Ryanair's policy towards people who arrive after the gate closes

[Setforlife]

Do you know this as a fact as opposed to something you read? I know this practice is routine for decades in some airlines and parts of the world, but i had some inside knowledge of ryanair as of some years ago and I wasn't aware of them doing it.

Happened last two years we flew to canaries, there and back, people stuck in aisles for 20-30 minutes with their seats taken as ‘it’s a different plane than expected’ including kids not sitting with parents and wheelchair passengers with no seats. This is of course after the standard 1hr to 2 hr delay. Ryanair staff no idea what they are doing and airport staff accompanying passengers disgusted at people’s treatment but saying it’s standard for Ryanair. We never saw the end to each one, but they mostly seemed to be accommodated in the end, we couldn’t see of course who didn’t actually get on the plane.

We’ve actually moved islands for next years holiday so we don’t have to travel with Ryanair.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

we couldn’t see of course who didn’t actually get on the plane.

So you have no evidence that someone who checked in on time and showed up at the gate on time didn't actually get on the plane?

My last flight with Aer Lingus was chaotic. I like to board late but the overhead lockers were full. There were people trying to get up and down the aisle looking for spaces which were not there. Eventually the stewards took us to the front of the plane and checked in our bags. So despite having a bag which I should have been able to bring with me, it was checked in and I had to wait in Dublin for the baggage to appear.

Would I refuse to travel Aer Lingus as a result? No, I am flying with them to Heathrow next month. If I had a choice, Ryanair would be preferred as they charge for baggage and you don't have this sort of chaos due to baggage. But Ryanair don't fly to Heathrow and I prefer Heathrow to Gatwick.

 

[Sarenco]

My observation is that Ryanair often announce the gate very late in the day, to the point that it can actually be physically challenging to reach the gate by the cut off time.

Is this a deliberate strategy to deal with overbooked flights?

 

[Interstellar]

So if you have checked in late but got a seat allocated and arrive at the gate on time you will be OK? I usually check the seats that are left at check in to see how full the flight is likely to be.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

My observation is that Ryanair often announce the gate very late in the day, to the point that it can actually be physically challenging to reach the gate by the cut off time.

I have noticed that as well. It would be well worth taking a photo of the board which says "Gate announced at 13.20" so that if the closing is at 13.30 and you are refused, you would have a great story for Conor Pope.

 

[patfert1]

‘it’s a different plane than expected

Unpleasant, but not the same as planned overbooking. After all the comments I'm still not sure Ryanair overbook the planes.

1) Has anyone actually booked a Ryanair flight, checked in online, got to the gate on time - and I mean on time - and been refused boarding?

If ryanair overbook the flights, but seat numbers are assigned at advance online checkin, then it implies that on a (over)full flight some people won't get seat numbers at online checkin. Does this happen? Anyone could presumably avoid this risk by purchasing a seat number when booking.

 

[ClubMan]

https://www.ryanair.com/content/dam/ryanair/help-centre-pdfs/eu261-notices/EU261-GB-EN.pdf

DENIED BOARDING

Ryanair, as a policy, does not overbook its flights. However, in the unlikely event that a seat is not available for a passenger with a confirmed reservation, we will seek volunteers to surrender their seats in exchange for benefits that we and the volunteer may agree upon before involuntarily denying boarding to other passengers. If there are insufficient volunteers and we deny you boarding involuntarily, you are entitled to the relevant rights set out in paragraphs 1 to 3 below.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I'm still not sure Ryanair overbook the planes.

They say that they don't. But I am not sure that I believe them.

There are too many reports of "seat assigned at gate".

And they come from Frequent Posters on askaboutmoney so I tend to believe them over Ryanair

This year Scatriona got compensation for being bumped off a flight for which she showed up on time.

In 2024 arbitron got a "seat assigned at gate message" and while he got on, was nervous about it.

Sure some are due to the scheduled plane being replaced by a smaller plane, but that couldn't account for the reports.

However, there are very few reports of people who show up at the gate on time being denied boarding.

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/has-anyone-been-refused-boarding-on-a-flight-they-had-been-checked-in-for-due-to-overbooking.232490/page-2

 

[Bronte]

They say that they don't. But I am not sure that I believe them.

There are too many reports of "seat assigned at gate".

And they come from Frequent Posters on askaboutmoney so I tend to believe them over Ryanair

I do not believe Ryanair overbook. I have NEVER seen evidence of this. What I saw, because I’m the type to ask, was a change of plane size, which is a newish issue, and rare.

My observation is that Ryanair often announce the gate very late in the day, to the point that it can actually be physically challenging to reach the gate by the cut off time.

Is this a deliberate strategy to deal with overbooked flights?

Don’t agree with this either, Dublin is already physically challenging (helpful to me counting my steps - so I build it into my exercise routine in Dublin) ) gates are decided by the airports, they change because incoming flights are delayed etc. I do not believe Ryanair have ANY control over gate allocation. But I most certainly believe they are “given” the worst gates. Because they are fighting with airports.

 

[Bronte]

1) If you arrive after the gate has closed, Ryanair may not let you board

This has not been addressed on this thread. There is not a chance in hell I’d arrive late for Ryanair. I have seen people allowed board after being late, it depends which location, which staff and priorities. We were last about 3 weeks ago in Palma Majorca, we thought, at least 10 people, I’d say 3 different groups, came after us, we were on a bus to the plane, we waited about 20 min, last bus too, we had been on the very hot outside ramp down, as we were the last, the previous bus had left, we had to step back from the heat to the shade, so these last 10 were VERY late, we’d been thru the gate ages before, as we had to wait on the exterior at least 30 min. I believe a pragmatic decision was made (Palma is busy, I’d say chaos in July/August)

 

[Sarenco]

Well, I was flying back to Dublin from a UK airport with Ryanair a few months ago and I ran into this problem.

I was airside, through security, waiting for the gate to be announced. Once the gate was announced, I finished my drink and set off towards the gate, which turned out to be at the outer reaches of the terminal. When I finally got there, the gate had just closed and I wasn’t allowed through, even though it was clear that plenty of folks were still in the process of boarding. Very frustrating.

So, I booked a later fight and checked in, etc. This time, I set off for the gate, at a brisk pace, the second the gate was announced. After a while I noticed that folks were literally running past me towards the gate so I can only conclude that they’d been burned before.

 

[patfert1]

Once the gate was announced, I finished my drink and set off towards the gate, which turned out to be at the outer reaches of the terminal.

At many airports gates are announced around 60 minutes before departure time, and Ryanair close the gates 30 minutes before.

That's not a massive time if you have any mobility issues (or a travelling partner who likes to check the shopping options, make another toilet visit, get a sandwich, etc.)

A big risk in the time window to get to the gate is when you still have to go through a passport control. I encountered a massive queue last June due to the EES and was fortunately able to use the grandchild as an accomplice to jump the queue.

If I know where the non-schengen-zone gates are located at an airport I will go there before the gate is announced... and/or if I'm not familiar with the airport I ask where will be the gate... often the airport knows before it goes up on the board. And even if the gate itself would be subject to a change, it will be in the same area (or at least, I gamble on that).

 

[DazedInPontoon]

Why are gates numbers treated like national secrets until the last minute in the first place? do they not decide them for arriving planes until they land, and if so why? surely they can fairly accurately schedule when planes will land once they're already en route anyway? Are airports trying to encourage people to stay shopping and eating longer?

 

[Seamie123]

Are airports trying to encourage people to stay shopping and eating longer?

That's exactly the reason. Keep people in the retail areas for as long as possible.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Once the gate was announced, I finished my drink and set off towards the gate, which turned out to be at the outer reaches of the terminal. When I finally got there, the gate had just closed and I wasn’t allowed through, even though it was clear that plenty of folks were still in the process of boarding.

Did you make a complaint after you returned?

I suppose that they will argue that they announced the gate in good enough time for 290 passengers to make it to the gate and there were only 3 who strolled along late.

Even after they announce the gate number, there are huge queues to be processed so there should be plenty of time.

But I do agree that the gate should not close until at least 30 minutes after the gate number is announced.

I do remember waiting for a delayed flight ( I think it was Heathrow, so not Ryanair) And when the gate was eventually announced the people beside me shot up and over towards the gate. But I reckoned I had plenty of time as the revised departure time was still a fair bit away. I do remember seeing the sign saying "gate closing" and I did have to get my skates on only to find a big long queue anyway.

 

[joe sod]

big risk in the time window to get to the gate is when you still have to go through a passport control. I encountered a massive queue last June due to the EES and was fortunately able to use the grandchild as an accomplice to jump the queue.

I had a close call in faro airport 2 years ago, it was nothing to do with ryanair but faro airport having so few passport control booths open at 6am, also the passport control guys were really taking their time and a huge qeueu building from both uk and irish, not really an orderly qeue but a scrum. Panic was starting to set in luckily they then haphazardly put in a lane system which put me in a better position . I noticed a woman ahead of me had jumped the qeue and then used her child to run to the back to pull her husband and other family to top of qeue along with her. The passport guy allowed her do this and allowed her hold up everyone else behind her rather than pushing her to the side and letting the rest of qeue continue. I never saw anything so brazen . I barely got to gate in time having to run through a long distance and lots of stairs even after that. Lots of people must have missed their flights that morning. I think Faro airport was notorious for passport delays however now they have loads of electronic booths so looks like that has now been sorted.

 

[BlackandBlue]

But I most certainly believe they are “given” the worst gates. Because they are fighting with airports.

No.

This will be slightly off topic,

Some airports mandate the use of jet bridges while others will not.

Each service an airport provides has a charge.
Jet bridges have a fee while "hard stands" typically do not.

Ryanair where possible will not pay for the Jet Bridge.

Typically stands are allocate by the airport depending on what contract they have with the relevant airline.

Ground handler numbers are finite and move from stand to stand based on expected/agreed times.

do they not decide them for arriving planes until they land

Resources are assigned based on the expected arrival times.

The arrival sequence can and frequently does change. This will be within 15/20 minutes of arrival.

Everything may have been set up at stand 4 for plane a. But plane a is now delayed and in the wrong order.

I had a close call in faro airport 2 years ago, it was nothing to do with ryanair but faro airport having so few passport control booths open at 6am,

I read about a situation where a large number of passengers for Knock were left behind because they were delayed at passport control.

Both times when we used this airport in the last year I made sure we were at the passport control with loads of time and near the head of the queue.

 

[Bronte]

Well, I was flying back to Dublin from a UK airport with Ryanair a few months ago and I ran into this problem.

I was airside, through security, waiting for the gate to be announced. Once the gate was announced, I finished my drink and set off towards the gate, which turned out to be at the outer reaches of the terminal. When I finally got there, the gate had just closed and I wasn’t allowed through, even though it was clear that plenty of folks were still in the process of boarding. Very frustrating.

You were late for the gate. Some terminals are a very long way, the distance in Madrid from one end to the other is massive, there is even an internal train to other gates. Dublin is ages to walk, so you have to position yourself close to the gate, you must have been a long way away to miss the gate boarding time. As I said on another thread, they will do the gate on people even before the landed plane has emptied, last time I was in Dublin we were on the ramp down for ages, waiting for the offloading of people, the bags to be taken off, bags to be put on. But just because everyone is still boarding doesn't mean they will relent and let you thru the gate.

The cheap and cheerful model is a very fast tight turnaround, to achieve that you must stick to their rules. If they waited every time for late people Burgess would be very annoyed his flight to London was delayed. You can be certain you'll never be late again. I check the monitors constantly. I've even landed in Dublin with Aer Lingus to a different terminal to the scheduled one, and once the outward terminal changed too (you can go from one terminal internally to the other one in Dublin) . So, I booked a later fight and checked in, etc. This time, I set off for the gate, at a brisk pace, the second the gate was announced.

So, I booked a later fight and checked in, etc. This time, I set off for the gate, at a brisk pace, the second the gate was announced.

When you say announced, over the tannoy? You have to check the monitors constantly in case the gate changes, this applies to all airlines and all airports. Unless you're in Knock which has what 5 gates in the same place.

After a while I noticed that folks were literally running past me towards the gate so I can only conclude that they’d been burned before.

That's conjecture, they might have sat at the wrong gate, the gate might have changed and they didn't notice, they might have been having a last pint and got side tracked, someone might have gone to the bathroom and been too long .................

 

[Bronte]

That's not a massive time if you have any mobility issues

Having travelled thru Dublin many times, including having assistance sometimes, (wheelchair/crutches) you can always make it to the gate if you are there in plenty of time. This is in the last 5 years.

or a travelling partner who likes to check the shopping options, make another toilet visit, get a sandwich, etc.)

Seriously Pat, buying the Wrights of Howth* salmon/McCambridges or stopping to get Channel No5 is not a reason to miss your gate call time.

*Dublin got rid of them as they want to operate the shops themselves (told to me by a staff member in a shop this year)

 

[Bronte]

Why are gates numbers treated like national secrets until the last minute in the first place? do they not decide them for arriving planes until they land, and if so why? surely they can fairly accurately schedule when planes will land once they're already en route anyway? Are airports trying to encourage people to stay shopping and eating longer?

OMG - of course they have schedules and plans, you'll generally find that you're often at the same gate if you're on an Aer Lingus to London or Ryanair to Manchester, but it's not a secret, the problem is there are multiple reasons to change gates. Late planes, problems with baggage handlers being late, too many people at 6 am, not enough security guys at 8 pm, a delay in Heathrow causing incoming delays throwing out the gate scheduling, the passport control being short staffed, a hurricane in Jamaica ......

And nobody forces people to shop. Christ on a bike. Bring your own sandich and eat at the gate or on the plane. Alternatively come to the jewel that is Dublin airport shopping and food paradise 8 hours in advance so you can dine for 2 hours and shop for 4 hours.