Ryanair Check in

Unless you are disabled and need to declare it for special assistance (max four such persons carried per flight I believe) or unless you absolutely need to try to book a particular seat out of the 189 total seats next to someone else, then there is no need whatsoever to check in now or even in 30 days or 3 days or 3 hours before the flight. You actually have right up until 2 days before the flight to check in. Unless you need to buy a particular seat, they won't even let you check in for free until 4 days before the flight ... they have twisted it to make it look like some privilege to book in up to two months ahead ... it real really isn't! So help stick it back in their pipe and make them smoke it and leave it late is what I say!

I have been flying with Ryanair on the exact same aircraft type and seat layout for over 15 years and that's probably at least 15 or 20 return flights a year now.

Currently if you travel on your own and like a window seat, the smart thing to do is wait until the last minute (obviously make sure your mobile App and another means to check in like a computer are up and running in case of technical problems and don't literally leave it until 2 hours and 1 minute before scheduled flight time unless you are some kind of maniac!

Fact is (and I tested it last week and will do again very shortly) Ryanair currently seems to allocate window seats around rows 4, 5, 6 and 30, 31, 32 last even if it sold those seats they are not the least expensive - so you will get them free when most others have already checked in. At the last minute, or possibly a bit earlier say around 6 waking hours before flight, you might even get one of the top expensive seats free with max legroom next to the four window exits in rows 16 and 17. That's because they need at least one person in each row at take off and landing who can operate the emergency exit if needed.

None of Ryanair's are particularly uncomfortable for even very tall people unless you have unusually long legs and short back for a very tall person, or if you are tall and/or also very heavy or wide, then 1ABC, 2DEF, 16ABCDEF and 17ABCDEF are the extra legroom seats you need. The rest of the seats are largely the same apart from noisier for first 15 or 20 mins after takeoff behind row 18 or so.

But there's two toilets at the back and the baby change one included as opposed to just one toilet at the front.

Seriously, unless you are worried about your computer not working or you havent downloaded Ryanair's easy App as a backup, then there is nothing really that a normal passenger would want to worry too much about, other than the general fear other people have right now of being seated apart and all that unnecessary stuff recently introduced by Ryanair. It is designed just to make passengers fearful they really ought to spend extra on a seat (you don't) and also they seem to love bad publicity more than good! It's a game they play and I dont much like it but still am very confident about checking in last minute and not bothering to buy a particular seat

Thanks leylandsunaddict, that makes their current very high load factors even more remarkable!