Could Ryanair be tweaking baggage size boxes?

selekta

A friend of mine was charged €30 by Ryanair at the gate for her supposedly oversize hand luggage. Her suitcase had problems fitting the size box placed at the gate. Thing is, it fitted perfectly the box at the check-in desk and she did not mess with the luggage since.

I am not making any accusations, but is this possible that Ryanair's boxes are thinner at the gate than they are at check-in?

emka1984

Stupid as the question might sound - the first time that she checked it - was it as well a Ryanair box?

other than that - i have never noticed any differences, but i haven't really paid too much attention, to be honest...

serfboard

Nothing would surprise me with them shower of bastids, which is why I never fly them.

The staff are now 'incentivised' (i.e. given money/commission) for charges they level on the customer, so of course, it's in the interest of staff members at the gate to declare people's luggage oversized.

emka1984

serfboard wrote: »

Nothing would surprise me with them shower of bastids, which is why I never fly them.

The staff are now 'incentivised' (i.e. given money/commission) for charges they level on the customer, so of course, it's in the interest of staff members at the gate to declare people's luggage oversized.

wow, really? Incentives? Sounds kinda realistic, unfortunately...

selekta

emka1984 wrote: »

Stupid as the question might sound - the first time that she checked it - was it as well a Ryanair box?

From what she told me, she checked it in a Ryanair box close to the desk where she left her check-in baggage.

The way to deal with them would be if people had measuring tapes and cameras on them in case something was wrong.

"I am a journalist" is your answer if they panic

jollygood

it wouldn't surprise me. i was charged 30 quid today to bring on a duty free bag containing a bottle of whiskey and a box of chocolates. am so angry. surely most airlines let you carry on your duty free in addition to your teeny tiny bag? Are they doing it to try and deter people from buying duty free in the airport so they have to buy it on the flight? I can see the airports getting pretty pissed off with that.

lord lucan

selekta wrote: »

"I am a journalist" is your answer if they panic

That's the last thing that would scare them! More likely MO'L would pop out for some free publicity at the utterance of them words!:D

selekta

She says it wasn't a bulge somewhere in the suitcase, the whole suitcase frame didn't fit the gate box. The woman who charged her was rude and said next time it would be €70 (?!!!)

Ryanair acts recently like they own the airport.

Did you know that on some European airports (ie. Charleroi in Belgium) they were stopped from charging people for their airport shopping that exceeded hand luggage allowance?
On a lot of airports they never even started doing this.

lord lucan

jollygood wrote: »

it wouldn't surprise me. i was charged 30 quid today to bring on a duty free bag containing a bottle of whiskey and a box of chocolates. am so angry. surely most airlines let you carry on your duty free in addition to your teeny tiny bag? Are they doing it to try and deter people from buying duty free in the airport so they have to buy it on the flight? I can see the airports getting pretty pissed off with that.

The one piece of hand luggage rule has been in for a while now. Because of Ryanairs push towards hand luggage flights and little to none checked luggage,people have been pushing the hand luggage restrictions to the max which is resulting in overhead bins being full quite early and cabin crew having to stow cabin luggage in the hold. If the 1 bag rule stops people taking the piss i'm all for it.

selekta

I fly Ryanair mostly. I actually ask vendors before shopping at airports if Ryanair is going to charge me. They often say there is no problem (and there isn't) but in Charleroi they told me specifically Ryanair had tried that trick and airport reacted quickly telling them to stop it.

NewDubliner

jollygood wrote: »

Are they doing it to try and deter people from buying duty free in the airport so they have to buy it on the flight? I can see the airports getting pretty pissed off with that.

One bag is it and your purchases must fit inside your one bag. It's in the T&C's. Unless you're flying out of the EU, there's no real bargains in 'Duty Free'.

Ryanair hates airport operators, so they're unlikely to do their over-priced shops any favours.

I've flown Ryanair, I make sure I stick to all their rules & never had any problem with their staff. They've been as courteous as any other airline. No point in arguing with them, just do your homework in advance. Read the T&Cs, weigh and measure your stuff. Don't expect any concessions.

davebuck

Which airport did this happen in?

A friend of mine was charged €30 by Ryanair at the gate for her supposedly oversize hand luggage. Her suitcase had problems fitting the size box placed at the gate. Thing is, it fitted perfectly the box at the check-in desk and she did not mess with the luggage since.

spongeman

Just came back from Germany with Aer Lingus, no checking and no problems with the hand luggage.

Ryanair = eat my biscuit.

alipackers

Exact same thing happenned to me this summer. checked my and luggage at the Ryanair check in desk and it was grand but as we were boarding the women told me to put my bag into the thing at the gate. Magically it no longer fitted!
Had to pay €30! And to make it even more annoying was that as I was doing it this woman walked by with and luggage at least twice the size of mine. I was so pissed off that I pointed her out to the woman and asked why I had to pay and she said "we cant check every passenger!!!"
Man I hate Ryanair!!!

selekta

davebuck wrote: »

Which airport did this happen in?

Dublin.

eirmail

I won't be flying for a while but would anyone else be interested in just measuring the various baggage size checkers. A piece of string would do it.

selekta

I sure am taking my measuring tape and a camera with me to the airport next week.

Victor

eirmail wrote: »

A piece of string would do it.

Go spend €2 on a measuring tape!

Folks, measure your bags and make sure they fit what it says in the terms and conditions.

Metrobest

If you know your bag is not going to fit in the box, wait until everyone else has boarded and they are at final, final call. Then sprint towards the boarding gate, where staff will hurry you onto the plane which is ready to depart.

This strategy worked for me at Madrid last year and I was allowed on board with THREE items of hand luggage.
Best of all, you get to sit in a front row seat which staff reserve for late-comers

Run_to_da_hills

eirmail wrote: »

I won't be flying for a while but would anyone else be interested in just measuring the various baggage size checkers. A piece of string would do it.

What you need is two small go/no go limit gauges of exactly 20cm and 40cm, two pieces of wooden dowel would do and bring them along on your next trip.

MOH

jollygood wrote: »

it wouldn't surprise me. i was charged 30 quid today to bring on a duty free bag containing a bottle of whiskey and a box of chocolates. am so angry. surely most airlines let you carry on your duty free in addition to your teeny tiny bag? Are they doing it to try and deter people from buying duty free in the airport so they have to buy it on the flight? I can see the airports getting pretty pissed off with that.

It clearly states in both the T+Cs and printed on the boarding pass itself "Handbag, briefcase, laptop, shop purchases, cameras, etc must be carried within your 1 cabin bag".

netwhizkid

I flew back from Prague two weeks ago with Ryanair and was left onto the plane with my laptop-backpack and a second duty free bag containing two bottles of Whiskey. I had my laptop backpack stuffed with cigarettes and excess clothes as I always take a luggage weighing scales so as to avoid any trouble at the airport.

I was one of the last on the plane at Praha as I was on the 3rd bus out to the plane and it was a good job I had a small bag or otherwise there would have been no room at all. Ryanair really do extract the urine with luggage restrictions and I always try to use Aer Lingus where possible but on this occasion the timing was all wrong so had to go cattle class with Mick & co.

triple-M

that sounds too farfetched to be true,so it must be knowing o leary and his tactics

unreggd

triple-M wrote: »

that sounds too farfetched to be true,so it must be knowing o leary and his tactics

Not really

My sister worked on Ryanair checkins for a few years

They are given weekly oversized baggage targets

It's clearly not a health and safety thing, as a Ryanair flights can handle up to 30kg per passenger, and most only have carry on luggage

So yes, its a money makin scam

KevR

lord lucan wrote: »

The one piece of hand luggage rule has been in for a while now. Because of Ryanairs push towards hand luggage flights and little to none checked luggage,people have been pushing the hand luggage restrictions to the max which is resulting in overhead bins being full quite early and cabin crew having to stow cabin luggage in the hold. If the 1 bag rule stops people taking the piss i'm all for it.

Me too.

It got really bad at one stage with people taking the piss. Was on a few flights that were late departing because of people having nowhere to stow their hand luggage.

spurious

Why do people always forget the 'under the seat in front of you' option, which is available to almost everyone?
Perhaps because their ginormous cases could fit a small child in them?

Imposter

spurious wrote: »

Why do people always forget the 'under the seat in front of you' option, which is available to almost everyone?
Perhaps because their ginormous cases could fit a small child in them?

No it's because they wouldn't have room for their enormously long legs then.

maynooth_rules

Travelling to Gatwick last week and they were putting everyone's bag into the baggage box. One womans bag got stuck and they were 15 minutes trying to get it out:D. By the time I boarded they still hadn't got it loose

emka1984

Ah, where are the good old times when one could have a little suitcase, a "purse", a laptop, duty free shopping, etc... And even though I only used this opportunity once - nowadays, I would NEVER be able to move to Spain and back oh, ok... so I used it twice :P

I guess people used to abuse the possibilities, so now the lines are abusing their new rules...

Saruman

Having just got back from Brussels via Chareloi I was unaware that I could buy duty free and not get charged. I should have asked but while in the airport I even thought about it that I would imagine the airport being pissed off if people could not buy duty free because they will be charged for it. As a result of past experience and being forced to put my duty free in my carry on (fit thankfully) I only bought a small box of chocolates.

I noticed on the plane that other people had their duty free.

One thing that annoys me is the limit on checked luggage. If I need to check a bag (in advance) and willingly pay to do so then surely I should have a limit higher than 15kg!
Going away to a cold country in winter requires thick heavy clothes and 15kg is just not enough, especially considering carry on is 10kg.

I have no problem with most of Ryanair's policies but the tiny checked baggage limit is useless.

QuietMan2010

Hope its OK to bump this thread, but I was reminded of it the other day when I saw this BBC news item about BMI Baby in the UK being caught out with different sized luggage gauges, the one at check-in being slightly larger than the one at the departure gate. Suspiciously, the one at departure wouldn't take a box with the exact maximum dimensions, so the passenger was charged £30. Not saying that Ryanair are doing the same, but reading the comments above it looks as though the same scenario may apply:

BMI Baby charges passengers for bags that fit

Watchdog [BBC programme] investigates bow big the BMI Baby hand luggage gauge is

Lifelike

Didn't think that Bmibaby would be up to something like that

center15

I had a massive issue in Vienna recently where my bag fitted in the hand luggage cage but due to the nature of it allowing slippage it was harder to get the bag out. Bit of a long letter so I posted it here http://willdeasy.com/?p=438.

undo

@center15

Just read your blog entry there. Appalling service, indeed. As for not getting any employee names: In that situation, I would have gotten out my camera and snapped a picture of each. Sure, you are not allowed to take pictures of people and put them on the Internet without their consent. But why not take a photo so you have a proof who you talked to and then attach it to a formal letter of complaint? Surely if you gave them exact times and dates plus the pictures, Aer Lingus would have been able to figure out who was working that shift and could have tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

furiousox

From their website...

• Ryanair maximum cabin bag size 55cm x 40cm x 20cm
• Ryanair maximum cabin bag weight 10 kilos (22 lbs)

center15

undo wrote: »

@center15

Just read your blog entry there. Appalling service, indeed. As for not getting any employee names: In that situation, I would have gotten out my camera and snapped a picture of each. Sure, you are not allowed to take pictures of people and put them on the Internet without their consent. But why not take a photo so you have a proof who you talked to and then attach it to a formal letter of complaint? Surely if you gave them exact times and dates plus the pictures, Aer Lingus would have been able to figure out who was working that shift and could have tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

I did take pics of them I just didn't want to go saying that in my letter... yet. The only reason the second person agreed to come down with me to the baggage size thing was because I told her I'm not getting on the plane and to take off my case. I said this knowing it would delay the plane but also I was serious. I told this to the AerLingus staff onboard the plane and they said well done haha . The staff in the airport were not actually AerLingus but agents on behalf of AerLingus. Still waiting on a reply for AerLingus, had to post the letter in they don't believe in email!

undo

center15 wrote: »

had to post the letter in they don't believe in email!

Not so much that they don't believe in it... refusing e-mails will get rid of 99% of the people that have a complaint but cannot be arsed to print it out, buy a stamp, search for a mailbox. Smart move by them, really.

thesimpsons

I've had occasion where the bag fits into their baggage cage in one airport and not in another. leaving Cork for Dusseldorf the case was perfect and on the return trip next evening - no purchases, bag actually lighter, Dusseldorf check-in refused to allow it on board. Atter an argument, I won but certainly makes you wonder revenue they are getting from all this.

undo

Do you mean Düsseldorf/Aer Linugs or Weeze (Düsseldorf)/Ryanair? I have flown the Düsseldorf route with Aer Linugs a couple dozen times. Not once did they check carry-ons... must have been really bad luck if they checked you.