Travel advice: a checklist for checking in

When travelling by air, you need to think about how you are going to check in and where to sit on board. Every airline has a variety of ways to check in and costs for seats and boarding.

Take Ryanair. You must check in in advance on a computer or a tablet or on your phone. If you do not, it will cost €45 at the airport. When making a booking with our most used airlines, you are offered options to sit in various places in the aircraft for a price. Premium rows can be up to €20 for a seat and most prices range from €5 to €15. Expect to pay more for window, aisle or exit row seats.

On Aer Lingus, you can check in advance from two hours to 30 days, but if you do more than 30 hours before departure, you will have to pay for a seat. This is really awkward for the return as it is not always easy to find a computer or a place to print a boarding card. On Ryanair, you can check in and print outbound and return boarding cards from four hours to 15 days.

Most European airports have self-service kiosks or you can always go to the counter, although be early as the counter staff often manages the gate and load the aircraft. Families can reduce your stress by booking seats together.

The easiest way to check in is via an app on your smartphone: just make sure to keep it charged. If it goes dead, you will have to check in at the counter and may incur a cost.

Full service carriers will check you in at the counter or you can check in online, most now charge you to to choose your seat if more than 24 hours before travel.

When travelling in the United States, another complication of checking in is that you have pay for checked luggage at the airport. Allow plenty of time for domestic flights.