I have had the misfortune to travel on Ryanair many times. It is not like Southwest, and anyone who is telling you that is an idiot -- and I am thinking of the financial press when I say that.

Ryanair is a miserable, painful experience. From the hassle of checking bags, to their making you check almost everything, to the ill tempered employees, to the overcrowded gate areas to the fall of Saigon boarding process. And you will get -0- help when they CNX. None. Zip. Though they don't do that very often; instead they "adjust the schedule".