Ryanair check in times.

peterbaker

glenderg, I don't think this thread is entitled "What generally speaking over the last so many months has been the no fuss time it takes you to get from the front door to your gate at Stansted". If (and I am sure you are not) you were advising peak summer holiday travellers to allow 15-20 minutes for that then you would be doing them no favours, would you?

I am sure we are very glad you know the way to your gate having done it many times, but as you probably know, there can be a big difference in the time it takes to get into and through security depending on whether it is a peak travel day or not, and how long it takes to get to the different gates even on a good day (there are about 80 I think) especially the more remote ones that Ryanair tends to use.

glenderg

Peter read my post, i am advising to allow 15 to 20 minutes extra to allow for the long walk and if you didn't know the way it could take longer

peterbaker

Well please forgive me. I apologise glenderg for the misunderstanding, but I was trying to make it plain earlier that at Stansted, even with handbaggage only, it might take anything from 30-40 minutes from the front door of the terminal to get to the gate with no time to stop for any shopping. You might now see that a quick read of your post could lead someone to think they could do it in 15-20 :cool: which of course I think we now both agree you cannot possibly hope to do

spiro

peterbaker wrote: »

Well please forgive me. I apologise glenderg for the misunderstanding, but I was trying to make it plain earlier that at Stansted, even with handbaggage only, it might take anything from 30-40 minutes from the front door of the terminal to get to the gate with no time to stop for any shopping. You might now see that a quick read of your post could lead someone to think they could do it in 15-20 :cool: which of course I think we now both agree you cannot possibly hope to do

I agree at Stansted that even having cleared checkin and security it can take you over 30 min to get to the gate. There are signs up warning you that it can take it takes 20 min+ to walk to the gate. Best bet is to walk to the gate first and if you want a drink there are bars at the gate.

rapunzelz86

Hmm this is all getting a little confusing for me now - you say it is an actual 20/30 minute walk, from security to the gate? Like, a few miles? No surely not. Sorry but ive never done this before (as an adult) so its all new to me. Im getting worried that i wont even know where im going or what im doing when i get there. will it say on my boarding pass (ryanair) where i need to go to check in etc?
Im at bournemouth airport, anyone know the time/distance to the gate? (i also have no definate idea what the "gate" is either, but im guessing its the term for the exit of the airport to get to the plane).....again, sorry for my cluelessness.:o

peterbaker

sadeelisha, sorry we've confused you, but Stansted is the airport that the vast majority of Ryanair customers use to exit the UK each summer. It is a big airport and yes the sheer size of the main terminal building, the length of the security queues on peak summer holiday exodus days like this coming weekend, and then the literal distance from the main terminal to the gates (most of which are in a separate building or three to the main terminal) mean that it really can take large parts of an hour to move through all the stages to finally get on the plane.

When the airport is less busy, then of course it can be a fair bit faster.

Bournemouth is a pvssycat compared to the Stansted elephant which yes, can have walks under cover of several hundred metres to the gates. Bournemouth is physically much smaller but I don't know what particular problems they may have in peak summer periods. Do try to speak to family and friends who have some experience of using it, or do leave yourself lots of contingency time. If you are travelling with Ryanair and you have bags you have paid for to go into the hold, then that is the biggest unknown timewise. How long are the "bag drop" queues going to be even before you attempt to join the security queue to enter the departure lounge? At Stansted last year some people had turned up 3 hours before their flight but still hadn't "dropped off" ("checked-in ... old language) their hold bags when there was just 40 mins left before their flight. The Ryanair way is not to come and find you if you are still in a general bag-drop queue like that and it is becoming late, it is to tell you when you reach the desk that you are too late. Of course, if you have handbaggage only, the "bag drop queue" is a big unknown which you can skip.

You still need your wits about you at all times until you actually pass through the final gate onto your plane.

I am sure you'll be fine. Have a great holiday

rapunzelz86

Thanks for that, that really put my mind at ease. I am only taking hand luggage, but , i am taking a buggy and im under the impression that i will have to "bag drop" this for it to be tagged, so i may still be queing as long as if i had cases for the hold? I hope not. I think we will be leaving an hour earlier to be on the safe side. Knowing my luck we'll sail through it all in 30 minutes and be hanging around, but rather that than a Home Alone 2 style dash through the airport!

QQuaver

sadeelisha wrote: »

so i may still be queing as long as if i had cases for the hold?

Yes. It's the same queue.
Good luck:)

peterbaker

Yeah, hard luck with the buggy ... very annoying that you have to queue with people who are dropping off all their hold bags when all you will be doing is getting a tag for the buggy and then taking it yourself to the aircraft.

Hopefully you might find others in the queue might take pity if you can build some kind of rapport and let them know "I've no bags to check in, and only need to collect a tag for this buggy ... would you mind if ... ?"

This question was asked the other day and the website Ts & Cs are quite clear about having to queue at bagdrop with buggies that need tags.

Daft isn't it? You'd think that they'd let the information desk issue a tag for a buggy. Afterall, if they nab you at the gate for an oversized handbaggage item, they are soon able to provide a hold tag even at that late stage in exchange for £40 :mad:

One small tip to make sure you do not waste your priority booking or your place up front in the queue ... do practice quick folding your buggy one-handed, because thirty people will jump the queue past you at the bottom of the aircraft steps if you aren't slick with it

You just leave it folded on the concrete just to the left of the front steps. Don't worry about looking round for someone to check, just leave it there and make sure the tag is still on it securely. It is the internationally assigned place for it . The plane can't go anywhere until they've picked it up and stowed it safely for you

Good luck!

rapunzelz86

Thanks ever so much for all your advice, feel a little bit more at ease with it all now. Hopefully the airport wont be too busy and ill be fine thanks again.