Online check-in revolutionised business travel as it allowed passengers to print their own boarding pass before flying. Those with hand luggage no longer have to visit a check-in desk which can save quite a bit of time.
The downside to printing your own boarding pass is most printers use A4 paper as standard. It is unwieldy to carry around and many people fold up the sheet so it fits easily into a pocket. Upon boarding, passengers have a large piece of paper to unfold and hand over along with their identity document. It’s not great!
Ryanair’s Boarding Pass
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, Irish based Ryanair, has an innovative solution. Their boarding pass is divided into four parts and each quadrant has a certain function. One half of the page features these two sections.
Beside this is the actual boarding pass, which helpfully contains instructions on which stairs to use. The airline generally always uses both sets of stairs to embark passengers to save time and money.
Good Ideas!
The other half of the page is where it gets interesting. This part contains the most relevant information for passengers regarding their flight.
One side lists the cabin baggage requirements which is important as many people choose not to check a bag. It also contains reference to the EU compensation offered when flights are delayed which I have never seen so prominent anywhere.
The whole boarding pass is designed to fold a certain way (instructions included!) so it becomes the size of a quarter of an A4 page. That makes it handy enough to keep with your Passport and in your pocket.
Overall Thoughts
The boarding pass is quite an impressive achievement from Ryanair. It is thoughtfully designed in order to cater to the people who need it most – infrequent or first time travellers. The benefit to the airline is less questions, less late people and better on time performance so this is a win win solution for all parties.
Have you seen a better boarding pass from another airline? I’d love to hear about it. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image from the Ryanair Image Gallery.
Hey! a large piece of paper to unfold and hand over along with their identity document. It’s not great.
The thing is, you don’t need to unfold it. It folds up into the correct size. Thanks for your comment, Linda!
Great article, Trent! Thanks!
Happy you enjoyed it! 🙂 Cheers!