My first flight on Ryanair since 2010. I don't really have anything against Ryanair, but their main London Airport, Stansted, is particularly inconvenient for me.
However, like many of us, I was tempted by a sub-£20 fare!
Stansted Airport is very difficult to get too from anywhere other than Central London. I live in South East London, so my journey to the airport consisted of a bus, a tube journey then the train. There are bus services too (again from Central London) so its always a hassle.
What suprised me was the cost of the train journey to the airport. £24.50 in Standard Class, and £33.50 in First Class (from Totthenham Hale station). First class includes fast track security and lounge access, so I for the £9 difference I thought I would go for it. Big mistake. The first class ticket also promises 'complimentary tea and coffee' but that was not forthcoming! The seats are nice though, and the train was clean - something that I have criticsed the train operator for before.
Stansted Airport is dire. Truly the worst airport I have ever flown from. It was incredibly busy.
Imagine Christmas Shopping on the last Saturday before Christmas and you will get an idea of how busy it was.
This was the first time I have ever felt uncomfortable with the sheer amount of people at an airport.
Fasttrack security didn't really work, as once you were let through the 'fast track' zone, people from the standard queues could then join the Fastrack queue. Totally defeats the object!
The shops are kept in pristine condition, everywhere else felt messy.
I went to the No. 1 Lounge, which was miles away from my eventual gate, and really not worth the detour.
I wasn't even asked for any card, sign in or anything so I wandered about, picked up a copy of Business Traveller and had a read. No glasses for orange juice, no bowls for cereal etc. Really shoddy.
My gate was then announced which was via the transit. I rushed through the airport, against the flow of passengers where there were signs of how poor it was.
Ryanair, to their credit, where strictly enforcing the Priority Boarding, despite people pushing forward.
I had Priority Boarding so was through quite quickly. With their baggage fees, people really want to board first to secure overhead luggage space, so it was good to see that people with priority boarding were prioritised. I sound like a snob! But it was Ryanair so I can't really be accused of that!
More from Stansted…
Waiting to board…
Before long, boarding was announced, and the garish yellow and blue of Ryanair welcomed us on board!
The flight seemed quite busy, but boarding was quite brisk.
The crew were friendly, the captain gave his speech and before long we were soaring above the clouds!
Legroom was fine for this reasonably short flight.
More cloudscapes
For my fellow reviewers, I tried some Ryanair food.
Dear Reader,
At the time, I thought this might be the last thing I would ever eat.
Look at the box. It looks BAD. That should have been a warning.
(But also note the more 'friendly' marketing of 'new' Ryanair).
The 'deal' was this and a coffee for £7.20. (!)
So, how bad do you think it was?
Are you ready?
Really ready?
I ate the whole thing so that I could report back here. It was vile. Apart from the sausage, which was 80% pork and unusually good! Bizarrely, some of the other options on the menu included a British organic range, so I clearly picked really badly.
There were the usual announcements for inflight shopping and scratch cards, before we commenced our descent, through the clouds.
A nice landing, to a deserted Modlin Airport. We landed so far from the entrance it was laughable. Still, for £19.99 it was fine, and I needed the exercise.
I waited at the airport as I wanted to try the train to the City Centre rather than the bus.
This involved a 50 minute wait at the airport so I had something edible instead!
It was a short bus journey to the station, which looked lovely. Then onto a brand new train.
I stayed at the Radisson Blu Centruum Hotel, where their special offer rate for two nights was £67.00!
Thanks for this report on my least favorite airline ! ( although I must admit that i have never flown with them ).
The main reason is that from Paris , Beauvais is really far away and it takes more time to go there than most of the flights. The second one is that no report has given me the desire to try it.
That said I understand that it may be very attractive if you get good fares.
I have discovered that the fare is not the 'end of it'.
I would rather pay more to avoid Stansted, and in fact, have. See my next report! Coming soon!
Thanks for sharing! Seems like a long-ish flight to be on Ryanair. Admittedly, like SkyteamCHC, I've never tried them as I've been afraid to be disappointed based on reviews I've seen and their general poor reputation. I've been tempted though, because you are right that they have some amazing bargains if you buy at the right time. I see their flash sales all the time on Twitter with crazy fares as low as 10£. Although, like you say, Stansted is a pain to get to, there are direct flights from STN to my home town in France (RDZ) so I may try them one day just for the convenience of not having to fly to TLS and drive 2 hours.