I am going to stick up for Ryanair here. I have a house in the South of France & can fly from EMA to a Ryanair destination that is about 90mins drive away - last week I came back from France & the tickets had cost us 2p each, including all taxes. I have frequently done trips when the tickets are £20 return, inclusive of all taxes - in both instances, it's a case of booking at the right time (or being lucky) but with these fares, FR are paying you to fly in effect. I should add that I have also paid fares of up to £80 return on FR, so it's not always dead-cheap.
Sure, you have to know the rules about cabin baggage to avoid being clobbered for hold luggage & check-in fees. But if you stick to the cabin baggage rules (more generous that VS's allowance in Economy, I hasten to add) you get free priority boarding, so can normally bag an exit row for a bit of extra legroom. That said, even the normal legroom is OK for a flight of under 2hrs.
Yes, you do get ripped off for anything you buy on board the aircraft, but I just accept that if I have paid 2p return (+ £2 each debit card fee) for the flight, then charging me £2.40 for a coffee is not really too much of an issue. Yes, the cabin interior may not be as clean as it could be, but how many trip reports on here have commented about the poor state of VS cabins - particularly UCS seats?
I am lucky in that the outbound flights I take with FR are the aircraft's first sector of the day, so the flight generally leaves on time & the return flight is also normally pretty punctual. The worst problem I've had with FR is a 35min delay. Fear not, I have no doubt that if things go really tits-up on Ryanair, you are stuffed with next to no customer support at either end. When flying home from France, I generally avoid posting the hire car keys into the key return slot until I have seen the incoming flight land - that way I know there is a pretty high chance I'll be flying home that day.
With Ryanair, you pays your money and you takes your chance. I would certainly be wary of booking a Ryanair flight that is clearly the aircrafts last sector of the day, as there is too much opportunity for the aircraft to be delayed & the flight cancelled. And whilst I am sticking up for Ryanair here - if Mr O'Leary does start the trans-Atlantic operation he has spoken about... I'll give it a miss, thanks.
James