Not quite true that airport check-in is free with Jet2. It's £9 extra with hand luggage. Maybe you are confusing Jet2 with easyJet. It also annoys me that if you have hold luggage there is no free way of checking in with Jet2. However, I do agree with the general thrust that Ryanair's extra charges are worse. With Jet2 you can take a full-size cabin bag on board without paying anything more than the headline price. That's certainly not the case with O'Leary's mob, nor, because of the booking fee, easyJet.