What two years flying Ryanair will do to you

Not really me (it's been a while since I was 36 for one thing) but I do fly Ryanair a lot.

You would think two years commuting back and forth between Stansted and Malaga at Michael O'Leary's convenience might take its toll.

Well yes and no.

The downsides to no frills air travel are well known - minimal leg room, a dash for seats, luggage nazis monitoring your hand luggage etc

All true and I can't say that I am a Ryanair fan exactly.  There is a certain arrogance about them; they can be almost defiantly rude and wilfully careless of what their passengers and the public think.

My theory is that they like all the bad headlines (like Woman forced to pay £200 to print boarding tickets) because of a perverse kind of logic.  If they can be so awful to customers and still book out their routes they must be the cheapest.

And they usually are.  That's my first plus point - I shop around and they usually come out cheapest although less so nowadays.  All the "cheap" airlines are a lot more expensive than they were only a year or so ago.  That's partly the government's fault for putting up the tax remorselessly.

Another plus for me is that, once you know the system, the journey is quite predictable.  You know they are strict about hand luggage and pack accordingly.  You know you have to get in the queue early to get a good seat (or pay for Priority).   You know you have to print your boarding pass.

Finally they have been amazingly punctual.  I literally cannot remember the last time they were late either flying into or out of Malaga.  It was certainly over a year ago.  I have recently started to fly out o Gatwick with Easyjet on a Friday evening (better flight time) and they have been late twice on the trot.

(UPDATE: the first time I flew Ryanair after I published this blog I was delayed by about 45 minutes.  I should not have opened my big mouth!)

So (and it pains me to say it because of their lousy attitude) - two cheers for Ryanair.

From our website:  Spanish income tax

Is Ryanair's latest move so bad?

Ryanair and its boss, the charming Michael O'Leary (left), are hardly ever out of the news. Recently its their debit and credit card charges that have been in the news.

I posted about about ways to avoid Ryanair's card charges but it seems the goalposts have moved and now you can only avoid the £6 each way charge (per passenger) by using a Ryanair prepaid debit card.

These have to be charged up prior to use and there is a monthly £2 charge on them if they are not used. Well worth getting though if you book Ryanair a lot like me. The full story if you missed it is here:

Ryanair launches own card

Much of the press was negative focusing on the £2 charge and the fact that everyone who got one of the cards that previously avoided the charge is now left high and dry. One article talked about "fury" and another "hefty" fees.

But is this fair? Lots of other sites and not just airlines charge fees for card use and by getting this free card you can avoid them on ryanair.com. The monthly charge can easily be avoided by occasional use and they are free to load up with money.

I ordered one and it was all very straightforward except that ironically enough there was a hidden "card purchase fee" of £6 added to the bill.

There is a strong antipathy toward the airline. The internet is full of "hate ryanair" groups and "ryanair evil" blogs. I liked the Facebook group where someone was so incensed they said "they should have all of their planes' tires slashed". Slightly odd thing to hope for.

I have had my run ins with them but they have done more than anyone else to make air travel cheap and their money-making schemes often work in the customers' favour - like online check in. Give them a break?