Use Ryanair boarding pass in phone or is printed PDF required ?

Can I use only a boarding pass downloaded in my mobile phone when travelling with Ryanair ? Is the printed version of boarding pass required ?

Yes, you can download a mobile boarding pass into your phone and use it when travelling, but not always. If you complete an online check-in, you can see that boarding passes must be printed for use:




On the Ryanair's website is written, that they accept mobile boarding passes on flights from the majority of airports on their network. But some airports cannot accept mobile boarding passes yet.

Because of that, it is recommended to have also a printed version of your boarding pass.

I have seen some passengers are using only a boarding passes in their mobile phones at the airport. If you plan to use a mobile boarding pass in your phone, it is better to have it downloaded than have it in email or app, because if there will be some problems with mobile network or internet connection, you will not be able to access it and use it.

If possible, I recommend to have a boarding pass printed on paper, because it can happen that some technical problems may occur on the phone or it can just run out of battery.

Please note there is a difference between a "mobile boarding pass" and a regular boarding pass. Mobile boarding pass is available when using a Ryanair App. It looks a bit different and it has a QR code instead of a barcode.

I would say it is good to have a boarding pass printed, even as a backup when using a mobile boarding pass.

If you need to have your boarding pass printed for some reason, Ryanair can usually print it at the airport for a fee. But this option is a bit expensive and it may cause you a delay.

It is not recommended to use a taken photos of your boarding pass, because of possible scanning (reading) problems. There can be also problem with using of mobile boarding pass, if phone screen is cracked. In this case there is a big chance that scanners won't be able to read it.

There is a difference between a boarding pass and mobile boarding pass.

If you book the flight via website, you will get a regular boarding pass (with barcode), that has to be printed.

If you use Ryanair App, you will get a mobile boarding pass (with QR code), that doesn't need to be printed. Mobile boarding pass is available in Ryanair App, but you can download it directly to your phone. This boarding pass with QR code can be scanned from your phone.

Just to clarify:

A boarding pass that you can download from Ryanair website is different from a boarding pass that is available in Ryanair app. But both boarding passes can work well at certain circumstances.

The difference is:

• Boarding pass that can be downloaded from Ryanair website contains a PDF417 barcode. This boarding pass can be downloaded as a PDF file. But because there is a quite large barcode, it is recommended to print this type of boarding pass.
• Boarding pass that is available in Ryanair app contains a QR code, that can be scanned well from your phone at the airport. This boarding pass is known as a mobile boarding pass.

You should be able to access your boarding pass in Ryanair app, even without an internet connection, but you need to be signed in. You should try this before you travel.

Alternatively, to save a boarding pass to your phone, you can take a screenshot of it. Taking screenshots of boarding pass is not recommended, but it worked well in my case. Just make sure that QR code is fully visible in your screenshot.