You have booked a Ryanair flight to Marrakech, Agadir or Casablanca and you would rather not spend three and a half hours wedged between two strangers. The good news is that the middle seat is avoidable far more often than most passengers assume, without paying the seat-selection fee. The method is not a trick: it is understanding how the allocation actually works and acting at the right moment. This guide explains the mechanism, the three legitimate tactics that work, the 2026 rule changes that catch people out at the gate, and Ryanair’s current Moroccan network.
In brief
- If you do not pay to choose a seat, allocation is random and the system tends to fill middle seats first.
- Check in the moment online check-in opens, exactly 24 hours before departure. On the great majority of flights, window and aisle seats are still free at that instant. This is the single most effective legitimate tactic.
- Travelling as a couple or a family, do the opposite: wait six to ten hours after check-in opens, which improves the odds of being allocated adjacent window or aisle seats rather than being split.
- Check the seat map in the myRyanair app without selecting anything, so you know what is free before you board.
- Seat selection costs roughly 4 to 30 euros depending on the flight and the row, which is what these tactics are worth to you.
- Online check-in is compulsory between 24 and 2 hours before the flight if you have not paid for a seat. Forgetting costs 55 euros at the airport desk.
- Boarding passes are digital only since November 2025: the myRyanair app is required, and paper passes are gone.
- The free under-seat bag is now 40 × 30 × 20 cm, slightly larger than the previous allowance, and gate sizers are used almost systematically in 2026.
- One method circulating online does not belong on this list — see the section below on why we do not recommend it.
Why the middle seat is the one nobody wants
On Ryanair, if you do not pay to choose your seat — an option charged between about 4 and 30 euros depending on the flight — your placement is entirely random. In practice that very often means being stuck between two strangers with no direct access to either the window or the aisle.
The middle seat collects every disadvantage at once: no view, no easy way to stand up, shared armrests on both sides, and a general sense of being boxed in. On a flight of three and a half hours such as Paris to Marrakech or Madrid to Casablanca, that is long enough to matter. It is precisely because the allocation feels like a lottery that thousands of travellers trade tactics online, and some of those tactics are better than others.
How Ryanair actually allocates free seats
Two observable behaviours explain everything the tactics below rely on. First, the allocation engine works through what is available at the moment you check in, so your result depends less on luck than on timing. Second, when seats are plentiful the system shows a marked tendency to place unpaid passengers in middle seats, keeping window and aisle positions available for passengers who might still pay for them.
Put those together and a simple rule follows: the earlier you check in within the 24-hour window, the larger the pool of unsold window and aisle seats the engine has to draw from. The exception is group bookings, where the engine tries to seat your party together and will take a block of middle seats to do it. That is why the right tactic for a solo traveller is the opposite of the right tactic for a family.
Three tactics that work
Check in the second the window opens, at exactly 24 hours
This is the reliable method and it costs nothing but an alarm. Online check-in opens exactly 24 hours before departure if you have not paid for a seat. Analyses of large numbers of Ryanair flights by travel specialists find that on close to all of them, window or aisle seats are still free at that precise moment. Set a reminder for the exact departure time minus 24 hours, check in immediately, and accept what you are given. If you leave it until the evening before, the remaining inventory is much more likely to be middle seats only.
If you are two or a family, wait six to ten hours instead
This looks like the wrong advice and it is not. Because the system tries to keep a party together and will fill middle seats to do so, checking in the instant the window opens often produces exactly the outcome you wanted to avoid: a row of middles. Waiting six to ten hours after check-in opens means more of the middle seats have already gone to other passengers, so the engine has to seat your party in what remains, which is far more likely to be pairs of window and aisle seats. The trade-off is that on a very full flight you may be split up, so this is the tactic for a flight with reasonable availability rather than a peak-season Saturday.
Read the seat map in the app before you decide
You can open the seat map for your flight in the myRyanair app without selecting or paying for anything. Doing that before you check in tells you which approach above makes sense: if the map is already mostly full, pay the few euros and stop worrying; if it is wide open, the timing tactics will work. It also tells you where the genuinely good free seats are, which is useful information when you board a flight where seating is not strictly enforced.
| Tactic | Difficulty | How well it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check in at exactly 24 hours before departure | Easy | High | Any traveller, and the one to default to |
| Wait six to ten hours after check-in opens | Easy | Good | Couples and families who want to sit together |
| Read the seat map in the app first | Easy | Good as a decision aid | Flexible travellers deciding whether to pay |
| Simply paying for the seat | None | Certain | Full flights, tall passengers, tight connections |
The method we do not recommend, and why
A fourth method circulated widely in 2026 and you will find it described on social media and in parts of the travel press. It works by opening a second, fictitious booking for the same flight, entering invented passenger names, assigning them the remaining middle seats and leaving that booking unpaid so that the seats appear temporarily taken, which pushes the allocation engine to give you a window or an aisle.
We are not going to set out the steps, for two reasons. The first is factual: the usual defence is that nobody is harmed because the fictitious booking expires on its own, but that is not quite true. For the minutes the block is active, any other passenger who checks in is allocated from a pool with those window and aisle seats removed, so the cost is simply transferred to whoever checked in during that window. The second is practical: entering false passenger details into an airline’s reservation system runs against the terms you accepted when you booked, and the airline can close the gap or act on it at any time, with no notice. Our advice is to use the three tactics above, which rely on timing rather than on false data, and to pay the few euros when a flight is genuinely full.
The 2026 Ryanair rules to know before a Morocco flight
Several changes took effect for 2026 and they cause more problems at Moroccan airports than the seating does, because the enforcement is strict and the fees are not small.
- Boarding passes are fully digital. Since November 2025 paper passes have been withdrawn and the myRyanair app is required. Download it and log in before you reach the airport, not in the queue, and make sure your phone will hold a charge for the whole journey.
- Online check-in is compulsory between 24 and 2 hours before the flight if you have not paid for a seat. Turning up without having checked in costs 55 euros at the airport desk.
- The free under-seat bag is now 40 × 30 × 20 cm, a modest increase on the previous dimensions. Measure your bag rather than assuming, including wheels and handles.
- Gate sizers are used almost systematically in 2026. A bag that fits in theory and bulges in practice is the most common cause of an unexpected charge, and our guide to carry-on baggage rules in Morocco covers how the checks are applied.
One further point specific to Morocco: allow more time at the airport than you would in Europe, because bags and passengers are screened at the terminal entrance before check-in, so there is an extra queue before the one you expect. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, your rights depend on where you departed from, which is set out in our guide to flight delays and cancellations in Morocco.
Ryanair in Morocco: the current network
These tactics matter here because Ryanair is one of the most present low-cost carriers in the kingdom. The airline now serves thirteen Moroccan airports and announced plans to carry 10.7 million passengers to, from and within Morocco for the summer 2026 season. It also opened its fifth Moroccan base at Rabat in April 2026, with an announced investment of 200 million dollars and twenty new routes to Europe.
| Airport | Code | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Marrakech Menara | RAK | The flagship destination, with flights from Paris Beauvais, Madrid, Rome, Brussels and many more |
| Agadir Al Massira | AGA | The beach and surf gateway, strong in winter |
| Fes-Saiss | FEZ | More than twenty Ryanair routes, the airline’s largest Moroccan network outside Marrakech |
| Tangier Ibn Battouta | TNG | The northern gateway, close to Spain |
| Rabat-Sale | RBA | The fifth Moroccan base, opened April 2026 |
| Essaouira Mogador | ESU | Small, seasonal, convenient for the Atlantic coast |
| Nador Al Aroui and Oujda Les Angades | NDR, OUD | The eastern corridor, heavily used by the Moroccan community abroad |
| Ouarzazate and Tetouan | OZZ, TTU | Seasonal and limited, but useful for southern and northern loops |
The full picture of who flies where, including the carriers that compete with Ryanair on these routes, is in our overview of airlines flying to Morocco, and the complete list of platforms is on our page covering airports in Morocco. If you are still choosing dates, our guide to the cheapest time to fly to Morocco matters considerably more to the total cost than a seat fee does.
What these tactics will and will not do
- They do not guarantee a window seat. At best they move you out of the middle; whether you end up at the window or on the aisle remains a matter of what is left.
- They work much less well on full flights. If the aircraft is close to sold out, middle seats may be all that remains and no amount of timing changes that.
- They are worth between 4 and 30 euros per flight, which is the honest measure of the effort. On a family of four flying return, that is a real sum; on a single short hop it may not be worth the alarm clock.
- Nothing here depends on a flaw that might be closed. Timing your check-in is how the system is meant to be used, which is exactly why it will still work next year.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really avoid the Ryanair middle seat without paying?
Often, yes. Checking in at exactly 24 hours before departure, the moment the window opens, is enough on the large majority of flights, because window and aisle seats are still unsold at that point. It is not a guarantee: on a full flight the only free seats may be middles, and then the few euros for a chosen seat is the honest answer.
When exactly should you check in to get a good seat?
Exactly 24 hours before departure if you have not paid for a seat, because that is when online check-in opens and when the pool of free window and aisle seats is at its largest. The one exception is a party of two or more: there, waiting six to ten hours improves your chances of adjacent window and aisle seats rather than a block of middles.
How much does choosing a Ryanair seat cost?
Between about 4 euros for a standard seat and more than 30 euros for extra legroom in an emergency exit row or at the front of the cabin, varying by flight and by season. On a short hop that is small; on four return tickets in July it is a meaningful line in the budget, which is when the timing tactics pay for themselves.
Do you still need a printed boarding pass?
No, and you cannot use one. Paper boarding passes were withdrawn in November 2025 and boarding is now entirely through the myRyanair app. Install it and log in before you travel, and charge your phone: at a Moroccan airport you will pass through a security check at the terminal entrance before check-in, so your phone needs to last longer than you think.
What happens if you forget to check in online?
It costs 55 euros at the airport desk. Online check-in is compulsory between 24 and 2 hours before departure when you have not paid for a seat, and the fee is applied as a matter of routine rather than discretion. Set a reminder at the 24-hour mark and you solve the seat question and this one together.
Which Moroccan airports does Ryanair serve?
Thirteen in total, including Marrakech Menara, Agadir Al Massira, Fes-Saiss, Tangier Ibn Battouta, Rabat-Sale, Essaouira, Nador Al Aroui, Oujda Les Angades, Ouarzazate and Tetouan, with some routes seasonal. The airline announced plans to carry 10.7 million passengers to, from and within Morocco for summer 2026, and opened its fifth Moroccan base at Rabat in April 2026.
How big can the free Ryanair bag be in 2026?
The free under-seat bag is 40 × 30 × 20 cm, slightly larger than the previous allowance. Measure yours with wheels and handles included, because gate sizers are in almost systematic use in 2026 and a bag that only just fits when empty will not fit when packed.
In summary
Ryanair remains one of the cheapest ways into Morocco, and its extras are where the cheap fare quietly becomes a normal one. On seating, the whole answer fits in a sentence: set an alarm for 24 hours before departure and check in the moment the window opens, unless you are travelling as a group, in which case wait six to ten hours so the system has to seat you in window and aisle pairs. Check the seat map in the app first if you want to decide whether it is worth the bother at all. Then spend your attention on the two things that actually cost money at the gate, which are the bag dimensions and remembering to check in.
Sources
- Ryanair for fares, fees, baggage dimensions, check-in rules and the digital boarding pass.
- Ryanair Corporate for the Moroccan network announcements, the Rabat base and the summer 2026 passenger figures.
- ONDA, Office National Des Aéroports for Moroccan airport procedures.
Informational guide, reviewed in November 2026. Fares, fees, baggage dimensions and check-in rules change without notice: always confirm the current conditions on the airline’s own site before you fly. This guide is independent and not affiliated with Ryanair or with ONDA.
