Ryanair - do I really need to be at the airport 3 hours ahead?

[KillingMeDeftly]

We're flying from Stansted at 730am and I've had an email saying we need to be there at 430! I assumed 2 hours as per usual and
booked a cab accordingly. 3 hours seems excessive so early in the morning. Has anyone flown recently from Stansted? Is 3 hours really necessary?

If they've said three hours then it's three hours.

The stories of queues at airport security would have me following the 3hr advice to be honest. It's rubbish, but better safe...

We flew from Stansted earlier this month. Our flight was at 9.30 and it was surprisingly busy when we arrived at 6.45. We had luggage to drop off which took about 20 minutes and were through security in plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast. If you don't have hold luggage then I reckon you'd probably be fine with 2 hours early in the morning.

I'm wondering the same for a different airline from Heathrow.

I can check in online and am taking only cabin baggage. What will I need 3 hours for?

I literally just got home from belguim in the last half hour flying Ryanair. I got to the airport 2 hours before departure but I would give it 3 just to be safe

Early in the morning is one of the busiest times. You can look on the departures online for the airport, you'll be able to see how many go at certain times. If they've said 3 hours and you get there 2 hours, you might not be able to get a refund if you miss it. Honestly I'd go 4 hours - it's awful rushing.

3 hours has been standard since covid

We caught a 6.45am flight with Ryan Air from the relatively small East Midlands we made it by the skin of our teeth even arriving the recommended 3 hours before. The main issue was security the airport was heaving

Mornings at Stansted always seem really busy.

I would do the 3 hours they say, if you arrive later than that and miss the flight due to security delays, then you won't have a leg to stand on if you haven't followed their advice!

It’s not the airline you need to worry about (though Ryanair are notorious for offloading passengers who are running late!), rather the airport security. We’re flying out of Stansted next week in a 6am flight and intend to get there for 3am. Thankfully we’re only 45 mins away but it’s going to be a looooong day 😴

I've always aimed for 3 hours for short haul and 4 hours for long haul. Means you have a cushion if there's traffic (once nearly missed flight despite this due to an accident on the m1)

Yes, definitely! I arrived though, oh the queues not that bad, then we were taken to a car park with a queue at least 1mile long. We caught our flight but only just…we paid for fast track too! This was Manchester though not Stanstead, the trip home was worse 😬

Nah done it a couple of times this year and both times carry on only and two hours was fine.
check in bags and you’re cutting it fine

At least. I'd suggest 3.5 to 4 hours

It took me 1.5 hours to get through security at Heathrow on Thursday. Then my gate was 20 minutes from the main lounge so I wouldn't have got there in time. You can get up an hour earlier, or miss your flight.
Which would you prefer?

I flew from Leeds Bradford early in the morning. I arrived 2 hours early. No bags to check in. The queue for security was enormous. They were just calling out flights an hour before their departure and pulling people out of the queue to the front. I got pulled out and sent to the front as I wouldn't have made it otherwise. It made me think I should just have turned up with an hour to go and jumped the queue.

3 hours and no more

its people turning up 3+ hours early that are causing others to miss their flights
clogging up the queues when they have four hours till their flight!

We arrived 3 hours before our flight to the canaries (about 4am) at least a 3rd of the others on the flight was there too.

My mum flew out 2 weeks ago from Stanstead .Yes 3 hours were needed

Flew from Stanstead 2 weeks ago for an 8am flight

No luggage to check in. Got there at 5am, was barely enough time. Security was horrendous. And that was before the 6 weeks holiday's started

Dread to think what it's like now....

We flew recently, arrived 3 hours early and still hadn't got through security 5 hours later, our plane was delayed twice to get us all on and we had to run through check in, got fast tracked through security checks and run to the plane. So no duty free for me :(

Arrived at Birmingham 3 hours early it was chaos, got through with half an hour to spare, don’t risk being late.

What happens if you get to the airport on time (3 hours early) but miss your flight because of their chaos?

Ok so 3 hours it is! We have a bag to check in and I've got a non-EEA passport so have to do Ryanair's ridiculous "visa check". After the stories here I'm considering forking out £20 for fast track security...