29 Comments
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Barbs Honeycutt's avatar

The check-in window is crazy!! and I laughed at the italian-disapproved attire XD

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Brenna's avatar

They pharmacist honestly looked scared when I approached the counter haha.

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Doug Thomson's avatar

you probably were not observing the "bella figura" at that moment! LOL

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Brenna's avatar

Exactly Doug!

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Deborah Demander's avatar

Thank you for helping me feel sane, with my own travel mishaps. I thought there was something wrong with me!

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Doug Thomson's avatar

Very funny stories! I think it would be entertaining, and sometimes slightly exasperating, to be married to you! If it makes you feel any better, my wife and I were in Madrid recently and went to one of those chocolate-churro places near our hotel. Had a great time and chatted with some Brits who were sitting right by us. Walked ten minutes back to our hotel and quickly realized that my wife left her purse, containing both our passports and plenty of other goodies, back at the cafe. We didn't get mad at each other, but I assure you we walked VERY BRISKLY back over to that cafe and were mightily relieved to see the purse still sitting under the chair where she had left it !!

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Claudia Ng's avatar

Wow so glad you were able to board the flight despite not having your passport. That's my worst nightmare!

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Brenna's avatar

It was mine too, but I told myself if they didn't let me come I could hopefully just travel the next day.

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Aesthetic Nomads's avatar

I hate Ryanair just as much as anyone else. But it's very often the cheapest and most efficient way to get you from one city in Europe to another and back under 100 EUR return. They must be doing something right: with 182M passengers a year in 2023, they are the largest airline in Europe, 50% bigger than number 2 Lufthansa. I just put my brain on standby and undergo...

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Brenna's avatar

Wow, those numbers are impressive. I guess when you fly RyanAir you have to be prepared for one of these expensive snafus like I had. But then it begs the question: if I add up the fees I've paid, is it really still the cheapest? I should investigate further.

I need to learn how to put my brain on standby! My headphones really help. They are noise cancelling so it transports me to serenity.

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Aesthetic Nomads's avatar

Unfortunately, all airlines are pretty much the same now. To avoid making costly mistakes, I now book my tickets in the morning when I'm fresh and sharp. I still get things wrong.

Here's what flying used to be like before Ryanair...

https://stories.aestheticnomads.com/p/i-was-a-fool-not-to-fly-the-concorde?r=3ooj7b

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Lolly Martyn's avatar

Oooooh this sounds like a good story: Eating room-temperature fried cod cakes in Portugal on our honeymoon Yikes!!!!!!

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Brenna's avatar

I was so embarrassed. My husband said "Let's strike this day from our memories". He's a great guy.

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Lolly Martyn's avatar

Oh no!! 😂 I had a similar story from my honeymoon. Bad babganoosh in Greece. Was sick from all directions for a full night and had to go to hospital! It became a funny story to tell 😆 maybe it will for you guys too!! Xx

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Cathi Harris's avatar

"Flying in Ryan Air is like being stuffed into a micro version of the Fremont Street experience in Las Vegas. "

Oh, so hell on earth. Duly noted.

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Cathi Harris's avatar

Oh, and I screwed up the flight reservations on our honeymoon to Barcelona and ended up with a 12-hour layover in Gatwick. (Forgot about the 24-hour clock and to look at the dates closely.)

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Brenna's avatar

Hahaha omg that 24 hour clock is what has messed me up a few times too!

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Clarice Dankers's avatar

What a hilarious description of the Ryan Air experience, Brenna! We fly it often from Dublin to Vienna, and definitely sympathize with you. Gerhard is in charge of making all the flight reservations, so he is an old hand now at managing the Ryan Air intricacies. (I make all of our hotel reservations.)

And after all of the years and years of travel experience, I completely forgot my passport when we started our trip to Vienna in late November this year. Which caused a day's delay for me. (Gerhard traveled on as planned.) So I definitely feel your pain!

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Brenna's avatar

That stinks Clarice! But glad it was only a day delay! This was my first time trying to write humorously, so I appreciate your note :)

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Lorraine Sawicki's avatar

Thank you for capturing the chaos (and comedy… only in retrospect!) before I embark on my own Christmas travel.

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Brenna's avatar

You got this Lorraine!

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Liya Marie's avatar

Air travel is the worst industry. It’s run like garbage — the only industry that gets away with selling tickets from A to B, then depositing you at C with no recourse! I could rant for days.

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Brenna's avatar

I know Liya! For Christmas this year and last we've traveled by train! It was pretty smooth.

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Lisa Cunningham DeLauney's avatar

Ouch! Yes - travel mishaps are hilarious - after the fact!

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Brenna's avatar

Time heals all wounds 😅

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Michael TenBrink's avatar

Yeah, last week I flew to Berlin on RyanAir. I was exhausted when I boarded and all I wanted to do was sleep. Instead, I was punished by the unnecessarily bright overhead lights, and the loud, constant—RELENTLESS—selling by the flight attendants, which of course was translated into multiple languages. The perfume/cologne ads alone about made me want to wing-walk. I never fly RyanAir to save money, only when it's the best flight schedule for my needs.

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Brenna's avatar

You nailed it. It’s like - what have I been reduced to?? Why did I pay money for someone to sell me shit in the air?? I need to get some stronger Ryanair boundaries and stop caving when I see they’re the cheapest.

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Ved Shankar's avatar

I think there's just an age when flying Ryanair is equivalent to torture. I'm still young but I think i'm getting passed it soon.

Also, how was your experience with the bus from Beauvais airport?

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Brenna's avatar

We flew to Orly! Which was easy as pie! I think that flight was EasyJet.

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