In the spring of 2013, I studied abroad on the island of Cyprus. I hastily applied to a program named "Semester in the Mediterranean" which was an extremely appealing program title. Also, in my haste I thought I was going to be studying in Italy. Once I got accepted, I was raving how excited I was to be studying abroad in Italy and my mom corrected me saying, "Oh no, Cyprus is in Greece." I was a little disappointed, but still decided Greece would be fun too. Only a few months before I was set to fly off, I decided to finally look at a map. To my utter shock and disbelief, Cyprus was an independent country... in the Middle East.
However, spending 4 months on this island being the only Americans was an eye-opening experience which is now close to my heart. Since this island was in the middle of many countries, I was able to travel to many many places:
Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland & Poland
The only way I was able to go to all these places is because of a little gem named Ryan Air. The flights are generally very cheap, but you get what you pay for!
Ryan Air is known for getting your money with sneaky charges. Right from the start, when you are booking a flight on their website, read everything!! They try to charge for every little thing, even to book a seat when you can sit anywhere on the flight!! This part of the booking took a while to figure out how to get around, but just don't rush through the fine print.
If you don't print out your boarding passes ahead of time, there is a ridiculous charge of 70 euros to print it out at the airport. So make sure you have the boarding pass for each flight, including each way of a round trip.
Also, the main kicker- you are only allowed 1 carry-on that has to fit in a little box before you get on the plane. Not even a purse is allowed! I struggled with this so much!! On my way back from Morocco, I bought so many souvenirs that I had to wear every article of clothing I owned in order to get my bag to fit.
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| how ridiculous is this?! |
Once on the flight, the only plus is you get to choose your own seat. I would recommend boarding from the back since the front is generally crowded.
Usually European flights offer food and other amenities free of charge. However, Ryan Air leaves the lights on the entire flight!! They have announcements every once in a while offering lottery tickets, food and other gimmicks. Just leave on your headphones and make sure you have a sleep mask.
As much as a pain this airline is, the bottom line is it gets you places. I wouldn't have been able to go to all of these amazing countries if it wasn't for Ryan Air.
It's time for the United States to get an airline like this!!!
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Everywhere Ryan Air covers
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