Flights are cheaper to fly with low-cost airlines, unless, of course, you prefer to fly only in business class. However, in order to travel inexpensively, a number of conditions must be met. In this article, we'll show you how to check in for a Ryanair flight. Flights of this company are not yet operated to Russian airports, but from neighboring countries (the Baltic States, Ukraine and Finland) you can fly to Europe on Ryanair aircraft.
Ryanair check-in methods
As of 2021, there are three ways to check in passengers for Ryanair flights - on the company's website, through a special mobile application, and at the airport before departure.
Detailed information about the airline's air fleet and the principles of its operation is provided in the article “Ryanair: the largest low-cost airline in Europe”.
On the company's website
Online check-in for a Ryanair flight is made on the carrier's official website. It does not currently have a Russified version. At the same time, the results of the work of the online translator of the browser are not always correct. You will not find Ukrainian and Latvian languages on the website either, so you will have to use English or other European languages - German, French, Polish, etc.
Ryanair's check-in rules are simple.
A passenger can check-in for a flight up to 60 days prior to departure, but for this it is necessary to pay for a seat selection service in the aircraft cabin or book a ticket at the Flexi Plus fare. Otherwise, you will be able to complete the procedure no earlier than 48 hours before the flight, and the system will randomly select a seat on the plane.
Online check-in closes 2 hours before departure.
Below is a step-by-step guide to online registration. You can perform this simple operation at home or in the office. To print your boarding pass, you need a printer - color or black and white.
You will be able to book a ticket even if you do not have an account, but for online registration, you must create a personal account on the Ryanair official website, and then log into it.
All questions regarding booking and purchasing tickets for Ryanair flights are discussed in the article “How to buy a Ryanair ticket via the Internet”.
Online registration in English is called check in online.
If you booked a ticket from your personal account, then immediately after entering you will see your reservation. When there are several of them, choose the one you need to register with. In case of booking from another account or without registration at all, you must click the Can’t find your upcoming trip button, and then manually enter your data and the code that was received by e-mail.
The monitor will display a list of passengers in whose name the ticket was purchased. Each of them must be ticked off. Those who change their minds do not need to be celebrated.
Next, in order, windows open with the data of each passenger. By default, the system takes information from the account owner's profile. Therefore, the details of other passengers must be entered manually by clicking the Edit button.
The airline will offer to choose a seat in the passenger cabin. If you don't care where to sit during the flight, check the box Randomly allocated seat. If you need to sit next to your fellow traveler, check Choose your seat, after which, for a certain fee, you can select free seats on the passenger compartment diagram.
At the next stage, Ryanair will once again offer to select a seat in the cabin, including priority seats, and check baggage. If you are not interested in the offers, click Skip to Boarding Passes to complete your registration.
After completing the procedure, you will be able to view the boarding passes for each passenger. In English, this document is called the Boarding Pass.
Opening the boarding pass, you will see the flight data - date, route and seat number, which was randomly selected by the system. By clicking the Print button, you can print the document, and through Download - download it to an external medium.
EU citizens can use electronic boarding passes. All non-EU residents are required to print a boarding pass if they need to go through visa control at the airport. A note on the availability of a visa is affixed at the registration desk. Without it, you may not be allowed to board.
Via mobile app
At the bottom of the main page of the Ryanair official website, you will find links to download the mobile application for Android and iOS. It is intended both for booking a ticket and for self-service online check-in for a flight. You need to download and install the program, and for authorization use the account credentials on the site.
The mobile app also provides free check-in for all Ryanair flights. After logging in, you will see your reservations on your smartphone monitor. You need to select a flight for check-in.
The airline will also offer its additional services in the mobile application. If you want to buy what you see on the monitor, click on the image and follow the system prompts. To select other services (for example, baggage check-in) click ADD FLIGHT ESSENTIALS.
Then check the check-in passengers box and indicate that you will bring a small bag on board that can be stowed under the seat.
Check and confirm the passport details of the passengers.
The details of passengers who are not account holders must be entered manually.
Further, the airline will offer to choose a seat in the cabin for a fee. To get a random seat for free, click the Get a random seat button.
If the check-in procedure was successful, a Checked in mark will appear under the passenger data. Click View boarding passes to view the documents.
If you do not need to go through the Visa Check, a boarding pass with a QR code will appear on your smartphone monitor. In this case, you can do without printing the document. At the airport, you will need to open your electronic boarding pass so that an airline employee can scan it from a smartphone monitor.
If you need to go through Visa Check at Ryanair, a printer icon and a message in English will appear on the monitor of your mobile device, stating that you need to print boarding passes in your account on the company's website.
It is advisable to print boarding passes in any case - the smartphone may be discharged or broken before departure.
A printout of the document is, of course, available at the airport check-in counter, but this service will cost around 15 euros.
At the check-in counter at the airport
Check-in at the airport starts 2 hours before the flight and ends 40 minutes before departure. Here you need to find a counter with the Ryanair logo and contact an employee of the company. You will have to pay 55 euros for check-in at the airport. To avoid unnecessary expenses, it is better to go through the procedure online. Free airport check-in is only possible if you selected Flexi Plus when booking.
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Important information about boarding passes
As mentioned above, the user of the mobile application does not have to print his boarding pass if there is no need to go through visa control. However, not all airports are able to receive electronic documents and scan the QR code from the monitor of a mobile device. If you are flying from cities such as Agadir, Essaouira, Fez, Nador, Oujda, Marrakech, Rabat, Tangier, Kefalonia and Volos, in any case, you will have to print your boarding pass through your account on the airline's website.
In some cases, due to problems in the settings of the smartphone, the boarding pass may not be displayed correctly on the monitor of the device. If you are unable to solve this problem, you will need to print the document.
Boarding pass (both in electronic and printed form) must be presented:
- at the baggage claim counter;
- when passing security control;
- before boarding.
Seat selection on board
Each Ryanair passenger can, for a fee, choose a seat that suits them best on board the aircraft. This service is provided for a fee by all airlines, not just low-cost airlines. You can borrow a chair offered by the carrier for free.
Ryanair's standard seat selection starts at € 4 per passenger. A premium seat with extra legroom will cost significantly more. You can choose a seat for yourself already during the booking process.
Baggage
Only carry-on baggage is allowed free of charge on board Ryanair aircraft - one small bag or suitcase weighing up to 10 kg. The luggage can be placed on a special luggage rack above the seats or under the seat in front of the passenger.
Everything else must be checked in baggage for carriage in the cargo hold of the aircraft.
For more information about the current baggage allowance, see the article "Rules for Carrying Hand Luggage and Baggage at Ryanair".
Outcomes
As you can see, it is much more profitable to check-in for Ryanair flights on the carrier's website or through a mobile application. The only disadvantage of this operation is the lack of a Russian-language version. With basic knowledge of the English language, this task is not difficult to cope with.
