RYANAIR

I left London yesterday and flew to Pisa with Ryanair. This is a budget airline that I read and heard about when researching this trip. I saw prices such as 2pounds from London to Venice and I was skeptical but then I found London to Pisa for 28pounds during peak season! I thought this was a bargain so I booked and discovered if I wanted to check a piece of luggage it was an additional 15 pounds. Still not bad considering it is a 2 hour flight. All over the website it screams about your carry on not being more than 10 kilos and the checked baggage not more than 15 kilos. All seemed reasonable! Well, at Vancouver when I checked my bag is was 17.9 kilos....

After buying a few pair of shoes plus a few other things I knew I was in weight trouble. I started to rationalize that maybe I could sweet talk the check in person since I am a lighweight that maybe I could be a few kilos over with my luggage. Well... when I arrived at the airport there were people everywhere with their luggage open and re-arranging between bags... on top of that there were weigh scales every 10 feet that you paid 50 cents to weigh your bag. At this point I knew I was shit out of luck with the sweet talking...

My carry on bag weighed a ton so I was hopeful I had put enough in it. The conversation went like this:

Ryanair dude: Good morning Ms. Brown
Tracy: Good morning.
R: It seems as though your bag is 1.2 kilos over weight
T: Really? I thought I had paired it down enough...
R: Oh, your birthplace is St. John's. That is in NB right?
T: (should I lie or correct him?) No, Saint John is NB, St. John's is in NL. My sister lives in NB though, have you ever been there?
R: Yes, I have when I was 15 (very long pause where I smile sweetly). Okay Tracy I will let your overweight problem go.
T: Thank you so much!!
At this point though I was fearful of what I might have to pay for on the flight; bathroom...

I was pleasantly surprised! Ryanair knows how to do budget; when you get to the waiting lounge there is a line for people who priority booked and then there is a line for the rest of us who did not pay to go on first as there are no assigned seats. I was at the back of the line and managed to get the second row - pays to travel single at times :) and then when you get on board there are only 3 flight attendants for a massive plane! I have been known to complain about weight profiling (skinny person gets next to the largest person on the plane and the arm rests needs to be up for both of us to fit). Well, Ryanair has dealt with this problem for me; the armrests don't go up. End of problem. Also, the seats don't go back, there is not seat pocket hence the safety instructions on the seat in front of you (would not want to waste paper) and there is only one washroom for the entire flight! It was quick and dirty all for the grand price of 43pounds. Ryanair can teach the Canadian air industry a few tips!!!