This Underrated Budget Airline Could Be Your Ticket To Seeing All Of Europe In Your Lifetime

Budget airlines sometimes get a bad rap. While they are consistently cheap around the world, budget airlines are not lauded for impeccable punctuality, nor for offering any bells or whistles. Additionally, the low fares come with a catch: Bringing luggage any larger than a bag that can fit under the seats might get you stuck with outrageous carry-on fees. Budget airlines also tend not to have in-flight entertainment or spacious cabins, and they seem to use sneaky techniques to get you to spend more money. However, some budget airline frequent flyers have managed to overlook these occasional shortcomings, particularly with Ryanair, one of Europe's most notorious budget airlines.

Ryanair calls Dublin home, and while this is not exactly central Europe, Ryanair has an impressive number of routes all over the continent and sends out well over 2,000 flights every day. Combine this with the airline's affordability, and the world could be your oyster. All you have to do is make simply getting from point A to point B your top priority, and learn how to get the most out of what Ryanair offers despite the budget classification.

As previously mentioned, budget airlines usually don't allow passengers to bring much luggage without charging extra. However, Ryanair has different types of fares that can help. If you want to bring a carry-on to stow in the overhead compartments when flying with Ryanair, choose the Regular fare. This will be around $20 to $30 more than Basic fare (Ryanair's cheapest fare) and gets you into the priority boarding line, but demand can increase costs to sometimes double the Basic fare. Plus and Flexi Plus fares allow you to check a bag, get reserved seats, and check in at the airport rather than only online.

Obviously, only bringing a bag small enough to fit under the seat can help you stick to Ryanair's super cheap Basic fare price, but there are other perks to traveling light. As travel experts like Samantha Brown and Rick Steves always promote, traveling with less luggage feels liberating, even outside of the airport. No need to worry about lost luggage, and walking to your hotel will be much easier! Perhaps learn how to use packing cubes or try other space saving hacks to keep the bag small enough for Ryanair's Basic fare.

Ryanair travelers need to be aware of what Rick Steves calls the "name game" in Europe. Budget airlines come and go from major cities, but sometimes use airports outside of these cities. For example, Ryanair uses London's Stansted and Gatwick airports, which are further from the city than Heathrow. Not knowing this ahead of time could derail your trip because the train ride to and from central London to Stansted is close to one hour and Gatwick is just over 30 minutes. Check the actual location of the airports your flight will be using and make sure Ryanair's affordability outweighs the potential hassle of getting from the airport to the city you're trying to visit.

Frequent Ryanair flyers usually use this airline for short trips to different parts of Europe. This makes it easier to pack light and avoid the more expensive Ryanair fares. Ryanair flyers also tend not to be concerned with airline loyalty programs or other frills. They simply want to stretch their budgets enough to soak in as much of the varied and beautiful continent as possible. If you want to see multiple countries in one trip with less financial strain, don't rule out Ryanair. Just be mindful of the fine print when choosing fare options.