Only for it to be collected at the gate and put in the hold anyway, meaning we had to wait for it after all. At least they forgot to charge me for the inconvenience, which given the rest of my experience could almost have been considered a mistake from their side.
Then there was the return journey: the boarding pass couldn’t be printed until just a few hours before departure, by which time getting access to a printer was tricky. But, as with all things Ryanair, there was of course an option to pay and make the problem go away. Out of sheer stubbornness, I found a workaround. If I factor in the time spent, it probably cost me more—but by that point, I was so utterly fed up with their relentless upselling that I refused to give them another penny.
And finally, during a layover before the last leg of our journey, we ended up sat in a grounded aircraft in full sun for 2–3 hours, with small children onboard and barely any information before we could leave the plane. While we waited, another passenger collapsed from what I understood to be severe hypoglycaemia, at which point people started calling out for anything sugary.
As far as I remember (this was over a decade ago and I had three young kids with me a few rows back), the person was helped thanks to another passenger who recognised what was going on and acted quickly—not because of any intervention from the crew.
If you can avoid Ryanair, do. I’ve no issue with trading comfort for a lower fare—but Ryanair doesn’t feel like a cheaper flight because they’ve cut costs. It feels like they’ve gone out of their way to invent new ways to make life miserable, just so they can charge you for relief.