I've visited 50 countries and rate this much-loathed budget airline as the best in the world - even if they are monsters

AS a travel editor, I have been lucky enough to travel around the world on some very glamorous airlines.

But – and hear me out – my favourite airline when I have to travel is actually Ryanair.

Passengers with carry-on luggage walking toward a Ryanair airplane on an airport tarmac. — Ryanair might often be slated as an airline – but I love their bargain fares and on-time flightsCredit: Getty

That’s not to say I don’t love a fancy flight – I’ve experienced Qatar‘s Qsuite, said to be the best business in the world, as well as flown in business on airlines such as Virgin Atlantic and Finnair.

These are of course fantastic, but they are bucket list experiences I never would have been able to pay for myself – especially when the price tag can run into the thousands.

So when it comes to organising my own holidays, if I have to pick an airline? I’m going for the budget Irish carrier every time.

Of course it comes with some risks – head to Ibiza on a Ryanair flight and expect to be joined by rowdy hen dos and loud lads on tour.

Don’t expect them to be clean either, as corners are obviously cut to keep them on time, which can mean rubbish in the seat pockets and floors covered in crumbs.

But if you don’t mind some noise and some mess, then there is a lot to be said for the airline.

First of all – the cost.

Back in the day of super cheap fares, I could fly to Poland for just £4.99, returning a day later for the same price.

It was so ridiculously cheap, as a student my train fare to get to the airport would cost more than the flight itself.

While prices have since gone up, with the cheapest fares now around £14.99 each way, it is still one of the cheapest on the market, beating most other low-cost airlines.

Punctuality

The notoriously stingy airline (remember when they wanted to charge passengers to use the toilet onboard?) also gets you to most of your destinations on time.

I tried Ryanair’s new £8 cocktails

This shouldn’t be such a rarity, but unfortunately it is – a recent study showed that nearly 40 per cent of flights were delayed or cancelled last summer, according to AirHelp.

Although thankfully they no longer play their on-time trump jingle once the plane has landed.

In fact, most of my Ryanair flights even land early, much to my surprise.

It favours light-packers

Being a notoriously light packer works in my favour with Ryanair, as I refuse to ever pay for luggage.

It’s amazing what you can fit in an underseat bag, as I proved when I managed to fit in enough clothes and toiletries for a seven night-trip to Italy.

Obviously Ryanair do get a bad rep for their sneaky tactics to get more money out of you.

Travellers have complained about £55 airport fees when they forget to print out their boarding pass, or £70 when their bag doesn’t fit the sizer, for example.

Ryanair’s most outlandish plans

Standing cabins

The airline’s boss previously described planes as just “buses with wings” that could safely carry passengers.

But in 2012, the airline said an an unnamed regulator had thwarted its plan to sell the standing-only tickets, by refusing an application for test flights.

Payment for loos

O’Leary grabbed headlines again in 2009 when he told the BBC that he was considering fitting the airline’s toilet doors with coin-slots so that passengers would have to pay £1 to use them.

Thankfully, he later admitted that the idea was unfeasible and would have gone against EU regulations.

Scrapping armrests

The plan to get rid of armrests was also floated in 2012, to reduce the weight of the aircraft, although this obviously never went ahead.

But abide by their rules, and it’s the biggest bargain you can find in the UK.

And with the money saved on flights, you can splash out on a glass of wine at the airport.