and you really don't want to miss the 2 hour deadline - or it becomes very expensive !

I was thinking, if there are two of us, wouldn't it be better to check in as early as possible? If I was travelling alone I might try the idea mentioned above.

The software will most definitely split you up no matter what you do. It's a default behaviour to incentivise you to change seats, for a fee, after CI.

if they check in as late as possible - sometimes the only seats are together - so they might just happen to get nearby seats !

Their algorithm splits you up by default (they are under no obligation to seat adults together). If you check in as late as possible you have a higher chance of being put in attractive seats that people will be more willing to swap for (ie aisles or windows).

The question here is, are you prepared to pay extra to sit together?

When checking in, the software will most likely seat you apart. Ryanair starts seat assignments with middle seats, so if you check in early, you will likely get middle seats in different rows with seats next to you still vacant. After the check in, you should be able to change one of your seats for a fee, so that you would sit together. In my experience, this fee is identical to what you pay when reserving seats in advance.

If you reserve seats in advance instead, you would have to pay not for one, but for both seat reservations.

If you are not willing to pay extra to sit together, then checking in as late as possible (but before the 2h deadline) is still a better choice, because you would get better seats this way.

Well, I'm leaving here at 0600, possibly a bit earlier, and the flight is at 10h05. So I'll check in before leaving, or before going to sleep the night before which will probably be around midnight (just in case I have printer problems, smartphone is broken). We've decided that if we get separate middle seats in separate rows, it really doesn't matter. I have nothing against paying for seat reservations, but for fun we wanted to see how little we could pay for this trip! I have always avoided Ryanair's traps in the past, but the last time I used them they still had free seating!

most/all ryanair airports allow you to use a boarding pass on the Ryanair app ... which is a handy way of delaying check in for another couple of hours (assuming you have mobile data on your journey to the airport)

i usually aim to check in on the app about 3 hours before departure - so i have an hour in hand in case of data problems

i often have a look the night before, and there's still loads of empty seats - so don't expect a great outcome if you do that !

Agreed with your strategy of checking in circa 3 hours ahead, however Ryanair do not allow non-EU citizens to use mobile boarding passes and a printout is mandatory. Not doing this results in an airport printing fee. Usually I ask the hotel to print it out before heading out to the airport.

Well, here's how it went. I checked in 5 hours before, and partner was offered 5C and I was offered 30E. In the end, there was nobody in 30F so I just moved over. The flight was surprisingly pleasant and efficient, and boarding was a really civilized process. Other passengers seemed happy and easy going (none of the attitude I've seen on other flights) and the cabin crew were friendly and had a sense of humour. I had a Lavazza coffee with the filter, landed punctually in Berlin and had a great time there, as always.

On the return, from SXF to CGN, check in offered me 14B and partner 24B. I ended up in 12C because I moved to accommodate a couple. Partner had a whole free row, which I should have gone and sat in...but I am not sure how ok it is to seat shift with all the issues about weight distribution on flights! However, this flight picked up what ended up a 65 minute delay. I just had a feeling that something was wrong and started digging around with Flightstats. Inbound aircraft was late, perhaps came from Malta. Again, the crew had quite a laugh at my thinking they were Maltese! It seems the thing about MALTA AIR is that Ryanair has just registered a few aircraft there under the MALTA AIR brand, maybe saving money on tax? But between MALTA AIR, Laudamotion or whatever it's called and Ryanair Sun, soon to be renamed Buzz, Ryanair is creating quite an interesting mini alliance in Europe.

the suggestion that i've read is that Ryanair is using their subsidiaries as a way to allocate new aircraft most efficiently - the idea being that each separate company will fight to get extra resources by finding the best opportunities to use new aircraft to generate profits.

Michael O'Leary saw the way Willie Walsh sits in IAG hq and decides whether BA/IB/EI/etc has the best business plan for new planes ... and decided to copy the structure.

It makes sense, actually. Ryanair has a good chance of creating a plausible low cost alliance in Europe. Bases in Poland, Malta and Vienna aren't bad to have at all.

But where is the advantage to creating a low cost alliance as opposed to creating a one very large lowcost airline?
At most I see there might be a point of creating multiple national subsidiaries for traffic rights purposes...

they're not creating an "alliance" - they are all wholly owned subsidiaries of the one company.

they're just choosing to split up the company into parts to obtain the best financial / tax outcome.

I must say, though, Ryanair has become a lot more friendly and user friendly to fly. Sure, the traps are still there, but it's less of a lottery than it used to be. It is good if it becomes a bit more mainstream, because it is here to stay and we will have to get used to it.