I’m frequently asked for my opinion on the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair. While it’s no business class flight around the world, I’m pro Ryanair, as it has helped me explore Europe on a budget numerous times. For example, I’ve flown from Dublin to Marrakech, London to Warsaw, and London to Gothenburg, all for less than 100 dollars COMBINED.  While there are several pitfalls of Ryanair, in this latest review, I’m going to discuss my experience flying from London Stansted to Stockholm Skavsta Airport. 

Flight: Ryanair FR52

Origin: London Stansted (STN)

Destination: Stockholm Skavsta (NYO)

Operated by: Boeing 737-800

Class: Ryanair Economy

Departure Time: 08:30

Booking

The timing of our flight was less than ideal, we were trying to fly out from London the same week that school was finishing for the summer holidays. We were trying to get from London, where we were visiting friends, and Istanbul, where we were going to explore the city before heading to the Bodrum EDITION. Unfortunately, to fly directly to Bodrum or Istanbul was pricing at $500+ each on British Airways or Turkish with no award availability in sight.  From there I was a bit creative, I found a flight on Avios from London to Kos, but that was a day earlier than I wanted to leave. Instead, I looked for cheap flights on Ryanair from Stansted Airport, located 45+ minutes outside the city. I found that I could fly to Stockholm Skavsta for less than $100 each, spend a night in the city exploring, then continue on to Istanbul for $100 on Pegasus. I choose two tickets on Ryanair FR52 for $188. 

When booking Ryanair it’s important to note that you can’t just book the ticket and hop on the plane. There are some things to consider. When booking you are presented with a few different options. 

As you can see, the hard upsell starts from the beginning. I didn’t capture this on the date that I booked, but you can see the advertised price includes one small cabin bag (40 x 20 x 25 cm). If you bring another bag, it will cost 25 euros to place it in the hold. This is a newer rule that wasn’t there when I lived in Europe, but it further segments customers and squeezes out even more revenue from their passengers. 

I chose the Priority boarding and 2 cabin bags which allowed me to bring on my rolling suitcase and my backpack. This is an added revenue stream, as back in 2016 when I lived in England, this was included in a ticket. If you are travelling Ryanair, I highly recommend purchasing priority boarding as you’re under less scrutiny in the Priority line, and you don’t have to wait in long lines to check in your bag. In my opinion, the plus option isn’t worth it, as I don’t recommend checking baggage on Ryanair

Ryanair continues to upsell you throughout the process, selling insurance, transfers, parking, and security fast track. Although I don’t usually purchase any of these options, security fast track can be worth it as Stansted is hectic in the morning with more than 35 flights leaving between 5:50 am and 7 am. 

Checking In

If you don’t pay for a seat you must check in online between 48 and 2 hours before your flight to avoid paying a steep “printing” fee at the airport. When you check in online you will be assigned a seat at random, but not necessarily near your partner that you booked with. In fact, this is a common complaint against Ryanair in the last few years, as Ryanair has frequently split up couples and families travelling together. Ryanair has admitted that it tries to keep aisle and window seats open, to the detriment of those trying to save money. Unfortunately, Kath and I were split up on this flight to Stockholm. As a Canadian (or American/non-EU citizen), you must print out your boarding pass so that the visa check can occur. 

Getting to the Airport

Stansted Airport is one of five major London airports, and like most of them, it’s not cheap to get there. The Stansted Express is the fastest train to the airport from London, but also the only direct train to the airport.  At £18.90 for a one way ticket (£29.90 for a return), it’s not a cheap airport to get to. There are ways to make your journey to Stansted Airport cheaper: you can book a non-refundable ticket in advance for £11 (£22 for a return ticket), which makes sense for most people travelling for leisure, or you can take the bus which starts at £5. The bus is a good option for those who are leaving early and are not staying near London Liverpool Station. 

Stansted Airport 

Although Stansted has a special place in my heart from my time living in Cambridge, it is without a doubt a chaotic mess. This one terminal airport has almost 40 flights pushing back within the hour between 6am and 7am. There are several other flights that leave around the same time, potentially causing passengers to miss their flights. If you don’t like large crowds and general chaos, do not fly out of Stansted in the morning. 

The Ryanair check-in area is generally chaotic, with many people waiting to check in their bags for 30+ minutes. If I was checking in a bag, I would pay the extra few $ to fly on British Airways or another legacy carrier. 

Ryanair Visa Check

If you’re Canadian (or American, Australian, Kiwi, or any other non EU/EEA Nationality) then you are required to get your passport checked for a visa. This is simple as getting a signature from a Ryanair member of staff. While many people wait 30+ minutes in the Visa Check/Baggage line to get the stamp, in my experience with a Canadian passport, you can go to any member of staff to ask them to sign your paper. They will not let you board the plane without this signature/stamp, so don’t forget to do this before security. 

Boarding

Since Ryanair changed their boarding rules again this year, I find their boarding process is not as chaotic as it used to be. Currently, those who purchase priority boarding line up in one line, and everyone else lines up in the other line. Those who purchase priority boarding are allowed to take two bags, including a 10kg, while those who aren’t in that lane are only allowed one bag.  In my personal experience (over 30+ Ryanair flights), I have never had a bag measured or weighed by Ryanair staff, even if my bag was larger/heavier than the limits more than 50% of the time. While I can’t guarantee that your bag won’t be weighed, I wouldn’t stress about a few KG over the limit if the bag is small and doesn’t look much larger than the limit. 

Ryanair will check boarding passes before the incoming plane has arrived, frequently causing passengers to queue on the stairs waiting for the plane to arrive. One of the many ways Ryanair saves money is their lack of airbridges. Instead, Ryanair uses built-in stairs in the front and a set of car stairs in the back to board their planes.   The first time I boarded this way I felt like a celebrity on the tarmac, but after a few times, it’s a bit annoying, especially in the rain. 

On Board Ryanair

Ryanair exclusively flies the Boeing 737 (over 450 of them) with 189 seats. This compares to the 174 seats on the Westjet version, 166 on the United configured airplanes and 178 on Alaska Airlines. Seats are packed in on this plane, but I don’t find them as bad as Asian low cost carriers. The seats are covered in Blue leather and the seatbacks are yellow. 

The seats famously don’t have a seatback pocket to reduce cleaning costs and weight, and therefore the emergency instructions are on the seatback in front. Importantly, Ryanair is safe, they have never had a deadly crash.

As expected, the toilet are tiny, as they have reduced both bathrooms to help squeeze all 189 seats. 

Although the food isn’t amazing by any means, the prices are completely reasonable and not out of line for an airline. 

Overall

When award availability is slim, you are travelling carry-on, and don’t mind potentially flying to/from a secondary airport, Ryanair is a cheap and safe option for intra-Europe travel.

Would you fly Ryanair?