I recently travelled to Malta using Ryanair. I originally thought it was a cheap and cheerful no thrills airline company. This led me to believe that they would not offer a very good service in comparison to some of the other airlines available for out trip. However, i was completely wrong.
I travelled from my nearest airport (Luton). When we arrived and found our check in desk we were waiting for around 10-15 minutes and were in the middle towards the back of the queue. The time went quite quickly though as the queue was moving at a steady and regular pace. This was due to the Ryanair staff at the check in desk. They were extremely efficient and knew exactly what they were doing. This meant that everyones bags were checked in very quickly. When we got to the desk we had a warm greeting from the member of the Ryanair staff who was dealing with the procedure. And, once again she dealt with everything very quickly and easily without fault or error. Both the handles on our bag were broken, but she quickly dealt with this minor issue by filling in and sticking on the appropriate paperwork. As well as this, our suitcase was too heavy. (This was the fault of my female travelling partner...obviously!) Again, we were very politely told that we would either have to remove some items or unforunately have to pay. So we removed the items and that was over with. Overall the members of the Ryanair staff that we dealt with at Luton airport were extremely helpful and were good representatives of their company.
This inital encounter with the staff encouraged my views on the airline. I believe that it is very important for any airline to have polite and helpful staff as these are the "frontmen" of the company and that is how the customer will perceive them as a whole. The staff of the company certainly didn't disappoint me.
We also had priority boarding. Which was lucky, because the flights to and from Malta were both full booked. This meant that when we were waiting to board, we had a seperate queue and the people who had priority booking got on first, as their was no allocated seating. If we didn't have it there was no way we would have been able to sit together. I would advise anyone travelling with Ryanair to purcahse priority boarding. It only cost us £3.80 each i think and was definitely worth it. It also meant that there was less waiting around and queueing for us to do. I think you can purcahse the priority boarding at the airport from the staff at the check in desk.
Again, the boarding process was very fast and we were very well informed throughout. Nobody had any troubles at all getting on or off at either end of the journey. This was down to the helpfullness of the staff of Ryanair.
The plane itself was a small Boeing 737-800. It was very clean when we got on, with absolutely no sign of previous usage. I thought this was very good, because i hate it when you get on to a messy or untidy plane. I know they have to turn them around quickly, but it does make a lot of difference if it looks neat. Again, there were no faults from the company on this side either. The seats did not look like they offered a lot of leg room and this can be a big problem for people with long legs. However, there are a few seats at the front with extra leg room. But again, you would be able to get these only with priority boarding. The plane was qyute comfortable. As comfortable as anything can be, when you are sitting in the same spot for 3 hours. Nothing to complain about at all. The seats were O.K. the aisle was clean, staff were polite and well presented again,
The onboard service seemed a bit lacklustre, but nevertheless there was nothing significantly wrong with it. The safety demonstration was given clearly and refreshments/gifts were taken up and down the aisle in mid flight. The staff just did not seem very enthusiastic about the flight. But i imagine they were all tired and still doing their jobs proficiently. There were no on board meals offered on the flight. I don't know if this is standard. However, Ryanair do offer a small range of snacks on their flights. These are very overpriced...that definitely comes as standard on any airline.
The flight itself was very smooth, with an ever so slight bit of turbulance. The captain was very informative along the whole of the journey. It even cam in 10 minutes early on the way there and 15 minute early on the way back!!!
The flights cost around £190 for 2 people. That is £95 each. I don't really know if this is cheap for a flight to Malta, however, seeing as Ryanair are a low budget airline. Then i imagine it must be? Just because they are cheap, it didn't mean we didn't get a very good service from the company.
Overall i would recommend Ryanair to anyone who wants to get somewhere cheaply, but still wants to have an enjoyable journey. With easy check-ins and boarding you can't really go wrong. The staff were nice and friendly and the planes were nice. Overall, a quite enjoyable experience, and i would not hesitate in using Ryanair again.
One last point, that our bags reached both destinations quickly and very efficiently. According to one of the posters in the plane. Ryanair has the least lost bags of any U.K airline.
More details
Class flown most frequently
Economy
How often do you travel with this airline
First time
Where did you book
Travel Agent/Tour Operator
Safety
Very safe
How well does it cater for disabled people
Don't know
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