Fog bound

I paid £179 for a Ryanair flight from Stansted to Knock in Ireland last year, which was a bit galling when the man next to me paid just £22, despite booking his ticket later than me. The flight out was without incident but the return was a living hell. Knock was fog-bound. After a two-hour wait, Ryanair decided to bus us all to Dublin to escape the fog - a mere three-hour crawl away.

Arriving in Dublin, there was no attempt to guide us to the correct departure gate and many passengers got lost in the maze of corridors. Two hours later, we finally left for England.

Needless to say, Ryanair never apologised, offered us no compensation and didn't give us as much as a free coffee throughout the day. I arrived home 10 hours later than expected.

Late-night landings

I flew back from Derry with Ryanair on the weekend of the golden jubilee celebrations. My flight departed over an hour late from Derry, which was blamed on the ground agent at Stansted. The flight landed at about 11.30 and the last Stansted Express was due to leave at midnight. We were eventually let off the plane, again blamed on the ground agent not delivering the stairs, at 12.15am and our bags didn't arrive until 1am. My only option was to take a bus into central London, which took 90 minutes and cost £8 and then get a £12 cab home from there.

I was hungry and freezing cold, the memories of my nice weekend having disappeared somewhere on a motorway in Essex about two hours previously. I got home at 3.30am. I will never fly Ryanair again. I paid £123 for my flight but I am prepared to pay more to fly with Aer Lingus or British Midland.

Hard to handle

Last year I flew with my wife, parents and three children on Ryanair to Carcassonne, which has a tiny airport. The plane was full and it seemed every passenger had arranged to rent a car. Each firm had only one agent and it took more than two hours to clear the airport. On the way home, everything was fine until we reached London Stansted. It was the August bank holiday and very busy. It took two-and-a-half hours for the first bags to reach the carousel. No explanations were forthcoming. Not great with three kids.

On the other hand, at Easter last I flew on EasyJet to Geneva for a skiing trip with the two elder kids, a journey I have made several times before. I booked early and our flights were about £55 return, even though it was the school holidays. I have to say everything was brilliant.