RyanAir refused to let us board our flight to Estonia

It's January 2021. You're trying to GTFO of the United Kingdom during the wave of the scary Mutant Virus. You bought flights to Estonia months ago, but now flights in and out of London are starting to get cancelled. Are you going to make it?

That was us. And here's how that went down:

Upon arrival at Stansted Airport, we joined the snaking long queue of people waiting in line for their turn at RyanAir's check-in counter. From the corner of my eyes, I observed other travellers holding on to sheets and sheets of paper – of what seemed like pre-departure Covid-19 tests. A wave of nerves came over me. I didn't have a negative test myself, but I KNEW that it wasn't necessary. The official Estonian website had stated very clearly that passengers could opt for a test-on-arrival in Estonia!

But some people started getting pulled aside... and we soon found out why.

When it was finally our turn, RyanAir staff INSISTED that we needed a pre-departure COVID test in order to board the flight to Estonia. This was totally different from what we read on the Estonian government's website! I felt my heart sink. I reaaaally didn't want to be stuck in the UK!

This led to even Estonian nationals being held up at the line – whom were also FURIOUS at the airline for not knowing their shit and preventing them from getting home. Some of them stood there angrily with hands on their hips. Many made loud and aggressive demands. All of us pulled long faces.

Then after what seemed like an eternity of just standing around and wondering what the heck we should do about the situation, we were suddenly allowed to board.

Why?!? After putting us through all that angst and frustration??? I wondered out loud. And the Estonian lady standing next to us told us it wasn't because the airline staff were convinced by the proof we showed. But because "There are too many of you who don't have tests, so we will let you all through." Dafug?!

By this point we had barely any time left to get through customs. Upon entering the boarding area, we found out that our gate was literally at the OTHER end of the airport, which will take a whopping THIRTY-MINUTE WALK to get to. And the worst part? Our flight was leaving in FIVE MINUTES.

And there began the longest, most exhausting airport run I had ever been on.

After huffing and puffing my way onto the plane, we buckled up and took multiple deep breaths... before hearing on the speakers that our entire flight was being switched to another aircraft due to some technical issues.

OOF!

We started laughing at ourselves at how ridiculously everything panned out that morning. And our journey wasn't even over yet – we didn't know if Eric was going to be allowed to enter Estonia. The Estonian government website had specifically indicated that "All Americans are not allowed to enter.", seemingly a political stance that's in opposition to how "All European travellers are not allowed to enter the US."

But to my surprise (and very gladly), when we arrived in Tallinn, Eric went through Estonian immigrations smoothly.

And here's the plot twist: those without a pre-departure test walked right through the door. Nobody was checking anyway. -Smirks-

WHAT A DAY.