My best friend from Australia was staying with me for a couple of weeks up until recently and while she was here I wanted us to get away for a couple of days. A short 2 day trip to Milan was what I had in mind and Ryan Air came up trumps.
Just by chance the weekend I was looking at flights they had a special deal on with fares starting at just £6.99 each way! 24 hours later it was all booked. The flights were booked a month in advance - flying at the end of July.
OK so the price – well 3 flights came up for the specific day I wanted to leave the UK. Two were very early morning ones and one at 10pm. So – not the best times to be travelling but I was half expecting that. Also the price of £6.99 didn’t come up, but £8.99 did! That’s what the final cost was each way but by the time the tax was added
on (£21.42 each) and then another surcharge for using my credit card (£4) it came to just over £41 each. However, we’re not going to quibble about that because, after all, we were going to another country!
I was expecting something to go wrong but the flight was booked completely on line in very easy steps. You then print your confirmation as this is your only form of ticket and without it you won’t be able to fly. The only other item you need to take to the airport is a valid form of photo ID.
So, how was the flight? Once we’d checked in, our boarding cards were hand written at Stansted. We weren’t given a seat number which is a new experience for me. I was slightly worried about this and, again, when we boarded, it was a bit of a ‘free for all’ in that we didn’t board by rows and it was a bit chaotic. However, surprisingly we were all seated within about 10 minutes so I think it’s probably quicker that way! The flight was full but my friend and I got a seat together. Everyone was seated well before take off time.
As you can probably guess, the flight was very simple. They served food but you had to pay for it. Hot drinks were £1.60 and they had a bar service and also sold sandwiches (£4). My suggestion is you take your own food - even bottled water was cheaper at the airport shops! In the seat pocket there were safety instructions and a sick bag. An inflight magazine was given out and then collected again afterwards (just in case you wanted to take it with you!). Duty free was available also with the usual perfume, cigarettes and booze. No entertainment so if you have kids make sure they're kept busy! Time sure does pass slowly when you're flying through the air!
Our flight time was 1 hour 30 to Milan Bergamo although on the confirmation email it said 2 hours so this was a bonus. We travelled on a Boeing 737 – 800 which comprised of one aisle with 3 seats on each side. There were four emergency exits.
The experience was fine. As a budget airline this was well worth the money. I guess as the flight was so short not that much could go wrong anyway but to me this is excellent value for money. Both journeys got us to our destinations 20 minutes before we were due and there were no hold ups. I found the staff helpful and smart. Leg room wasn’t excellent, I’m tall so never really find any airlines particularly helpful in that department but as we weren’t seated for very long, this wasn’t a problem.
The only tip I have is that Ryan Air tend to fly to lesser known airports that are far away from the main tourist spots. I had seen a tv programme on this so was warned beforehand. I didn't want to spend all my holiday money on getting a taxi 40 odd miles to my hotel! Both my friend and I investigated the hotels in the Bergamo region rather than Milan. We were actually a good hour on the train away from Milan city centre so we would’ve had an extra journey on top of getting to the airport and the flight time that may not be welcome after getting up at 4am!
Ryan Air also fly to parts of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, amongst others. 125 routes cover 84 destinations across 16 countries.
For more info www.ryanair.com
Recommended. Thanks for reading
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excellent review. a bit of everything included. well done.
Kezza88 05.11.2003 08:11
I saw an article one day on using budget airlines to fly to cities (eg Milan), and instead of trekking into Milan (as it is so far way), turning around like you did, facing the other way, and visiting the areas outside of the city (which is what you did). Sounds like you had a good experience, and good op, Kez :)
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Aug 1st, 2003
very helpful by (100%):
