What This App Actually Does
The Ryanair app is the official companion to Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, built for booking flights, managing bookings, buying extras like baggage and seat selection, and completing mandatory check-in. Ryanair has pushed customers hard toward the app in recent years, since airport check-in and paper processes are either unavailable or heavily penalized. If you fly Ryanair even occasionally, this app isn’t really optional – it’s the primary way you interact with the airline before you reach the gate.
It’s aimed squarely at budget travelers who already accept Ryanair’s a-la-carte pricing model and just want a functional way to manage a booking, add luggage, and get a boarding pass on their phone. It is not trying to be a slick travel-planning tool; it’s a transactional utility app.
Where It Delivers
When it works, the core promise holds up: users confirm they can book flights, add extras, and get a mobile boarding pass without needing to print anything. One reviewer with three bookings said the app itself was fine for that basic job, and check-in via mobile boarding pass is clearly functional for many flyers, which matters given Ryanair’s low fares are the entire draw of using it in the first place.
Booking and Payment Friction
The booking flow is where multiple users report real trouble. One reviewer described having to restart their booking several times because the app crashed specifically on the bank card payment page, leaving them worried about being charged multiple times for one booking. That’s a serious flaw for a travel app – payment-page instability is not a minor cosmetic bug, it directly risks people’s money.
Check-In and Baggage Confusion Are Recurring Complaints
The most damaging pattern in feedback is around check-in and baggage. Several users say the app crashes during the mandatory 24-hour check-in window, and if check-in isn’t completed online, Ryanair charges at the airport instead. Worse, multiple reviewers describe being charged twice for luggage they’d already paid for, because the checkout flow forces you to reselect a baggage option before letting you proceed to check-in, with no clear display of what’s already been paid. One reviewer called this out directly as confusing enough to make them wonder if their original booking even went through.
Passport Scan and Real-Time Flight Info Are Unreliable
The passport scan feature, meant to speed up check-in, reportedly failed repeatedly even on a new Samsung phone and a new iPhone, only working after about an hour of retries. Separately, during a lengthy flight delay out of Budapest, a user found the app showed no useful live information at all despite emails directing them to check it – undermining its usefulness exactly when travelers need it most.
Verdict: Who Should Actually Download This
If you’re booking a Ryanair flight, you don’t really have a choice – the app is functionally mandatory for check-in and boarding passes, and basic booking does work for many users. But go in expecting possible crashes at payment, confusing baggage re-charges, and unreliable passport scanning or delay updates. Screenshot your confirmations, check in early to leave room for retries, and don’t expect polish – just expect it to barely get the job done.
