Ryanair - queue at airport for boarding pass

eskbanker

Westin said:

Voyager2002 said:

bagand96 said:

I suspect the OP isn't personally affected but has picked up on this on social media? Otherwise they'd be happy to tell the forum which route they were on? 

They did mention it was from Madeira to the UK.

That was another poster who indicated that Funchal was similar to Morocco in requiring a printed boarding card.  The OP has for some reason decided not to mention the route that they have discovered this on. 

I suspect this is actually not a widespread issue and not as the OP (and Daily Mail) report as a money making RyanAir matter.

The DM piece relates to departures from London, and, at the time of posting has attracted 1688 comments, which will probably document experiences on other routes, but life's too short to read what Daily Mail readers are saying (and the site is infested with pop-ups to the point of unusability)!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12818355/Holidaymakers-fury-Ryanair-budget-airline-charges-passengers-whopping-21-e-boarding-pass.html

zagfles

eDicky said:

SaveTheEuro said:

It may be the case that this only applies to the final cohort of passengers to check-in. Premium seats are the last to be allocated and Ryanair know some passengers delay checking in until the last moment in the hope of securing one free.

I was always such a passenger and hardly ever failed to succeed. Perhaps the method became too popular and Ryanair had to find the remedy.

It seems to work even if you don't checkin last minute, we did a couple of flights as a group of 5 in the summer and checked in about 10 hours before, and much to our shock not only were we sat practically "together" but also some of us in the emergency exit rows with extra legroom

zagfles

Westin said:

What route was this for? I believe some overseas departure airports require a printed boarding pass (Morocco). 

The message says "Get your boarding pass now and avoid queuing at the airport by adding a seat". So clearly it's saying you can get an online boarding pass if you select a seat, so nothing to do with the foreign airport not accepting mobile boarding passes. 

It's a typical Ryanair tactic. Is anyone surprised? Mind you it must annoy them if they can hardly ever sell their "premium" seats and then have to give them away to those who check in late'ish.

zagfles

Hoenir said:

Some passengers I know simply board the plane last and take the best available unoccupied seat. Why overpay ? 

I've tried that, doesn't tend to work. More often than not, the flight is full, and if it isn't the cabin crew seem to know what seats are unallocated and will ask you to move.

zagfles

eskbanker said:

Westin said:

Voyager2002 said:

bagand96 said:

I suspect the OP isn't personally affected but has picked up on this on social media? Otherwise they'd be happy to tell the forum which route they were on? 

They did mention it was from Madeira to the UK.

That was another poster who indicated that Funchal was similar to Morocco in requiring a printed boarding card.  The OP has for some reason decided not to mention the route that they have discovered this on. 

I suspect this is actually not a widespread issue and not as the OP (and Daily Mail) report as a money making RyanAir matter.

The DM piece relates to departures from London, and, at the time of posting has attracted 1688 comments, which will probably document experiences on other routes, but life's too short to read what Daily Mail readers are saying (and the site is infested with pop-ups to the point of unusability)!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12818355/Holidaymakers-fury-Ryanair-budget-airline-charges-passengers-whopping-21-e-boarding-pass.html

More on the BBC including rumours it applies to the last 20 passengers

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67613343

Mr.Generous

Ryan air have a new update to the in flight emergency procedure.

"In the event of a sudden decompression oxygen masks will drop down from the panel overhead. Insert £4 coins or €5 to start the flow of oxygen."

bagand96

zagfles said:

eskbanker said:

Westin said:

Voyager2002 said:

bagand96 said:

I suspect the OP isn't personally affected but has picked up on this on social media? Otherwise they'd be happy to tell the forum which route they were on? 

They did mention it was from Madeira to the UK.

That was another poster who indicated that Funchal was similar to Morocco in requiring a printed boarding card.  The OP has for some reason decided not to mention the route that they have discovered this on. 

I suspect this is actually not a widespread issue and not as the OP (and Daily Mail) report as a money making RyanAir matter.

The DM piece relates to departures from London, and, at the time of posting has attracted 1688 comments, which will probably document experiences on other routes, but life's too short to read what Daily Mail readers are saying (and the site is infested with pop-ups to the point of unusability)!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12818355/Holidaymakers-fury-Ryanair-budget-airline-charges-passengers-whopping-21-e-boarding-pass.html

More on the BBC including rumours it applies to the last 20 passengers

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67613343

Saw the BBC article earlier which mainly refers to the DM article over the weekend.  My guess is it's one of the following:

1) A glitch in the Ryanair software
2) Something that applies to a small amount of pax per flight when only premium seats are left (extra legroom etc) and Ryanair delay issuing their boarding card in the hope they still sell the premium seats (and for some reason social media seem to have suddenly picked up on it)
3) A new policy where everyone not paying for a seat is forced to queue for a boarding pass at the airport (which is what the DM seem to be trying to stir up)

If it was 3) then I think it would be a much bigger story and we'd already know about it given the numbers of people travelling with Ryanair on a daily basis.

zagfles

bagand96 said:

zagfles said:

eskbanker said:

Westin said:

Voyager2002 said:

bagand96 said:

I suspect the OP isn't personally affected but has picked up on this on social media? Otherwise they'd be happy to tell the forum which route they were on? 

They did mention it was from Madeira to the UK.

That was another poster who indicated that Funchal was similar to Morocco in requiring a printed boarding card.  The OP has for some reason decided not to mention the route that they have discovered this on. 

I suspect this is actually not a widespread issue and not as the OP (and Daily Mail) report as a money making RyanAir matter.

The DM piece relates to departures from London, and, at the time of posting has attracted 1688 comments, which will probably document experiences on other routes, but life's too short to read what Daily Mail readers are saying (and the site is infested with pop-ups to the point of unusability)!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12818355/Holidaymakers-fury-Ryanair-budget-airline-charges-passengers-whopping-21-e-boarding-pass.html

More on the BBC including rumours it applies to the last 20 passengers

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67613343

Saw the BBC article earlier which mainly refers to the DM article over the weekend.  My guess is it's one of the following:

1) A glitch in the Ryanair software
2) Something that applies to a small amount of pax per flight when only premium seats are left (extra legroom etc) and Ryanair delay issuing their boarding card in the hope they still sell the premium seats (and for some reason social media seem to have suddenly picked up on it)
3) A new policy where everyone not paying for a seat is forced to queue for a boarding pass at the airport (which is what the DM seem to be trying to stir up)

If it was 3) then I think it would be a much bigger story and we'd already know about it given the numbers of people travelling with Ryanair on a daily basis.

Almost certainly 2.

1 is not credible, a glitch wouldn't result in a message like the OP posted, it's clearly deliberate.

3 would likely cause too much work for checkin staff.

It'll be 2. If there's only premium seats left Ryanair won't want to give them away to those checking in late, so they either try to get the late checkers in to buy them, or possibly hope others who've already checked in change their mind about seats and decide to "treat themselves" to extra legroom seats, then they can give their original seats to the late checkers in at the airport.

All makes sense in the world of Ryanair!

Westin

#2 would make sense if they also want to check that qualifying passengers occupied the exit rows. E.g. over 16’s, able bodied, etc

bagand96

Westin said:

#2 would make sense if they also want to check that qualifying passengers occupied the exit rows. E.g. over 16’s, able bodied, etc

That did occur to me, but they could also do that at the gate, like they presumably do for those who purchase those seats?

It wasn't Ryanair but I did see once after boarding some passengers who didn't meet "able bodied" being asked to vacate the exit row. They weren't impressed seeing as they'd payed!