Having just checked in online for next weeks little trip and aware I can now go straight to the security desks at Gatwick, I've noticed that I also have a check in confirmation for the return trip. Does this mean I go straight to the departure gate at Faro or do we have to check in again at the normal desks ie as if we were carrying hold luggage.

On another note, can anyone recommend any of the succulent dishes and sandwiches to buy and what's the coffee like please.

So does that mean you dont have to arrive at the airport 2 or 3 hours beforehand?

What happens if you have a pushchair? Just take it through to the gate?

Bearing in mind that so many of us fly Easyjet, some clarification of the rules and requirements would be very helpful

You can only book in online with EJ if you have hand luggage

Checking in on line and with hand luggage also gives you priority boarding before anyone checking in with hold luggage or didn't bother to check in online. Just after the speedy boarding mob and the families with ankle biters.

At Faro you still have to check in.

On line check in in Faro allows you to go straight to the departure gate. Show the boarding pass you printed off and they will hand over a "proper" boarding card. On line checkin is hand luggage only.
Some UK airports have Speedy Boarding Plus with a dedicated check in desk for people with hold luggage. Faro only has the original Speedy Boarding so people with bags check in as normal

You do not have to check in at Faro if you have hand luggage and you have checked in on line, walk past the desks and go to the security bit, so much easier, we usually get there about 1 1/2 hrs before travel as sometimes getting through security and then the passport bit can take time, also I have to walk through tax free!

You will find that you need to show your on line check in to the staff at the departure gate as they need to confirm it before you go through, and you get to be group A when you do the on line check in..... makes life a lot easier

Not wishing to go too far off track, but I tried Monarch on-line check-in and find that with no checked baggage they too offer the same as easyJet described above EXCEPT that you can only on-line checkin if you have reserved seats for which you have to pay extra £5 per person per leg.

I'm an easyJet fan, so this was a once-off experiment to "check out" the competition.

Slightly off topic: When do EJ release their winter flights? I'm looking to come out (again) for Christmas and New Year.

TerryC wrote:At Faro you still have to check in.

Sorry Terry not quite right. You don't have to check in if you have already done so on line, therefore already have your boarding pass. You go straight to security so no queuing at check in.
I have done this a few times in the last 6 months

First of all thank you so much for the replies which have proved interesting and enlightening. I think it was Bruce that said some clarification was required as well. However as well as I know Faro I still think I'm a little confused as what is "security". My definition of security is the bit where they scan just about everything except what you have had for breakfast as against the "gate" where you board the bus. So where do they scan the boarding pass.

Mike,C

They check that you have a valid boarding pass when you enter the snaking line to have your bags x-rayed and your belt removed to have your trousers fall down. The computer printed on-line check in document is accepted as a "valid boarding pass" at this point. Unlike Gatwick, they do not have actual scanning euipment there, but the guard merely reads it by eye - it does have all the details on it !

Then, when you reach the gate to board the bus, they take your printed boarding pass, enter details into the computer and usher you on to the bus ahead of the rest. I don;t think they have any scanner there either, so the bar code stuff is all ignored.

Walk past all the people queueing and go straight through to security to have your hand luggage checked. Sit and enjoy a coffee and wait for the departure gate to come up. Usually 20 something.

Go through passport control. Buy another coffee at the cafe by the gates. When the handling staff turn up go up before the call, present your printed off boarding pass and passport and they will give you a personalized boarding card which they have "prepared earlier" in true Blue Peter style. They no longer have to enter the details in the computer as e richard suggests. The system changed last December

If you check your printed boarding pass you will see that the UK / Faro leg has a bar code but the return one doesn't. No scanning in Faro.

Thanks Richard, probably in Matabixo about 12.15 if your around

Please bear in mind that in the UK your on line check in paper is scanned when you go through passport control. Doing this alerts Easyjet that you are planning on getting on the plane and they know you are at the airport.

At Faro the paper allows you to go through to the gate etc without checking in, but until you actually show it to the personnel at the gate, Easyjet has no idea you are at the airport. The staff at Faro warned me that occasionally they have released seats thinking that someone had not arrived to board the plane, only to find they had checked in on line.

To be on the safe side I would always check in at Faro until they have the facility to scan in the bar code. Failing that, make sure that you present yourself to the gate staff before they call the flight forward so they can mark you off as present at the earliest opportunity.