Which is worse – Ryanair or Easyjet?

Most of us these days want good value for money on air flights. On this criterion alone, a cursory glance might well suggest that Ryanair is more often than not the hands-down winner. But pause. Look closer. All is not what it seems.

Another modest Ryanair ad

Take a flight from London to Barcelona, for example, as Tim Uden did this February . Ryanair appeared to offer the flight for just £3.79, in contrast to Easyjet’s £32.92. But when other taxes, fees and other charges were included, these figures became £77.46 and £52.42 respectively. Easyjet failed to mention checked luggage charges or credit card processing fees, although it did include airport charges and taxes in its headline figure. Ryanair neglected to mention the airport charges and taxes as well as the checked luggage fees and credit card processing charges. A certain degree of somewhat sneaky hiding of costs takes place behind the advertised prices, and on this occasion, Ryanair turned out to be the sneakier of the two.

Sneaky!

A survey of 30,000 passengers conducted by the consumer group Which? In 2008 concluded that Easyjet customers were significantly more satisfied with their flight experience than Ryanair customers, by a margin of 59 per cent to 47 per cent. These were not especially staggering endorsements for either company, however – by subtraction, 41% of Easyjet passengers were dissatisfied, and 53% of Ryanair customers were. Both airlines are open about their no-frills service but Easyjet scored more highly vis-à-vis the helpfulness of its staff, the cleanliness of the planes and how well it managed delays. However, neither company did well on comfort, food or pre-flight arrangements. But since neither of them boasts that these (or the first two, anyway) are its primary selling points, one should not be too surprised by this finding. They offer basic, no-frills, affordable flights, and that’s more or less that.

We’re on Easyjet – and we’re happy!

More surprisingly, many did not feel that either of the two ‘budget’ companies offered especially good value for money. Being cheap is clearly not equated in many peoples’ minds with good value when it comes down to the realities of travel. And even here, both companies were outperformed by two other no-frills airlines – ‘Germanwings’ (79% satisfaction) and Hungary’s Wizz Air (69%).

Even so, the choice between the two isn’t reducible to a simple good/bad option. Ryanair generated some bad publicity for itself earlier this year when it announced that it would charge passengers £1 for every visit to the loo, and made a £5 charge for its formerly free web check-in. From October 2009, it plans to scrap all airport check-ins in favour of a totally web-based service. Easyjet has attracted less negative comment recently – but does that necessarily mean that it is offering a better service? A survey conducted in March this year compared prices on European flights –including all the costs often hidden in the headlines fees – and showed Easyjet costing a small but noticeable amount more than Ryanair in two out of the three destinations examined. Whilst both airlines extract a processing fee for credit card payments, neither charge a fee if you pay via Visa Electron. And the company ‘Flightontime’ found that Ryanair has a better track record on punctuality, coming top of the seven budget airlines surveyed with only 3.2% of its flights more than an hour late (Easyjet scored 6.6%). But Easyjet might spare your weary bones some wear and tear – it tends to use more centrally located airports than Ryanair, which usually means that you’ve still got quite a journey on the road before you get to your destination with the latter.

That’ll be £1 please

My own experience of Easyjet, I must confess, is that it wasn’t at all bad, although if you’re peckish once on board, the food (which is adequate rather than special, but not at all unpleasant) will set you back more than a few quid – especially if you’ve got hungry children with you. But Ryanair is not exactly inexpensive when it comes to in-flight refreshments, either. The cabin crew were pleasant, helpful and efficient at all times and, whilst you can’t help feeling a little ‘packed in’, a relatively short flight is hardly a comfort hardship (most recently, we flew with Easyjet from London to Majorca).

The at times fierce competition between the two airlines can on occasions leave passengers the clear beneficiaries, as it did earlier this year when Ryanair temporarily closed its website for an upgrade. Easyjet pounced, knocking 10% off its flight to ten popular destinations, claiming that the company was always happy to help out disappointed Ryanair customers! The following day, Ryanair came back fighting, insisting that Easyjet was usually up to 65% more expensive and only dared compete when Ryanair closed its website for a few hours.

There’s been some fighting between the two. Petty

The truth is that neither service offers luxury and everyone knows this beforehand. Both have their weaknesses and both have their strengths and ultimately, any evaluation will of necessity be a subjective one (although the Ryanair toilet fee is a particularly irksome and annoying irritation to have to contend with).

My personal view is that I incline toward Easyjet, largely because I dislike tedious drives from the airport to my hotel or apartment and you are more likely to have to get behind the wheel after a Ryanair flight because of the airports it uses. However, I don’t take the cynical view that both, or either one of them, is truly terrible; but neither would I take out membership of a fan-club for either of them.

Erm – where’s the beach?

I think the best advice is to book  online whenever you can, compare prices and make sure you have fully costed your journey – including travelling to and from both departure and arrival airports – before parting with your money. Whichever airline you chose, the readers amongst you should always take an absorbing book – even cramped seats and dull food will fade into the netherworld as you get into your story. And make sure the kids have games consoles to keep them occupied. Then, just get on with your holiday or business trip.

Which one do you think is worst? What are your experiences? Let us know

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