Ryanair check in times.

MrTomato

sadeelisha wrote: »

I have a british passport is that EU lol?

yes. It does say European Union on the front as well.


For Ryanair, you can get there 20 minutes before take off and still be fine.

bagand96

For Ryanair, you can get there 20 minutes before take off and still be fine.

You can also get there 20 minutes before and miss you're flight.

There is no "right" or "wrong" time to turn up before a Ryanair flight, or any other airline that do online check in.

As said, with hand baggage only its a case of going straight to security check point through to departures.

The unpredictable aspect is that no-one can predict how long the security queues are, and they can be very long at some airports.

peterbaker

Yes the best advice might be to talk to people you know who have been there and done it at the same time as last year, for example, if we are talking peak peak summer holiday exodus.

I wrote about the start of the summer holiday exodus from Stansted last year, as did many people on MSE and elsewhere. It was a disgrace, especially for families travelling with hold baggage, many of whom missed their flights.

At least with handbaggage only, the OP has a simpler task.

The biggest problem is that if you do not know what to expect, you can turn up over 2 hours before the flight and then still find yourself having to rush for the gate at the end. Again it depends on the airport of course, but for example if you are not actually at the correct gate in Stansted inside 30 minutes before the flight time, you should make plans to get there very fast. I think the Ts&Cs say 40 minutes.

Remember that Ryanair have no tannoy announcements in the main terminal at Stansted (again for example, but it is their biggest hub). You have to double and triple-check the boards. And when you get to the gate area or "satellite" keep double-checking the boards until you actually see your flight physically displayed at the individual gate. Then ask someone if you are in the right place.

Again at Stansted, queues for some neighbouring gates get mixed up and no staff notice it ... it happens regularly at gate 36/38? for example. A queue for 189 seats on a Ryanair flight can be very long indeed ... 50 metres sometimes. It is easy for it to get in a tangle with other queues. And few people actually comment ... they just watch without really 'seeing' and over-relax.

I have lost count of the number of people I have seen over the years in tears because they arrived at the gate early and relaxed, and then found that the gate had been switched when they were least attentive and they'd missed it.

I have noticed that the initial queues for entry to security at a place like Stansted can actually start almost at the terminal door at the busiest times (I imagine next Friday and Saturday, 23/24 July end of term will be examples).

It can take 10 minutes to get from the front of the terminal to the back where the entrance to security begins. Then you could wait another 10 or 15 minutes in the ribboned snake queues before you get to the security scanners. Do not stand in the snake getting so wound up about running out of time without talking to someone. Your fellow passengers will not mind if you ask to short-circuit the snake if you show them your boarding card with only 40 mins left. At Stansted it could still take you another 10 or 15 minutes after the scan (assuming you haven't been stopped for something sharp or liquid in your bag) with no time for shopping to get straight to your gate either by a long walk or a transit vehicle.

Regulars will have their own strategies, but I suggest newbies arrive as early as possible and enjoy the shopping (or just looking!) as part of the holiday as someone suggested. But again, stay attentive to the boards and to possible last minute gate swaps. There may be no tannoy announcements in the main terminal, and such as there may be when you get closer to the gate may well be of, shall we say, 'no frills quality'.

Of course with physically smaller less busy airports, the problems are easier to actually "see" and anticipate.

spiro

All the answers above are good but to make it very specific:

What airport?
What day/date?
What time?
How are you getting there?

All of these impact the time you need to allow.

skylight

Just as an additional bolt on question, but;

Ryanair - no hold luggage so hand only but I do have a buggy. Do I still need to go to the check-in desk for a tag or can I get one at the gate? Do I need one? (dep and arr Gatwick/Alicante)

peterbaker

Re: the buggy, although you will take it yourself to the aircraft it needs a tag before it goes in the hold so logically (from what I have seen of Ryanair) that would seem regrettably to point to having to visit the same "bag-drop" desk as those with hold baggage

Can anyone confirm?

QQuaver

peterbaker wrote: »

that would seem regrettably to point to having to visit the same "bag-drop" desk as those with hold baggage

Can anyone confirm?

Yep:
http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/can-i-bring-infant-equipment-car-booster-seats-travel-cots

If using online check-in, the pushchair should be taken to the Bag Drop desk to be tagged before going through security.

jammin_2

Indeed. After tagging, buggy can be submitted at oversize baggage or can be retained until the gate and submitted there.

bagand96

Yes the best advice might be to talk to people you know who have been there and done it at the same time as last year, for example, if we are talking peak peak summer holiday exodus.

I wrote about the start of the summer holiday exodus from Stansted last year, as did many people on MSE and elsewhere. It was a disgrace, especially for families travelling with hold baggage, many of whom missed their flights....

Never flown from Stansted but every time I hear about it I'm glad of that fact.

Used the Ryanair bag drop desk at Birmingham last week, and it was a breeze, bit of a queue but the service was efficient. T2 is also good at Birmingham and seems to work well for Ryanair's methodology.

glenderg

It takes me 15 to 20 minutes to walk from Easybus bus stop to boarding gate plus security which varies and i think i know the way having done it many times.