We are on the same booking. ;)

Ryanair site says carry-on limited to 40*55*20CM. I purchased an international carry-on, but the dimensions are 40*55*23CM. Will the extra 3 CM require the bag to not qualify as a carry-on, or said otherwise, will Ryanair be that strict??

They have a measuring sizer in which you are expected to place your item if asked. If it doesn't fit, you have to gate check the item at an additional charge. They don't ask as many people as previously, although it seems those who don't pay for any luggage option would be a good target.

I once measured the old sizer (55x40x20 only) and found it was 1cm larger in two of the dimensions and 3cm larger in the other. They've now replaced these with a new one that measures both 55x40x20 and 40x25x20. I haven't been able to measure this yet.

Generally they aren't that severe, but the risk you have is (presumably) you don't have a European passport, so you have to go to check-in even if travelling Hand Baggage Only, and an sharp eyed agent may ask you to put the bag in the sizer. In other words you may well get away with it, but if you do get pinged for baggage then it's a 50€ fee at the gate. If you want certainty you'll need a slightly smaller bag.

There is still about 1cm on the larger sizer, but on the smaller sizer it's quite a fair bit bigger than the advertised restriction (sizer: 42 x 20 x 30 cm, advertised as: 40 x 20 x 25cm).

If I don't have a reserved seat, does it make sense to check in online close to the 2h cutoff time, hoping to grab one of the premium seats this way?

Are there any pitfalls here, such as the app "suddenly" refusing to work shortly before the check in deadline, in order to make me check in at a counter (and pay a hefty fee)?

it would be highly unusual for the app to fail ... more chance of your wifi / mobile phone signal failing ... or you failing to remember !

i aim to check in 3 hours before departure to allow for problems. have only forgotten once !!

The app is quite reliable, Ryanair has flights leaving at all times of the day and it doesn't selectively fail for different people at different times. Like the other poster said, I'd check in ~3h before to be safe. There are enough kettles that this nearly guarantees a non-middle seat.

Also keep in mind that if you are not a EU citizen you will need to print a paper copy of the boarding pass - and you will need to leave time for this as well.

Yeah, I tried it on a 1.99EUR SXF-PMI fare booked specifically to test the app.

Was quite funny to watch on the seat reservation screen in the app how Ryanair was slowly filling middle seats first :D

I checked in 2:50h before departure and got an aisle seat in the front. And after check in, the app even offered me to buy a different seat if I didn't like the one assigned - this means if you don't win the "lottery", you can stil buy a decent seat, albeit at a higher price (the app wanted 10EUR from me).

I will add a cautionary note if I may? We checked in 6 hours before departure in January and got a Seat Allocated at Gate message and a printed boarding pass with that note. we were sequence 186 and 187 to check in. I noted that Ryanair say they don't overbook....We nonetheless has a worrying few hours. Once at the gate we approached gate agent immediately and had a penciled seat number added to our bp's and we flew ok. The flight was full. Did they overbook?

The only time I've heard of Ryanair overbooking is when there is disruption. Capacity is 189, so you were within the capacity of the plane.

Maybe the data exchange with the airport computer systems had already been completed? I've heard some airports have very archaic computer systems.

Everything went fine on my Ryanair flight SKG-ATH. I checked in the day before and was allocated a window seat (19F).

Priority boarding was a joke - all it meant was you got on the bus first (and therefore off the bus and onto the plane last). I really wasn't bothered about this - I only purchased "priority" to get the extra hand luggage allowance.

Hand luggage was not being policed in any way. My bags measured more or less exactly the permitted dimensions and I noticed many people boarding with larger ones. Again not an issue, as it all somehow managed to fit into the overheads.

The flight was on time taking off and landed early. It was a pretty efficient operation overall and the experience was really no different from flying with any other airline within Europe.

Would I fly Ryanair again? The only thing I would worry about is irrops handling (or lack of it). But on a short route like SKG-ATH with plenty of alternatives, yes I would.

Apologies for taking this quote out of context but it is the only thing I have found that has helped me at all.

I am trying to establish if Ryanair use steps at Manchester. My fairly infirm in-laws have got themselves booked on a Ryanair flight from Manchester. Although I wasn't involved in the booking I have got sucked into helping with the damage mitigation/limitation exercise. I have found a page on the Ryanair website about booking assistance but it looks like it is necessary to be very specific about the assistance required.

Thanks

Generally Ryanair don't overbook (easyJet do) but there are one or two of their aircraft that have slightly different seating arrangements, sometimes a seat goes out of service, plus staff movements sometimes get in the way. And there is the strange and unexpected that can happen (e.g. someone refused entry to a country). So while I don't think your scenario is unprecedented, it's nevertheless unusual.

I don't know about Manchester, but Ryanair use steps at almost every airport.

Can you request wheelchairs for the in-laws, and say that they have limited mobility ?