Recently I took my first flight on Ryan Air. Having heard many stories about how bad this airline was, I really expected the worst. But my experience proved to be very different than what I expected.
I wanted to take a break from the cold Lithuanian weather and in May 2011, I flew from Kaunas to Kos, Greece on Ryan Air.
Perhaps because I paid a few extra litas for priority boarding, I found the boarding process to be very easy. All priority passengers were allowed first on board the flight. So, there was plenty of space to store my hand luggage and little stress in getting a seat.
Yes, Ryan Air uses every opportunity to make money. But much of this is also done by many airlines these days. For example, you pay for all food and beverages consumed. Nothing is given for free. They also sell souveniers and other so called "duty free" items as do most airlines. In addition, there are advertisements on the airplane, they sell lottery tickets and phone cards. They allow you to take 1 piece of hand luggage up to 10 KG. But if you want to check on any luggage, you have to pay for that too.
Does that bother me? No. The final costs, even with priority boarding and checked luggage is quite low.
The best thing about Ryan Air? If you want to fly non-stop direct from Lithuania to some sunny destination like a Greek Island, Ryan Air is the only regularly scheduled airline which you can book directly. If you want to use a travel agent, perhaps you can book a charter, such as Small Planet. But if you want to go to a sunny holiday destination from Lithuania and book it yourself, your best bet is Ryan Air.
In addition, now from Vilnius, you can book flights to some European cities (such as Bremen Germany or Milan, Italy) for amazingly low fares. I have seen fares to Bremen, Germany for euro 30, round-trip!
While not everyone loves Ryan Air, I think I will be flying them again soon and often. After my first experience, I am a fan.
Hi, I'm going to be in Germany in January 2012 and I would like to know if you think is a good idea to strech my trip to Lithuania. My grandfather was from Utenas (but I never met him) and I have always loved the idea of honoring my ancestors by visiting their homeland. If is not a bother, I would like to know information on what's to do in Lithuania in january, how to get there (by plane or train?), is there a visa needed, do they understand english? Thanks a lot!
ReplyDelete(my email should appear in my profile)