EasyJet vs RyanAir – Which carrier is the best choice for you?

Europe is great for short flights to your next destination! With low cost airlines offering one way fares around $50 a person, they’re a great option. But, here are some critical things to know about airlines like EasyJet, and RyanAir.

Carefully review this article before making a decision, because some things, like getting your ticket stamped before security, can mean the difference between a smooth flight, and being denied boarding.

RyanAir

RyanAir, in my experience, is way more difficult to fly with than EasyJet. Perhaps it is because of the luggage restrictions, ridiculous stamp procedure, the fees for random things, the gate closing policies, and the lack of complimentary snacks.

If you plan on flying RyanAir, make sure you read every word below. After you understand all of it, RyanAir flights are tolerable. The actual flights are fine, if you make it onboard of course…

Here are some things to be aware of if you choose to fly with RyanAir:

Luggage restrictions

Unlike nearly every single airline in the world, RyanAir limits the size of carry on luggage to 55X40X20 Centimeters. That is roughly 21.65 X 15.74 X 7.87 Inches. This may not seem like a significantly smaller size, but consider that the depth of most commercially available carry on luggages is 9-9.5 inches(a 1-2 inch difference).

RyanAir is known for enforcing their luggage restrictions at the boarding gate, and charging a hefty fee if you exceed it. Which, if you are from the United States, chances are very high that your luggage is too big in one way or another. Almost all carry on luggage sold in the U.S.A. is 8 inches deep or more.

If you need luggage that fits these dimensions, we recommend one of these from Amazon.com.

 

The stamp

Luggage issues aside, there is another huge difference with RyanAir that you might not expect unless you read the very fine print on your boarding pass.

RyanAir implements what I refer to as the “Visa/documents Stamp.” RyanAir forces certain customers to check in at the RyanAir desks BEFORE going through security, wether they are checking in a bag or not. You have to present your passport and your boarding pass to the employee’s, who will then stamp your boarding pass.

If you get to the boarding gate without the stamp, they will deny you boarding. At that point you likely won’t even have time to go back to the original place to get the stamp because RyanAir also closes the boarding gate 20-30 minutes before the flight.

So, if you are flying with RyanAir, always go to the check in desk (where you would check in your baggage) and ask them for the stamp! There may also be a special Visa/documents desk at some airports, rather than the check in desk. Wether you are checking a bag or not, you should ask them if you need the special stamp on your ticket.

Check in procedure

You can check in to your flight 60 days ahead of time, and you absolutely should! You must check in and print your passes at least 2 hours before your flight. After you’re checked in online, you can print your boarding passes. Be sure to print them and keep them in a safe place. If you lose your boarding pass, RyanAir charges a hefty fee to reprint it for you. Currently, it is 20 Euros, or 20 Pounds per boarding pass! Do not rely on digital boarding passes or the app. Always have a printed copy with you.

Ok, now that we have those three things out of the way, flying with RyanAir was similar to most other flights that I have been on. I had a really good experience with my actual flight and the employees. If you can get past the issues above, then you will likely have a great experience with RyanAir.

As a small side note, you do not receive a free drink or snack on board. They do sell snacks though. I recommend bringing small change because on my first flight with them, they ran out of change and kept making announcements, asking passengers if they had small change that they could exchange with the flight attendants so that they could keep selling stuff.

Gate checking baggage

RyanAir recently began gate checking all carry on luggage before you board your flight. That means that you will still take your luggage with you through the airport all the way up until boarding. At the gate, they will take your bag and place it under the plane with all of the checked luggage.

Make sure that any items you want to carry onboard with you like Ipad’s and snacks are in your smaller cabin bag(read below). If you are really intent on keeping your bags with you the whole time, you can pay a small fee to be a “priority and 2 cabin bags” customer. At the time of this article, that fee is around 5 Euros per customer. The second cabin bag allotted for priority customers is not the same size as the main bag. Read the section below for details.

Smaller Cabin bag

Regardless of your ticket type, you are also entitled to an additional small bag which you can bring onboard with you. This would be a good bag to put your snacks in, since there are no free snacks or beverages on board. The dimensions for this bag are 35cm x 20cm x 20cm. We recommend this one on Amazon. It is designed to fit the dimensions exactly. Be aware that if you are carrying a purse, that will count as your small bag, so you won’t get another one.

Gate closing procedure

Make sure that you arrive at the airport early enough to get to the gate on time. The gates close 20-30 minutes before the scheduled departure time(depending on the airport).  If you’re not there on time, they will close the gates and not let you board. This is enforced regularly. Do not risk it.

Airport locations

Did you know that the ‘Munich West airport’ is 70 miles away from Munich? Neither do a lot of RyanAir passengers. Be sure that when you book your flights, that you know exactly which airport you will be flying into and out of. Budget airlines like RyanAir often operate out of smaller airports which are often farther away from town, and more difficult to get to. The name of the airport may be extremely misleading, so look it up on a map before buying your flight. Another example of this is the ‘Paris-vatry’ airport, a full 93 miles away from the centre of Paris.

EasyJet

EasyJet is my favorite low cost airline in Europe. If it were between them and RyanAir, I would pick EasyJet every time, even if the cost were slightly more. But there are some things to know either way.

Gate closing procedures

The boarding gate closes 30 minutes before the flight is scheduled to leave. That means that if you have a 6:00 flight, you must be to the boarding area in the airport by 5:30, or they will leave you. This is not a joke, they really will leave you. Make sure to give yourself enough time to clear security, and get clear to your terminal with plenty of time to spare. I recommend arriving at the airport at least 2 hours ahead of your scheduled departure.

Luggage restrictions

Luggage restrictions are fairly generous with EasyJet. They require carry on luggage to be 56cm x 45cm x 25cm, including handles and wheels. In American measurements, that is roughly 22.047 X 14.716 X 9.842 inches. There is not a weight limit on the carry on luggage. The nice thing about EasyJet is that you carry on can be larger than RyanAir’s. However, the down side is that you are technically not entitled to a second smaller bag. Keep this in mind while packing.

Visa/documents checks

This is a bit odd, but occasionally EasyJet will require passengers to check in with them BEFORE going through security to get their boarding passes stamped. This is especially true for American passengers. This requirement applies even if you only have carry on luggage. It is a Visa check more or less, where they verify that you are legally able to fly. It is a bit ridiculous, but they do this because they will be fined if they let somebody fly who should not be able to. This is a rare thing with EasyJet, but it is worth checking in with the EasyJet desk before going through security and making sure that it is not required for your particular flight. If you don’t do it where required, you will likely be denied boarding at the gate. On my last three flights with EasyJet, I didn’t need the stamp, but I still asked just in case. I’m not sure if they are still doing this anywhere, but I don’t want to miss my flight, so…

Airport locations

As you may have read in the RyanAir section of this article, it is important to verify the location of your airport before you book your ticket. Sometimes the name is misleading. Budget airlines often use smaller airports. Just be aware that some airports have a big cities name in it, but are quite far from that city.

 

Summary:

I recommend EasyJet over RyanAir because they have less restrictive policies. In my experience, EasyJet really cares about customer satisfaction, and puts customers over profit. If you are planning to fly with either carrier, be sure to check our list for things that might make your experience a bit smoother. Cheers!