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?

You do three hours because of the three hour long security queue and more for bag drop. They're a nightmare now.

We made it! Only ended up arriving 2.5 hours early thanks to DC who was sick in the cab but got through bag drop and security with an hour to spare before the gate closes. I've never seen queues like this before - bag drop, getting to security, security itself, toilets!

Once I was through I had never seen an airport with so few spare seats and so
Many queues for absolutely everything to eat! It was crazy

I hope you have a wonderful holiday

I expect it depends on the day of the week, and no doubt will be easier come the first week of September, not that it will benefit the OP.

Did you go to Italy?

We are doing that in August I have three children I am worried

@acuteanxiety yes, Italy. I don't recommend booking an early morning flight!!

Thanks for update.

Oh no

Did you go to Ancona

😭😭

Eek, sounds like we might be cutting it fine then. Flying out from Stansted on a 6am flight next week. I’ve booked the airport parking from 3am but assume that might take a bit of time to process? I’ve booked the closest one to the terminal so it’s only a few minutes walk.

I will have to look at the parking too urgh I didn't think of that

Don't panic on parking if your using stanstead on site! If you read the terms you can arrive 2 hours before your booked a lot
At no extra cost

Us too, we got there three hours early, we would have been worried during security if we only had 30 minutes to get to our gate .

Thanks @LIC1985! That’s a relief, I did think there might be some leeway so it’s a relief to hear you can arrive earlier. I did know you could depart up to 6 hours later than your booking in case of flight delays but wasn’t sure if it also applied to arrivals.

Going to set the alarm for 1.45am 😫😴

@LIC1985 oh really? We have got something where they meet us to take the car away I think

Dreading it

Ah that might be different. We just paid for the on-site parking as was reasonable and easy walk and there is a 6 hour window either way for arrival and departure

I've got to drive from Margate as well so it's a schlepp

It's with Stansted and says that the 6 hour thing applies

I think the meet and greet is simply someone moving the car to a further away spot for us

Can't amend it apparently as booked with Ryan air

To add insult to injury my dad booked our flights and parking

I know it’s too late now but for future Ryan Air let you check a bag in at Visa check and skip the bag drop line.

I think one of the reasons why air travel is so much slower now is that the airlines let alot of staff go during lockdown when no-one was flying, and now there's just not enough staff anymore as it takes time to get the right security clearance, training etc.

I got chatting to a woman a few weeks ago who is ex-BA cabin crew. She said the problems are entirely the fault of the airports and airlines - they’re trying to recruit people on worse conditions and pay than pre-Covid. Unsurprisingly people that used to work in the industry have found alternative jobs with better pay/conditions so don’t want to go back.

She told me she was made redundant during Covid. Previously she was part time flying 3 short haul flights per month. When BA got in touch to re-hire her they wanted her to agree to doing 1 long haul flight per month on top of the short haul AND to take a 50% pay cut. She told them where to stick it.

@acuteanxiety not Ancona but Sardinia. The airport here is tiny with not many flights per day so going back shouldn't be a problem.

@ChimneyPot I didn't even know the visa check point was different to the bag drop one!

We've also booked BA flights to Spain from Heathrow mid-Sept so am hoping the shambles have died down by then 😬 I deliberately booked a late afternoon flight as I don't fancy turning up at the crack of dawn again!

What have people's experiences been flying back to Stansted? Is arrivals as busy as departures?

I flew from/to Stansted early June: arrivals was busy but not as busy as departures. Both flights were on time, btw, just very crowded conditions.