Allow plenty of time for check-in!

[WillTravel]

With the new security rules, it has become yet more imperative to allow plenty of time for check-in.

This is particularly true for Ryanair at London Stansted.

Edit: URL changed again: tinyurl.com/y7y4l6

I have taken Ryanair twice, and other budget airlines a number of times. In practically all cases, so long as you do not arrive too late at the airport, you will be absolutely fine. Allow plenty of time for transportation delays in getting to the airport, and always have a backup plan.

[Eagle]

WT, I wasn't able to get the link to work. Where section of the Irish Examiner website is this located in?

[WillTravel]

Eagle, I fixed the long link with TinyURL, so you can try it again. Or scroll down on this site and click the link titled, "Ryanair facing legal action from disgruntled passengers".
airscoop.blogspot.com/

[madamtrashheap]

It's so true, and I was wondering how long until they came up against legal action for their stance. I always arrived at Stansted at least 2hours before my flight (to Europe - I used to travel a lot for work), even though the standard recommendation was to check in an hour before European (eg London to Rome) flights. Once I had been standing in line for a Ryanair flight for over an hour and got to the check in desk right on the 40min cut-off point and had to argue my position before they would allow me to check in...even though me and half the plane had been waiting in line for all that time. We made it, but not without running to and from the terminal transport train and up escalators - then had to be escorted (all 18 of us!) by security through a "secret" access on to the tarmac to make the flight. After that I always arrived at Stansted 3 hours before the flight - overkill, especially for a 7am flight - but worth avoiding the hassle. EasyJet are a little more sympathetic, but still strict.

The issue is pinpointed in the article - lack of check-in staff at the desks. It's a point very much worth keeping in mind when travelling - thanks for the link WT! Don't even get me started on what happens when the Stansted "Express" (that's it's name, but it's so not!) breaks down and everyone on board misses their flight. Makes Heathrow seem like a dream!

[herrbert]

I have the same experience on a flight from London-Stansted to Düsseldorf-Weeze airport (although tiny, the closest to home). I was standing in line to check-in for at least half an hour. I always arrive early for check-in, so no problem there (but it was much longer than I expected, and waiting in line is not my biggest hobby). But after the security check, we got to the gate, where we were waiting for at least another hour (and I think it might be closer to one-and-a-half hour, to finally got boarded), but in that time, no information was given to the passengers ... nothing at all, and nobody from Ryanair showed up, until the last moment. If possible I try not to use Ryanair, but to choose another airliner.

[pointofnoreturn]

This is just for Stanstead airport right?

[WillTravel]

This is particularly true for Stansted, but I'd also be particularly concerned about any London airport. In general, transport delays to the airport and Ryanair short-staffing can occur anywhere.

[madamtrashheap]

willtravel said:

This is particularly true for Stansted, but I'd also be particularly concerned about any London airport.

Very good point. Going back to the issue WT brought up in the original post, and something that has been posted on these boards a few times - always overestimate the amount of time you'll need to check in for large city aiports, regardless of if it's a pan-European flight or Europe to a further destination (Canada, US, Australia, NZ, etc).

London airports are notorious for having long lines (like Herrbert, no one has a hobby of lining up so everyone leaves it until the last minute to get there, hence the lines). Yes Ryainair are short staffed, but other airlines aren't exempt from having check-in delays. Not to panic anyone, but just be sensible about the time you allow for check in. Some airports that have large volumes of traffic and lines to get through security are: London (all of them, although City Airport isn't too bad), Frankfurt (the main one, not Hahn, although travelling to Hahn takes time), Schiphol (has good and bad days), Athens (not so much the check in as getting to the gate, takes time), Munich (lots of people going lots of places, but usually efficient - bless the Germans!), Charles de Gaulle in Paris (CDG is probably the worst in Europe for efficiency of check in and transferring between flights, in my experience).

Leonardo da Vinci/Fiumicino Airport in Rome generally doesn't get too crowded, but as you're dealing with "Italian time" allow time as often there is a glut of flights leaving at once and check-in queues look like tangled webs, can make it hard to work out where to stand! Ciampino in Rome is pretty quite, but travel time to the airport must be considered (bus, taxi).

If anyone can think of any others, please add them.

[pointofnoreturn]

I actually think a thread with check-in time (based on your own travel experiences) for each airport would be a fantastic idea and could be used as a general reference in terms of booking flights and planning transportation to/from airports.

Perhaps someone could start up a thread and we could add in replies for the original post to be modified and used as a guideline? I'm not very familiar with most European airports. Heathrow is notorious but last time, I didn't have a problem but as far as I know, I honestly really don't know if the 2-hour check in time limit is sufficient enough, even with early flights like 6 AM ones!

[WillTravel]

The problem is that experiences can vary so much. I went through Madrid airport check-in and security in literally 5 minutes in August 2005, but I've read other people say that Madrid is a disorganized zoo. When I went to Ciampino in January 2005, a bus ride that was supposed to take 40 minutes ended up taking 90. I had allowed lots of time, so ended up in the check-in line 2 hours ahead of time (for EasyJet), but it still took longer than I expected. I remember thinking I would have been in serious trouble if I had believed the bus schedule's recommendation on which bus to take.

[herrbert]

As said it varries so much: I guess, we all know that Ryanair is really cheap, and that's what a lot of people love about them, but the downside to it is, that they save costs on the people on the ground, doing the check-in. For Stansted this is true ... but I can't remember to see queues as big as they were in front of the check-in desks of Ryanair. You want cheap ... build in some extra time.

the worst queue I have been in was at Copenhagen Airport, on this Sunday evening only one of the three security checkpoints was open, so everybody leaving Copenhagen, had to queue up ... it took ages. But this had something to do with the Airport security, and not with the airline.

Madrid is a disorganized zoo

They must have been talking about the city itself ;D (sometimes it looks like that, but it's not)

At Madrid Barajas: I never had a problem, Iberia handles the check-in for the company I usualy take (LTU), and never had problems with security.