Many American students flock to study abroad programs in Europe in search of adventure and a large variety of different cultural experiences. One of the greatest differences between the two continents is the accessibility of new languages and cultures. In just a few hours or less, one can be in a new country with a new language and a completely new culture in Europe. With a complex rail system, many bus routes, and budget airlines, Europe provides endless opportunities for adventure, even for students on a tight budget. One such airline, and probably the most well-known in Europe, Ryanair, has flights to over 15 countries, but it often receives poor reviews. Reading through the reviews, I found that most of the frustrations that people experience stem from not being familiar with the airline’s rules and procedures before heading to the airport. Do your homework, and Ryanair will enable you to embark on many once in a lifetime trips.
Save yourself from having to squint at all the fine print and read my “cliff notes” on the most important things to know before booking your next flight with Ryanair .
1. Watch out; the booking fees add up
You may be searching the website drooling at the 15€ fares, but remember there will be fees attached to that base price. Food, checked baggage, priority boarding, etc. all add up quite quickly. And no, you won’t find these tantalizingly cheap flights to every destination at all times, but if your destinations and dates are flexible, you will be sure to find a deal or two. I had never imagined myself traveling to Belgium, but when we found the cheap airfare to/from Brussels, we went for it!
2. PRINT YOUR BOARDING PASS AHEAD OF TIME!
I cannot stress this point enough. Ryanair will charge you a sizable fee to print your boarding pass at the airport. This is probably the most common mistake Ryanair customers make and the easiest to avoid. Do whatever you can to make sure you have that piece of paper ready to go BEFORE arriving at the airport! When I was in London, one of my friends forgot her boarding pass in the bed and breakfast that our group had stayed at, so she rushed back over in a taxi to get it. The taxi fee was worth the money saved by having the boarding pass ready at check-in. She made it back just in time to fly to Madrid with us. Seriously, print your boarding pass.
3. Watch the weight limits!
If you do decide to check a bag (15-35€ depending on the flight), remember that Ryanair strictly adheres to their weight limit of 15 kg (or 33 lbs). Most Americans expect the more standard weight limit of 50 lbs to hold true for all airlines, but this assumption does not carry over to budget airlines in Europe. If you are only traveling for a long weekend, your carry on will be more than enough (see next point). If you have a longer trip, you may need to be creative.
My friends and I went on a 10 day trip to Paris and London. We flew on Ryanair from Madrid to Paris, then took the train under the English Channel, and then flew back to Madrid on Ryanair. Deciding that packing for ten days in only a carry-on would be a stretch, we split the cost of checking a suitcase, affording each of us the valuable extra space that we needed to bring some extra clothes and have space to take a few small things home.
4. Watch the dimensions for carry-on suitcases
Keeping with the trend of rigorously adhering to the rules, Ryanair has strict regulations on the size of your carry-on. According to the General Terms & Conditions of Carriage on the Ryanair website, your cabin luggage may not exceed 10 kg with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm. Most of the check-in desks have a premeasured box made to match the size requirements, and if there is a question on whether or not your bag fits the requirements, the attendant may ask you to put your bag in the container to make sure. If it does not, then you will be forced to check the bag and pay a higher fee. My advice? Plan to bring a backpack, nothing more and nothing less. I used a large Adidas backpack that was designed to carry a soccer ball (it conveniently fit my large camera case for my DSLR), and I never had any problems.
5. Do NOT expect free food/drinks during the flight
This one almost goes without saying. Ryanair will sell a variety of things during the flight, including but not limited to lottery cards*, cosmetics*, and food, but you will not find any complimentary bags of pretzels on this flight. *The constant intercom speech interrupting my reading and sleeping to announce the current “for sale” item has always been one of the things that annoy me the most when flying Ryanair. Just let us sleep already!
6. DO expect delays
My mother always told me that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is and cheap airfare is no exception. Mind you, it IS cheap -which is great-, but this cheapness does come at a cost (no pun intended). When I think back to my days flying Ryanair almost monthly, all I can remember was delay after delay. It just became something I started factoring into my trips. In fact, this saved me from MISSING a flight on more than one occasion (…thanks Ryanair?). However, as I said, I used Ryanair to explore new destinations on nearly a monthly basis, so the delays were not bad enough to deter me from the ridiculously low fares. I suppose that, as with anything in life, you just learn to take the good with the bad.
7. Plan ahead for the airports
Ryanair seldom flies in and out of the airports closest to the downtown areas of your destination city*. This problem has a simple solution! Look up the airport ahead of time, and if it is not close to downtown, be prepared to pay for a bus that will transfer you either downtown or to a larger subway/train station. If you schedule an early morning flight, make sure that you can find transportation to the airport that will get you there in time to check in! When flying out of London, we arranged to stay at a bed and breakfast that was only a taxi ride away from the airport on the last night because navigating public transportation to get there in time would have been nearly impossible.
*Tip: Madrid is one exception! Ryanair flies in and out of Barajas, which is conveniently located on train lines that will take you directly downtown.*
My flights on Ryanair always got me where I wanted to go, and I visited cities that most people only dream of due to their low-cost fares (I’ve seen a flight from Madrid to Porto for as low as 9€!!). Make a new playlist, grab your headphones, and enjoy the ride. Sacrificing some superfluous luxuries for European adventures seems like a pretty fair trade to me.
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[accordion_tab title=”Collegiate Correspondent: Matt Thomas” default]
Matt Thomas recently graduated from Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Spanish. He studied abroad in Ávila, Spain during his sophomore year of college, igniting a passion for travel, culture, and language. In addition to traveling (and falling for) Spain, he traveled to four other European countries and spent some time in Africa. Since returning from Europe, he has also taught English to international students studying in the United States. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Matt enjoys conversation, community, and iced coffee.[/accordion_tab]
