There’s a tip that’s been circulating for a while now to get a free seat with extra legroom in the emergency exit row on Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and the pioneer of the ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) model. I tried it in August, and it indeed worked for me. This time, at least…
I’m going to try it again tomorrow during my current fall trip to Europe, so I’ll have a 2nd datapoint. That’s still an incredibly small sample size, obviously; Ryanair operates more than 3,000 flights a day!
Maybe I just got lucky. I even had the whole row to myself, in addition to the seat with extra legroom! But there was a risk, of course.
Here are the details of the Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip.
What is the Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip?
The Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip is simple: wait until the last minute to check in online instead of doing what you should always do, which is to check in exactly 24 hours before your flight.
All travel pros check in online, as we’ve been telling you for the 8+ years that Flytrippers has been around. It saves time at the airport and, most importantly, allows you to get the best free seats available.
But that’s for airlines that let you choose your seat for free at check-in. More and more airlines are still obviously giving you a free seat at check-in, but they assign a random one automatically without letting you choose.
This is the case with most ultra low-cost carriers (ULCCs), such as Ryanair (but also other airlines that are not ULCCs).
So this tip can only work for airlines that automatically assign seats, of course.
But it’s not clear whether other airlines assign extra legroom seats for free, as Ryanair sometimes does, as in my own experience, which I’ll detail below (and that of several other travelers… but not all of them).
The basics are obviously not to pay for seat selection, but that’s a separate topic that I’ve saved for the very end of this post if you do pay for that.
Why does the Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip SOMETIMES work?
It’s all about maximizing revenue. Ryanair is an expert in this field.
On Ryanair’s 600+ airplanes, there are seats with more legroom in the main cabin. These are the ones in the emergency exit rows, because Ryanair wouldn’t give you more space if they weren’t legally required to. I’m kidding! 😂
(They are the ones who will no longer accept paper boarding passes starting in November! They are obsessed with reducing costs; that’s what allows them to offer lots of flights for 15 EUR!)
Obviously, Ryanair charges more for these extra legroom seats. It would be stupid not to, because some people are willing to pay more for that and others are not.
That’s also why it makes perfect sense to charge those who want to select their seats before check-in!!! Some people are willing to pay more for that, and others are not!
(Even if that upsets those who don’t understand how plane ticket prices work!!!)
In short, the reasoning behind the tip is very logical: Ryanair seems to assign these extra legroom seats last, so that they are available for longer.
This means that Ryanair is more likely to sell them to someone. Obviously, they won’t assign them for free early on; that would be stupid, because then they definitely wouldn’t sell them.
If they assign the seats with more space early on, they are guaranteed not to make any money. If they wait until the very end, they at least have a chance of making money. Simple math.
By waiting to assign them, they have a better chance that someone will pay for them… especially as more passengers check in and fewer and fewer good seats remain. People will be more willing to pay for a seat with more space when they see that there are fewer good seats left.
If the tip sometimes works, it’s only because Ryanair is very good at filling its planes very full (hence the 15 EUR flights). Ryanair will probably just leave the extra legroom seats empty if the airplane isn’t full… and the tip won’t work.
So voilà: since Ryanair keeps the best seats empty until the last minute, if the airplane is full enough, passengers who check in last could automatically be assigned the extra legroom seats.
Does the Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip always work?
To be very clear, this is definitely one of those tips that will sometimes work… and won’t work many other times.
Like many travel tips of this kind! It depends on a lot of factors. There’s no way to know if it will work or not.
This is an unofficial and informal tip; no airline in the world shares the exact details of its seat assignment or upgrade policy. It’s always entirely speculation.
(Like my random free upgrade to a luxurious lie-flat business class seat worth 4000 CAD for the 20 hours of my itinerary from İstanbul to Sydney on Turkish Airlines in August… a complete mystery, but an amazing one!)
Even if your Ryanair airplane is 100% full and you are the last one to check in, their algorithm may have decided otherwise that time. Nobody knows.
Should I try the Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip?
It all depends on whether you’re willing to risk being stuck in a terrible middle seat (traveling solo) or being separated from your travel companion (not traveling solo)!
Everything in life works the same way: the reward is greater when there is more risk. That’s normal.
If you wait until the last minute, maybe there will be a normal seat left, and it will be in the middle, and that’s the one you’ll be assigned. Or maybe, like me, you’ll get a better seat for free.
There’s a risk, so that’s why there can be a reward.
If you have zero risk tolerance as so many clearly do, this tip is not for you. That’s fine; there are plenty of other tips!
If you’re traveling alone, in my opinion, it’s worth trying.
With one or more travel companions, I feel like you’re more likely to be separated (because there have to be 2 seats together in the rows with extra legroom).
So if you really don’t want to be separated, I would follow the normal tip of checking in exactly 24 hours before (see the last section with the basics of seat selection).
What is an example of the Ryanair free extra legroom seat tip working?
In August, for my trip to all 6 continents to earn 1 million points, I had to get to İstanbul.
The self-transfer tip is by far the best way to save money when traveling to Europe, so I used it again this summer (as I did yet again this week, as I explained in my post about my current trip to Europe).
So I took a Ryanair flight from London, where the cheapest transatlantic flight took me on my specific dates (this varies, of course; today I’m in Dublin because my transatlantic flight at 220 CAD took me to Dublin).
It was a short flight, so I was willing to take the risk to test it out for you (and for my own insatiable curiosity). It was my first Ryanair flight since May 2021, so I couldn’t try it earlier.
I had seen the trick mentioned several times, and I must admit I was a little skeptical.
I had paid for the cheapest fare class, as I always do, because I want to travel for less. I had just added my full-size carry-on à la carte, because it almost always works out cheaper than the bundles.
So, this was definitely not a case of being offered an upgrade because I had a higher fare class.
I checked in on the Ryanair app when I arrived at the airport, while walking from the bus to the terminal (I had already entered all my information in the manage my booking feature to speed things up, of course).
This was 3h16 before my flight.
I have free access to VIP airport lounges like all Canadian travelers can easily get, so I like to arrive early like this to eat and drink for free while working comfortably.
So this was certainly not the latest I could have checked in. There are clearly people who forget and who do it later than I did.
But it still worked out. The seat I was automatically assigned for free was 17D, in the emergency exit row, with extra legroom.
And as mentioned, no one else was in my row, so I had all 3 seats to myself.
It was much more enjoyable than the zoo at the boarding gate.
I’ll have another datapoint for this tip tomorrow. I finally chose the 4th city for my European trip.
I chose Budapest even though I’ve already been there; it’s a city I loved so much. And the weather forecast was better than my other choices.
That’s the upside of booking 2 days in advance, the weather forecast is reliable; the downside being that it cost me a little more than all my other 11 Ryanair flights, at 173 CAD plus the full-size carry-on fee of 21 EUR.
I’m going to wait until the last minute and choose a random seat, but I don’t think it will work this time, honestly: there are already only 2 seats left in all the many rows that offer extra legroom!
Why shouldn’t I pay to select a specific seat in advance?
The basics are to understand how seat selection works.
Personally, I’m fascinated by the fact that so many people waste their money paying for seat selection. In my nearly 600 flights, I’ve never paid for that.
By checking in online exactly 24 hours before departure, in those nearly 600 flights, I have a success rate of almost 100% for:
- Not getting a middle seat (if I’m traveling alone)
- Not being separated from my companion (if I’m not traveling alone)
And it’s also worth repeating that if you have young children, in Canada at least, airlines are legally required to seat you together for free, so don’t pay for that… it’s always savvy to know your rights!
To clarify, with any airline in the world, you will obviously always get a free seat at check-in.
So 24 hours before, or 48 hours in some rare cases where it’s allowed earlier… the deadline is usually written either in your confirmation email or when you access the manage your booking function (the basic thing that everyone should always do for all flights).
But there are 2 types of policies:
- They let you choose the (standard) seat of your choice for free
- They automatically assign you a random seat for free without you being able to choose
If they let you choose, you will almost certainly not have to pay. You will be able to choose for free, and you will have the best choices if you do as I do (set a reminder for exactly 24 hours after your flight booking).
But you have to check in precisely 24 hours before, not 20 hours. All the savvy travelers will obviously be faster than you if you do it 4 hours too late, and there will be fewer choices left.
If they automatically assign you a seat, they will tell you when you check in. So, worst-case scenario, you can just pay then if you really want to. Again, if you do it exactly 24 hours before, you’re likely to have enough choices left to not be in the middle or not be separated from your companion.
As with almost everything in life, stressed-out people who want to avoid all uncertainty and people who want to make sure they get exactly what they want pay more. That’s normal. If some people are willing to pay for something that others aren’t, of course there should be an upcharge.
It’s a matter of priority: if you want to travel for less, act accordingly. It may not be the perfect seat, but by checking in 24 hours in advance, you’re almost guaranteed not to get a middle seat or be separated from your companions.
And if you are unlucky, there are almost always paid seats still available then! Again, I’m being repetitive, but the key is to do precisely 24 hours before. Simple.
Learning how to travel for less
Join over 100,000 savvy Canadian travelers who already receive Flytrippers’ free newsletter so we can help you travel for less!
Sign up for our free newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter
Summary
The Ryanair tip for getting seats with extra legroom for free is to check in at the last minute, unlike the simple basic tip for all airlines that allow you to select a seat for free 24 hours before the flight. However, there’s no guarantee that it will work! There is a risk… that’s what makes it potentially rewarding.
What would you like to know about the Ryanair tip for an extra legroom seat for free? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Ryanair flight (photo credit: Andrew D’Amours/Flytrippers)
