Ryanair

[Kirkie]

Ryanair passengers queue for boarding passes after changes to procedure​

BARRY O’HALLORANA Ryanair passenger who paid more than €230 for return flights from London had to queue for about 20 minutes for a boarding pass after the carrier recently changed its rules.
The airline has been under fire this week after it emerged that some passengers who do not pay for reserved seats had to queue for boarding passes.
One passenger who contacted The Irish Times paid £200 (€233) for return Stansted-Dublin flights this week and had to queue in the London airport for a boarding pass as they did not pay to reserve a seat. The passenger, who was travelling to Dublin on short notice for personal reasons, paid £180 for the outward leg from Stansted and £20 return.
When the individual checked in online, they opted for a randomly selected seat, a service for which Ryanair does not charge.
Boarding pass
Once they requested their boarding pass at the end of the process, they received a message saying: “This is not a mobile boarding pass, you must collect your boarding pass at the airport check-in desk”. They estimated that they had to queue 15-20 minutes at Stansted Airport to get their printed boarding pass.The individual says they chose to pay £9 to reserve a seat on the return leg to avoid waiting at the airport for a pass.
Ryanair introduced this procedure recently, sparking reports that the carrier was attempting to charge for boarding passes or to prompt more passengers to pay for seats.
However, Ryanair pointed out that it did not charge for digital boarding passes. “All Ryanair passengers can pay for a reserved seat if they so wish or if passengers wish to avoid this seat fee, they can select a randomly allocated seat entirely free of charge,” said the airline.
Ryanair charges €8-€21 to reserve seats, asking more for “legroom” seats at emergency exits or at the front of the aircraft.
It has three fares: basic, which allows the passenger one small on-board bag; regular, which includes a 10kg that can be stowed overhead; and plus, which includes a 20kg check-in bag. The airline maintains that it has to charge for extras to keep fares low

 

[roving_rufus]

There has been alot of chat about this on media...with Ryanair claiming no new policy. And various theories to what was going on - Ryanair trying to find a way to make more money (always likely), a result of Ryanair not liking non-direct bookings, a computer glitch that reverted people to paper copies rather than digital, issues with passports being recognised so being sent to check in desk....

Something definitely happened - but whether temporary or permanent, a glitch or a test run, it's yet to be seen

 

[Kirkie]

There has been alot of chat about this on media...with Ryanair claiming no new policy. And various theories to what was going on - Ryanair trying to find a way to make more money (always likely), a result of Ryanair not liking non-direct bookings, a computer glitch that reverted people to paper copies rather than digital, issues with passports being recognised so being sent to check in desk....

Something definitely happened - but whether temporary or permanent, a glitch or a test run, it's yet to be seen

Thanks. I do not use social media apart from the forum, so I appreciate your comment.

 

[Harland2019]

I am probably missing something. The individual didn't choose a seat that he would have to pay extra for so accepted a seat that Ryanair would allocate - that is what I do. There may or may not have been a computer glitch so he had to queue for 20 minutes to get his boarding pass - I have had worse going on holiday with other airlines - I don't work for Ryanair or thankfully anyone else nowadays!

 

[Kirkie]

I am probably missing something. The individual didn't choose a seat that he would have to pay extra for so accepted a seat that Ryanair would allocate - that is what I do. There may or may not have been a computer glitch so he had to queue for 20 minutes to get his boarding pass - I have had worse going on holiday with other airlines - I don't work for Ryanair or thankfully anyone else nowadays!

I just thought it might be helpful for those from further afield than Europe, in case they were unaware of the cute little tricks that add up in the long run.
I treat Ryanair with the height of respect.
I also chose to disregard Iberia following a very disappointing series of emails regarding their cancellation of a journey around the time of Covid at its height. My friend was refunded as she had a return flight. I lost out as mine was a single leg. I think the lesson is: do take the time to read the small print.

 

[TravellingMan22]

I just thought it might be helpful for those from further afield than Europe, in case they were unaware of the cute little tricks that add up in the long run.
I treat Ryanair with the height of respect.
I also chose to disregard Iberia following a very disappointing series of emails regarding their cancellation of a journey around the time of Covid at its height. My friend was refunded as she had a return flight. I lost out as mine was a single leg. I think the lesson is: do take the time to read the small print.

Your applicability for a refund should be governed by the T and Cs of your ticket, not whether your flight is return or not?

 

[Harland2019]

I think the lesson is: do take the time to read the small print.

Agree

 

[Kirkie]

Your applicability for a refund should be governed by the T and Cs of your ticket, not whether your flight is return or not?

That is debatable, from my experience of very patient to and fro, and after some months I ran out of energy.

 

[TravellingMan22]

That is debatable, from my experience of very patient to and fro, and after some months I ran out of energy.

Sure but it’s not debatable. Pretty much every flight has a range of fully flexible to no flexibility options whether single or return. And it’s not small print. It’s the core offering. There may be 20 price points on a flight in economy. It’s the same physical cabin / seat but what you buy varies by flexibility!

Sorry to be so direct but I think it an important point!!

 

[Kathar1na]

I think it an important point

You may have overlooked the fact that the comment refers to the "cancellation of a journey around the time of Covid at its height"? During that time, numerous airlines often allowed cost-free cancellations despite the fact that cancellation was not allowed according to their Terms and Conditions for certain low cost categories of tickets. Their cancellation policies during official Covid measures were not always uniform. Is there much point in discussing it now when all this is behind us?

And it would perhaps be useful to know whether this recent issue with digital boarding passes (passengers who did not book a seat on a Ryanair flight found out at the airport that they had to print it out and/or check in again at the airport) is specific to flights from London Stansted or also from other airports, for example from Compostela? "The issue is still far from clear". Anyone flew recently without seat reservation and only a digital boarding pass?

FWIW, I am old-fashioned and until I purchased a small powerbank recently I lived in constant fear that my mobile phone would have run out of battery power by the time I arrived at the airport or railway station. So I adopted the habit of always printing out tickets and boarding cards, in addition to storing a copy on my mobile device.

 

[Bradypus]

Anyone flew recently without seat reservation and only a digital boarding pass?

I flew Bristol to Gran Canaria on 23 November and the return journey on 30 November. No seat reservations. Seat automatically allocated by Ryanair during online check in less than 24 hours from the flight time. Digital boarding passes issued for both flights and accepted without any issues by the automatic security gates and boarding staff.

 

[roving_rufus]

I flew Bristol to Gran Canaria on 23 November and the return journey on 30 November. No seat reservations. Seat automatically allocated by Ryanair during online check in less than 24 hours from the flight time. Digital boarding passes issued for both flights and accepted without any issues by the automatic security gates and boarding staff.

It seems to have affected a very small number of people flying Ryanair over a couple of days, compared to the total number of those flying, and Stansted seems to be the cluster.
Ryanair's business model is based on add-ons to the basic ticket, and cost-cutting (eg minimal check-in space/staff etc) and so can seem money grabbing- so it was instantly jumped on as a story when a few reported not being able to check-in online and sent to check in desk that it was yet another way to make money by Ryanair. But I am not jumping to any conclusions just yet... though I am tending currently to a glitch. Though O'Leary may learn from the "issue" for some new charge!

 

[TravellingMan22]

You may have overlooked the fact that the comment refers to the "cancellation of a journey around the time of Covid at its height"? During that time, numerous airlines often allowed cost-free cancellations despite the fact that cancellation was not allowed according to their Terms and Conditions for certain low cost categories of tickets. Their cancellation policies during official Covid measures were not always uniform. Is there much point in discussing it now when all this is behind us?

And it would perhaps be useful to know whether this recent issue with digital boarding passes (passengers who did not book a seat on a Ryanair flight found out at the airport that they had to print it out and/or check in again at the airport) is specific to flights from London Stansted or also from other airports, for example from Compostela? "The issue is still far from clear". Anyone flew recently without seat reservation and only a digital boarding pass?

FWIW, I am old-fashioned and until I purchased a small powerbank recently I lived in constant fear that my mobile phone would have run out of battery power by the time I arrived at the airport or railway station. So I adopted the habit of always printing out tickets and boarding cards, in addition to storing a copy on my mobile device.

Thank you. I was going to mention Covid (honest!), and the reason I didn’t was that I know that airlines had revised commercial policies during Covid, and they trumped the individual ticket T and Cs. They were basically more generous and allowed folks with non changeable / non cancellable flights, or a variance of that, to, well change or cancel for cash or voucher or whatever. They made things better for the customer so I don’t see why the OP would be penalised but I won’t labour or go into the many nuances as it would get boring and pointless, but I felt obliged to point that the ability to get a refund, is very rarely, if ever, governed by whether you have bought a one way, a return or multi sector journey. It is by the T and Cs attached to the fare class, or any overriding commercial policy. Anyway let’s finish it there. I will offer some thoughts on Ryanair for thought / challenge as I have a 2 hr wait for a bus!

 

[Bradypus]

and Stansted seems to be the cluster.

I have occasionally heard or read about Stansted being discussed using a similar term. But a few letters longer. When it is practical I prefer to fly from Gatwick or Heathrow. Even better when there are convenient flights from Bristol which is closer to me here in west Wales and easy to access.

 

[TravellingMan22]

There has been alot of chat about this on media...with Ryanair claiming no new policy. And various theories to what was going on - Ryanair trying to find a way to make more money (always likely), a result of Ryanair not liking non-direct bookings, a computer glitch that reverted people to paper copies rather than digital, issues with passports being recognised so being sent to check in desk....

Something definitely happened - but whether temporary or permanent, a glitch or a test run, it's yet to be seen

I first heard this story on a UK radio channel a few days back. I have not flown Ryanair in the last 30 days, but did so approx. 6 times in the 30 days before that, as an Irish passport holder, intra Spain and flights Spain to Italy and France. Business as usual in terms of being allocated a random seat and getting a BP.

I gave it no credence. First Ryanair has built its success on ‘self service’ and introducing a change of this magnitude would be a massive deal, queues, more staff, confused customers, threats of delays etc. Even if the revenue was significant it would really surprise me. Also the fact they they issued no comms prior by press release or website didn’t ring true.

The story has stuck around though. Simon Calder, the ‘go to’ guy and the consumer champion in telling flyers what’s going on with airlines in the UK, has done a piece with no firm conclusion, though he hints at an issue with online travel agents, which has also been mentioned by a previous poster, and I strongly feel they are both right. There is alot of issues around right now in that arena, much of it centreing on what organisations with no agreement with airlines are charging for ancillaries such as luggage.

The story is running and running, and gaining a lot of clicks prior to Xmas travel, and no-one has asked the obvious question to the customer, ‘who did you book through’, Ryanair, or a third party. I expect that it is the latter. Ask that question and you get your answer. Ryanair has sent out a release, brief and to the point, …no change. And I don’t think there is any for 99.9% of folks.

I think if have booked through Ryanair you will see no change at all!

 

[RJM]

You may have overlooked the fact that the comment refers to the "cancellation of a journey around the time of Covid at its height"? During that time, numerous airlines often allowed cost-free cancellations despite the fact that cancellation was not allowed according to their Terms and Conditions for certain low cost categories of tickets. Their cancellation policies during official Covid measures were not always uniform. Is there much point in discussing it now when all this is behind us?

And it would perhaps be useful to know whether this recent issue with digital boarding passes (passengers who did not book a seat on a Ryanair flight found out at the airport that they had to print it out and/or check in again at the airport) is specific to flights from London Stansted or also from other airports, for example from Compostela? "The issue is still far from clear". Anyone flew recently without seat reservation and only a digital boarding pass?

FWIW, I am old-fashioned and until I purchased a small powerbank recently I lived in constant fear that my mobile phone would have run out of battery power by the time I arrived at the airport or railway station. So I adopted the habit of always printing out tickets and boarding cards, in addition to storing a copy on my mobile device.

Ditto. I still print all my reservations, tickets (plane, bus, train) etc before I travel as well as downloading them to my cellphone. Print them out, staple them together and put in a ziplock and put in an outer pocket of my carry-on. It only takes me a few minutes and a few pennies to print them out and will certainly prevent any unwanted delays or problems in the event my phone takes a nosedive or is stolen or destroyed.

 

[alexwalker]

FWIW, I am old-fashioned and until I purchased a small powerbank recently I lived in constant fear that my mobile phone would have run out of battery power by the time I arrived at the airport or railway station. So I adopted the habit of always printing out tickets and boarding cards, in addition to storing a copy on my mobile device.

Likewise! Old-fashion retired computer engineer here. On my next Camino, I will have invested in a solar-powered battery bank, so I can charge it/anything while walking.

 

[Bradypus]

It only takes me a few minutes and a few pennies to print them out and will certainly prevent any unwanted delays or problems in the event my phone takes a nosedive or is stolen or destroyed.

I print out what I can in advance. But most often I only arrange my return travel a few days in advance while I am walking as I like to stay flexible and there are usually plenty of seats available in my preferred off-seasons. My recent Gran Canaria trip was an exception and to save costs I opted for online check in shortly before the return journey when I did not have easy access to a printer. There are always trade-offs to be made!

 

[Kathar1na]

As explained in the linked article at the start of this thread this new issue concerns passengers who

• bought a Ryanair ticket without prior seat allocation (you have to pay extra for picking your seat yourself);
• checked in online or via the Ryanair mobile phone app (you can do this from 24 hours before departure if you did not pay for prior seat allocation or from 60 days before departure if you paid for an allocated seat).
• at the end of the app based / online check-in process saw a message that said: This is not a mobile boarding pass, you must collect your boarding pass at the airport check-in desk.
  No extra cost involved.

Below are recent screenshots of the information that this category of Ryanair passengers sees on their mobile phone screens. It is not clear whether all passengers in this category see this information or only some. Do read what it says on your mobile phone's screen.

 

[Vacajoe]

I’m very confused by this story because this is what is required EVERY time I’ve flown Ryan over the past six years. As a US passport holder that doesn’t pay for a seat allocation, I check in online and am issued a document that clearly states it is NOT a boarding pass. Upon arrival at the airport, I stand in line, get my passport checked, and then get issued my official boarding pass. What the article is describing is 100% of what I must do every time in every country that I’ve flown Ryan.

What exactly has changed that people are complaining about?

 

[TravellingMan22]

I’m very confused by this story because this is what is required EVERY time I’ve flown Ryan over the past six years. As a US passport holder that doesn’t pay for a seat allocation, I check in online and am issued a document that clearly states it is NOT a boarding pass. Upon arrival at the airport, I stand in line, get my passport checked, and then get issued my official boarding pass. What the article is describing is 100% of what I must do every time in every country that I’ve flown Ryan.

What exactly has changed that people are complaining about?

Do you get your seat allocated when you check in online or do you get your seat allocated at airport.

 

[Bradypus]

What exactly has changed that people are complaining about?

The rules are different for those from the EU and EEA who have routinely been allowed to use digital boarding passes at almost all European airports served by Ryanair. Up until now anyway. As the posts and news articles recently have suggested the current situation is unclear.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I just thought it might be helpful for those from further afield than Europe, in case they were unaware of the cute little tricks that add up in the long run.
I treat Ryanair with the height of respect.
I also chose to disregard Iberia following a very disappointing series of emails regarding their cancellation of a journey around the time of Covid at its height. My friend was refunded as she had a return flight. I lost out as mine was a single leg. I think the lesson is: do take the time to read the small print.

I had several flight bookings with Ryanair during the Covid period and I got a full refund on all of them.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Ryanair's website states : All non-EU/EEA passengers must have their online boarding pass checked and stamped at the Document/Visa Check Desk before going through airport security.

 

[Kathar1na]

There are a number of old threads dealing with the issue of Ryanair and US passport holders and the Ryanair requirement to have their boarding pass printed and stamped at the Ryanair desk, see for example here: "If you have a non EU passport you must get a stamp before going through security. Ask at the check in desk where this is done. At the Santiago airport they sent me to another counter. This also means that you can't use a mobile boarding pass."

However, this was four years ago. So, question, out of sheer curiosity: Does this now also apply to UK passport holders? (I had to check: EU freedom of movement rights ended on 31 December 2020 for British citizens). @Bradypus?

Note: This had nothing to do with Ryanair policy within the context of prior seat reservation and mobile phone boarding passes.

Also note: I seem to remember that this stamping of boarding passes was a Ryanair peculiarity that had not been adopted by other airlines.

 

[Bradypus]

However, this was four years ago. So, question, out of sheer curiosity: Does this now also apply to UK passport holders? (I had to check: EU freedom of movement rights ended on 31 December 2020 for British citizens). @Bradypus?

I have never had to get a stamp from anywhere before passing through security. The UK remains part of the EEA even after leaving the EU. That puts us in the same position as Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein. The boarding pass privilege seems to extend to the wider EEA countries. I'd be interested to learn if Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein are going to fall under the same ETIAS restrictions as the UK if that much-anticipated system ever makes it into reality! Ignore that last part. I clearly wasn't thinking straight as I typed that. Those countries are part of the Schengen zone and so ETIAS obviously won't apply to them!

 

[Kathar1na]

The UK remains part of the EEA even after leaving the EU. That puts us in the same position as Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein.

Erm ... ... ....

Anyway, I note that you, as a British citizen, did not have to print out your boarding pass and have it stamped at a Ryanair desk on very recent flights from the UK to Spain and from Spain to the UK. That's what I wanted to know, thanks.

I try not to speculate about the reasons for anything that Ryanair does ...

 

[trecile]

As explained in the linked article at the start of this thread this new issue concerns passengers who

• bought a Ryanair ticket without prior seat allocation (you have to pay extra for picking your seat yourself);
• checked in online or via the Ryanair mobile phone app (you can do this from 24 hours before departure if you did not pay for prior seat allocation or from 60 days before departure if you paid for an allocated seat).
• at the end of the app based / online check-in process saw a message that said: This is not a mobile boarding pass, you must collect your boarding pass at the airport check-in desk.
  No extra cost involved

It seems more like a glitch in the system than a new way for Ryanair to make money, since there's no extra cost involved. In fact, it seems like this could be costing Ryanair money since it takes more staff time.

 

[Kirkie]

I am sorry if by posting I have added to confusion, it was almost an automatic click in my brain to advise people to beware, nothing more really. In the heel of the hunt, each traveller will need to check out as best as possible what conditions apply to the procedures with whichever company, Ryanair or otherwise. May all flights take off and land smoothly

 

[Vacajoe]

The rules are different for those from the EU and EEA who have routinely been allowed to use digital boarding passes at almost all European airports served by Ryanair. Up until now anyway. As the posts and news articles recently have suggested the current situation is unclear.

So the real story is that some folks were now being treated exactly how Americans have been treated by RyanAir forever? Yeah, not gonna say I feel for them….

 

[Vacajoe]

Do you get your seat allocated when you check in online or do you get your seat allocated at airport.

Got my seat assignment (which I could change) when I checked in online 24 hours before. If I paid the premium, I’d get a seat choice up to 30 days before. Regardless of which level you choose to pay, though, all US passport holders must first exchange your printed “not a boarding pass” certificate for a real one when arriving at the airport.

 

[Kathar1na]

The UK remains part of the EEA

The UK is not part of the EEA. And despite what is says on the Ryanair website Ryanair does not treat all non-EU/EEA passengers the same way at every airport and Ryanair does not require that all non-EU/EEA passengers must have their online boarding pass checked and stamped at the Document/Visa Check Desk before going through airport security. Certainly not for flights between the UK and Spain. And they don’t have to. It‘s up to them how they organise their schedules and procedures for getting their passengers on and off their planes.

Be aware of what it says on your mobile phone screen after you checked in via the Ryanair app and act accordingly and be at the airport soon enough to catch your flight.

 

[Kathar1na]

I never buy airplane tickets from third party providers. I had not been aware that some third party providers overcharge their customers when they book a Ryanair flight. Apparently, they don’t overcharge for the ticket price as such but for “extras” like fees for 10 kg bags, priority boarding and, yes, allocated seats. On their website, Ryanair has singled out culprits such as Kiwi.com, Opodo and edreams which surprises me and is worth knowing I think.

https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/lp/explore/third-party-hub/online-travel-pirate

 

[Bradypus]

The UK is not part of the EEA.

You are of course correct. No idea why I was under the impression that my country had remained within the EEA after Brexit. Misreading of a UK government website I suspect and a surfeit of TLAs.

 

[Kathar1na]

a surfeit of TLAs

Perhaps you were looking for a simple and rational explanation for the fact that you and @Vacajoe are what we call TCNs and that you are as such undistinguishable in a UK airport when wanting to board a Ryanair flight to Spain but that you are not treated in the same way by Ryanair and their system of issuing mobile boarding cards? I guess the explanation is that that's the way they do it and it is all about the optimisation of processing their passengers and the associated financial pros and cons for their business.

It seems more like a glitch in the system than a new way for Ryanair to make money, since there's no extra cost involved. In fact, it seems like this could be costing Ryanair money since it takes more staff time.

My finger is hurting from scrolling through recent comments on a social media platform that shall remain unnamed. From what I can see people started to post screenshots and complaints about having to queue for a Ryanair boarding card at some airports around the 1st of December and this appears to have stopped around the 5th of December; it was because they had not reserved a seat and this had never happened to them on earlier Ryanair flights under the same circumstances. My personal and biased assessment: This narrative will live on for a while in various versions in some news media and on social media. There will be no follow-up or official statement by Ryanair other than conflicting and confusing explanations from their Helplines and airport ground staff. We will never know why it had happened.

 

[Bradypus]

but that you are not treated the same way by Ryanair and their system of issuing mobile boarding cards? I guess the explanation is that that's the way they do it and it is all about the optimisation of processing their passengers and the associated financial pros and cons for their business.

I wonder if it is simply inertia on the part of Ryanair? Not wanting to implement a major systems change after Brexit altered the UK's status. Though I also think that the UK may provide a large enough proportion of Ryanair's passengers for such a change to have significant financial and reputational consequences for them.