Ryanair advice - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**noke_travel** · 04-23-2006, 02:14 PM

whatsup everyone-
i was planning on spending this rainy sunday afternoon in boston booking my tickets to cork on ryanair. the problem is, the only flights that work are thje early morning departures. while the return flight leaves cork at 8am (which is do-able i feel) the originating flight leaves london-stansted at 6am. the website recommends arrving around 1-2 hours before departure so i'm looking at getting to the airport by 4:30-5?

My question is will i be able to make it from where i'm staying in the southwest part of the city (wandsworth, sw18) to stansted? is it worth arriving the night before? the stansted express doesn't even get going from liverpool street station until 4:30 and is a 45 minute ride so i feel that would be cutting it too close. does anyone know how much a minicab ride would run and if i could book one at that hour. any and all information (especially from people with ryanair or stansted experience) would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
jeff

xanthuos · 04-23-2006, 02:32 PM

Plenty of people sleep in Stansted the night before departures...so while not having done so myself, I suggest you spend the night in the airport. If you get there early enough, you can get a couple of the seats (the bench seats don't have armrests) which should provide a comfortable night's sleep. Bring earplugs or an MP3 player. Look on the upside too, it saves you money on lodging!

**noke_travel** · 04-23-2006, 03:23 PM

^
i caved in and spent the extra 20 for a aer lingus flight out of heathrow at noon so no worries. but thanks for the advice

**omisan** · 04-24-2006, 11:18 AM

Good call. I feel if the price difference is £20-30 or less, it's worthwhile to just fly another cheap flight out of Heathrow.

However, Xan is on the mark - it seems Stansted is some sort of free motel for people with early morning flights!

RootBrewskies · 04-24-2006, 11:53 AM

i had more problems at stansted than any other airport in the world. i avoid it like the plague.

**bellelass** · 04-25-2006, 02:18 PM

I HATE stansted airport with a burning passion. I was supposed to go to Roma, showed up a total of exactly 4 minutes late to board the plane. Had to buy a ticket for another flight four hours later. Meanwhile Im sitting there looking at the plane I should be on. It sat on the tarmac for an HOUR after I arrived at the airport, mocking me insidiously. I think I'd rather be strung up by my toenails than fly ryanair ever again in my life.

Though to be honest I wouldnt get very far if I was hanging from the ceiling by my toenails....

Munkeyrach · 04-27-2006, 05:12 AM

sounds like you could of been one of those peopel on the AIRPORT programs they show on tv

**expatben** · 04-28-2006, 03:01 AM

Thing about Ryanair is they're so cheap, it makes you wonder how they make their money-thats how. They do it by being totally rigid eg making you buy another ticket if you are late, not having as much baggage allowence ect.
Thing about Stansted is its cheap too and that means no frills. I have been to Stansted many a time and probably know it better than any other airport. It's not as nice as say Manchester or Heathrow but it is certainly easier to get around. I like Stansted as long as I have some entertainment with me.