20+ Ryanair tips

Check if booking the return flight is cheaper in Euros (or other foreign currency)

You may be able to shave a little extra off the cost of return flights with this nifty trick. All you need to do is complete your booking in separate transactions. It doesn't always work, but it's worth checking.

How does it work?

Search for your outbound flight as a one-way ticket, then, in a separate tab or window of your browser, search for the return leg of your flight as a one-way ticket. The return flight will be in the currency of the country the flight departs from, so check what the equivalent is in pounds (use the Mastercard or Visa currency converters for the most accurate rates) and then compare the total cost of both legs with that of a regular Ryanair return flight.

IMPORTANT: You will only get the full gain of any saving using specialist plastic that doesn't charge a foreign transaction charge (usually around 3%). Find out what that is with our How much does your card charge? tool, and see the top travel cards for the best fee-free picks.

In June 2026, we tested this out in a few inbound flights across Europe. See below:

Generally speaking, the more expensive the flight, the bigger the potential saving. In our spot check, the savings when paying in Euros were bigger than when paying in non-Euro currency (such as Polish Zloty or Hungarian Forint, which was actually more expensive to pay in than in pounds).

Ryanair is stricter than a Royal Marines major general – break its rules and you'll pay (literally)

It sounds obvious, but it's human nature to want to bend the rules, or think "oh, they won't notice my bag is a little over the limit".

But this is Ryanair we're talking about, which enforces its rules with military precision – we've heard whispers of its staff bringing out a tape measure if there's any discrepancy about the size of your bag.

Its chief executive Michael O'Leary even famously labelled passengers who pay because they forgot to print out their boarding passes "idiots" back in 2012, which tells you pretty much all you need to know (though incidentally, Ryanair no longer accepts printed boarding passes, with a few exceptions).

The free check-in window is now just 24 hours before travel

With Ryanair, the golden rule is to ALWAYS check in online and download your boarding pass – if you don't, you could have to cough up £40 per person, per flight. At most airports, Ryanair no longer accepts printed boarding passes, but if you check in online beforehand and can't access your digital boarding pass for some reason, they'll print you a new one free of charge.

Unless you've paid to reserve a seat, you can now only check in for free between two and 24 hours before departure.

If you pay to reserve a seat (typically between £8 and £15.50 per person), you can check in for free up to 60 days before flying.

How to avoid being stung – use the app

The strict rules mean if you want to check in for free, you're likely to need to check in for your flight back while overseas.

The easy way to do this is via Ryanair's free app (for iOS or Android). In most cases you can also get your boarding pass on the app too, meaning no hassle trying to find a printer. If you're outside the EU, beware costly mobile data charges (see Mobile and Data Roaming) – it's better to use free Wi-Fi.

However, digital boarding cards (i.e. via the Ryanair app or downloaded to your phone). You'll have to go old-school and print your boarding card after checking in online at the following airports – otherwise you risk being charged £20 per person to have it printed at the airport:

• Flying from Morocco, you can show your digital boarding pass to Ryanair and they'll give you a paper boarding pass for free.

• All airports in Turkey (except Dalaman) and Tirana (Albania) still require printed boarding passes.

NEVER leave it until you get to the airport

Whatever you do, don't leave checking in until you arrive at the airport. You'll pay £55 per person, per flight if you fail to do it online in advance – that's £220 for a family of four if you get it wrong, more than the cost of some flights.

If you check in online but either lose your phone or it runs out of battery, they'll provide you with a free printed boarding pass at the counters.

If you don't pay to choose a seat, you risk your group being sat rows apart

Ryanair insists it randomly allocates seats if you don't pay to choose a seat. But in recent years there's been a storm of protest from passengers who've accused the airline of routinely allocating groups of travellers seats in different rows in a bid to force them to pay to sit together (even when travelling with children under 12).

As a result, the only way to guarantee a seat together is to pay (though if you're disabled and you request special assistance, it says you'll be allocated a 'suitable' seat next to a companion, free of charge.)

If you reserve a seat you can check in 60 days ahead – go quick to find the cheapest

Paid-for seat check-in opens 60 days before the flight, and Ryanair says prices remain the same throughout the 60 days. If you're willing to pay, checking in as soon as possible means you'll have the most chance of bagging the cheapest seats before other travellers snap them up.

As of June 2026, below is what you pay to reserve seats at the time of booking (each seat costs 50p more if you reserve after making your booking). Also note that those are MINIMUM prices, and in most of our spot checks the prices for each seat were quite a bit higher:

• Rows 1, 2 (seats DEF) have extra legroom and cost from £12.

• Rows 16 and 17 have extra legroom and cost from £8.

• Rows 2 (seats ABC) to 5 cost from £7.50.

• Rows 6 to 15 and 18 to 33 are standard seats. They cost from £4.50.

If you're not willing to pay, check-in opens two days before your flight and you'll be randomly allocated a seat then.

You must pay to reserve a seat if travelling with under-12s

If you're travelling with children under 12, at least one adult in the party must pay extra to reserve a seat – once you've done so, you get free allocated seating for the children (max four children per adult).

It costs from £4.50 (£8 every time we looked) for the adult's seat, and you can opt to sit in rows 18 to 33 with your children. If you choose to sit anywhere else, you'll need to pay full price for you and the children. In June 2026, the CMA launched an investigation into this slightly sketchy practice to establish whether it's breaking consumer law.

For children 12 and over, this isn't mandatory. You can chance it and not pay, in which case you'll be randomly allocated seats at check-in. Alternatively, you can pay to reserve seats for both adults and children.

If you choose not to pay for seats and end up seated away from your kids, contact Ryanair customer services as they may be able to help.

Save on seat reservations and cabin bags

On Ryanair, you have to pay extra to carry anything larger than a handbag on board, to reserve a particular seat or to guarantee sitting together in a group.

When you buy a flight, the booking process now prominently offers you the chance to pay for this (plus priority boarding) by choosing the 'Regular' fare (around £24 to £39 per person, per flight). If you're travelling with children, the 'Family Plus' fare will also be available you, which works out similarly priced to the Regular fare and gives you the extra luxury of having checked-in luggage for each person.

But we've found that opting for the 'Basic' fare instead, then manually adding seat reservations, cabin bags and priority boarding can sometimes slash the cost (especially if you're only selecting some of the options). In one case, we found a family of four could save almost £100 on return flights simply by booking the extras separately.

How much can you save?

The savings on this vary by route, destination and the number of people travelling, plus what seats are still available to select. The savings aren't what they used to be, but you can still get you 5% to 20% off a booking. An important factor was what seats we selected when booking separately (if you opt for the Regular fare, rows 18 to 33 are all included – booking separately, the price can vary and it depends what's left):

• If we were able to select the cheapest seats, booking separately usually worked out cheaper. That said, if travelling without children there were quite a few instances of the Regular fare being cheaper, so always double-check (price differences varied between 5% and 20% from the Regular fare).

• If we could only pick the priciest seats in rows 18-33, Regular fares win. Factoring in the more expensive seats, it was cheaper to book the Regular fare than separately.

A number of MoneySavers have reported success using this trick. David saved £18 – and plans to celebrate:

This trick works best if you're travelling with kids

Children under 12 automatically get 'free' reserved seating with Ryanair, thanks to its family seating policy. At least one adult must reserve a seat if travelling with under-12s, and up to four children can be seated next to them for free. The airline says it costs parents from £4.50 to reserve this seat, though it was £8 for every booking we checked. You don't need to pay this fee with a 'Regular' fare.

In our spot checks, 'Family Plus' fares were similarly priced to Regular fares when travelling with three children (sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less), but some may appreciate the fact that each traveller gets to check in an up to 10KG bag AND a single 20KG bag for the whole booking on top of that. Basic fares worked out about 7% to 10% cheaper than Regular and Family Plus fares, so if you're not bothered about check-in luggage, then basic fares can save reliably you some money when travelling with kiddos.

Ryanair airports are often miles from the destination cities – factor in transport costs

Planning to dig into the delights of a smörgåsbord in Stockholm, or enjoy a sangria and paella in Barcelona? If you're hoping to land and be in the city centre in no time, think again.

For example, Stockholm's Skavsta airport, where Ryanair flies, is about 65 miles from the city centre – roughly translated, that's around a two-hour bus ride and an extra £27 return from your spending money. Warsaw Chopin Airport, where Wizz Air flies, is in the city itself, whereas Warsaw Modlin, where Ryanair flies, is out in the countryside to the north about over an hour's drive from the city.

You may still get a bargain with Ryanair, and with local knowledge you may find a cheaper price. But before you book, weigh up what you're paying for flights and transport to both airports – the Ryanair one(s) and the major airport.

Happy to go anywhere with Ryanair as long as the price is right? Try its budget-flight finder tool

Ryanair's Fare Finder tool shows you where you can go for a set budget – ie, under £20 – and from your chosen departure airport. You can't choose a date – the results show you the month you can get flights for within your set budget – so it'll only work out if you're flexible.

Always compare the cost with what you can get elsewhere – for instance, Skyscanner's Savings Generator, Momondo's Trip Finder and Kayak's Explore let you search in a similar way. Also see our Cheap flights guide for a host of flight cost-cutting tips and tricks, and Cheap hotels for help finding a MoneySaving hotel bargain.

Ryanair hand luggage rules – what you need to know

Ryanair changed its baggage policy (twice) in 2018 – now, unless you pay for priority boarding (at least £15, which also gets you an extra cabin bag), you'll only be able to take one handbag-sized carry-on into the cabin on flights.

Previously, all non-priority customers could bring one small carry-on AND one bigger wheelie bag free of charge, with the larger bag being tagged at the gate and put in the hold at no extra charge. There are now no free gate bags.

This is the current baggage policy:

• Non-priority customers can only bring one small bag into the cabin for free. This must go under the seat in front of you – the maximum dimensions are 40cm x 30cm x 20cm. You can no longer put a second bag in the cabin for free. It's best not to take any chances at the airport, because if your bag is too big (or if you forget and accidentally bring a second bag to the gate), you'll have to pay up to £60 to put it in the hold.

• Customers who pay for 'priority and two cabin bags' see no change. Except the maximum dimensions of their smaller bag will increase to 40cm x 30cm x 20cm. They can continue to bring two free carry-on bags into the cabin – one 10kg bag (55cm x 40cm x 20cm) and one small bag. Priority and two cabin bags costs £6-£20.

So if you need to take a larger bag weighing up to 10kg, you can pay for priority boarding or pay for it as checked luggage instead. It's £36 if you wait till the check-in desk, or £35 to £60 if you get to the gate and have to put your bag in the hold.

With the main bag, you can often squeeze in more than you think and still stick to the 10kg limit. Here are some general packing tips – if you've got more you'd like to share, please let us know in the forum.

Packing tips to follow

Pay for hold baggage when you book or you'll pay up to £60 per bag, per flight

If you're planning to take larger suitcases up to 20kg, paying when you book costs £21-£40 per bag, per flight. Yet if you add luggage later or wait until the airport, the price can be up to £60 per bag, per flight – even if you buy hold baggage just a few hours after your original booking. This goes up to £75 if you somehow manage to wheel your big bag all the way to the gate. See a full list of Ryanair baggage fees.

So if you're travelling with a couple of 20kg checked bags and don't book in advance, you could end up shelling out £240 for a round trip.

To avoid paying for too many bags, try to limit the amount of hold baggage you take. For instance, if going as a couple, with friends or with family, why not cram as much into one suitcase as possible to check in, such as liquids that you can't take on the flight, and put the rest in your hand luggage? The Family Plus fare is also worth considering, as that includes one 20KG bag per booking.

Booked through a third party? You must verify your booking with Ryanair

If you booked via another company (so, not directly on the Ryanair website or app), you'll need to verify the booking before you travel. You can complete this step online by visiting the Ryanair Verification Hub and selecting 'start process'.

Fail to do this and Ryanair says you might need to report to its desk at least two hours before your flight and pay a £30-55 fee.

Don't carry your luggage – wear it

If you've experienced the boarding gate of a Ryanair flight, there are usually a few who try to cram as much into their handbag as it will take.

Don't let that be you. Make use of a very valuable asset that you have no choice but to take everywhere with you – your person. The more you carry on you, the less you need to squeeze into your cabin bag.

Think deep-pocketed combat trousers, such as these £20 ones on Amazon*. MSE Hope even discovered a stuffable travel pillow for £4 on Flying Tiger, which you can fill with clothes to keep your head comfy while freeing up luggage space.

Can you beat airline baggage fees by POSTING your luggage?

A number of firms offer to ship your holiday luggage abroad, rather than pay sky-high budget airline fees. We've crunched the numbers and found this can save serious cash – some of the time.

See Can you save by POSTING luggage? for full details.

Board early to ensure you and your luggage can stick together

If you board late, there is a chance the overhead lockers near you may be full, meaning you may be forced to put your bag at the other end of the plane, or made to check it in (though this won't cost you extra).

So to avoid negotiating the scrum to collect it once you've landed, or annoying other passengers if you need something from it during the flight, get to the gate and queue early.

Made a small error? Correct within 48hrs for free. If later, fees can be huge – so booking a new flight could be cheaper

A word of warning – BEFORE confirming your booking, check, check and check it again. Mistakes can be costly.

In 2018, some customers who'd booked flights for groups reported a bizarre problem which apparently resulted in the group's surnames being changed to be the same – and they faced a £115 fee to correct the booking. See our MSE News story Martin Lewis calls on Ryanair boss to refund passengers hit with name-change charges.

How to correct a small error

There's a 48-hour window where you can correct a misspelt name (not a new name altogether) or the wrong date for free, but only if you booked direct with Ryanair. 

After 48 hours, you'll pay these fees:

• Date/route changes - £45 online (£60 at the airport or via agent)

• Name changes - £115 online (£160 at the airport or via agent)

It's worth noting, if you end up changing your dates, you'll have to pay the difference if the new flight is more expensive than the one booked originally. You won't get a refund if it's cheaper.

It could be cheaper to book a new flight

If you notice errors after 48 hours, it may be cheaper to make a completely new booking, rather than amend an existing one. It won't always be cheaper, but it is worth checking the cost of a new flight to see if it's less than the change fee.

Forumite billers did exactly that and saved:

You can sign up for alerts to find out when Ryanair releases seats

Ryanair's prices are – as with most budget airlines – fluid and move based on demand for any particular flight. When they're released, they're usually priced cheaply, though they can always be undercut by a sale or if Ryanair cuts costs because demand is low for that flight.

Nevertheless, the odds are in your favour if you book early, especially useful if you're likely to be travelling in expensive peak times, eg, school holidays, where prices are less likely to fall.

Unfortunately, you can't get a refund if you book a ticket and the price for that same flight then falls.

When does it launch tickets?

Ryanair releases seats in batches, around nine months in advance but it doesn't have clear, published dates (unlike Easyjet). To find out first, 'like' Ryanair's Facebook page and sign up to its myRyanair email service for alerts and for when it has a sale on.

Pay the right way for extra protection

The safest way to pay for flights over £100 is on a credit card (fully repaid so there's no interest) – then you get Section 75 protection. This means the card company's jointly liable if anything goes wrong, such as the airline goes bust. But with flights, it's not quite as straightforward as this.

Under Section 75 each flight counts as a transaction. So if you book a return where each leg is £50, even though the total is £100, you're not covered. Each single flight would need to be £100 or more to get the extra protection.

Avoid expensive Ryanair extras such as car hire and hotels – always check prices independently

Once you've chosen your flight, Ryanair will try to entice you to add extras such as hotels, car hire and travel insurance. While all can be useful and it may be worth checking prices, don't jump straight in without looking around first. Always check prices elsewhere beforehand.

Travel insurance for one is usually more costly via airlines or holiday agents/brokers than doing a comparison and finding your own policy (see Cheap Travel Insurance for full help finding one).

For example, at the time of writing, single trip insurance on a week's trip to Tenerife was £20 per person via Ryanair – for single trip bought separately, prices start at around £6 for an individual Europe policy.

For more top tips on cutting costs, check our Cheap Hotels and Cheap Car Hire guides.

Got noise-cancelling headphones? Take them for flights between 7am and 10pm to avoid SCREAMING announcements

Many Ryanair fliers have reported loud noises. Not from plane engines, but from the frequency of non-safety-related flight announcements.

Ryanair took on board passengers' feedback and has introduced a 'Quiet Flights' service. So if you're on a flight between 10pm and 7am, you can now expect a peaceful snooze. At other times, beware.

No swanky headphones? Nab some earplugs (less than £3 for two pairs from Boots* at the time of writing).

Avoid sky-high food prices – pack a mile-high picnic instead

It's a little-known fact than mid-air picnics are perfectly within the rules – it's only liquids over 100ml that are banned for security reasons.

Protect your pennies and plan ahead – stocking up on snacks could save a fortune compared with flight prices, and even prices in the shops, after security. For instance, when we checked, a Ryanair meal deal cost – sandwick, snack, and soft drink – cost €12.50 (£11). Even at inflated airport prices, a Boots meal deal is about £5.

But pre-packaged sandwiches are never going to win taste awards, so bringing your own food may mean you win on taste and price.

And the food doesn't have to be boring, either. Why not make it part of the holiday and theme it around where you're going – cold tagines and couscous for Morocco, tomato and mozzarella salad for Italy, schnitzel and apple strudel for Austria?

Search the MSE Forum for the 'Take your Lunch to Work Challenge' for a feast of picnic ideas – the September 2021 challenge is the most recent one, and there are loads of suggestions on older threads like the January 2013 challenge. Remember, due to the 100ml limit on liquids you'll find it difficult bringing drinks bought before you go through security onto the plane.

Don't assume Ryanair is cheapest – always compare costs

Ryanair has a reputation for being cheap, but it isn't always cheapest.

So after using these tricks always compare the final price you're quoted with the best alternative, using our Cheap Flights guide. Plus see our Easyjet tricks guide for loads more hints and tips.