The one where I flew Ryanair for the first time ever

Making the most of my very limited vacation days, I decided to make the most of my European Easter getaway. By hitting up another EU country I’ve never visited: England.

 

I hadn’t seen my friend Soonie since she jetted off to the Old Country back in August. And though we had a very limited timeframe to work with (I arrived at noon on Sunday, I was leaving at 7pm on Tuesday) I think we made the most of it.

 

Here is what I was able to discern about the land and its people based on what I was able to observe. Most of my findings were contrary to what I had been told/warned about by others.

 

My impressions on England, and getting there:

 

Let’s begin with getting there. My flight, which was my birthday present to myself, came out to less than $150, which I consider a very reasonable price. I flew Ryanair for the very first time. I had heard horror stories and read rants against the airline on a few blogs.

 

What I heard: Horrible service, someone getting puke in their hair from the seat in front of them which had not been cleaned up from the previous flight (grossness), overweight baggage woes, extra hidden fees, their intent to charge 1 Euro to use the bathroom on the plane, etc.

 

So I was prepared and braced. Not being an EU citizen I was forced to pay about 20 Euro each way to check in at the airport. Thus I was determined to not pay one penny more. Not one penny… And I was victorious my friends!!! It can be done.

 

Firstly I made sure my carry-on baggage (one piece, not the one piece plus personal item that I’m accustomed to flying domestic, but okay Ryanair, I can play your game) was under 10kgs. This was possible only because I was staying 2 nights. Anything more would have had to involve laundry or shopping. But I came in with a very sexy 9.9 kgs at the check in counter. At which point I started to think I was safe. I had my boarding pass, I just had to go through security and get in on the plane. I should be safe to take out my purse from my small suitcase, thus having an un-permitted amount of two items with me, right? WRONG. You see, the Ryanair crew had foreseen such a plan and had a secret second scale halfway to the security checkpoint. Can you believe it?!? Its like they could read the devious minds of the Polish! I was much pleased with myself for not taking out my purse prematurely or putting all the heavy items I was carrying in my pockets (cameras and ipods) back in the suitcase. My second weigh in came in with 9.85 kgs. VICTORY WAS MINE!

 

From that moment I was sailing smooth. Took out my purse on the way to the plane, nabbed an aisle seat (they don’t have seat numbers a la Southwest, which leads to occasional madness) and ate the sandwich I had made in advance. The Ryanair crew passed by at least 10 times selling everything from liquor through food to lottery tickets (?). They didn’t get no money from me!

 

One thing of interest I noticed while landing in London was how incredibly jerky and bumpy the landing was. So on the way back I was prepared. I put my hands up protectively against the seat in front of me right before landing on my return flight. And I was glad for it was the most un-smooth landing EVER. I’m almost certain we skidded, as in the actual plane skidded/jumped on the tarmac. Either way we all jumped in our seats…but survived.

 

Thus, I must admit that I was proud of my travel skills in surviving my first Ryanair experience. We got there on time, the ticket was cheap, I didn’t pay extra. What else do you want? I’m not sure what everyone is bitching about. Do it if you must, its no frills but it gets the job done.

 

Word.