12

For a Ryanair flight, the "Gate Closing" written on my friend's pass was 9:35, which was 30 minutes before the flight, and he arrived at the gate at 9:28. The gate was already closed and so he did not have anyone to talk to about this.

Not knowing if he had a chance to get in or not, he ran to the Ryanair desk and asked for his luggage to be deplaned. This was still even before the promised 9:35 boarding time.

My friend later figured out that the gate closed at 9:25, ten minutes before the scheduled time.

Looking at forums, my friend said Ryanair normally sends an email about an earlier boarding time but he never received one.

What rights does my friend have, if any?

I also find it quite strange that the gate would have been closed so fast, within three minutes of saying it was closed.

7
  • From my experience with RyanAir they tend to try and board early and state that the gate will close 30 mins before take off on the boarding pass, not when the boarding actually starts. This could have changed since I last flew with them though. Example of what I am familiar with: travelupdate.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/…
    – Uciebila
    Commented Sep 2, 2019 at 15:42
  • Hi. Thanks for the comment. I have edited the question to say "gate closing" time. (Previously it said boarding time, which was a silly error on my part.)
    – Pepe Smith
    Commented Sep 2, 2019 at 15:48
  • 2
    Is your friend sure the flight was not moved to a different gate and they did not notice the change? What airport was this at? How did they even get to the Ryanair desk so fast, considering that it means exiting the secure area, which is often a cumbersome process in european airports (contrary to the US)? What did the agents at the service desk say? Do you have the flight number and date?
    – jcaron
    Commented Sep 2, 2019 at 17:14
  • 1
    What do you mean by "the gate would have been closed so fast (within three minutes of saying it was closed)"? You state that the gate closed at least 10 minutes before the advertised time, and there within 3 minutes after?
    – jcaron
    Commented Sep 2, 2019 at 17:15
  • 1
    @jcaron, at some airports Ryanair has a desk airside. In STN, for example, they have a dedicated wing and the desk is between the first two gates of the wing. Commented Sep 4, 2019 at 5:53

1 Answer 1

5

Complain publically on their Facebook or Twitter, they will then often message you and offer a refund or flight voucher, I've done it before and had my entire return ticket refunded

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .