When does online check-in open?

The short answer

There is no single rule. Ryanair and Wizz Air open free online check-in 24 hours before departure. Air France, KLM and Lufthansa open at 30 hours. easyJet opens a full 30 days ahead, and Jet2 at 28 days.

The windows that matter are the short ones on low-cost airlines, because those are the airlines that charge you at the airport. Miss Ryanair’s window and checking in at the desk costs £55 or €55 per passenger, per flight.

Check-in windows by airline

These are the opening and closing times each airline publishes on its own help pages, checked in September 2026.

• Ryanair: opens 24 hours before departure, or 60 days before if you paid for a seat. Closes 2 hours before.
• Wizz Air: opens 24 hours before, or 30 days before with a paid seat. Closes 3 hours before.
• easyJet: opens 30 days before. Closes 2 hours before.
• Jet2: opens 28 days before. Closes 6 hours before.
• Vueling: 24 hours before on Fly Light fares, or 15 days before with a paid seat. On Fly and Fly Grande fares it opens as soon as you book.
• Eurowings: opens 72 hours before. Closes 3 hours before, or 40 minutes before at most German airports.
• Transavia: opens 30 hours before.
• British Airways: opens 24 hours before.
• Iberia: opens 24 hours before. Closes 1 hour before on most routes.
• Air France and KLM: open 30 hours before, or 24 hours on some US routes.
• Lufthansa: opens 30 hours before. With automatic check-in, the boarding pass arrives 23 hours before.
• TAP Air Portugal: opens 36 hours before, or 24 hours on flights to the US.
• Aegean: opens 48 hours before. Closes 30 minutes before, or earlier where the airport sets its own limit.
• Turkish Airlines: opens 24 hours before. Closes 90 minutes before.
• Pegasus: opens 7 days before. Closes 60 minutes before at most airports.
• Emirates: opens 48 hours before. Closes 90 minutes before.

Why paying for a seat changes the window

On Ryanair, Wizz Air and Vueling, a paid seat moves check-in much earlier: 60 days on Ryanair, 30 on Wizz Air, 15 on Vueling Fly Light. Without one, you wait for the free window and the airline gives you whatever seat is left.

Paying for a seat only to check in early is rarely worth it on its own. It makes sense when you want to sit together, and the early check-in comes with it.

What missing the window costs

Full-service airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM and Iberia let you check in at the airport for free. The cost of missing their window is a longer queue and a worse seat.

Low-cost airlines are different. Ryanair charges £55 or €55 per passenger for airport check-in, and its desks close 40 minutes before departure (60 minutes for flights from 10 November 2026). Wizz Air charges a desk fee at almost every airport it flies from. Eurowings charges €20 on its Basic fares, or €5 if you add airport check-in when you book.

Those fees add up fast. A family of four that misses both Ryanair windows on a return trip pays £440 before anyone has bought a coffee.

The closing time catches more people than the opening time

Remembering the outbound check-in is easy: you are at home, thinking about the trip. The return leg is where it goes wrong: you are on holiday, the window opens at an awkward hour, and Jet2 closes online check-in 6 hours before departure, Wizz Air 3 hours before and Ryanair 2 hours before.

An early flight after a late night is the other trap. If your flight leaves at 7:00, a 2-hour cut-off means online check-in closed at 5:00, while you were asleep.

Airlines that check you in automatically

A few full-service airlines will do it for you. Lufthansa offers automatic check-in, which sends the boarding pass 23 hours before departure.

Low-cost airlines have no equivalent, and they are the ones with the short windows and the desk fees. That gap is the whole reason automated check-in services exist.

Boarding passes on your phone

Ryanair stopped accepting printed boarding passes on 12 November 2025, so every passenger needs a digital boarding pass on a phone. If your phone breaks on the day, the airport gives you a pass for free. A few departures, mostly in Morocco, still hand out a printed pass at the desk after online check-in.

Other airlines are less strict but have their own rules. easyJet does not accept a screenshot of a PDF boarding pass. Wizz Air and easyJet both list airports where mobile passes do not work. Lufthansa sometimes issues only a check-in confirmation for legal reasons, and you collect the actual pass at the counter.

When you cannot check in online

Some passengers are sent to the desk whatever they do, usually for a document check.

• Ryanair: passengers with a non-EU passport verify their visa or residence document in the app. If verification fails three times, you get a restricted pass and a free check at the desk. If you never try before the window closes, you check in at the desk and pay the fee.
• Wizz Air: holders of non-EU documents go to the counter to have their documents checked and the boarding card stamped.
• easyJet: some routes require passport details in advance, and a few send passengers to the bag-drop for a document check.
• Most airlines: special assistance, pets and children flying alone are handled at the desk.

What the EU Entry/Exit System changes

The EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully running since 10 April 2026. It does not change online check-in. It changes passport control: travellers from outside the EU give fingerprints and a photo the first time they enter, and the queues are longer as a result, especially on non-Schengen departures.

Airlines now also confirm online that a visa holder still has entries left before letting them board. ETIAS, the separate travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, is not running yet and has no official start date.

If the window has already closed

On a full-service airline, go to the airport a little earlier than planned and check in at the desk. It costs nothing but time.

On a low-cost airline, check whether the online window is still open before you do anything else. Ryanair and easyJet close online check-in 2 hours before departure, so there is often time left even when it feels too late. If it has closed, budget for the desk fee and arrive before the desk closes, because a missed desk means a missed flight.

A routine that works

Checking in takes a few minutes. Remembering when to do it, for every leg of every trip, is the part that fails.

• When you book, note when check-in opens and closes for both legs, not only the outbound.
• Windows count back from the local departure time. On a trip across time zones, work out the opening time in the time zone you will be in.
• Two flights on separate bookings are two separate check-ins, even with the same airline.
• Save passport details in the airline app so check-in is one tap.
• If you hold a non-EU passport, do any document verification as soon as the window opens.
• For early departures, check in the evening before rather than the morning of.

Or let someone else watch the window

The simpler fix is not to watch the window at all. We track it for every flight on your booking, check everyone in as soon as it opens, and send the boarding passes to your inbox and your phone.