Frequent air travellers know that hidden fees can strike from any direction, and the only defence is to be up to date on the latest rules.
With Ryanair announcing a slew of policy updates in recent months, there is some confusion surrounding boarding passes. The question of whether you can still secure and present physical boarding passes at the airport has left some passengers clarifying what’s right before they jet off on holiday. This is because of the budget airline’s announcement last autumn that it will be moving to a digital-only boarding passes.
The decision to switch to digital-only boarding passes was reportedly based on the fact that the majority of Ryanair passengers (60%) already use the app for check-in and boarding. The move was also a shift into more sustainable practices. The exact date that Ryanair’s digital boarding pass system will come into effect is November 3, 2025.
The postponement was meant to give customers and airport partners ample time to prepare for the new process after the busy summer schedule.
The move to digital-only check-in would mean the elimination of all airport check-in desks. And while a large portion of frequent Ryanair fliers still opt for a physical boarding pass, one of the upsides of the going digital would be the end of a few much-loathed hidden fees.
One such fee is the airport check-in fee. This is the fee that requires all passengers that check in at the airport to pay an additional £55 for the convenience. It also applies for flights departing from Spain, but is £30 instead. The only way to avoid being stung is to check-in online or in the Ryanair app before your flight. Passengers that have pre-reserved a seat can check in online up to 60 days before their scheduled departure.
Passengers that have opted for random seat allocation can check-in 24 hours before your flight and until two hours before scheduled departure. If you do not check in online up to two hours before your departure, you have until 40 minutes before boarding begins to check-in in-person.
Failure to check-in either at an airport kiosk or online at least 40 minutes before boarding means you may be subject to another hidden fee of £100. This fee applies to passengers who arrive after their flight has departed and wish to be added on a later flight.
Another cost Ryanair passengers should be aware of is the £20 boarding card re-issue fee. If you are already check-in but for any reason need to be reissued a physical boarding pass, this comes with a price tag of £20.
While these additional costs can certainly add up – as they are applied to each passenger and each part of a journey – they can be avoided by checking in online and on-time. To be on the safe side, download the free Ryanair app to keep track of your check-in times, boarding details and gate information.
For now, all of these airport boarding pass and check-in fees are still in play until Ryanair fully implements its digital-only boarding pass policy. The policy was set to come into effect in May 2025 but was postponed to November 2025.
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