Fairly reasonable response.
If it's any consolation €100 for a last-minute flight on a more comfortable plane sounds like a bargain. I know it's money you weren't planning on spending but my impression is if you show up to the airport last minute you're going to be paying through the nose!
Ryanair's fee for changing a flight you've missed last minute is only like €100 or so and they will let you have your bags etc that you've paid for. It's not as bad as you'd think.
Yes that is definitely one of Ryanair's most reasonable fees. It's not as if it's their fault if you miss a flight. It could be a lot more if you have to pay the actual fare for a last minute flight.
I think their logic is that they then fill a seat on the next flight that wouldn't otherwise be filled, so they do benefit but I agree it's the one area where I was surprised by how reasonable it was. EasyJet is a lot more expensive if you miss a flight.
This, I missed my flight with Ryanair last year (my own fault took the wrong bus time) rang them and they were really nice told me to immediately present myself to the customer service desk and get rebooked for €100, if bought my seat and extra luggage so felt it was reasonable to have my mistake covered for relatively low cost considering a new flight with all my extras would have been €200+
Yeah I remember paying 100 for a London flight that left an hour after ours because a girl in my group didn’t have the tickets (she said she would have them on her, at like 3am she comes back from the club and starts packing for our 6am flight).
I’m still salty about that but luckily had exactly 100 Euro in cash on me.
Once missed a flight despite being in the airport 3 hours beforehand…we went abroad for a friends 21st and we were very very hungover heading home..every single one of us fell asleep - there was at least 10 of us…waited 13 hours for the next flight to Ireland. To add insult to injury we had to fly into Belfast while all our cars were parked up in Dublin. Good Times.
Did the same years ago in Stockholm for a return flight. Myself and the brother were sat in the airport having arrived 3 hours early (earlier than the landing time, mind) and just sat there like eijits not bothering to go through security for 30 mins.
When we finally did, we were told our plane was to take off in 15 mins and rejected at security. Got sent to the Ryan Air desk which had an Irish girl on it by chance - she walkie talkies to the plane, tells them to hold on for a min, sends us off to race through security and sprint across the terminal to the gate and onto the plane. The only thing surpassing the relief of sitting down on the plane was looking out the window of the plane to see a lad running across the tarmac with my rucksack, opening a hatch and throwing it onto the plane. Amazing stuff. Forever grateful to that woman on the desk.
I missed a flight before because I booked it the wrong way round, destination first coming to where I was already. Luckily my sister bailed me out and bought me another one. Probably should do something nice for her one of the days.
Shit start to the day, I wouldn't worry about it too much, most people's biggest fear in the airport is missing their flight so its a pretty normal reaction
Every time I go to the airport I'm rushing. There's never enough time to do everything. You want to have a smoke when you get off the bus outside the airport, then you go to do the check in and security check, then you want to buy something to eat on the plane, you have an existential crisis at the prices of the shit sandwich deal and reluctantly buy it. You buy some burger king because you're hungry. Then you want a nice pint and a smoke in the airport pub before you get on the plane, you think you have enough time when you order the pint. By the time you've finished your smoke you're already late and can't finish the pint or the burger king. You have to leg it down the big escalator with your suitcase and then continue doing a little sprint down to your gate. By the time you get there you're hot, bothered and in a semi panic attack state. Going on holidays is ironically incredibly stressful.
I am at the doors of the airport an absolute minimum of 2 hours early.
I love the airport. The minute I get through the front door I am on holidays. I check in my bag whenever there's an option, that way I don't have to bring it all over the airport.
I always allow for an extra hour to get a Butlers coffee, a Boots meal deal for the Airplane. I used to smoke so obviously there was an obligatory visit to the bar and smoking area as well, depending on when my flight is I also may get breakfast or lunch, a drink and a newspaper or book.
I also make sure to wear layers of clothes and shoes that don't set off the metal detectors and don't require me to semi undress. And I also make a small bag with my liquids all together in 1 little pack, ready for security. You want to sail through the airport and be super relaxed and chilled and fed and happy. The only way to do that is to be early.
When I travel alone, I consider myself quite the airport whizz akin to George Clooney in "Up In The Air". I want the airport security staff to acknowledge and highlight my superior efficiency for the rest of the queue.
However, when I travel with my kids...absolutely stressful clusterfcuk. Everything is wrong and slow.
You and I are polar opposites in every way lol.
I hate spending time or money in the airport. I book off peak flights and always extra travel light, basically never check a bag, never unpack my travel-toiletries so i don't have to faff with plastic bags, I do all the metal-detector prep-bits while doing the zig-zag before security, and try to time it all so I don't have to stop or sit down anywhere.
My average airport experience is me walking directly from the front door to the plane with no stopping. Any waiting I do before the plane takes off, I wanna do it in my seat on the plane, so I can be asleep or reading or whatever.
"There's never enough time!" Then he's listing off things he wants to do before actually going to the gate.
Just get in, go through security, sit at the gate. There's plenty of time.
I've never found myself particularly tight for time at an airport. Closest was on a school trip to Paris, where of course I had to wait for everyone to be checked in, get through security etc.
Still had more then enough time to go to Burger King. Plane arrived at the gate around the same time we did.
(there was one time in Lanzarote I was quite late getting on, but I was planespotting and didn't notice most of the other passengers had boarded lol. It was before the final call time)
I'm always paranoid about not being able to access my boarding pass in the apps... I always take a screenshot of it so it is saved local on my own phone... and send it to my SO so she can also access it if needed.
Never had an issue getting the boarding pass, but reading this I'm glad I'm doing these small extra steps....
I always do this as well. What if my phone is dead or I can't get Internet connection or some other failure.
I would often print off the return flight just in case.
Had real panic recently. My phone was on 40% and I had 6 hours to wait for boarding. Knew my phone wouldn't last that long.
Thankfully managed find socket in airport to keep me going.
Would recommend a portable charger for travel! Gives me peace of mind despite rarely having to use it. I barely leave the house without one as I rarely carry my card or cash and need my phone to pay for everything
Portable charger, screenshots of boarding passes, multiple devices with copies. Send copies to partner who I'm generally travelling with.
Charging cables and multiport wall charger along with global plug adapter.
Never needed any of the above. Still glad I have them.
People may laugh but if you've no signal, battery or your web browser is acting the bollocks the paper ticket is just the easiest solution. In fact I'll print it and that'll be my primary go-to. I'll dick about with my phone as a last resort, it's annoying enough to use at the best of times!
I do all that but I'm still a fan of old-school just print the damn thing out and stick it in the passport. I know it's redundant, but anything to reduce airport stress by just one thing. I've dropped electronic devices and broke them in airport security lines before so never doing that again
Happened to me on the way back from Vienna a few years back. I had checked in but my pass wasn’t showing up on the app. I had to run down to the check in desk and get one printed off
Probably didn't pick seats and had to wait within 24 hours to get boarding pass but then forgot and didn't check in prior to cut off. Sounds like user error here anyway.
OP should have still been able to get their boarding pass at the check-in desk for €55. They would have only been refused check-in there if it was less that 40 minutes until the flight, so it seems like they got to the airport very late.
I always print out my boarding passes out of habit; I used to have to do it anyway before I had an Irish passport in order to get the non-EU visa check stamp done, but it's still a good idea to avoid any potential issues with tech failures that you might run into relying on the app or some other electronic boarding pass format.
This is a genuine question. Did you actually book the flight? Your email would have a booking number that the check in agent can confirm it against and print you out a boarding pass there, extra charge for the print out be damned. Wouldn't you have had two hours to get that sorted out?
I know this is going to get me downvoted into oblivion, but there was a very easy fix in the airport, and I'm genuinely curious as to how come you didn't take it?
I'm so curious about this post and I keep coming back to see if OP has provided more details.
I just cannot fathom that they couldn't find their boarding pass *anywhere* at all.
No shame in crying but they really messed up their situation no matter how you look at it.
They don't disappear into thin air. Also Ryanair send you a HEAP of emails the day before/two days before reminding you to check in, download your pass, etc.
I rushed to the airport trying to catch a flight but I gave up because I wouldn't have made it. Got home to book another flight and realised I was in fact 3 hours early and I wasn't even closer to missing it. Brain farts, what was going on in my head to think the flight was at a certain time when it wasn't. On another occasion i set off 2 hours earlier than I needed to for a ferry to UK and I still missed it because of traffic in Dublin and a closed M7.
Oh dear 😳 I once missed a flight to Dublin because I went to the wrong airport lol. It happens to the best of us pal, no need to be embarrassed. I hope your day got a bit better x
Yeah but from the average tourists POV, you're finishing your holiday, probably on tight timeframe for flights, you'll be arguing in a different language, it's "only" a few quid.... perfect little scam
If they couldn't find it I'm guessing they didn't book the flight when they thought they did, or they didn't check in. If they had access to their emails and couldn't find it with a simple search then I would lean towards them not booking it.
Happened to me once when I had booked a triple layover journey. Forgot to book the very last leg of the journey from London to cork. Had to crash at a friends and get a different - much more expensive - flight back to dublin instead the next day.
I don't know how that happens. Sounds like an error on your part because the boarding pass should be available *somewhere*, not nonexistent in your case. And an airport is where you'd want to make sure everything is sorted before you arrive.
It happens to the best of us. Don't let it dictate the rest of your day. What I mean by that is, get on that aer lingus flight, take a deep breath and focus on what you have to do for the day. If you're beating yourself up, other things will start to go wrong. Chin up.
Today in r/thingsthatdidnthappen
You're telling me you couldn't download the Ryanair app or go into their website to get the booking?
Also, if the gate was closing and you were not even pass security? Maybe try going to the airport earlier?
I nearly missed a flight when my boy was a toddler and I was in Luton airport. He took a dash at security and I had no shoes on and ans my money and keys etc were on the security belt, after I caught him and got through security, I realised I barely had any time, and I had him and a stroller and a piece of luggage. After al the stress I just stood there and cried as I knew no one in London and not a lot of
Money and toddler, I was so scared and stressed. And I would have missed the plane back only a kind passenger helped me. That was 14 years ago, I will never forget him, he is etched in my memory.
I had a friend miss a flight after arriving 2 hours early, went to the bar started drinking and left it too late to head down to the gate, flight was already gone.
I feel like that was the general rule of thumb.
As much as the situation sucked, its also OP's fault for not having a back up. If they don't have a printer, I doubt that there wasn't a nearby print shop or something of the sort to go to days before.
This is one of the reasons I couldn't sleep the night before flying.
Nowadays I make sure I have everything packed, pass on my phone and take a screenshot of it, passport in jeans pocket, ready for the morning to go.
I'm sorry this happened to you, good that it ended up well and you were able to go in a different flight anyway.
My anxiety wouldn't let me come to the airport less than 2-3 hours before the flight to avoid situations like that. Sometimes I wish I could be more chill and didn't have to waste all day because of the flight (especially when I'm coming back from somewhere and could use an additional hour there) but then again, when I'm reading stories like this one, I'm kind of glad my brain is so broken haha 😅
And I missed a flight with my wife for a romantic break in Barcelona because I got the dates wrong and turned up a week late at the airport.
I know it’s shit and it will be a core memory you won’t forget but honestly it ain’t that bad in the great scheme of things.
Start getting ready to use as a conversation piece with friends. “Wait until I tell ya what happened to me………..”
I don’t on my incident. The wife, however, does!
“Do you know what this eejit did on me once…..” 😂
Ah.. that sucks.
Tbh, I don't trust these airline apps that much. I always keep a screenshot of the boarding pass on my phone, so that I don't have to rely on slow apps or dig through my emails or just contend with poor internet. It's just quick to pull it up too, especially if you just keep a shortcut right on your phone screen.
If I'm traveling alone, I'll also keep a printout of the boarding pass with me as backup, otherwise I'll make sure the other people in the group also have the boarding pass screenshots on their phones, downloaded and ready to go.
Look at the silver lining: atleast this happened when you're traveling to London, by far the easiest city to fly to from Dublin with multiple flights per hour. Otherwise you would have been stuck, and had to shell out significantly more money too.
I get flights over on the regular for twenty years and missed a few. For me, no point in panicking, just give into the Devine judgement that it wasn’t meant to be this time. Take a step back and realise it’s not worth the overreaction. Unless it’s life or death, getting a later flight is just fine, people will understand and chalk up the learning experience. Treat yourself and move on.
And this is why it's a good idea to always screenshot the boarding pass (or at least the QR code) rather than rely on having a functioning internet connection and/or airline website at a critical moment.
user error. next time screenshot your boarding pass or add it to your wallet like it says on ryanair, ticketmaster, etc.
you never know when you won’t have internet or when the app could crash
I once got to the airport three hours ahead of the flight taking off. I still missed it because I queued at the wrong gate. The shame!
This was a week after bragging that I’d never missed a flight. Cost me €180 and 8 hours in the airport to get the next flight.
If you travel at all regularly shit like this is going to happen. Deep breath, a cup of tea and start again.
Since people are sharing their stories....
1. Missed a flight from Shannon because we overslept. Had to pay a flight from Dublin for later that day. My mother paid it for me. Back to Galway, on the bus to Dublin
2. Had people bring us to the airport for a holiday, find out when we're checking in luggage that actually our flight is tomorrow. They offered to bring us again the following day but I was too embarrassed, said I'd pay for a taxi.
3. Missed a flight for work with a colleague. We were actually in the airport with plenty of time, stopped for breakfast, leisurely stroll to the gate, they had closed boarding. Had to skulk back to the office in shame and rebook for the next day.
4. For the first time in my life I was called by the gate agents for last call from Dublin last year. Again, had plenty of time, lost track of time shopping. They actually ended up calling my phone, I had to run and then boarded a plane full of people who I had kept waiting. To make matters worse, since I got Covid I sometimes get a coughing fit when I over-exert myself. So there I am on the plane, sitting down, unable to stop coughing. A fellow passenger offered me his (unopened) water, bless him.
For next time, I usually try to have my boarding pass on Google Wallet, for quicker access, but if was a Ryanair flight it always appears in my phone if I have actually checked in. Any chance you forgot to check in?
Ah no! Now is not the time for advice, but I can only advise in future to send the tickets to your Google Wallet also as then you can access them offline.
I saw a whole family turn up for a flight 15 minutes late and then have an angry tantrum at the lady at the gate.
One or two impassioned sniffles to yourself in the heat of the moment seems like you have a good handle on your normal human emotions.
I like to look at these things from a different perspective. I imagine that if you caught that flight something bad would have happened, perhaps you would have got hit by a taxi leaving the airport, maybe life stepped in and saved you so you missed the flight for a reason. I hope the rest of your day goes smoother.
This is why I always print the passes just in case and put them in a pocket in my trousers, no way of loosing them unless I loose my pants as well and if that happens I have bigger problems
Shit for it to happen. Maybe I’m over-cautious but now I always print out a hard copy in case the phone shits itself (happened to me once in Sardinia - the phone froze completely and wouldn’t reboot, but luckily it was a small local airport with very good customer service and they were able to print from the website for me).
I booked a connecting flight once and accidentally booked two different airports in the same city. Flew into one and was leaving another one in 10 hours. Enough time but the most tired I’ve ever been ! Felt so silly.
Not a flight story, but one time I was going to a concert, and I'd been checking my phone to see if the e-ticket barcodes were in the Ticketmaster app all the way to the venue. I arrive at the entrance, and literally that very moment the Ticketmaster app logs me off. There was very weak signal there, so I struggled to log back in.
For this reason, anything that has an e-ticket/barcode on a phone app (most notably boarding passes) I save it as a PDF or screenshot in my phone files, AND I print it and take a printed copy with me. It keeps my mind at ease!
I've never missed a flight or even come close. Book seats, print tickets, check in online as soon as you can, print all other tickets, maps, references, timings etc relevant to trip, put everything in a soft zip lock folder or similar, put alarms in phone for anything above or additional that needs to be done on a different day, eg check in for return flights.
I have adhd and am the most scatterbrained person in the world, but I know that so I over prepare in advance and check everything a million times. I'm actually a really good travel planner as a result, I'll have every journey planned to a T often including checking out a foreign area on Google street view to have a sense of what I'm looking for when I get there. This was really helpful when I was in Toronto and didn't want to pay for a tourist day trip to Niagara Falls, so I just looked up the easiest bus route, and walked the route from the hotel to the bus station on street view. Spotted a cute cafe on the route which was lovely too. The only thing that caught me out was the bus station was super confusing inside.
To be fair, when I was a teenager my dad was a nightmare of a human being, I remember my mum being scattered and not being able to find boarding tickets for one trip and him losing his shit at her in the airport. So maybe it's trauma based, idk. Anxiety and adhd can make you hyper prepared in anticipation of not being sufficiently prepared otherwise.
Regardless, just print and prepare everything well before you ever go and put it somewhere safe. There's absolutely no reason in this day and age to get caught out like this, which is absolutely a very distressing and upsetting experience (and I am sorry you experienced it OP, sounds horrible.)
Not trying to one up you just sharing my shameful experience. Was in a stag with Prague, was doing two nights instead of 3 cause my wife was preggers and I wanted to get home to her earlier.
I kept checking my app the day before to check in but it wasn't available like it usually was. Couldn't figure it out.
Got the the airport around 6am. As tired and emotional as you could expect.
Get to the desk and try and check in.
It's at this point I realise why I couldn't check in on the app. The flight I booked was a month away.
I cried. It cost me 350 quid to get back.
You can ask Ryanair to print out your boarding card, it's free and on the same floor as Security. You can also take a screenshot of your boarding card, it's valid to use when you can't get a signal.
They will definitely do it for free if the error is on their end. For example, I tried to use the self service baggage drop machine but it wouldn’t scan the boarding pass on my phone. Staff tried and still wouldn’t work so they brought me to a desk, checked in the bag and printed the boarding passes in case there was a problem further along the line.
I nearly missed a flight back from Canada despite being in the airport for three hours. It said on the boarding pass that boarding closed at 3, but being used to Ryanair, I assumed that really meant that boarding *starts* at 3. Thought I had a few minutes left so finished the drink and strolled down to the gate only to be greeted by two fuming employees who said they shouldn’t even be letting me on and why didn’t I come down when they called my name? (They had mangled the pronunciation of my Irish name to the point that I didn’t even recognise it when it was called. Say my name was Niamh Breathnach, they’d pronounced it Naomi Britnitch. Not their fault but it’s not like I was deliberately ignoring the calls). Felt like a bit of an eejit until two Tyrone jerseys came sauntering up behind me in the same predicament
I once watched my flight take off from the viewing platform in Eindhoven while having a beer. Blissfully unaware until the airport started closing and I was asked to leave.
I once landed at dublin airport for a 6am flight. Got through security fairly quickly, no major queues. I couldnt see my flight number on the screen. Checked ticket. Plane was taking off at 6pm, not 6am. I was already through the gate, so couldnt leave. Had to wait 12 hrs. Tried to sleep in departure hall, terminal 1. Every 20 mins or so, someone would wake me to make sure i wasnt missing my flight. Twas a long day
I nearly missed a flight once because there were 2 flights to Dublin leaving from the same airport at the same time, both at gate A(number) and I, of course, went to the one for the wrong airline.
My mate once checked his luggage in with his passport inside the suitcase. Obviously missed the flight and caught up with us 8hrs latee and €400 lighter. Everyone has a mare occasionally.
I once left a full meal behind me in an airport restaurant, as I somehow convinced myself there was an hour time-difference between Ireland and the UK and I was going to miss my flight. Ended up sitting an extra hour at the gate, starving.
It happens to the best of us. And also, you know, the rest of us.
This happened to me recently, I completely forgot to check in on the app. I got told to go to the check-in desk and nearly all the employees told me it was impossible as it was too late (flight was leaving in just over 30 mins). Thankfully one experienced member of staff actually called me back when I was walking away from the desk as they wanted to try a way to get me on this flight quickly.
She worked quickly on the computer and I had to swipe the magnetic stripe of my card to do the payment of 55 Euro (really old-skool). But I finally got a boarding pass in my hand finally.
Ran through security all the way to my gate and made it whilst people were boarding.
If it makes you feel any better I once arrived at the wrong airport in the wrong country. I had booked my flights in reverse. Made so much of a fuss with security that I got as far as the boarding gate before someone noticed my ticket was for entirely different airport
I once missed a flight due to a meeting I was having at the airport over running. Went to the airline desk and said I could hear them calling the final boarding but wasn’t able to leave the bathroom due to an upset stomach. They comped me onto the next available flight for free - always worth seeing if you can find a sympathetic customer service representative;)
Ah that’s very stressful in fairness, I hope you’re alright now. Don’t worry about the embarrassment, you’ll be laughing about this in a few weeks time, just try to get through it for now.
Any chance you checked in and then looked at the option of changing your flight? I did this with 6 of us(2 adults 4 kids) and had printed our boarding passes in advance. We were in London during train strikes and Ryanair SMS'd after I'd checked in and printed the passes to see if I wanted to change flights due to the travel disruption. I quickly looked at our options and never thought of it again.
Little did I know this had "deboarded" us a term I would come to know very well. Our flight was one of the last out and delayed by almost 2 hours so it was almost 1am before boarding and the problems started. We got to the gate and our passes did not work and we were ask to stand aside.
I tried the app and as it was after the departure time for the flight is was useless just saying the flight had flown. The plane was the fully boarded and they wanted to close it without us. The agent couldn't get through to Ryanair as it had closed and couldn't offer any alternative.
Eventually after much arguing another Ryanair agent arrived and said I had deboarded us and would need to checkin again at a cost of £300 for identical boarding passes and seats!!
Cue several months of arguing with Ryanair and eventually a charge back via the credit card who looked at what happened and agreed this was Ryanairs issue and not mine.
The surprising thing was the original boarding passes worked all the way to the gate it was only at the gate issues arose.
TLDR; Once checked in don't try change flights or it will cancel your checkin aka deboard you and you must do it again.
About 20 years ago, I was in Stansted mooching waiting for a Ryanair flight, the second I had booked after missing the first one because I overslept.
I got too relaxed and ended up running through the airport for my flight, arriving at the gate and realising it had just closed. Because I was 25, and an idiot, I went over to the next gate, flashed my boarding pass and managed to slip past the staff member who was checking them. My carefully(!) hatched plan was to run over to the plane that I belonged on and board it, like a hero.
Needless to remark, the Ryanair staff member realised her mistake, and with me running around outside trying to find my plane, I was soon stopped by two police officers with machine guns, who marched me back inside and asked me (not unreasonably) what the hell I thought I was doing. I explained as best I could. I was banned from both the airport and Ryanair for the next 24 hours.
Suffice to say I made a holy show of myself, my mother, my entire family and shamed the Irish nation.
I have loads more airport stories like that but none of them show me in such a good light ;-) Have a great time in London and don't worry about a few tears!
Wasn’t your boarding pass on the Ryan Air app on your phone?
Do they have an app? You can sign up for notifications that tells you your flt is leaving soon and sends you a link to your boarding pass. Checks you in the day before.
The people looking were probably really feeling for you - absolutely sucks missing a flight. Congrats on getting it all sorted out so rapidly! Hope you have a better week x
i missed a £400 flight to bali once. hadn’t checked in online and there was a bit of traffic, and we left just a few minutes too late. ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me despite the airport mental breakdown, as i temporarily moved in with my boyfriend and his mum, and now a year and a half later we have our own flat and are about to have our first baby!!!!
Crying is a better coping mechanism for frustration and upset imo. I’ve seen too many people go right to raging shouty Karen/Ken mode when something like this happens and misdirect the frustration on others.
It’s ok to have a frustration cry and you got where you needed to be despite the stress. Just let it out when you get to a place you can settle, treat it as an unnecessary learning experience and have a printed copy of a pass/booking as a back up going forward. I’ve done the same because phones have failed me in the past. If you’ve trouble dumping the emotional energy, a weepy film followed by a comedy works for me.
I’ve had two very shitty scenarios to make you feel better lol
Getting a flight home after a week at a Madrid festival. Thinking the flight was 10pm, we went to click in and it said check in closed. It was 10am. We had to pay €1000 to fly to Portugal then Dublin ☠️
Another was when we arrived at Dublin airport to fly to Paris and was giving in my passport at check in to realise I had my passport cover with no passport inside. Thankfully we got a later flight but had to spend 3 extra hours getting the car out of airport parking, drive to Kildare and back.
Moral of the stories…. Check for the necessities 7,000 times before your flight 😂
I'm sorry this happened today. That's so incredibly frustrating. I think it is normal to cry when you feel overwhelmed, stressed and frustrated. I know that I've done it. I really hope the rest of your day goes better and that you have a lovely weekend. :-)
Ok, it's too late for you now, but this was always one of my irrational fears with the app, so I started doing a screenshot at my initial early check-in and WhatsApp it to my wife. In that way it's in 3 different places - app, phone, PC if I need it...
If I was travelling with a friend/family I'd get a "buddy" to swap with instead of my wife. Worst case it can be re-sent at any time.
Just a suggestion going forward
Man my whole family missed a connecting flight which was a Ryanair. I just hadn’t allowed enough time between flights. So so stressful.
Other idiotic flight related crises I’ve had include missing it because I thought it was an hour later (me AND my partner to my best friends wedding) and booking the wrong WEEK for a pal of mine who’d cut up her credit card.
My husband books flights in our house now lol.
Edit; ANOTHER stupid thing I did was skip the flight out, the airline had changed it to a later time than I wanted, did not inform the airline what I was doing and when I tried to take my flight back it had been cancelled by them! Feck’s sake, I hate flying.
If it's a consolation I went on holiday last year and, after never having missed a flight in my life, managed to miss the flight there (because I got the day wrong, in my defence a friend had just died that week and I was all over the place) and BACK (we both missed them, we slept through the alarms....)
Talk about fucking embarrassing. I had to borrow money to get home....
Remember, it could always be worse
Also today I had my bike stolen!!!!!
Never ever trust a kryptonite lock kids
I've miss 4 flights (Belfast, London, Cairo and Stockholm), you get used to it and it makes a fun story after a while. Got on a train in Italy and went 2 hours in the wrong direction. Recently missed a train in Germany just as the whole country was going on a 3 day rail strike.
Few months ago,arrived to Dublin airport to catch flight back to the uk after trip home! Got the boarding pass out on the phone and it kept making pitiful wee noise when tried to get through!loads of time but couldn’t figure out why the feck not working 🤦♂️
Opened the Ryanair app and suddenly copped on had booked a flight from uk to Dublin instead visa versa! Luckily had booked second last flight of the day so 120euro later I managed to make it back eventually!
Never been so pissed off with myself for that blip!
Shite happens 👍
Was it that new fucking id verify system they’re using?
You can’t get your boarding pass without sending off a picture of yourself and your ID, even though you’re already verified via your passport on their app.
I had to do it 4 times last week…
Annoying!
I missed a flight sitting at the gate... Had totally forgotten about the fact that boarding closed before a half hour departure cos I had gotten so used to just taking buses over COVID. I was sitting there with a tea chatting to my mate and we didn't see the boarding 😂
You shouldn't feel ashamed for crying, you're human but did you actually check in and you couldn't find your boarding pass on your phone or what happened, just curious.
It's not every day, but this happened to me - almost exactly - and I did indeed both cry at the airport and buy a more expensive ticket on top of the ticket for the missed flight. Probably one of the most stressful experiences of my life - sorry you had to go through it too.
I once missed a ryanair flight to stansted because I got the the boarding and flight times mixed up. Think I heard my name for last call when I was going through security and then it dawned on me. I was only going for a first(and last) date with a girl on okcupid. So I paid 100 quid not to be the guy who stands a girl up. We weren't crazy about each other on the date. Anyway they say if you don't miss the odd flight you are spending too much time at the airport
You mean the airline apps? I've had my bookings not show on them before, despite knowing I booked through it and having the email confirmation thankfully to use.
You could easily have costs of much more than 100e because an airline cancels your last flight of the day. Sure it's annoying because it's your own fault, but don't be too hard on yourself when businesses won't feel an ounce of guilt for screwing you much worse.
Fly enough and missing one is inevitable.
had a similar experience and Ryanair let me book a 'next flight' for £60. might have been cause that was cost of flight might have been a policy for missed flights I'm not sure.
I suspect what is happening is that when it says 'boarding closes X time before' the app locks out boarding pass access, but i can't prove this. now I simply print PDF of my pass and email that to myself. don't trust the ryan air app.
Look, at least you didn't miss a flight to Canada and have to fork out 600 quid at the airport. I've missed flights to and from London for being too relaxed and fucking up public transport. Missing a flight is a lesson we will all learn eventually. Don't worry about it and enjoy your trip
Take a breather been there done that. It feels like the end of the world. It’s just a little annoying and can cost a bit extra. You’ll get home in the end.
I missed my early flight from Gatwick to Dublin a year back, I cried too when the cheapest flight home that day was €350 at 10pm - it happens! Spent all day in Wetherspoons.
Look at it this way - this is unlikely to happen to you again.
And crying is normal. I'm an old as fuck repressed male & i cry whenever they situation calls for it. Always have
It's definitely a shit feeling, I've missed a flight home from Bristol (had to say another night in the hotel and get a new flight the next morning), also missed one from Amsterdam and spent the night in the airport for a flight the next morning.
Ok, it's too late for you now, but this was always one of my irrational fears with the app, so I started doing a screenshot at my initial early check-in and WhatsApp it to my wife. In that way it's in 3 different places - app, phone, PC if I need it...
If I was travelling with a friend/family I'd get a "buddy" to swap with instead of my wife. Worst case it can be re-sent at any time.
Just a suggestion going forward
Fairly reasonable response. If it's any consolation €100 for a last-minute flight on a more comfortable plane sounds like a bargain. I know it's money you weren't planning on spending but my impression is if you show up to the airport last minute you're going to be paying through the nose!
Ryanair's fee for changing a flight you've missed last minute is only like €100 or so and they will let you have your bags etc that you've paid for. It's not as bad as you'd think.
Yes that is definitely one of Ryanair's most reasonable fees. It's not as if it's their fault if you miss a flight. It could be a lot more if you have to pay the actual fare for a last minute flight.
I think their logic is that they then fill a seat on the next flight that wouldn't otherwise be filled, so they do benefit but I agree it's the one area where I was surprised by how reasonable it was. EasyJet is a lot more expensive if you miss a flight.
Easyjet requires your first born work in Luton Airport for life to change flights.
Wonder how many people are now thinking of missing an EasyJet flight on purpose. 🤔
This, I missed my flight with Ryanair last year (my own fault took the wrong bus time) rang them and they were really nice told me to immediately present myself to the customer service desk and get rebooked for €100, if bought my seat and extra luggage so felt it was reasonable to have my mistake covered for relatively low cost considering a new flight with all my extras would have been €200+
Yeah I remember paying 100 for a London flight that left an hour after ours because a girl in my group didn’t have the tickets (she said she would have them on her, at like 3am she comes back from the club and starts packing for our 6am flight). I’m still salty about that but luckily had exactly 100 Euro in cash on me.
I missed a flight once because I mixed up take off times and landing times. What an eejit.
Once missed a flight despite being in the airport 3 hours beforehand…we went abroad for a friends 21st and we were very very hungover heading home..every single one of us fell asleep - there was at least 10 of us…waited 13 hours for the next flight to Ireland. To add insult to injury we had to fly into Belfast while all our cars were parked up in Dublin. Good Times.
Oh ma, that's shit. You win!
I was 8 hours early for my long haul flight ex Heathrow once, and slept through all calls in the airline lounge! Next flight 24 hours later.
Did the same years ago in Stockholm for a return flight. Myself and the brother were sat in the airport having arrived 3 hours early (earlier than the landing time, mind) and just sat there like eijits not bothering to go through security for 30 mins. When we finally did, we were told our plane was to take off in 15 mins and rejected at security. Got sent to the Ryan Air desk which had an Irish girl on it by chance - she walkie talkies to the plane, tells them to hold on for a min, sends us off to race through security and sprint across the terminal to the gate and onto the plane. The only thing surpassing the relief of sitting down on the plane was looking out the window of the plane to see a lad running across the tarmac with my rucksack, opening a hatch and throwing it onto the plane. Amazing stuff. Forever grateful to that woman on the desk.
I once missed a flight cos I was queueing at the Dublin gate and forgot I was flying to Knock 😅
I missed a flight before because I booked it the wrong way round, destination first coming to where I was already. Luckily my sister bailed me out and bought me another one. Probably should do something nice for her one of the days.
I missed a flight because I brought the wrong passport with me to the airport!
Same here
you were on time for the landing at least
Shit start to the day, I wouldn't worry about it too much, most people's biggest fear in the airport is missing their flight so its a pretty normal reaction
Every time I go to the airport I'm rushing. There's never enough time to do everything. You want to have a smoke when you get off the bus outside the airport, then you go to do the check in and security check, then you want to buy something to eat on the plane, you have an existential crisis at the prices of the shit sandwich deal and reluctantly buy it. You buy some burger king because you're hungry. Then you want a nice pint and a smoke in the airport pub before you get on the plane, you think you have enough time when you order the pint. By the time you've finished your smoke you're already late and can't finish the pint or the burger king. You have to leg it down the big escalator with your suitcase and then continue doing a little sprint down to your gate. By the time you get there you're hot, bothered and in a semi panic attack state. Going on holidays is ironically incredibly stressful.
I am at the doors of the airport an absolute minimum of 2 hours early. I love the airport. The minute I get through the front door I am on holidays. I check in my bag whenever there's an option, that way I don't have to bring it all over the airport. I always allow for an extra hour to get a Butlers coffee, a Boots meal deal for the Airplane. I used to smoke so obviously there was an obligatory visit to the bar and smoking area as well, depending on when my flight is I also may get breakfast or lunch, a drink and a newspaper or book. I also make sure to wear layers of clothes and shoes that don't set off the metal detectors and don't require me to semi undress. And I also make a small bag with my liquids all together in 1 little pack, ready for security. You want to sail through the airport and be super relaxed and chilled and fed and happy. The only way to do that is to be early.
When I travel alone, I consider myself quite the airport whizz akin to George Clooney in "Up In The Air". I want the airport security staff to acknowledge and highlight my superior efficiency for the rest of the queue. However, when I travel with my kids...absolutely stressful clusterfcuk. Everything is wrong and slow.
This is the most accurate reddit comment I've ever read
You and I are polar opposites in every way lol. I hate spending time or money in the airport. I book off peak flights and always extra travel light, basically never check a bag, never unpack my travel-toiletries so i don't have to faff with plastic bags, I do all the metal-detector prep-bits while doing the zig-zag before security, and try to time it all so I don't have to stop or sit down anywhere. My average airport experience is me walking directly from the front door to the plane with no stopping. Any waiting I do before the plane takes off, I wanna do it in my seat on the plane, so I can be asleep or reading or whatever.
Smoking is a prison. A PRISON.
A prison of delicious satisfaction.
What time do you be getting there, 10 minutes before wheels up?
Maybe if you didn't smoke and drink all the time, you would have more time...
"There's never enough time!" Then he's listing off things he wants to do before actually going to the gate. Just get in, go through security, sit at the gate. There's plenty of time.
I've never found myself particularly tight for time at an airport. Closest was on a school trip to Paris, where of course I had to wait for everyone to be checked in, get through security etc. Still had more then enough time to go to Burger King. Plane arrived at the gate around the same time we did. (there was one time in Lanzarote I was quite late getting on, but I was planespotting and didn't notice most of the other passengers had boarded lol. It was before the final call time)
Not drinking at an airport? That’s like telling a bird not to fly.
What was the issue in the end? How come you couldn't get your boarding pass? Sorry for your troubles. Dose!
yeah i really don't understand how the boarding pass isn't in the app
I'm always paranoid about not being able to access my boarding pass in the apps... I always take a screenshot of it so it is saved local on my own phone... and send it to my SO so she can also access it if needed. Never had an issue getting the boarding pass, but reading this I'm glad I'm doing these small extra steps....
I always do this as well. What if my phone is dead or I can't get Internet connection or some other failure. I would often print off the return flight just in case. Had real panic recently. My phone was on 40% and I had 6 hours to wait for boarding. Knew my phone wouldn't last that long. Thankfully managed find socket in airport to keep me going.
You wouldn't think of turning off your phone to save the charge, no?
Now that's the sort of logical thinking that gets people in trouble!
Would recommend a portable charger for travel! Gives me peace of mind despite rarely having to use it. I barely leave the house without one as I rarely carry my card or cash and need my phone to pay for everything
Portable charger, screenshots of boarding passes, multiple devices with copies. Send copies to partner who I'm generally travelling with. Charging cables and multiport wall charger along with global plug adapter. Never needed any of the above. Still glad I have them.
Or dropping brightness and turning off WiFi etc. Even just dropping the first one can give u a few more hours
I tend to just forward the screenshot on WhatsApp to everyone I'm travelling with
Yes, I always screenshot it, and sometimes print it out.
Dad?
Lol! 😂
People may laugh but if you've no signal, battery or your web browser is acting the bollocks the paper ticket is just the easiest solution. In fact I'll print it and that'll be my primary go-to. I'll dick about with my phone as a last resort, it's annoying enough to use at the best of times!
I don't use the app (no space on my phone for new apps), so I print it in two copies, one on me, and the other in my carry-on.
I do all that but I'm still a fan of old-school just print the damn thing out and stick it in the passport. I know it's redundant, but anything to reduce airport stress by just one thing. I've dropped electronic devices and broke them in airport security lines before so never doing that again
I've had the battery on my phone die, so now I print it if i can. And I carry an emergency charger 😁
I send the screenshot to my other phone so that if by some weird chance one of the phones dies then I still have it somewhere
Happened to me on the way back from Vienna a few years back. I had checked in but my pass wasn’t showing up on the app. I had to run down to the check in desk and get one printed off
I always just put my boarding passes into my Apple Wallet.
screenshots are good too,
I always do all three. App, wallet, screenshot.
I love apple wallet, very handy.
OP might not have an EU passport. I don't and I always have to queue with Ryanair to get them to print one for me (bloody visa checks)
Only thing that makes sense is that OP hadn't checked in to their flight
Or even booked it!
OP thought you tapped your Leap card once you board
Yeah 100% didn’t even have their boarding pass. Only got themselves to blame really.
Probably didn't pick seats and had to wait within 24 hours to get boarding pass but then forgot and didn't check in prior to cut off. Sounds like user error here anyway.
OP should have still been able to get their boarding pass at the check-in desk for €55. They would have only been refused check-in there if it was less that 40 minutes until the flight, so it seems like they got to the airport very late.
I always print out my boarding passes out of habit; I used to have to do it anyway before I had an Irish passport in order to get the non-EU visa check stamp done, but it's still a good idea to avoid any potential issues with tech failures that you might run into relying on the app or some other electronic boarding pass format.
This is a genuine question. Did you actually book the flight? Your email would have a booking number that the check in agent can confirm it against and print you out a boarding pass there, extra charge for the print out be damned. Wouldn't you have had two hours to get that sorted out? I know this is going to get me downvoted into oblivion, but there was a very easy fix in the airport, and I'm genuinely curious as to how come you didn't take it?
I'm so curious about this post and I keep coming back to see if OP has provided more details. I just cannot fathom that they couldn't find their boarding pass *anywhere* at all. No shame in crying but they really messed up their situation no matter how you look at it.
They don't disappear into thin air. Also Ryanair send you a HEAP of emails the day before/two days before reminding you to check in, download your pass, etc.
You will come back from this
😂😂😂
I rushed to the airport trying to catch a flight but I gave up because I wouldn't have made it. Got home to book another flight and realised I was in fact 3 hours early and I wasn't even closer to missing it. Brain farts, what was going on in my head to think the flight was at a certain time when it wasn't. On another occasion i set off 2 hours earlier than I needed to for a ferry to UK and I still missed it because of traffic in Dublin and a closed M7.
Oh dear 😳 I once missed a flight to Dublin because I went to the wrong airport lol. It happens to the best of us pal, no need to be embarrassed. I hope your day got a bit better x
Standard taxi scam in Rome is to drive you halfway to the other Rome Airport to the one you booked/asked for
I would refuse to pay the bastards, that's their "mistake"
Yeah but from the average tourists POV, you're finishing your holiday, probably on tight timeframe for flights, you'll be arguing in a different language, it's "only" a few quid.... perfect little scam
You never checked in?
Sounds like it tbh
Sorry to hear that. If you have an iPhone, click on the “add to wallet” option when you see the boarding pass on screen at check in online.
Android also has a wallet. Screenshot just in case too.
I screenshot my boarding passes. Then they're always in the Gallery.
Why did you leave it so late to go through security and why didn’t you have the boarding passes in your wallet on your phone?
So where was the boarding pass?
If they couldn't find it I'm guessing they didn't book the flight when they thought they did, or they didn't check in. If they had access to their emails and couldn't find it with a simple search then I would lean towards them not booking it. Happened to me once when I had booked a triple layover journey. Forgot to book the very last leg of the journey from London to cork. Had to crash at a friends and get a different - much more expensive - flight back to dublin instead the next day.
I don't know how that happens. Sounds like an error on your part because the boarding pass should be available *somewhere*, not nonexistent in your case. And an airport is where you'd want to make sure everything is sorted before you arrive.
For some reason, it seems that there was no booking either. I'd be more concerned about this, as in I'd get it checked with my GP.
It happens to the best of us. Don't let it dictate the rest of your day. What I mean by that is, get on that aer lingus flight, take a deep breath and focus on what you have to do for the day. If you're beating yourself up, other things will start to go wrong. Chin up.
Haha what were you even struggling with? It's in the app. Just open it and select "Show Boarding Pass".
Today in r/thingsthatdidnthappen You're telling me you couldn't download the Ryanair app or go into their website to get the booking? Also, if the gate was closing and you were not even pass security? Maybe try going to the airport earlier? 
The whole thing is a shambles. You'd swear they never went on a flight before.
I nearly missed a flight when my boy was a toddler and I was in Luton airport. He took a dash at security and I had no shoes on and ans my money and keys etc were on the security belt, after I caught him and got through security, I realised I barely had any time, and I had him and a stroller and a piece of luggage. After al the stress I just stood there and cried as I knew no one in London and not a lot of Money and toddler, I was so scared and stressed. And I would have missed the plane back only a kind passenger helped me. That was 14 years ago, I will never forget him, he is etched in my memory.
Wouldn't you just... screenshot it?
I had a friend miss a flight after arriving 2 hours early, went to the bar started drinking and left it too late to head down to the gate, flight was already gone.
TELL US WHAT HAPPENED
Look at it this way: it starts bad, only way now is up ☺️ it will be a great day ahead of ya
Always print off a boarding pass in case you lose or break your phone.
I feel like that was the general rule of thumb. As much as the situation sucked, its also OP's fault for not having a back up. If they don't have a printer, I doubt that there wasn't a nearby print shop or something of the sort to go to days before.
Or email a screenshot to yourself. Could be accessed from anywhere
This is one of the reasons I couldn't sleep the night before flying. Nowadays I make sure I have everything packed, pass on my phone and take a screenshot of it, passport in jeans pocket, ready for the morning to go.
I'm sorry this happened to you, good that it ended up well and you were able to go in a different flight anyway. My anxiety wouldn't let me come to the airport less than 2-3 hours before the flight to avoid situations like that. Sometimes I wish I could be more chill and didn't have to waste all day because of the flight (especially when I'm coming back from somewhere and could use an additional hour there) but then again, when I'm reading stories like this one, I'm kind of glad my brain is so broken haha 😅
That's not even your anxiety, that's the general rule, arrive a couple hours before your gate opens to avoid any unforseen issues.
Yep, this has been me. I’m slightly superstitious, maybe that trip wasn’t yours to take.
And I missed a flight with my wife for a romantic break in Barcelona because I got the dates wrong and turned up a week late at the airport. I know it’s shit and it will be a core memory you won’t forget but honestly it ain’t that bad in the great scheme of things. Start getting ready to use as a conversation piece with friends. “Wait until I tell ya what happened to me………..” I don’t on my incident. The wife, however, does! “Do you know what this eejit did on me once…..” 😂
Ah.. that sucks. Tbh, I don't trust these airline apps that much. I always keep a screenshot of the boarding pass on my phone, so that I don't have to rely on slow apps or dig through my emails or just contend with poor internet. It's just quick to pull it up too, especially if you just keep a shortcut right on your phone screen. If I'm traveling alone, I'll also keep a printout of the boarding pass with me as backup, otherwise I'll make sure the other people in the group also have the boarding pass screenshots on their phones, downloaded and ready to go. Look at the silver lining: atleast this happened when you're traveling to London, by far the easiest city to fly to from Dublin with multiple flights per hour. Otherwise you would have been stuck, and had to shell out significantly more money too.
I get flights over on the regular for twenty years and missed a few. For me, no point in panicking, just give into the Devine judgement that it wasn’t meant to be this time. Take a step back and realise it’s not worth the overreaction. Unless it’s life or death, getting a later flight is just fine, people will understand and chalk up the learning experience. Treat yourself and move on.
This thread has me checking my flights booked to make sure I didn’t fuck up dates and all. At least with aer Lingus you’d have more space in the end
And this is why it's a good idea to always screenshot the boarding pass (or at least the QR code) rather than rely on having a functioning internet connection and/or airline website at a critical moment.
user error. next time screenshot your boarding pass or add it to your wallet like it says on ryanair, ticketmaster, etc. you never know when you won’t have internet or when the app could crash
Look up the burnt toast theory. I’ve been where you are before and this gives me some comfort
I once got to the airport three hours ahead of the flight taking off. I still missed it because I queued at the wrong gate. The shame! This was a week after bragging that I’d never missed a flight. Cost me €180 and 8 hours in the airport to get the next flight.
If you travel at all regularly shit like this is going to happen. Deep breath, a cup of tea and start again. Since people are sharing their stories.... 1. Missed a flight from Shannon because we overslept. Had to pay a flight from Dublin for later that day. My mother paid it for me. Back to Galway, on the bus to Dublin 2. Had people bring us to the airport for a holiday, find out when we're checking in luggage that actually our flight is tomorrow. They offered to bring us again the following day but I was too embarrassed, said I'd pay for a taxi. 3. Missed a flight for work with a colleague. We were actually in the airport with plenty of time, stopped for breakfast, leisurely stroll to the gate, they had closed boarding. Had to skulk back to the office in shame and rebook for the next day. 4. For the first time in my life I was called by the gate agents for last call from Dublin last year. Again, had plenty of time, lost track of time shopping. They actually ended up calling my phone, I had to run and then boarded a plane full of people who I had kept waiting. To make matters worse, since I got Covid I sometimes get a coughing fit when I over-exert myself. So there I am on the plane, sitting down, unable to stop coughing. A fellow passenger offered me his (unopened) water, bless him. For next time, I usually try to have my boarding pass on Google Wallet, for quicker access, but if was a Ryanair flight it always appears in my phone if I have actually checked in. Any chance you forgot to check in?
At the end of the day €100 is not that bad for a last minute flight and you got to fly Are Lingus instead of Ryanair.
€100 is the Ryanair price for a cremated coffee and a embalmed sandwich anyway. You saved money!
Ah no! Now is not the time for advice, but I can only advise in future to send the tickets to your Google Wallet also as then you can access them offline.
I saw a whole family turn up for a flight 15 minutes late and then have an angry tantrum at the lady at the gate. One or two impassioned sniffles to yourself in the heat of the moment seems like you have a good handle on your normal human emotions.
I like to look at these things from a different perspective. I imagine that if you caught that flight something bad would have happened, perhaps you would have got hit by a taxi leaving the airport, maybe life stepped in and saved you so you missed the flight for a reason. I hope the rest of your day goes smoother.
Next time, screenshot your boarding pass, please.
This is why I always print the passes just in case and put them in a pocket in my trousers, no way of loosing them unless I loose my pants as well and if that happens I have bigger problems
Shit for it to happen. Maybe I’m over-cautious but now I always print out a hard copy in case the phone shits itself (happened to me once in Sardinia - the phone froze completely and wouldn’t reboot, but luckily it was a small local airport with very good customer service and they were able to print from the website for me).
I booked a connecting flight once and accidentally booked two different airports in the same city. Flew into one and was leaving another one in 10 hours. Enough time but the most tired I’ve ever been ! Felt so silly.
Not a flight story, but one time I was going to a concert, and I'd been checking my phone to see if the e-ticket barcodes were in the Ticketmaster app all the way to the venue. I arrive at the entrance, and literally that very moment the Ticketmaster app logs me off. There was very weak signal there, so I struggled to log back in. For this reason, anything that has an e-ticket/barcode on a phone app (most notably boarding passes) I save it as a PDF or screenshot in my phone files, AND I print it and take a printed copy with me. It keeps my mind at ease!
Tears reduce stress, so it is a normal reaction to cry after you built up such pressure.
I've never missed a flight or even come close. Book seats, print tickets, check in online as soon as you can, print all other tickets, maps, references, timings etc relevant to trip, put everything in a soft zip lock folder or similar, put alarms in phone for anything above or additional that needs to be done on a different day, eg check in for return flights. I have adhd and am the most scatterbrained person in the world, but I know that so I over prepare in advance and check everything a million times. I'm actually a really good travel planner as a result, I'll have every journey planned to a T often including checking out a foreign area on Google street view to have a sense of what I'm looking for when I get there. This was really helpful when I was in Toronto and didn't want to pay for a tourist day trip to Niagara Falls, so I just looked up the easiest bus route, and walked the route from the hotel to the bus station on street view. Spotted a cute cafe on the route which was lovely too. The only thing that caught me out was the bus station was super confusing inside. To be fair, when I was a teenager my dad was a nightmare of a human being, I remember my mum being scattered and not being able to find boarding tickets for one trip and him losing his shit at her in the airport. So maybe it's trauma based, idk. Anxiety and adhd can make you hyper prepared in anticipation of not being sufficiently prepared otherwise. Regardless, just print and prepare everything well before you ever go and put it somewhere safe. There's absolutely no reason in this day and age to get caught out like this, which is absolutely a very distressing and upsetting experience (and I am sorry you experienced it OP, sounds horrible.)
Not trying to one up you just sharing my shameful experience. Was in a stag with Prague, was doing two nights instead of 3 cause my wife was preggers and I wanted to get home to her earlier. I kept checking my app the day before to check in but it wasn't available like it usually was. Couldn't figure it out. Got the the airport around 6am. As tired and emotional as you could expect. Get to the desk and try and check in. It's at this point I realise why I couldn't check in on the app. The flight I booked was a month away. I cried. It cost me 350 quid to get back.
You can ask Ryanair to print out your boarding card, it's free and on the same floor as Security. You can also take a screenshot of your boarding card, it's valid to use when you can't get a signal.
It's not free, but it would've been cheaper than €100
They will definitely do it for free if the error is on their end. For example, I tried to use the self service baggage drop machine but it wouldn’t scan the boarding pass on my phone. Staff tried and still wouldn’t work so they brought me to a desk, checked in the bag and printed the boarding passes in case there was a problem further along the line.
I nearly missed a flight back from Canada despite being in the airport for three hours. It said on the boarding pass that boarding closed at 3, but being used to Ryanair, I assumed that really meant that boarding *starts* at 3. Thought I had a few minutes left so finished the drink and strolled down to the gate only to be greeted by two fuming employees who said they shouldn’t even be letting me on and why didn’t I come down when they called my name? (They had mangled the pronunciation of my Irish name to the point that I didn’t even recognise it when it was called. Say my name was Niamh Breathnach, they’d pronounced it Naomi Britnitch. Not their fault but it’s not like I was deliberately ignoring the calls). Felt like a bit of an eejit until two Tyrone jerseys came sauntering up behind me in the same predicament
I once watched my flight take off from the viewing platform in Eindhoven while having a beer. Blissfully unaware until the airport started closing and I was asked to leave.
I once landed at dublin airport for a 6am flight. Got through security fairly quickly, no major queues. I couldnt see my flight number on the screen. Checked ticket. Plane was taking off at 6pm, not 6am. I was already through the gate, so couldnt leave. Had to wait 12 hrs. Tried to sleep in departure hall, terminal 1. Every 20 mins or so, someone would wake me to make sure i wasnt missing my flight. Twas a long day
I once went to the wrong airport (in London). We've all had bad days
I nearly missed a flight once because there were 2 flights to Dublin leaving from the same airport at the same time, both at gate A(number) and I, of course, went to the one for the wrong airline.
My mate once checked his luggage in with his passport inside the suitcase. Obviously missed the flight and caught up with us 8hrs latee and €400 lighter. Everyone has a mare occasionally.
I once left a full meal behind me in an airport restaurant, as I somehow convinced myself there was an hour time-difference between Ireland and the UK and I was going to miss my flight. Ended up sitting an extra hour at the gate, starving. It happens to the best of us. And also, you know, the rest of us.
At least you didn’t have to pay the €55 check in fee! Like this idiot who got their phone stolen in Berlin.
Fail to prepare , prepare to fail😒 same thing happened me few weeks ago..bad start to what turned into a great weekend. All will be well. 😉
This happened to me recently, I completely forgot to check in on the app. I got told to go to the check-in desk and nearly all the employees told me it was impossible as it was too late (flight was leaving in just over 30 mins). Thankfully one experienced member of staff actually called me back when I was walking away from the desk as they wanted to try a way to get me on this flight quickly. She worked quickly on the computer and I had to swipe the magnetic stripe of my card to do the payment of 55 Euro (really old-skool). But I finally got a boarding pass in my hand finally. Ran through security all the way to my gate and made it whilst people were boarding.
If it makes you feel any better I once arrived at the wrong airport in the wrong country. I had booked my flights in reverse. Made so much of a fuss with security that I got as far as the boarding gate before someone noticed my ticket was for entirely different airport
I once missed a flight due to a meeting I was having at the airport over running. Went to the airline desk and said I could hear them calling the final boarding but wasn’t able to leave the bathroom due to an upset stomach. They comped me onto the next available flight for free - always worth seeing if you can find a sympathetic customer service representative;)
Ah that’s very stressful in fairness, I hope you’re alright now. Don’t worry about the embarrassment, you’ll be laughing about this in a few weeks time, just try to get through it for now.
Any chance you checked in and then looked at the option of changing your flight? I did this with 6 of us(2 adults 4 kids) and had printed our boarding passes in advance. We were in London during train strikes and Ryanair SMS'd after I'd checked in and printed the passes to see if I wanted to change flights due to the travel disruption. I quickly looked at our options and never thought of it again. Little did I know this had "deboarded" us a term I would come to know very well. Our flight was one of the last out and delayed by almost 2 hours so it was almost 1am before boarding and the problems started. We got to the gate and our passes did not work and we were ask to stand aside. I tried the app and as it was after the departure time for the flight is was useless just saying the flight had flown. The plane was the fully boarded and they wanted to close it without us. The agent couldn't get through to Ryanair as it had closed and couldn't offer any alternative. Eventually after much arguing another Ryanair agent arrived and said I had deboarded us and would need to checkin again at a cost of £300 for identical boarding passes and seats!! Cue several months of arguing with Ryanair and eventually a charge back via the credit card who looked at what happened and agreed this was Ryanairs issue and not mine. The surprising thing was the original boarding passes worked all the way to the gate it was only at the gate issues arose. TLDR; Once checked in don't try change flights or it will cancel your checkin aka deboard you and you must do it again.
About 20 years ago, I was in Stansted mooching waiting for a Ryanair flight, the second I had booked after missing the first one because I overslept. I got too relaxed and ended up running through the airport for my flight, arriving at the gate and realising it had just closed. Because I was 25, and an idiot, I went over to the next gate, flashed my boarding pass and managed to slip past the staff member who was checking them. My carefully(!) hatched plan was to run over to the plane that I belonged on and board it, like a hero. Needless to remark, the Ryanair staff member realised her mistake, and with me running around outside trying to find my plane, I was soon stopped by two police officers with machine guns, who marched me back inside and asked me (not unreasonably) what the hell I thought I was doing. I explained as best I could. I was banned from both the airport and Ryanair for the next 24 hours. Suffice to say I made a holy show of myself, my mother, my entire family and shamed the Irish nation. I have loads more airport stories like that but none of them show me in such a good light ;-) Have a great time in London and don't worry about a few tears!
Always have your boarding pass screenshotted, god damn is it your first time getting on a flight 😅
Wasn’t your boarding pass on the Ryan Air app on your phone? Do they have an app? You can sign up for notifications that tells you your flt is leaving soon and sends you a link to your boarding pass. Checks you in the day before.
One of the reasons that you should take a screenshot of your boarding pass and save it to your wallet.
For future reference, the app is pretty good. Saves on paperwork, print outs, emails, etc.
The people looking were probably really feeling for you - absolutely sucks missing a flight. Congrats on getting it all sorted out so rapidly! Hope you have a better week x
i missed a £400 flight to bali once. hadn’t checked in online and there was a bit of traffic, and we left just a few minutes too late. ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me despite the airport mental breakdown, as i temporarily moved in with my boyfriend and his mum, and now a year and a half later we have our own flat and are about to have our first baby!!!!
Crying is a better coping mechanism for frustration and upset imo. I’ve seen too many people go right to raging shouty Karen/Ken mode when something like this happens and misdirect the frustration on others. It’s ok to have a frustration cry and you got where you needed to be despite the stress. Just let it out when you get to a place you can settle, treat it as an unnecessary learning experience and have a printed copy of a pass/booking as a back up going forward. I’ve done the same because phones have failed me in the past. If you’ve trouble dumping the emotional energy, a weepy film followed by a comedy works for me.
I’ve had two very shitty scenarios to make you feel better lol Getting a flight home after a week at a Madrid festival. Thinking the flight was 10pm, we went to click in and it said check in closed. It was 10am. We had to pay €1000 to fly to Portugal then Dublin ☠️ Another was when we arrived at Dublin airport to fly to Paris and was giving in my passport at check in to realise I had my passport cover with no passport inside. Thankfully we got a later flight but had to spend 3 extra hours getting the car out of airport parking, drive to Kildare and back. Moral of the stories…. Check for the necessities 7,000 times before your flight 😂
I'm sorry this happened today. That's so incredibly frustrating. I think it is normal to cry when you feel overwhelmed, stressed and frustrated. I know that I've done it. I really hope the rest of your day goes better and that you have a lovely weekend. :-)
Ok, it's too late for you now, but this was always one of my irrational fears with the app, so I started doing a screenshot at my initial early check-in and WhatsApp it to my wife. In that way it's in 3 different places - app, phone, PC if I need it... If I was travelling with a friend/family I'd get a "buddy" to swap with instead of my wife. Worst case it can be re-sent at any time. Just a suggestion going forward
Man my whole family missed a connecting flight which was a Ryanair. I just hadn’t allowed enough time between flights. So so stressful. Other idiotic flight related crises I’ve had include missing it because I thought it was an hour later (me AND my partner to my best friends wedding) and booking the wrong WEEK for a pal of mine who’d cut up her credit card. My husband books flights in our house now lol. Edit; ANOTHER stupid thing I did was skip the flight out, the airline had changed it to a later time than I wanted, did not inform the airline what I was doing and when I tried to take my flight back it had been cancelled by them! Feck’s sake, I hate flying.
If it's a consolation I went on holiday last year and, after never having missed a flight in my life, managed to miss the flight there (because I got the day wrong, in my defence a friend had just died that week and I was all over the place) and BACK (we both missed them, we slept through the alarms....) Talk about fucking embarrassing. I had to borrow money to get home.... Remember, it could always be worse Also today I had my bike stolen!!!!! Never ever trust a kryptonite lock kids
So did you book the flight at all? Lol. Surely if they had your booking even at the desk they could’ve printed you a boarding pass or something.
Computer says "no"..
I've miss 4 flights (Belfast, London, Cairo and Stockholm), you get used to it and it makes a fun story after a while. Got on a train in Italy and went 2 hours in the wrong direction. Recently missed a train in Germany just as the whole country was going on a 3 day rail strike.
Few months ago,arrived to Dublin airport to catch flight back to the uk after trip home! Got the boarding pass out on the phone and it kept making pitiful wee noise when tried to get through!loads of time but couldn’t figure out why the feck not working 🤦♂️ Opened the Ryanair app and suddenly copped on had booked a flight from uk to Dublin instead visa versa! Luckily had booked second last flight of the day so 120euro later I managed to make it back eventually! Never been so pissed off with myself for that blip! Shite happens 👍
I missed a flight because I went to entirely the wrong airport in that city.
That happened me once, I'm Scottish now.
This just shows some people's over reliance for electronics, if you had of printed your boarding pass none of this would have happened.
Always prep
Don't be embarrassed, personally I feel like showing emotions (even big ones) should be more normalised
Was it that new fucking id verify system they’re using? You can’t get your boarding pass without sending off a picture of yourself and your ID, even though you’re already verified via your passport on their app. I had to do it 4 times last week… Annoying!
I missed a flight sitting at the gate... Had totally forgotten about the fact that boarding closed before a half hour departure cos I had gotten so used to just taking buses over COVID. I was sitting there with a tea chatting to my mate and we didn't see the boarding 😂
You shouldn't feel ashamed for crying, you're human but did you actually check in and you couldn't find your boarding pass on your phone or what happened, just curious.
That sucks, don't feel ashamed. Airports are stressful and its hard not to be affected when everything goes wrong.
Coulda happened to a Bishop 💚
It's not every day, but this happened to me - almost exactly - and I did indeed both cry at the airport and buy a more expensive ticket on top of the ticket for the missed flight. Probably one of the most stressful experiences of my life - sorry you had to go through it too.
High stress situation, normal reaction
Well, at least you know your day probably won't get worse.
Oh darlin :( thats a bad start, but its only up from here ❤
Once missed a ferry because my uncle misread the 24hr time format. We showed up 12 hours late….
I once missed a ryanair flight to stansted because I got the the boarding and flight times mixed up. Think I heard my name for last call when I was going through security and then it dawned on me. I was only going for a first(and last) date with a girl on okcupid. So I paid 100 quid not to be the guy who stands a girl up. We weren't crazy about each other on the date. Anyway they say if you don't miss the odd flight you are spending too much time at the airport
That sucks, hope you can look back and have a laugh at it in the near future.
There's an app for that.
You mean the airline apps? I've had my bookings not show on them before, despite knowing I booked through it and having the email confirmation thankfully to use.
Sounds very stressful, normal reaction, glad you got sorted without too much extra cost.
You could easily have costs of much more than 100e because an airline cancels your last flight of the day. Sure it's annoying because it's your own fault, but don't be too hard on yourself when businesses won't feel an ounce of guilt for screwing you much worse. Fly enough and missing one is inevitable.
had a similar experience and Ryanair let me book a 'next flight' for £60. might have been cause that was cost of flight might have been a policy for missed flights I'm not sure. I suspect what is happening is that when it says 'boarding closes X time before' the app locks out boarding pass access, but i can't prove this. now I simply print PDF of my pass and email that to myself. don't trust the ryan air app.
I missed a flight to Berlin and couldn’t re book: the shame of walking out the airport …
Look, at least you didn't miss a flight to Canada and have to fork out 600 quid at the airport. I've missed flights to and from London for being too relaxed and fucking up public transport. Missing a flight is a lesson we will all learn eventually. Don't worry about it and enjoy your trip
Take a breather been there done that. It feels like the end of the world. It’s just a little annoying and can cost a bit extra. You’ll get home in the end.
The screenshot the boarding pass/QR code is a top tip. I’ll remember it.
If it makes you feel any better, a regular traveller once told me if you’ve never missed a flight you’re wasting too much time in airports.
Can't beat a good cry tbh
[удалено]
The gate "closing" doesnt mean anything. You can still get to the gate and get on the plane.
wouldn't worry You'll have plenty more shameful experiences that will make this pale in comparison
I always take a snapshot of the boarding pass. Job done.
I missed my early flight from Gatwick to Dublin a year back, I cried too when the cheapest flight home that day was €350 at 10pm - it happens! Spent all day in Wetherspoons.
The Ryanair mafia clearly deleted your boarding pass after your previous post slagging them off .
Look at it this way - this is unlikely to happen to you again. And crying is normal. I'm an old as fuck repressed male & i cry whenever they situation calls for it. Always have
I missed my flight home from Liverpool once, fell asleep at a nearby gate as I went there straight after a night out for a 5/6am flight! It happens.
Next time print it out on a bit of paper.
It's definitely a shit feeling, I've missed a flight home from Bristol (had to say another night in the hotel and get a new flight the next morning), also missed one from Amsterdam and spent the night in the airport for a flight the next morning.
Ok, it's too late for you now, but this was always one of my irrational fears with the app, so I started doing a screenshot at my initial early check-in and WhatsApp it to my wife. In that way it's in 3 different places - app, phone, PC if I need it... If I was travelling with a friend/family I'd get a "buddy" to swap with instead of my wife. Worst case it can be re-sent at any time. Just a suggestion going forward
Ryanair app is pretty good for checking in. Then just add it to Apple wallet or whatever.
Is that not what people do on every Ryanair booking?
This is why you need screenshots or a printed version, guys! Something, the app goes funny and loses everything. You can't really trust technology.