Travel hack to get Ryanair seats for free but it comes with a simple warning

A TikTok travel expert has shared her incredible hack to nab a good seat on a Ryanair flights without having to spend any money.

Pre booked seats on board a Ryanair service can set you back as much as €33 for extra legroom.

However, Em’s Budget Travel has found a way to dodge the hefty fees while still getting a window or aisle seat and being close to your travel companion after figuring out their allocation system.

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She explained: “I have been gatekeeping this Ryanair hack for two years, but this is how I get good seats on nearly every Ryanair flight without paying any extra fees. I like to call this hack check-in chicken.

“Along with most people flying Ryanair, what I used to do if I wasn’t paying for a seat was to set an alarm for 24 hours before my flight, so that way I could check-in online as soon as it opened. However, at some point about two years ago I worked out how the Ryanair seating allocation works.”

Ryanair charges passengers for selecting their seats during the initial booking phase or again upon online check in. But if you bide your time and pay close attention you could get your preferred seat free of charge.

She said: “Obviously, their business model is making you pay more for absolutely everything and in order to incentivise you to pay for a seat they will (often) intentionally offer you a middle seat. And if you are travelling with someone else, they will put you as far apart as possible.

“As more people check in and more seats get taken, assuming the flight is full, they start to run out of the middle seats and you are much more likely to get allocated a window seat or an aisle seat, or even an extra legroom seat.

“Plus, if you are travelling with someone you are more likely to seated near to them.

“What you need to do is hold out as long as you can to check in because the closer you leave it, statistically, the more like you are to get a better seat.”

However, Em warned not to leave checking in for too long because you may miss the window and end up paying even more money.

She said: “If you don’t check in two hours before your flight the online check-in closes and you have to pay £55 or something ridiculous to check-in at the airport. So if you are going to leave it until the last minute make sure you have wifi and that the app is working.

“You can also see how many seats have been taken by the starting the online check in and going to select a seat. You can see how many middle seats are left.”