@JonathanReez indeed, I'm looking forward to finally lying down on a flight. I've done LON to CHC too many times in Economy ;)

@ZachLipton feel free to answer if you have better information than I do

@JonathanReez I have no idea. I'm just hesitant to authoritatively contradict the official source given that the consequences are severe. But your past experience is helpful, so I'm glad you added that

@ZachLipton I think the core reason is that Ryanair doesn't want their policy tested in court, as someone will sue them over the denied boarding if they do it often enough. My hunch is that their management hates immigrants and tries to make their lifes as miserable as possible

there's no other explanation for requiring a visa check on Schengen flights

My hunch is that their management hates passengers in general :)

they've actually improved their service a lot in the past years

more carry on luggage, good UI on their website, nicer employees

for short haul flights they're close to merging on quality with the full service airlines, as those are declining in quality every year

Yeah they pretty much ended up dragging the whole industry down to their level, and suddenly they couldn't differentiate on being the only cheap+awful airline

:D

I don't do the Europe LCC thing that often, so I was rather surprised to be dumped waiting in EasyJet's shed in Budapest

@JonathanReez, information too old to be reliable but might still help you:

I know that a few years back, when my brother worked for a rental car company, they could get a form (signed/stamps by the police) with which you could drive a foreign car in your own country. Without it you would be fined if found out.

@JonathanReez A much simpler, more likely reason is that they have such thin margins that they don't want to pay any penalties or give up any seating capacity flying deported passengers. The effect may seem to make them heartless, but they are, at heart, a give-the-bare-minimum airline.

@JimMacKenzie airline companies cannot be penalized for flying visa-less passengers within the Schengen area

and they still check everyone's visas at the gate, regardless of the visa stamp

I therefore presume its a purposeful policy related to their hate of immigrants. Its also possible that they merely hate illegal immigrants and everyone else is collateral damage

either way I personally refuse to play their game and go straight to the gate if I can

I'm even looking forward to them denying me entry as that could be a juicy lawsuit :)

but alas they're not enforcing it

@JonathanReez, your question about Ryanair accepting people on flights who have not been at the check-in counter has gotten two answers which are about the UK/Ireland, not about within Schengen, is that acceptable to your questions as you intended it?

Sounds like a reason to avoid Ryanair, not an opportunity, exactly :)

I have never flown with them (due to them not coming to AMS for a long time) but I am happy not to try them out.

And I am a local in the Netherlands.

@Willeke yes, my question is about all Ryanair flights, not just UK ones

OK, thanks

I'm not really sure why there'd be a lawsuit. If their policy is that you have to go have your documents checked at a counter, why is it illegal for them to insist on that? Ryanair denies boarding for other stupid reasons, like not checking in online unless you pay a large fee or losing your boarding pass unless you pay a fee

@ZachLipton see travel.stackexchange.com/questions/81543/…

they can't deny me boarding according to EU regulations if I have a boarding pass, a passport and a valid visa at the gate

What if they required all passengers to present themselves at the ticket counter (not the gate) first, even if they don't have checked bags? Would you sue them if you went directly to the gate and were denied boarding because you didn't follow their procedures?

if they don't issue a boarding pass first, then no. I wouldn't be able to get to the gate in the first place

if they do issue a boarding pass, then yes

That says "present themselves for check-in,— as stipulated and at the time indicated in advance and in writing." Surely part of the "as stipulated" is that you have to follow whatever rules they indicated in advance and in writing

@ZachLipton, the point is that they do require a small percentage of their travelers to do things different from the rest.

@ZachLipton you're already checked in, as you have a boarding pass

@Willeke Right, and I agree that's stupid and irritating and bad. I'm not convinced it's illegal

the court would have to answer whether or not its legal to demand an extra action to be taken after check-in and before getting to the gate

Neither am I, but I would not be willing to fight it myself. (Me being a good girl.)

now, they could respond to that by no longer issuing a boarding pass to non-EU pax... but then I'd test the system by using another nationality for check-in

Most of us don't have multiple nationalities :) I already have one good one.

I don't have an EU one (yet), so I'd just fake one :)

but that's a moot point as they don't actually deny boarding to anyone

I'd obviously love to see such a case succeed, it just seems far from a slam dunk to convince a court that not following their procedures is fine

@ZachLipton the court would have to test whether or not they're allowed to deny me boarding without paying a compensation in accordance to EU regulations

the regulations don't require them to allow anyone to actually board

You'd need to read their terms of carriage as well. As long as they're legal, the terms are binding upon you as a passenger, even if you don't like the terms. (The alternative is to use another service provider, of course.)

@JimMacKenzie any T&Cs can be thrown out the window if they're against the law

e.g. they can't demand that I waive my right for delayed flight compensation in the T&C

so now the onus is on you to demonstrate they're against the law. (or on someone else that cares to fight about it)

yes and for that they would have to deny me boarding :)

indeed.

I strongly suspect that their lawyers are aware that its a losing proposition and therefore the policy is not to enforce it

well, if you're not aware that they actually do deny boarding, then it's only a theoretical possibility anyway.

the better test might be if they found you lacked a visa, rather than if you simply decided not to show your documents.

(lacked one, yet required one, that is. all my EU travel has been visa-free, and legal. :) )

@JimMacKenzie in this case they can indeed deny you boarding