Ryanair denied boarding (or missed check-in)

[Scott]

Hi, a family member is going to need some advice on next steps after being unable to board a Ryanair flight from Edinburgh to Spain. Unfortunately I have only the scantest of details at the moment about what went wrong.

After much queuing they were unable to proceed beyond the bag-drop desks. They had added a second checked bag after the flight was originally booked, but Ryanair systems at Edi had no record of this, so after some to-and-fro, they were directed to another desk to resolve. After queuing there they ran of out time to board.

It’s my assumption that they had checked-in online due to Ryanair’s policy of charging for airport check-in but I don’t know for sure.

If it turns out the fault was with Ryanair’s systems, is there a statutory method for being reimbursed for the flight costs? I’ve looked at regulations around ‘denied boarding’ but this seems to relate to having checked in OK, and then being ‘bumped’ by the airline.

Irrespective of blame, the inbound flight is still ‘live’, is there anything they can/should do to advise Ryanair that they won’t be able to take this flight, in order to mitigate financial losses?

If Ryanair aren’t forthcoming with a refund, is travel insurance likely to help? I appreciate this will depend on policy, but my own cover includes missed flights due to arriving at the airport late, and in the case of my relative, they arrived an hour later than planned due to road works. Had they arrived earlier, perhaps the matter could have been resolved before the flight closed.

The total cost including seats, baggage, etc was £1k.

They have since flown with another airline to a different destination, so I can’t get any more details until they return.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Richie]

How long before the flight departure time did they join the bag drop off queue?

[Scott]

Richie wrote:

How long before the flight departure time did they join the bag drop off queue?

I believe about one hour before departure, bag-drop apparently very busy, many people with overweight luggage having to repack bags, etc.

[executiveclubber]

As they didn’t follow Ryanair’s guidance to be at the airport 2 hours before check-in, I can’t see much sympathy being extended to your family for their own late arrival.

If I’d spent over £1k for flights to Spain I’d be at the airport at the crack of dawn 😬

[NorthernLass]

+1, in fact I’m wondering if one hour can be correct here, given (presumably) they knew there would be bag drop then security to negotiate, then be at the gate at whatever the minimum time is before departure.

Re the inbound flight, have they tried contacting Ryanair? I found them very responsive on in-app chat when I needed to speak to them about a flight change a few months ago.

[TGLoyalty]

Genuinely the real advice here is comeback when you have all the facts as I can just see this thread going all over the place with no where near enough details.

Also I can’t see them joining the queue an hour before the flight as that’s very close to the cut off time for bag drop and there was a long queue, had lots of to and fro and going to different desks.

Did they check in online?
Did they have proof of the 2nd bag booking in their emails?
What time did they actually get to the airport and join the queue?
Did Ryanair not offer to get them on the next flight as it was their desk agents fault?

Ryanair bookings are always actually two one ways so the return journey should be absolutely safe. Even when you miss outward journeys on BA they can save the return at the airport if it’s due to DB/IRROPS etc

[Scott]

NorthernLass wrote:

+1, in fact I’m wondering if one hour can be correct here, given (presumably) they knew there would be bag drop then security to negotiate, then be at the gate at whatever the minimum time is before departure.

Re the inbound flight, have they tried contacting Ryanair? I found them very responsive on in-app chat when I needed to speak to them about a flight change a few months ago.

As mentioned in my OP, they arrived an hour later than hoped due to problems on the roads. I don’t know exact times but believe they would have been there at least 2 hours before had there been no issues.

Re contacting Ryanair, I don’t believe they’ve contacted them since, and are now on hol so unlikely to do so until their return. They did say however that Ryanair at the airport offered no hep at all.

[Scott]

TGLoyalty wrote:

…

Ryanair bookings are always actually two one ways so…

Re above, I’m aware of this, that’s why I asked if there’s anything they can do before that flight date to reduce their financial losses. They can no longer use that flight as they booked alternative flights elsewhere, so it will be going to waste.

Re your other questions, I agree the full facts need to be known before deciding what course of action to take. I was just wondering if anyone had any useful advice that I could pre-arm myself with for when I get the inevitable call for help on their return. 🙂

[TGLoyalty]

Why book alternative return flight?

You mentioned they flew to a different destination and I assumed airport not final destination so did you mean went on a completely different holiday full stop?

[Scott]

TGLoyalty wrote:

Why book alternative return flight?

You mentioned they flew to a different destination and I assumed airport not final destination so did you mean went on a completely different holiday full stop?

Yes, completely different holiday.

[HampshireHog]

TBH then probably flogging a dead horse. Didn’t allow enough time to check in and are now returning from a wholly different destination with alternative return flights booked when the t&c’s of Ryanair are quite clear it’s all single flights

[Lady London]

They just sound totally inxeperienced I’m afraid.

The key points they’ve missed are:

1. Stansted Airport is an absolute hellhole at any even slightly peak time with queues everywhere. And the queues don’t go fast because they’re full of leisure travellers with not much experience.

Everyone who uses Stsnsted probably aims to get there nearer 4 hours before their flight if they have any experience.. I used to allow more. Even 4hrs doesn’t really allow for road delays. On the M11 there are longish stretches and few exits so when you’re stuck on there (foggy accidents are a favourite) you’re stuck.

2. Ryanair plays hardball. I suspect they employ relatively more lawyers than other airlines. If, just as a random exwmple, an outward flught had to return to STN shortly after takeoff due to a radio failure, radio was fixed and plane took off again 3 hours later. With the new timing rendering ground transport impossible to final destinatiob at the new landibg time, no they won’t compensate and reroute? : What’s that? Pre 2004 they could do this. Or, refuse anything on a returm flight which now can’t be used, because due to their outward flight delay the trip became impossible. Due to lack of return flights from the original airport on a Sunday, the return beibg from a near adjacent airport. Ryanair refused refund refused compensation refused free change to another date. As the return was not from the same airport.(EU261 applied by that time but that is how they wriggled out of it).

I’d say unleas these passengerspppp can say they reached tbe airport terminl the required 2 hours ahead and the only delay was Ryanair agent not beibg able to find the already paid (proven) bag in their system, then Ryanair wil easily fend off any claim.

At least tney were wel enoigh off to book and pay for anothrr holiday immdeiately.

[NorthernLass]

@Scott, it’s not clear why they are not contactable and not able to contact Ryanair while they are away in this day and age, but if you can get hold of them before they’re due to fly back you could tell them that Ryanair flights can be changed for a flat fee plus any difference in fare.

I did this recently when my travel plans changed; it is very straightforward to do either on the app or website.

Obviously this means handing over even more money but it can make sense over losing the flights altogether if they were pretty expensive, as is the case here.

The change can be to any available destination and date, so there’s a lot of flexibility.

[SamG]

Ryanair has a “recovery” fee for this scenario so they could have got on the next available flight for a fairly modest charge and then flown home on their original flight. This is already pretty reasonable from Ryanair and I do not see them getting anything else out of Ryanair. Possibly one for travel insurance but going on a completely different holiday and not using the return flight may limit the scope of this.

As an aside I flew Ryanair from Stansted on Friday and despite being very busy bag drop was well staffed and the queues flowed OK, fast track security was worth the cash and the flight was on time and absolutely fine. All for 70 quid pp booked with a weeks notice (+ about a million quid on checked bags to carry enough puzzles to serve my sons current obsession but that isn’t their fault 😂)

[slidey]

Wouldnt the relevant thing be that they did have time to check in had ryanair not made errors (assuming it was ryanairs fault the bag wasnt listed) that prevented them from checking in, rather than that they didnt allow enough time?

[Scott]

SamG wrote:

Ryanair has a “recovery” fee for this scenario so they could have got on the next available flight for a fairly modest charge and then flown home on their original flight. This is already pretty reasonable from Ryanair and I do not see them getting anything else out of Ryanair. Possibly one for travel insurance but going on a completely different holiday and not using the return flight may limit the scope of this.

…

The next Ryanair flight was 4 days later, so it wouldn’t have given much time for the holiday. The original accommodation was no cost (owned by another family member) but wasn’t available beyond the planned dates, hence the booking of a totally new holiday elsewhere.

BTW, as I stated in the OP, the departure was from Edinburgh, not Stansted.