What Every Passenger Should Know Before Flying Ryanair

Anyone who has spent even a bit of time traveling around Europe will likely be familiar with the name Ryanair. The budget airline is an Irish institution and features hub infrastructure in London's Stanstead Airport and (naturally) across the Irish Sea on the Emerald Isle. Catching a Ryanair flight to whisk you away on a European adventure is something of a rite of passage for travelers backpacking around the continent. The airline features some of the best prices on short hops across the region (and beyond to destinations like Amman, Bodrum, and Marrakesh). However, things aren't always rosy on a Ryanair jet. The experience is one that truly fits the low-cost bill. 

As someone who lives in Ireland — and England before that — I have plenty of experience with the carrier. Full disclosure: I fly with Ryanair at least six to eight times per year. My experiences are always alright at best, but I'm not planning on changing my approach to air travel anytime soon. The airline doesn't provide top-quality service, and the plane can sometimes feel cramped. But that doesn't mean it's not a great option when traveling around Europe.

What Ryanair lacks in creature comforts, it makes up for in price, coverage, and speed. It can deliver immense value to travelers, but with Ryanair, it's crucial to understand the company's modus operandi before booking a flight and heading to the airport. From personal experience and those of many other travelers, these are some of the most important things to know before flying with the budget carrier.

First and foremost, Ryanair takes its budget airline DNA to the extreme. Everything beyond the seat and a small personal item will cost extra. For a quick weekend getaway, buying the basic ticket fare and adding on no additional services might work out, but for any trip that's even slightly longer, you'll almost certainly need to add to your ticket. Food and drink inclusions aren't anywhere to be seen, either. Selecting seats, adding sports equipment, and anything else you might want will bring an additional charge to the ticket price.

This is important because travelers who are inexperienced with Ryanair may not realize just how many things aren't included. When booking a Ryanair ticket, you'll spend more time browsing through optional extras than selecting the flights you want. Understanding this situation and keeping the reality in mind that this decision fatigue is all a part of the modern airline booking experience (whether with Ryanair or another carrier) will help you navigate this budget airline a little more efficiently.

Ryanair is notorious for up-charging travelers while they're at the airport. You may be familiar with the basic strategy employed here by Ryanair (and know first-hand what luggage rage feels like). However, the airline frequently takes this approach to the next level. Anecdotally, travelers often talk about the incentives flight staff earn by up-charging customers, much like the bonuses that Frontier paid gate agents. 

Indeed, some flight crew at Ryanair can be wildly overzealous when it comes to making travelers shove their bags into the sizing bins. Travelers frequently suggest that backpack-shaped bags aren't usually checked for size, but this is by no means a rule. On the whole, Ryanair's flight crew seems unpredictable in their application of this additional scrutiny. Keeping passengers on their toes at the check-in line and the gate adds another wrinkle to the experience.

It's also worth noting that the sizing bins feature instructions for the dimensions that "fit." These are two-dimensional measurements, and the bins are fairly intuitive. But travelers in recent weeks have posted online claiming that flight attendants have started to impose additional depth requirements on bags that fit within the bins but might stick out the front. I haven't experienced this personally, but I will be flying with the carrier in just a few weeks, so that might change.

As mentioned, Ryanair is notorious for adding additional costs wherever they can. For many airlines, there's functionally no difference between checking in early when the online window opens and doing it at the airport. This isn't the case for Ryanair. Checking in online is crucial. Moreover, the check-in window opens 24 hours before your flight rather than the semi-standard 48-hour window.

You'll need to check in at least two hours before your departure time to avoid succumbing to one of Ryanair's additional charging strategies. As is the case with many of its other charges, the number is the same, but the currency changes depending on your location. Checking in at the airport will cost you €55 or £55. If you need to print your boarding pass, this will cost you €25 or £25.

There's another wrinkle for American travelers that can sometimes add significant confusion to the process. Visitors frequently have to go through the motions of this online check-in process before being instructed to line up at the counter anyway. I've been subjected to this convoluted sequence more times than I can remember, and printing my boarding pass at the counter didn't cost anything extra. However, failing to attempt an online check-in before showing up at the airport will yield this additional charge, even if you have to go to the desk anyway.

Barcelona, Paris, London, and countless other cities across Europe feature two or more airports. Many of these secondary airports are a little farther away or much smaller than the main transit hub. While Ryanair often connects passengers to primary airports, travelers flying with the company should anticipate an alternative arrival airport. For instance, you can fly to all three of Barcelona's nearby airports with Ryanair.

The airline is notorious for finding ways to cut costs. Everything it can do to reduce its overheads is on the table. In 2012, Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, even joked about offering standing tickets rather than seated travel and once called its passengers idiots. Understandably, O'Leary's comments led to a significant backlash in the Irish press.

Keeping costs low results in a variety of inconveniences for passengers. To get a cheap flight, you may have to settle for a slightly less convenient departure airport or a longer transfer into the city when you arrive at your destination. Travelers who don't know this about Ryanair might book a flight without noticing that they're flying into Reus rather than Barcelona or Gatwick instead of Heathrow. This can cause havoc when planning connections, and it can be more than a little inconvenient when heading into a nearby (or faraway) city. However, the tradeoff can often be immensely cost-effective.

Ryanair is extremely proud of achieving a 90% on-time rate. Flying with Ryanair frequently exposes you to the announcement of "another on-time arrival by Ryanair" blared over the PA system as the plane lands. However, this isn't the whole story, and keeping that in mind is an important part of setting realistic expectations. Most airlines bill their flights for longer than it actually takes to complete the voyage. 

This has become something of a standard in the modern marketplace of air travel. It allows airlines to operate speedy flights that arrive on time, which cost more fuel when the crew is under the gun, and slower, leisurely journeys when the departure procedure goes as planned. Ryanair is a notorious over-budgeter in this regard. I have been on numerous Ryanair flights that left more than an hour late from the departure airport and still managed to get to the destination "on time." Magically, a two- or three-hour flight time can seemingly be cut in half when the occasion calls for it onboard a Ryanair plane. 

Similarly, it's customary for passengers to line up at the gate and then be shuffled through the doors to stand outside while waiting for the airplane to be turned over. Regardless of the weather, you should expect to stand outside waiting to board the aircraft for 30 to 40 minutes. I've lined up outside in the rain, the winter cold, and the pleasant spring sunshine. This occurs all over Europe; it isn't contained to just Ryanair's hub airports. I've lined up outside in Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, to name just a few.

With many airlines, the earlier you book your flight, the cheaper the fare will be. Ryanair is no different here, and the company operates a tiered fair class like any other airline. However, with rates starting sometimes in the single digits, booking early can yield a truly astonishing discount on the price you pay. In many regards, getting on board a Ryanair flight feels more like stepping onto a bus than a flight. This is true for many aspects of the core experience as well as the pricing structure of its tickets.

It's also worth remembering that these fare categories aren't offered in coordination with one another. If there is one fair class left and you're looking for two tickets, you'll buy at a higher price rather than one ticket of each fare category (this is one of those tricks airline employees everywhere want to keep secret). Therefore, looking for tickets individually before making your purchase will help you get the best rate. 

I have successfully bought two one-way tickets rather than a roundtrip itinerary. For whatever reason, sometimes Ryanair flights cost less when you book them individually. There's another quirk to the company's offerings: Flights to or from England are priced in either pound sterling or euro, depending on the direction. When booking these kinds of flights, it's always worth exploring individual bookings because price discrepancies in the conversion will yield a better rate in most cases.

Ryanair offers a few ticket pricing categories. It's important to note that even though the company suggests that it will refund the tickets in some instances, getting your refund if you book a refundable itinerary is never as easy as it might seem. You may only be able to exchange your ticket for another one, even if you anticipated the ability to claim a refund. More importantly, however, Ryanair also offers priority boarding. It prominently displays this upgrade and notes that you get a carry-on bag attached to your booking for free. 

The facts on the ground are somewhat different than the picture Ryanair paints for its priority boarding, though. Many people opt for priority simply for the bag instead of buying it separately. This means there are typically more people with priority boarding than without it, significantly diminishing the value you receive from the promise of getting on the plane first. As mentioned, you will rarely, if ever, walk directly from the airport gate onto the plane. This makes early boarding more of an early entrance to the outdoor line than anything else.

I sometimes purchase the priority upgrade. It depends on the baggage requirements I have for any particular trip. When getting on the plane, I, along with many people I know, wait around at the gate until the flight crew makes its final call to board. They often look disapprovingly at people doing this, so be careful, or "be wide," as they say in Ireland.

As expected on a budget airline like Ryanair, there are no screens attached to the back of the seats and no other forms of entertainment to speak of. If you don't want to be relegated to sleeping on the plane or tuning out the noise on your own, it's critically important to bring along your phone, tablet, or any other solution you might use to keep yourself occupied. Downloading movies or TV shows is a great idea for any lengthy period of travel. 

This approach is particularly useful when boarding a Ryanair flight. The planes are loud, there's frequent movement around the cabin, and built-in entertainment resources are nonexistent no matter what part of the airline's fleet you might be boarding. Knowing this and preparing for it in advance will help keep you sane while sitting on one of these flights. The alternative is considerable boredom and perhaps even an extreme level of annoyance.

Ryanair airplanes feel particularly tight when you get on board. This is a common theme among budget airlines, but Ryanair can feel particularly compact for those who haven't experienced it before. Part of this constricting feeling when stepping on the plane may be due to the atmosphere the airline exudes, more so than the configuration of the rows. Ryanair flights aren't really all that more compact than other budget airlines that cram as many seats onto the plane as they can fit. However, you shouldn't expect to have a particularly comfortable flight. 

The seats are often fairly light on padding, and if you opt for a standard legroom seat, you shouldn't expect to have a lot of free space to move around, no matter how short you might be. Setting your expectations before getting on board will help improve your outlook on the experience. Keep in mind, when booking a Ryanair flight, you're looking for the bare bones of service standards. A tight fit is just a part of the experience, and you'll see that tradeoffs pay dividends later on when you get to your destination with more cash in your pocket.

Ryanair maintains that it doesn't intentionally split up groups who don't book (and pay for) seats during the buying process. However, back in the real world, you should expect to see this outcome if you don't buy your seats. The reason might be due to a prevalence of seat picking by other travelers, leaving only a sparse selection left over to assign (which indeed would not be Ryanair's fault directly). But whatever the reason, you can expect to see a raft of separated, middle seats on your boarding passes if you don't buy them in advance.

This might not be a major issue for some travelers. Young explorers hoping to get dirt-cheap flights that shuttle them from hotels to hostels around Europe's most compelling cityscapes might not care that they aren't together for a few hours of their journey. The extra few bucks saved (as much as €33 or £33 for an extra legroom seat) might ultimately be enough to fund a night out in the next city or pay for a night in a budget accommodation option. Other travelers might have young children in their group, making the split-up routine too large an ask.

One of the wildest scenes you'll experience on a Ryanair flight if you've never stepped on board is the change that flight attendants make when the plane takes off and levels out. Flight staff perform all the standard duties you'd expect as you board the plane and taxi off the runway. But once they can confidently get up and move about the cabin, they take off their flight attendant hats and trade them for those of salespeople.

Ryanair flight crew constantly move up and down the aisle, trying to sell something to passengers. It's a good idea to bring headphones, perhaps even noise canceling options, to drown out the constant announcements and busy feet of the flight crew. In the past, Ryanair flight staff sold cigarettes in cartons. They still hawk all kinds of duty-free goods like perfume, watches, jewelry, and raffle tickets. The extent of this sales strategy can be particularly surprising for those who aren't prepared for it. They aren't pushy or in your face with their offerings, but it's a good idea to be aware that you aren't likely to get much peace and quiet on a Ryanair flight because of this constant movement and frenetic announcement schedule.

There are many budget airlines on the continent, so shopping around for the best flight price is always a good idea. However, Ryanair provides a niche service that is unmatched by any other airline in many cases. There are frequently numerous flight times every day that will bring you to just about any city in Europe. Connections are extensive, and prices can be found in the single digits if you book early enough, select a favorable route, or just get lucky.

With "long" flights in Europe ranging up to somewhere in the neighborhood of the four-hour mark, your time spent on board just about any Ryanair itinerary isn't likely to be fairly long or arduous. The result is a budget airline that knows its lane. If you understand the extent of what you are getting and the rules you have to play around, extracting significant value from a Ryanair flight booking can help make your travel far more enriching. Anticipating a standard flight experience will leave you bruised, but with your expectations set appropriately, travelers of all types can take significant value from a Ryanair itinerary.