Ryanair and Queueing

bobbyss

It's been a long time since I used an airplane and lots has changed in the interim. I arrived 2 hours before departure but the queue was already very long. I entered it at the end and was making slow progress. I was convinced I would not make the flight. Then someone brought it to my attention that I had effectively jumped the queue. This was despite the fact that i joined the queue (a queue) at the end. To cut a long story short, it was a very stressful situation. Nobody seemed to know where the queue started. Nobody from the airport really seemed to mind or care what was happening. Worst of all is that clearly there were not enough desks open to deal with the volume.
My query really is this: if you arrive ay the airport 2 hours in advance but find that there is an impossibly long queue there, so long that really you are not going to make your flight, will they just delay the flight bearing in mind that you have fulfilled your part of the bargain by being on time?

athtrasna

What queue? Check in or security?

Either way technically it is your responsibility to be at the boarding gate on time but the airline should prioritise soonest departing flights if it's a check in problem.

coylemj

Short answer to your question: No.

What queue were you in - security, bag drop, check-in, boarding gate?

bobbyss

coylemj wrote: »

Short answer to your question: No.

What queue were you in - security, bag drop, check-in, boarding gate?

Apologies. It was check in queue. As it happened, they must have delayed the take off to accommodate all as all seats looked fully occupied. And yes, they should have prioritised passengers. There were many people behind us when the boarding gates were to close and we still hadn't checked in by then.

JosephPatrick

If it is really packed and a flight is getting close to departure they usually ask people of whatever flight it is to move to the front.

Was this in Dublin Airport?

I checked in a bag with Ryanair last week and had to queue for about 45 minutes. They were using a self-service bag drop thing where you scan your boarding pass and put the sticker on your bag yourself.

I didn't really see the point as almost everybody needed assistance and the whole thing took ages. There is always people who try to check in bags claiming they didn't know they had to pay, don't have their boarding pass, bags overweight, machines not working properly, travelling with large families etc so that makes everything take much longer.

They should probably keep the self-service machines separate instead of placing them in front of every check-in desk wit no distinguished queue.

meeeeh

Depends. I've been couple of times in small Italian airports when they weren't able to deal with check ins on time and take off was delayed to accommodate everyone. It tends to happen less nowadays because smaller airports became more efficient and have better facilities. They also have more flights going through.

But in bigger airports you can forget about it. It's your responsibility to make the flight and there is usually one counter that deals with those who are under pressure to make the flight so you should be ok if you show up two hours before flight.

Mrs OBumble

Hang on - the message header says Ryanair. I've never seen a long Ryanair check in queue, because of the way they charge people who cannot be bothered to do on-line check in. Maybe you were confused about the queue you were in???

Except once (the day that the UK air traffic control system had a melt-down and thousands of us had to be re-booked out of Gatwick).

VG31

I think they mean the bad-drop queue.

yqtwqxqm

JosephPatrick wrote: »

If it is really packed and a flight is getting close to departure they usually ask people of whatever flight it is to move to the front.

Was this in Dublin Airport?

I checked in a bag with Ryanair last week and had to queue for about 45 minutes. They were using a self-service bag drop thing where you scan your boarding pass and put the sticker on your bag yourself.

I didn't really see the point as almost everybody needed assistance and the whole thing took ages. There is always people who try to check in bags claiming they didn't know they had to pay, don't have their boarding pass, bags overweight, machines not working properly, travelling with large families etc so that makes everything take much longer.

They should probably keep the self-service machines separate instead of placing them in front of every check-in desk wit no distinguished queue.

those self service machines are awful.
You are right. They should have them elsewhere and have people on the desks too with a different queue.
I was going through Dublin airport the other day. Over an hour waiting in a massive queue ti drop the bag. We were randomly filtered into other queues as we got closer to the desks. About 50% including mine were self service. Nobody could use them properly. I scanned our boarding passes and got stickers for the suitcases. But then problem. I had a baby car seat and a buggy and needed tickets for them too. I had to wait another 15 minutes for a ryanair employee to come over to me to complete the process and even then they had to go to oversized baggage too. The people behind me were not impressed.
A horrible experience. And lots of people running around saying their flight was about to leave the whole time because it was so slow.
What ever happened just walking straight up and dropping your bags at the empty bag drop desk. That used to work just fine. Ryanair have really screwed this up.

bobbyss

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Hang on - the message header says Ryanair. I've never seen a long Ryanair check in queue, because of the way they charge people who cannot be bothered to do on-line check in. Maybe you were confused about the queue you were in???

Except once (the day that the UK air traffic control system had a melt-down and thousands of us had to be re-booked out of Gatwick).

As I said, I've not travelled by plane in over a decade so this whole experience was new to me.
Leaving Dublin at 7 ( think )we arrived about before five. We went to Ryanair check in and did one big bag self service. I scanned and got the sticker thing and put it on handle. It took me about one minute to do that but I definitely needed the direction of the Ryanair staff to oversee it. I was impressed I have to say
.
Coming back. Arrived at 8 for 10 departure. Gates we were informed closed st 09:30. Check in one big bag. My heart sank. I couldn't make out where the queue ended. Ryanair desks(two of them) did not seem capable of dealing with the queue. We were not sure where the end of the queue was was but eventually we found ourselves ay the back of it. About 40 minutes later with slow progress we seemed to join another queue and the people there informed us that we had in fact jumped the queue! The whole thing was so complicated. Many people complained that they could not make out where the f...... queue ended. It was a mess. Nobody took charge. Nobody gave direction. Many lost their cool. I couldn't understand why nobody from Ryanair took control as it seemed easy enough to sort out.. As I hadn't travelled in ages I didn't know if the Ryanair desks were for our flight only or for other destinations..If the latter, then someone should have prioritised. Eventually this happened. At 09:35, five minutes after gates closing time a chap did this. But the stress. The worry. Why couldn't he have informed people that this would be done earlier. Next time. I will try and bring cabin luggage only. That's one solution. Most , if not all, of the passengers seemed to have a piece of paper like us which was s printed boarding pass.

athtrasna

So the issue was your departure airport being short staffed?

bobbyss

athtrasna wrote: »

So the issue was your departure airport being short staffed?

I don't know for sure about how many Ryanair staff were delegated to deal with our flight so I couldn't say with certainty if it was short staffed. All I can say is that I saw two desks open and a priority desk open then they seemed to close that rather quickly. The flight took of at about 10:35, thirty five minutes late. The plane seemed full so it seemed they delayed departure until everybody boarded.

rainbow kirby

Queued for 45 minutes at Stansted before for bag drop for a Ryanair flight to Shannon - it didn't help that the same queue was for visa checks and there seemed to be a lot of Americans travelling that day. Will never, ever fly with them with luggage again - it makes an already painful experience even worse. We were lucky that we got to Stansted 2.5 hours before the flight and it wasn't even high season (a Wednesday evening in late May).

yqtwqxqm

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know for sure about how many Ryanair staff were delegated to deal with our flight so I couldn't say with certainty if it was short staffed. All I can say is that I saw two desks open and a priority desk open then they seemed to close that rather quickly. The flight took of at about 10:35, thirty five minutes late. The plane seemed full so it seemed they delayed departure until everybody boarded.

It was about 10 desks in Dublin airport on Friday and it was carnage.
About 3 ryanair staff running between them.

ABlur

Queued for 2 hours for bag drop in Arrecife airport Lanzarote two years ago. Ryanair had two desks and these served all Ryanair flights! Total chaos. The flight was late being loaded and as a result missed it's 'slot'. Never again would I check in a bag, I only bring carry on luggage now and have no delays.

bobbyss

So my lesson is to take only the overhead bag from now on. You go through and you put your bag in a basket and watch , belt etc.

At what point is that 10kg bag weighed?

spurious

bobbyss wrote: »

So my lesson is to take only the overhead bag from now on. You go through and you put your bag in a basket and watch , belt etc.

At what point is that 10kg bag weighed?

It rarely is.
Obviously if it looks like it's dragging the shoulder off you they will do something, but usually it's the size they are more bothered with.

The ideal (for me) is to wait until the boarding queue is almost entirely through before I go to board, then hopefully get them to take the carry-on away from me altogether, so I don't face the problem of finding somewhere to stow it.
I don't mind collecting it from the carousel later.

bobbyss

spurious wrote: »

It rarely is.
Obviously if it looks like it's dragging the shoulder off you they will do something, but usually it's the size they are more bothered with.

The ideal (for me) is to wait until the boarding queue is almost entirely through before I go to board, then hopefully get them to take the carry-on away from me altogether, so I don't face the problem of finding somewhere to stow it.
I don't mind collecting it from the carousel later.

I see. I am beginning to see the light now. And there I was with my cheap, newly bought bag from Dunnes Stores, blaming it for my misfortune. Like a big lump of a donkey. And the thing was beginning to fall apart on its maiden trip as well. Next time, I will be wiser. Not too sure about waiting to board last. I'd prefer to settle in first. My son's mobile and hand was swabbed by the way. Why would they have done that?

dudara

bobbyss wrote: »

I see. I am beginning to see the light now. And there I was with my cheap, newly bought bag from Dunnes Stores, blaming it for my misfortune. Like a big lump of a donkey. And the thing was beginning to fall apart on its maiden trip as well. Next time, I will be wiser. Not too sure about waiting to board last. I'd prefer to settle in first. My son's mobile and hand was swabbed by the way. Why would they have done that?

The carry-on bags are rarely weighed, but are often checked for size. It's worth buying a good quality lightweight suitcase, that's guaranteed to meet the size restrictions.

As for the swabbing, it's used to test for explosives although Customs will use a version that tests for drugs. Don't read anything into it, as it was more than likely a random selection.

dodzy

bobbyss wrote: »

My son's mobile and hand was swabbed by the way. Why would they have done that?

Random drug swabbing. Happened to the wife on hols recently.

Big gym bag does me grand. Have got on with well over 10kg, it's squashable so they never look twice. Though I do get the "random" drug swab every time I go through every airport.

spurious

dodzy wrote: »

Random drug swabbing. Happened to the wife on hols recently.

We discovered recently that 'shampoo bars' which are shampoo in the form of bars of soap set off these machines like mad.

Stuff like this:


Handy for not being liquid, not so handy when you have to go into a 'special room' in Frankfurt.

snowgal

Have to say The Ryanair Business plus was great for us on a trip we did the end of June. We usually take very early flights but this is the first time we were leaving Dublin about 4.30pm at that time of year and the airport was mental!! On initial view, the ryanair queue was massive and we thought we'd be very late as we had to check in baggage. But then we noticed the biz plus desk and there was no one there so we checked in in under 5 minutes. We also used airport fastrack as part of the deal and again was great as there queues at that time were huge. We were seated in row 1 with some legroom and first on and off the plane. Depending on price and departure time and more so if youre checking in a bag, I would recommend it! We also had it coming back but stupid stupid me fecked up the date so had to book another flight home without the biz plus, that was a pain!! Of course they allow you t change your flight free of charge but you pay the fare difference which at that stage had gone up massively!

bobbyss

spurious wrote: »

We discovered recently that 'shampoo bars' which are shampoo in the form of bars of soap set off these machines like mad.

Stuff like this:


Handy for not being liquid, not so handy when you have to go into a 'special room' in Frankfurt.

That picture isn't very inviting. I'm thinking Istanbul, Columbia and Banged Up Abroad. Think I'll stick with Head and Shoulders myself.

Blueboggirl

Just arrived in London from Dublin on Ryanair. Everyone's complaining about the Ryanair queue, if you only have cabin baggage and have checked in online you're ok. If you need a visa, or to check in or to drop a bag, be warned, as Ryanair are now doing all 3 in the 1 queue.
I saw that queue, all I can say is THANK GOD I wasn't checking in a bag, at least 200 people waiting in it.

A Dub in Glasgo

Ryanair in Dublin Airport have combined check in and bag drop for all flights out of Dublin into one queue?

rainbow kirby

They have been doing that in Stansted for ages. Awful.

yqtwqxqm

Blueboggirl wrote: »

Just arrived in London from Dublin on Ryanair. Everyone's complaining about the Ryanair queue, if you only have cabin baggage and have checked in online you're ok. If you need a visa, or to check in or to drop a bag, be warned, as Ryanair are now doing all 3 in the 1 queue.
I saw that queue, all I can say is THANK GOD I wasn't checking in a bag, at least 200 people waiting in it.

I was in it. Just had to drop 1 bag and it took over an hour, with people trying to jump the queue and arguments ensuing. It was soul destroying. Awful experience.
Its been like that for weeks now in Dublin.

nualaonthewall

yqtwqxqm wrote: »

I was in it. Just had to drop 1 bag and it took over an hour, with people trying to jump the queue and arguments ensuing. It was soul destroying. Awful experience.
Its been like that for weeks now in Dublin.

I didn't realise that this was happening all the time now. Experienced the same horrible queue a few weeks ago in Dublin, when a Ryanair cabin crew member actually jumped in front of me, claiming his flight was leaving and he had to do it! Having stood for an hour, I wasn't impressed but the agent at the desk insisted he was correct to do so.

If this is now the modus operandi with Ryanair,it will be a deal breaker for me. I have health issues that make standing for long periods very difficult Why are they doing this?

yqtwqxqm

nualaonthewall wrote: »

I didn't realise that this was happening all the time now. Experienced the same horrible queue a few weeks ago in Dublin, when a Ryanair cabin crew member actually jumped in front of me, claiming his flight was leaving and he had to do it! Having stood for an hour, I wasn't impressed but the agent at the desk insisted he was correct to do so.

If this is now the modus operandi with Ryanair,it will be a deal breaker for me. I have health issues that make standing for long periods very difficult Why are they doing this?

They are doing it all the time now. Most of the desks are self service too now.
I guess eventually they will be getting rid of all staff checking the bags.

Aaron97

Hi all,

Just looking for some advise, I booked the Aircoach bus for 5am on the 16th of September but our flight is due at 09:45 it says we should arrive at the airport at 08:25 I'm just wondering would we have plenty of time to check or luggage in at or would I have to change the bus to a earlier time

athtrasna

Aaron97 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just looking for some advise, I booked the Aircoach bus for 5am on the 16th of September but our flight is due at 09:45 it says we should arrive at the airport at 08:25 I'm just wondering would we have plenty of time to check or luggage in at or would I have to change the bus to a earlier time

I wouldn't risk it. Bag drop+security +walk to Ryanair gates is a lot to do and Ryanair close the gates earlier than a lot of other airlines.

Aaron97

athtrasna wrote: »

I wouldn't risk it. Bag drop+security +walk to Ryanair gates is a lot to do and Ryanair close the gates earlier than a lot of other airlines.

Ya it makes sense now I can see if I can change it from 5am to 3am hopefully it won't cost anything to change it with Aircoach

VG31

With most airlines, I'd say that would be enough time but apparently the queues for Ryanair bag drop are very bad recently and the Ryanair gates are the longest walk.

RoYoBo

VG31 wrote: »

With most airlines, I'd say that would be enough time but apparently the queues for Ryanair bag drop are very bad recently and the Ryanair gates are the longest walk.

Are the self-service bag drop machines not in service now? I know the queues were bad earlier in the summer and I was hoping these machines would help significantly. Anyone any experience of these?

Spanish Eyes

Did I miss where OP stated the flight was Ryanair?

Anyway, no matter, I always get there about 2.5 hours before - minimum. Better to be bored in an airport than stressed on the way if you are cutting it fine!

whomitconcerns

Check incloses at 9am get a security fast pass and your all good. Plenty of tine

VG31

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Did I miss where OP stated the flight was Ryanair?

It's in the title: Ryanair check-in time

twirlagig

Forgive me for cutting in on your post OP but I have a similar question...
Flying at 6.10am and am planning to get 1.45am bus from Galway. Should land in Dublin Airport at 4.15am. Only bringing hand luggage - am I cutting it fine or should I be alright?

twirlagig

sugarman wrote: »

Looooaaads of time, I usually only turn up an hour before hand at that time without checked luggage / online check in.

Thanks sugar man

bobbyss

twirlagig wrote: »

Thanks sugar man

Yes. I agree. Relax and have a good sleep on the bus!!