Ryanair review by Christina 2013-06-11

My 14 year old son and I travelled from Athens to London in October 2012. At no time were we made aware that Ryan Air does not allocate seats to passengers. We found out the hard way. We were one of the first in line for check in. We checked in our baggage and told to wait for our flight to be called for boarding. . As we were going through check in we were told that my handbag was classified as an item of hand baggage and my hand baggage which was well within the size and weight limits was counted as a second item. So I was told to step aside and put my handbag inside my hand luggage. This was very difficult to do as my hand luggage was quite small and very full. My son was told to do the same thing with his small backpack which again was difficult to do as his hand luggage was also small and very full. The staff were rude and abrupt and stood there and watched us trying to squeeze two bags into one. By the time we did this most passengers had boarded the plane. That's when we found out there were no seat allocations. We were almost the last passengers to board the flight. The plane was jam packed and basically our only option was 2 seats in the second last row. Behind us were a grandfather with his son and granddaughter of around 5 months. (3 seats on right side of plane) Next to them in the last row on the left side of the plane was the grandmother, the daughter in law and the twin sister of the baby. Those two babies never stopped crying for the duration of the flight. The parents and the grandparents made no attempt whatsoever to calm the babies down. Nor did the flight staff ask them to quieten the babies. We listened to those babies screaming non stop all the way from Athens to London. There were a lot of people on that flight that were quite angry about those screaming babies. Unfortunately for us we had booked another flight with Ryan Air from Liverpool to Athens. We arrived early determined not to be stuck at the back of the plane this time round. We got on the plane and chose good seats. Prior to us getting on the plane a lady and her elderly mother had boarded the plane. They were allowed on before others as the mother needed to be transported in a wheelchair. When we got on he plane the daughter was sill settling in her seat and was speaking to the mother in Greek (I understood what she was saying). These two people had at east 6 hand bags between them which the daughter put on the seat between her and her mother. She also had other luggage in the compartment above their seats as I saw her access these during the flight. So if you are traveling with a disabled passenger you can have unlimited hand baggage but if you're anyone else you are treated like a criminal? Never again will I travel with Ryan Air or recommend them to family or friends. By the time we paid our airfares and checked in baggage we could have flown with British Airways who I've heard from my older son are a thousand times better. Never ever again with Ryan Air!!