Ryanair’s been in the news a lot lately for all the wrong reasons. There was the viral moment when a passenger in Sofia was left sobbing on her knees after being barred from boarding because her hand luggage was inches too big. And just weeks before, the airline came under fire for overbooking a flight, which separated a couple who were then charged missed departure fees. 

Sure, this is all nothing new, Ryanair has been scooping ‘world’s worst airline’ titles for years. I had to fly to Dublin for work recently, and thought I’d give them a chance. How bad could it be?

James Wong is a seasoned travel writer who takes upwards of 12 flights every year. The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation.

Ryanair flight review

Pre-boarding

I turned up at Dublin airport over two hours before my flight. Knowing their harsh rules for stinging passengers, I read up and abided by them. My luggage was tiny, I checked in online and had my boarding pass ready, and of course, I was waiting at the gate well before the plane had even arrived. In fact, we were some of the first there, so what could go wrong?

Upon arrival, I saw a slew of stressed passengers running to Ryanair customer service. It seemed like they’d missed their flight, probably a dozen of them. I assumed this was a rare occurrence and thought nothing more.

The boarding process: denied boarding

My ticket said that boarding closed at 4:10 pm, but by 4 pm, the flight hadn’t opened yet. At 4:10 pm, a line was finally formed. Clearly, they were not sticking to the schedule if they were boarding after the advertised closing time.

Since we had been sitting for an hour, we thought we’d go and stretch our legs and use the toilet after glancing at the slowly moving queue. Who knows how long it’d be till we could take off? However, coming back approximately seven minutes later, the line had quickly disappeared. Perfect, no need to wait, I thought. We walked up to the gate.

“The gate is closed; you must go to customer service and take the next flight,” one of the team barked.

What was I hearing? I could see the gate wide open, the plane on the tarmac with the stairs rolled out. I tried to reason, but the front gate staff didn’t want to hear it.

“The plane is still boarding,” I continued (we’d just witnessed someone come out to take a stroller onto the flight). “And you saw us waiting here at the gate for the last hour. We’re not late, we’re here and can get on right now.”

“We deleted all your records from the system as soon as the gate closed. We couldn’t board you if we tried,” was the reply.

“What, in the minutes between the last person getting on and now, you wiped all records?”

“Yes, you must go to customer services and book the next flight,” said the staff member with her back towards me. She couldn’t care less.

I was in disbelief. I walked over to customer service, where there was a long line of people who had also ‘missed their flight’ and waited for my turn to rebook on the next. Each of us had to pay a €100 ‘missed departure fee’. I went back to the gate where my plane still sat, open, not departing for quite some time.

The gate is always ‘closed’

Ryanair get closed sign with customers boarding
Each Ryanair gate was labelled ‘gate closed’ in red the whole time, even whilst customers boarded. Here is one to Warsaw.

As I waited for my next flight, I observed all the other Ryanair takeoffs. Every gate permanently read ‘gate closed’, even when they were open and still boarding passengers. Surely that’s misleading? Why wouldn’t an airline want to help people, to inform them of exactly when the gate is open and when it was actually closed? Why, also, were there no announcements?

I didn’t get a final call, but neither did anyone else. At the end of each boarding process, there was zero announcement. Anyone at the airport, especially if you’re disabled, needs to be sharp because there certainly is no assistance. 

Ryanair gate closed sign
Again, this time at another Ryanair gate to LGW, the ‘gate closed’ sign remains lit in red whilst customers board

Finally boarding a new flight

200 additional euros out, we boarded another flight three hours later. Surprise, surprise, this one was majorly delayed. A passenger in front of me was being told he could not board because his bag was too big. Frustrated, he squeezed his bag into the baggage sizer. It was tight, but it fit. There was commotion as to whether he would be allowed to board or not, holding up the whole (already delayed) line. The staff seemed almost intent on denying passengers on these flights. I wondered if they received a bonus for it (Editor’s note: The Times recently reported that the company does.)

Review of the cabin

Ryanair cabin floor covered in crumbs
The cabin floor was covered in food crumbs from a previous flight

I sat in my chair, and both it and the floor were dotted with crumbs. It was very obvious that there was no cleaning done between the last flight and this one. Every seat was filled shoulder to shoulder, and there was very little legroom. The cabin was hot too, and some passengers were trying to fan themselves down. There was a strong odour, so I decided not to use the toilet. Besides, I was sweating so much I didn’t need to. 

The amenities and service

Ryanair cabin interior
The cabin was hot and smelly as passengers groaned in discomfort

There are no amenities on these flights. There’s no USB charger, no travel magazines, and no complimentary anything. This is the absolute bones. Staff wheel their trolleys in an attempt to sell products and food, but otherwise seem disinterested in assisting in any other way. I thought back to the article I Googled at the airport, when Ryanair refused to give passengers water for a delayed 15-hour flight. That alone says that passenger well-being isn’t a priority for the airline.

The customer service following the whole incident

I’ve had a small problem on BA before, but they have a customer service form and are quick to respond, address, and compensate. I thought I’d do the same with Ryanair. After all, I wasn’t at fault, and it all seemed designed to catch customers out. Perhaps the customer service team might be more empathetic.

I received this automated response, which really was the icing on the cake.

Ryanair customer service response
Ryanair customer service does not read your message; instead, it provides a seemingly AI-generated response

Overall, is Ryanair really the world’s worst airline?

I’ve flown on countless airlines as a travel writer, including budget airlines, but I have to say this is hands down the worst flight experience I’ve had. The missed departure fee is just another of the many scams designed to sting passengers. Sure, they’re cheap, but the hidden costs quickly add up, and for me at least, their departure airports are never convenient and can cost as much to reach as the flight itself. 

During my flight, the level of hygiene was extremely poor, as was the service and the whole customer experience. I don’t think I’ll be flying Ryanair anytime soon. There are many better alternatives in Europe.

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