What's included with a basic Ryanair flight?

[QueenOfChocolate]

Sorry for sounding stupid but what exactly is included if you buy a Ryanair flight without any extras-I'm booking a surprise trip from Ireland to Liverpool for my family for 3 nights but as I've never booked any sort of holiday before I've no idea how the flight side of things works and I can't ask anyone as then it would spoil the surprise!

Any help would be gratefully appreciated so that I know what I need to book! 😅

Sweet fa but they don't weigh your bags so that's a bonus! If it fits it sits!

So you get carry on luggage x

You get one free cabin bag and one handbag per person, which is pretty generous TBH. Check the size/weight restrictions online. Hold luggage is extra, but as you're only going for 3 days you probably won't need any.

Standard online check-in is free. It only opens 4 days before each leg of the journey, but again as you're going for 3 days you'll be fine. Print the return ticket just before you leave. Or you can check-in and display your boarding pass on your phone.

You might want to pay extra to select your seats, otherwise they could separate you. That will also give you early online check-in (30 days instead of 4).

Food and drink is pretty expensive, so I bring my own food from home and buy water from WH Smith/Boots at the aiport.

A seat. One item cabin bag, one hand bag per person - but if you are last in the queue to get on, you will be made to put the cabin bag in the hold as there won't be room for all the hand luggage in the overhead lockers.

They don't weigh your bag or make you put everything in the bag size checker but if it's obviously oversize they will charge you at boarding for it to go in the hold and it's more expensive than booking hold luggage in advance.

If you check in on-line early you are almost certain to sit together - but if you can't risk it, pay for early check in.

Don't expect to check in at the airport - you get charged extortionately for this. Check in on line at the earliest opportunity, print out boarding passes (or use your phone) and take them with you.

Buy any food/drinks you want on board at the airport as it's expensive and they won't necessarily have everything on the menu in stock. They also usually only take cash and carry minimal change - a call for passengers with change goes out on a lot of flights.

Thanks everyone!

So for a 3-night stay we probably shouldn't need to add extra bags?

I didn't realise that about checking in-I certainly didn't know you could do it online in advance! Is there a charge for doing it online vs using your phone or is one cheaper than the other? sorry I'm so ignorant !

I'm just trying to save unnecessary expenses and/or hassle!

On-line or via your phone is free, it's exactly the same system. But they actively want you to do it in advance and so have minimal staff at the airport, basically just to bag drop so penalise you if you haven't checked in already and printed your own boarding pass.

Unless you are massive packers, you can take a cabin bag each so shouldn't need extra luggage.

Hand luggage is easily do-able for 3 nights. Just make sure your bag/case is within their size guide lines.

In case you don't know, all liquids, pastes and gels have to go in a separate clear plastic bag and must be under 100ml each (toothpaste, deodorant etc all count as liquids).

I would also think about taking out basic travel insurance for the trip, providing you're staying in a hotel/apartment/cottage rather than with friends or relatives.

Always take out travel insurance - even if staying with friends and relatives!

I used to work in a hospital in a UK holiday resort and we would get loads of holidaymakers admitted to hospital. They were far from home, not one had travel insurance (never thought of it for the UK) and the eating out even at hospital canteen, extra B&B, rearranging flights, time off work all added up.

Nothing. They don't even clean the plane in between flights (ime)

Worth it for the super cheap flights tho!

Yeah just carry on luggage. Make sure you check in online before you go to the airport. They can buy drinks/snacks on board if they want to but they are expensive. For short flights it's fine but if someone is extra tall make sure you book extra leg room seats in advance but there is a charge for it. My dad is 6'1" and absolutely does not fit in their normal seats

On your phone is online and you must do this as they charge loads at the airport.

However you no longer need a printer as you can get the boarding passes as QR codes in the app on your phone.

Also if travelling with kids you can get 2 items free which is better than some airline. Means you can check a car seat for the other end and get your buggy tagged at bag drop then take all the way to the gate.

If you don't pre-book a seat then set an alarm on phone to check in the moment you can. We have done this when adults flying and never yet been separated. However I do not risk it with small kids.

The hold luggage allowance is plenty for 3 days, but like others have warned you, be aware they may tag it in the queue and take it away at the gate unless you are in the priority queue. Best thing to do is pack any in- flight essentials (valuables/snacks/nappies?) inside the top of your cabin bag in a smaller bag that you can grab and put at your feet if this happens.

If you play by their rules it's fine. We use them loads.

Oh and make sure you take headphones and loud music as they are constantly trying to loudly sell stuff on the flight, like their bloody scratchcards, so it's great to be able to block it out.

And for Ireland to Liverpool I think even a 6'6" man would cope just fine with a normal seat! You'll barely be in the plane an hour! Wouldn't be comfy but the leg room isn't the worst we've flown (that would be Vueling).

You don't need travel insurance from Ireland to U.K. - for the moment entitled to health care as EU member

Yes you do ny! That's terrible advice. You need travel insurance for anywhere that you could feasibly need repatriated from in case of serious accident, a long hospital stay or death meaning you cannot get home the way you came. Of course they would get emergency medical care but not the rest of the cover.

Not to mention all the other benefits like cancellation etc.

Thanks everyone! I don't feel as stupid now!

From the Ryanair web site a few minutes ago:

All Ryanair passengers get 2 free cabin bags, one 10kg bag (max. size: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm) and one small bag (max. size: 35cm x 20cm x 20cm), with our Regular fare.

Customers can be allocated a seat free of charge if they check-in online between 4 days and 2 hours before each booked flight.

Effective from October 2016 for an adult travelling with children under 12 (excl. infants) – it will become mandatory for one adult in the booking to reserve a seat. All children under 12 in the same booking will receive a reserved seat free of charge. This ensures parents and young children sit together during the flight. This will also allow you to check-in for your flight 30 days before departure.

Travel Insurance for a few days in Ireland will cost less than a tenner and would pay out for repatriation in the event of death or serious injury which could cost thousands.

For such a short trip I would check in both out and return flights the day before the outward trip and not bother paying to sit together on such a short flight unless you have primary age DCs or younger.

You'll have to pay for roaming or find wifi to do it in Ireland anyway.

As well as the small handbag and airport shopping bag, there are two size limits for carry on bags - smaller ones like rucksacks and small soft bags, which will always be allowed on the plane and larger ones, especially trolley cases, that might be taken off you and put in the hold for free, so be prepared for this if you have a larger bag.

As in all cases, the best thing to do is read all the information about check in, luggage, liquids etc on the airline website carefully as opposed to taking the word of randoms on the internet, as there are subtle differences between companies as to what the actual rules are.

When you get your boarding passes, screenshot it on your phone and then you don't need to worry about connectivity or the app being slow right when you need it, because it'll be sat in your photo stream.

(that goes for all flights, not just Ryanair.)

That's a great tip shots.

You have to prebook seats with children now. Which is a con because they give you the child's booked seat free but you have to pay for the adult's one! But it's not that expensive.

Yes - don't put anything precious or breakable in your larger carry-on bag, as they may well put it in the hold. And make sure you can carry all your carry on luggage while climbing stairs, because you usually have to walk across the tarmac to the plane.

One thing with Ryanair is they allow hardly any time between announcing the gate and final boarding call which can make you panic. And they are usually in the furthest away terminal, so make sure you keep an eye out roughly 40 mins before scheduled leaving time and make your way to the gate then. Sometimes if there's only one Ryanair gate it's announced early.

Ryanair seem to quite frequently change the gate number at the last minute. Twice I've seen it where people have queued up to get on first and then the gate number has changed.

Once the new gate was right next to the end of the queue and the people at the back of the queue literally turned round and started the front of the new queue. The people who had been at the front of the queue at the old gate were not amused.

I always stay seated until nearly everyone else has got on so I watched this play out with amusement.

I fly around 50 times a year on Ryanair and think they are decent for the cost - don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed, on the other hand, their planes are all the same size and spec (the newer ones have nicer seats) and are relatively new. I have flown on some right crates with other more expensive airlines.

Your boarding pass will tell you which stairs to use (Front or Rear) Seats are a rwo number then A for the left hand (as you face the front) window seat, B middle, C aisle, D for right hand Aisle, E middle and F window - the pictures above each row show a window next to A and F for reference.

Thanks everyone! This is all good to know