed dramatically in the last year. Although their flight prices still remain low, because of rising fuel costs they are incurring fees to encourage passengers to check-in online and only carry hand baggage. Therefore now, there is always a baggage charge with Ryanair, even if it is below the required 15 kg. You can add this online before paying for your flight, or you can pay for it on your arrival at the airport, which will cost you more. Each passenger can check in up to 3 bags with a maximum weight of 15kg. The first bag will cost 10 euros (8 pounds) if registered online, and 20 euros (16 pounds) if paid for at the airport.  The second and third bags will cost you 20 euros (16 pounds) both online and at the airport. Any sports equipment or musical instrument will cost 30 euros (25 pounds) booked online and 40 euros (32 pounds) if booked at the airport. Mobility equipment is carried free of charge.

Excluding mobility equipment, for health and safety reasons Ryanair does not except any individual item over 32 kg or bigger than 81cm, 119cm and 119cm combined.

For health and safety reasons Ryanair does not accept for carriage any individual item exceeding 32 kilos or with combined dimensions of more than 81cms (height), 119cms (width) and 119cms (depth). This weight limit does not apply to mobility equipment.

If you have excess baggage (over 15 kg), you cannot pay for this online. Each extra kilo will cost you 15 euros (12 pounds).

Online check-in is free, and also gives you priority boarding, so this is a  big advantage if you are only carrying hand luggage. Booking your check-in at the airport will cost 4 pounds or 5 euros, as will priority boarding if not booked online. Other charges include debit and credit card fees. Visa electron is free of charge but a debit card payment will cost 1.50 euros (1 pound 20), and if you pay by credit card it´ll cost 4 euros (3 euros 20). If you want to make a passenger name change, it will cost 100 euros (80 pounds) online or 150 euros (120 pounds) at the airport. The fee for a flight change is 35 euros online (28 pounds) and 55 euros (44 pounds) at the airport.