EasyJet has come under fire for imposing an on-board weight restriction that excludes most powered wheelchairs, preventing thousands of disabled people from flying with the budget airline.

The no-frills carrier refuses to carry one-piece wheelchairs that weigh more than 60kg with their batteries detached - but most wheelchairs weigh a lot more, some even twice as much. Disabled people wanting to fly with the company must therefore dismantle their wheelchairs into separate parts weighing less than 60kg each.

The never-ending row between airlines is sort of funny when viewed from the sidelines.

If easyJet and Ryanair were humans instead of airline companies, you would expect to see them on Jeremy Kyle, screaming insults at each other and scrapping while the audience brayed and hooted.

Another advertising campaign, another rap on the knuckles for Ryanair.

The budget airline is under fire once again, this time for two press adverts offering £10 one-way fares to Gothenburg and Dusseldorf, which the Advertising Standards Association claims are misleading.

Do you have thighs of steel? If so you could take advantage of Ryanair's latest borderline-insane plan to maximise revenue – standing tickets for its planes.

For as little as £4 the firm intends to sell space at the rear of its aircraft for anyone who thinks they can take three hours of dodging around drinks trolleys and other passengers queuing for the toilet.

Getting to your holiday destination and finding that your bag didn't make it can easily ruin a holiday. Who wants to start their relaxing break with an hour-long haggle with the airport staff about how much money they need to replace their holiday wardrobe? And a few days in the same underwear and the finest T-shirts available from tourists stands near the hotel can easily lead to a sense of humour failure.

Some airlines are worse than others for delaying or losing passengers' baggage. Which is the worst?

We have all seen the absurd claims in shop windows of 80% off – lots of stores now seem to have permanent "sales" which turn out to be far from what they seem. Travel companies are just as bad. But these attempts to mislead the public could soon be banned.

Clothes shops are some of the worst, with promises of sales which turn out to refer to a single rail at the back of the store. But the Office of Fair Trading is looking into cracking down on these sharp practices.

If you're planning to go away this summer - despite ash clouds and strikes - you need to be wary of purchasing travel insurance through your airline, tour operator or travel agent.

Travel insurance premiums can be a staggering 211% more expensive when bought as an add-on to airline tickets or as part of a holiday through a travel agent, research from moneysupermarket.com has found.

It was only a matter of time wasn't it? When the volcano ash cloud filled the skies and people started talking about the huge cost to British business, we all knew it was coming, the dastardly plan to make taxpayers foot the bill.

We only had to wait a few short weeks, and now it's here, proposals for a volcano tax from Siim Kallas, the EU's transport commissioner (pictured).

But why should we be forking out for a natural catastrophe that governments failed to plan for and the authorities are accused of over-reacting to? And just what is it going to cost us?

Yesterday we had a day of bluster that Ryanair wasn't going to pay decent compensation to delayed passengers and was looking forward to being taken to court over it.

Michael O'Leary was prepared to fight for the chance to offer terrible customer service.

But today, it's all change and red faces. O'Leary has been forced to backtrack and agree to offer to reimburse costs racked up by delayed travellers, after coming under pressure from the Civil Aviation Authority and the government.

However, there are limits. O'Leary is very keen to point out he is reimbursing costs rather than offering compensation, and that costs have to be reasonable.This means anyone forced to pay unreasonable costs by hotels cashing in on the disruption could still have a fight on their hands.

But given that O'Leary is in a giving mood, we've found the five most irritating Ryanair policies we'd like him to rethink.

You have to hand it to Michael O'Leary: he's willing to fight for what he believes in. And what does he believe is worth fighting for?

The freedom to treat customers poorly of course.

The Ryanair boss is prepared to go to court over his refusal to pay fair compensation to Ryanair passengers stranded by the Icelandic volcano.

The EU rules state that if a flight is cancelled, passengers have the right to a refund or to book an alternative flight later. If they choose to go for the alternative, the airline must pay for their hotels, food and phone calls in the interim.

Sounds fair. After-all passengers have been trapped by this situation. Some have spent thousands and endured real misery, through no fault of their own.

Most airlines have agreed to honour this arrangement, but not Ryanair.

So why not? And what are you entitled to if you flew with Ryanair?

A lot of people talk about doing it but it appears only a small number of us actually achieve our ambition of joining the celebrated Mile High Club.

That's according to officials out today from Trip Advisor, which say that though only 3% of those it questioned announced they had been welcomed through the doors of the exclusive club (members only: rules require sex on an airplane one mile high), though encouragingly, 30% of those questioned said they'd like to join in the future!

Memo to online booking sites: It'd be great to be able to request a seat next to one of these people when you book your window pew and vegetarian meal.

As for our favourite airline, well Virgin Atlantic took top prize in the year it celebrates its 25th anniversary, followed by British Airways – strike or no strike – Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Thomson Airways. Yep, that's right, Thomson.

Not surprisingly, the least favourite airline is Ryanair, maybe that has something to do with last week's fee-to-pee announcement. Don't they realise that asking passengers for a pound to use the loo also puts another hurdle in the way of prospective Mile High membership?

British Airways was second on this list as well, followed by easyJet, Monarch and, – what's this? – Thomson Airways again. Seems our airline love and hate is completely in the balance.

You can have your Dragons, your Richard Bransons and even your Donald Trumps because for me, the real made man is the Irishman Sean Quinn.

Though Ireland's richest man has suffered a body blow this week, there is still a lot to admire about this genuine rags-to-riches story, not least because he is genuinely media-shy. That is definitely a plus in my book when you compare him to all the so-called entrepreneurs vying with each other in the nauseating 'Look at me!' stakes.

Quinn left school at 14 and borrowed £100 which he used to buy the equipment to dig a whole in the ground. He took out bucketfuls of gravel, washed them and sold it on to local builders. Through his connections with the Gaelic Athletic Association he grew his business across the border until eventually he came up against Cement Roadstone Holdings, which had the market sewn up.

But Quinn's simple strategy of undercutting the monopolies on price proved a winner – and was later picked up by that other Irish underdog, Ryanair.

Ryanair is the ultimate test of the power of irritation. The stealth charges, the obnoxious announcements and the cheek with which they consider things like luggage and a sip of water as optional extras people should be forced to pay for. They are enough to bring out the fury in even the most mild-mannered traveller.

However, at the same time, the airline remains competitive - forcing us to choose whether to opt for cheap and cheerless and live with the irritation, or pay more for the flight.

It's a tough call, but Ryanair has just announced new stealth charges which could tip the balance.

Strangely coy for once, Ryanair is refusing to put is surprising £22 million profits boost down to the strikers at British Airways.

But it seems the Irish tactic of selling 'alternative arrangement' fares to those stranded by the strikes, as well as leasing three BA aircraft to add on extra flights, is just the ticket.

The demure budget airline is attributing the increase in profits to "somewhat stronger than expected" passenger figures in the last couple of months.

How quaint.

The disruptive strike by British Airways cabin crew members, coupled with the raft of airlines and travel companies that have collapsed over the last couple of years, has proved how important it is for holidaymakers to protect themselves should something go wrong with their travel plans.

And while travelling independently and booking online can save you money on the cost of your holiday, it may leave you more vulnerable should one of the firms involved go bust or fail to deliver the services you were promised.

So read on to find out how to stop a dream trip becoming a holiday from hell.