Efficiency of Ryanair cabin baggage policy

medoc

With almost all (in my experience) Ryanair flights been full and only allowing (or at least guaranteeing ) the first 90 bags on board. How inefficient is tagging the excess bags at the gate and manually loading on the plane? Would lower priced or even inclusive baggage encourage more people to check luggage? Faster and easier turnarounds and the possibility of more people paying an albeit lower initial charge.

LeChienMefiant

More chance of it travelling with the passenger if the passengers carries it to the plane? Halves the risk of it going missing then? It can only go missing on arrival.

Locker10a

I think in years to come we may see a reversal of baggage fees, the way I see it airlines are paying for luggage now anyway, as they check them in for free at the gate, thus they have to pay for baggage handling services anyway, not to mention how much slower boarding is today compared to 30 years ago, this is all due to luggage stowage etc. People are bringing so much onboard now it's causing a real issue and delays as bags are tagged and offloaded on every flight. If a 10kg case was free to check-in anyway enough people would opt for this and boarding would be so much quicker. Airlines could still generate revenue by selling more weight allowance etc.

jamesthepeach

They will just say no cabin bags.

Ryanair make more from a bag than a passenger.

Jamie2k9

They need to drop the second bag it's a complete disaster. Tagging bags at gates is grand provided passengers don't rip the tags off to take them on board.....

Riskymove

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Tagging bags at gates is grand provided passengers don't rip the tags off to take them on board.....

I saw this happen......but when the person arrived on plane he was asked where the tag went...and the bag was removed

turns out they mark your boarding pass too!!

Jamie2k9

Riskymove wrote: »

I saw this happen......but when the person arrived on plane he was asked where the tag went...and the bag was removed

turns out they mark your boarding pass too!!

Not all staff pay such attention to detail.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

homerjay2005

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

i remove the TAGs 100% of the time. if i wanted to be delayed on arrival, id check my bag in. i also keep important personal items in my bag such as passports etc and i dont want them lost by some incompetent bag handler.

i keep to the rules, keep to the limits and take 1 bag, why should i lose out due to others bringing on too much!?

swimming in a sea

I can understand why some don't want luggage checked in, last week on an aer lingus flight i volunteered my bag to be checked in as i entered the plane, as they said there was very little room left.
My reward, arrived in Vienna to an electrical storm that meant baggage handling service was suspended and didn't start again for 30mins:(

If the baggage handling could be relied upon then I'd always checkin (if free) as it takes hassle out of boarding.

theteal

Riskymove wrote: »

I saw this happen......but when the person arrived on plane he was asked where the tag went...and the bag was removed

turns out they mark your boarding pass too!!

Good luck to them attempting to mark somebody's phone

homerjay2005

if they left them at the bottom of stairs on arrival, it would make more more sense.

Tenger

Im definitely of the opinion that the crush of boarding and the scrum of searching for baggage space is holding back speedier boarding times.
I think back to when I was working at the coalface in the industry; most people checked in a bag as it was part of the fare, people generally
just had 1 small handbag, briefcase or duty free bag. ( This was around the time integrated wheels in bags was devised and before laptops becoming commonplace)

I cant see airlines going back to a bundled fare however. Bags fees are now such an important element of ancilliary revenue, which looks great on the balance sheet.

Locker10a

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Fred Swanson wrote: »

The stairwells provide great cover for anyone wanting to remove gate tags.

i remove the TAGs 100% of the time. if i wanted to be delayed on arrival, id check my bag in. i also keep important personal items in my bag such as passports etc and i dont want them lost by some incompetent bag handler.

i keep to the rules, keep to the limits and take 1 bag, why should i lose out due to others bringing on too much!?

If you want to guarantee your bag in the cabin then the best course of action is jumping to to que as early as possible to be counted in the early 90 pax who are allowed bags onboard. While you may remove your tag that doesn't actually mean there will be space in the cabin, bags are tagged for fun! You may be refused entry to the cabin with your bag of the crew have confirmed the lockers are full.
I recently had the joy of a Rome flight where a group of 15 Italians had the brainy idea to remove the tags from their bags... every single one of their bags ended up being tagged again, on board the aircraft by the cabin crew, this whole ordeal meant the aircraft pushed back 17 minutes late.
All due to their selfish actions, I must say I took pleasure from seeing how red faced they were when they realised how selfish and foolish they'd been and that they'd delayed everyone else on the flight. Many of their fellow passengers knew what they had done and well if looks could kill...

kevinandrew

Ryanair has seen their turn around times come under pressure since the second bag rule was introduced, management recently threatened to bring back the strict one bag rule or even start charging for cabin bags. I can see their point, boarding has definitely slowed and the amount of time cabin crew spend trying to cram bags into the overhead lockers has increased


There's also another reason Ryanair may be interested in charging for cabin bags, one of their biggest rivals, Wizz Air has done it successfully for years. Wizz Air charges a fee to bring a standard cabin bag, some fares have this included, other more expensive fares also include priority boarding which allows a second smaller bag but otherwise it's quite a strict policy and one that works well for them. Wizz Air's ancillary revenue is double that of Ryanair's and with Wizz Air's larger A321 fleet arriving, their opportunities for revenue growth are far greater than Ryanair's. 


Wizz Air will be fitting almost 240 seats into its A321neo aircraft and by the mid 2020s expects the aircraft to make up the majority of its fleet. Ryanair will be competing with 197 seat 737MAX meaning Ryanair's long history of having a cost advantage over it's rivals will be diminished. Currently Wizz competes with its 180 seat A320 against Ryanair's 189 seat 737. The temptation to add extra charges may be too much for Ryanair with competition like that emerging.

LeChienMefiant

What extra crew does the A321 require over the Boeing? Ryanair intentionally kept under 200 passengers.

J.pilkington

homerjay2005 wrote: »

i remove the TAGs 100% of the time. if i wanted to be delayed on arrival, id check my bag in. i also keep important personal items in my bag such as passports etc and i dont want them lost by some incompetent bag handler.

i keep to the rules, keep to the limits and take 1 bag, why should i lose out due to others bringing on too much!?

Talk about kettle calling pot black!

Where to start with your post!

1. You need to learn the rules - carry on policy is not 1 bag so the people you claim are breaking the rules are not.

2. I think you need to be a little more observant to your surroundings, there is not room in the overhead lockers for all ~180 passengers to store a bag, therefore it's priority passengers first then the order of the queue.

So your act is selfish as the staff will have calculated that there is no room for your bag in the overhead bins and you just p|ss people off as a consequence of your selfish act is that people will likely have to jigg overhead lockers to fit your bag in. You are the very reason that it takes ages to board a plane as people walk up and down the isle looking for bag spaces because either they ignored a cabin crews' instructions to leave their bag or someone else did.

So either don't be so lazy and join the queue early or don't be tight and pay the €10 for priority if you don't want your bag in the overhead locker

Also putting personal items in a bag that goes in an overhead locker is real amateur silly move, there is no guarantee your bag will be in an overhead locker that is your line of sight

kevinandrew

LeChienMefiant wrote: »

What extra crew does the A321 require over the Boeing? Ryanair intentionally kept under 200 passengers.

It'll increase to five but with almost 60 extra seats available on the A321neo, the revenue potential along with the lower cost per seat outweighs the staff level increase. 

Easyjet ordered 30 A321neo aircraft just a few weeks ago, choosing a 235 configuration compared to Wizz Air's 239 seats.

L1011

LeChienMefiant wrote: »

What extra crew does the A321 require over the Boeing? Ryanair intentionally kept under 200 passengers.

1 per 50 so 240 should easily cover the costs. Easyjet have 156 on their 319s as they feel the 7 covers the 4th FA.

The 737-900 is a tailstrike prone dog so moving up in scale isn't as useful for 738 operators

highlydebased

There was a time when, if checking in a bag, they would also take the cabin bag for free at the check in desk however they seemed to have stopped doing this and the response now usually is "we'll take it at the gate...."

Perhaps this is to avoid missing luggage at origin airport? Was a very handy gesture

Stovepipe

@second post above; bags fall off trollies before departure. Every airport ramp staff person has found departing bags on the ramp. I'd average one a day in Dublin.

View Profile

kevinandrew wrote:

Wizz Air will be fitting almost 240 seats into its A321neo aircraft and by the mid 2020s expects the aircraft to make up the majority of its fleet. Ryanair will be competing with 197 seat 737MAX meaning Ryanair's long history of having a cost advantage over it's rivals will be diminished. Currently Wizz competes with its 180 seat A320 against Ryanair's 189 seat 737. The temptation to add extra charges may be too much for Ryanair with competition like that emerging.

Doesn't O'Leary part own or have huge shares in wizzair?!

kevinandrew

View Profile wrote: »

kevinandrew wrote:

Wizz Air will be fitting almost 240 seats into its A321neo aircraft and by the mid 2020s expects the aircraft to make up the majority of its fleet. Ryanair will be competing with 197 seat 737MAX meaning Ryanair's long history of having a cost advantage over it's rivals will be diminished. Currently Wizz competes with its 180 seat A320 against Ryanair's 189 seat 737. The temptation to add extra charges may be too much for Ryanair with competition like that emerging.

Doesn't O'Leary part own or  have huge shares in wizzair?!

No. 

As far as I'm aware both airlines once shared a large US based investor but that's about as far as their connection goes.

ED E

kevinandrew wrote: »

Ryanair has seen their turn around times come under pressure since the second bag rule was introduced, management recently threatened to bring back the strict one bag rule or even start charging for cabin bags. I can see their point, boarding has definitely slowed and the amount of time cabin crew spend trying to cram bags into the overhead lockers has increased


There's also another reason Ryanair may be interested in charging for cabin bags, one of their biggest rivals, Wizz Air has done it successfully for years. Wizz Air charges a fee to bring a standard cabin bag, some fares have this included, other more expensive fares also include priority boarding which allows a second smaller bag but otherwise it's quite a strict policy and one that works well for them. Wizz Air's ancillary revenue is double that of Ryanair's and with Wizz Air's larger A321 fleet arriving, their opportunities for revenue growth are far greater than Ryanair's.?


Wizz Air will be fitting almost 240 seats into its A321neo aircraft and by the mid 2020s expects the aircraft to make up the majority of its fleet. Ryanair will be competing with 197 seat 737MAX meaning Ryanair's long history of having a cost advantage over it's rivals will be diminished. Currently Wizz competes with its 180 seat A320 against Ryanair's 189 seat 737. The temptation to add extra charges may be too much for Ryanair with competition like that emerging.

Can you compare them directly though?

I cant find the link right now but IIRC the overhead space in the 737 is almost 30% greater than that of the 320.

Wizz are thought of now like Ryanair were years ago, "limitnazis". Doubt MOL wants to go back to that image.

wordofwarning

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

They need to drop the second bag it's a complete disaster. Tagging bags at gates is grand provided passengers don't rip the tags off to take them on board.....

It is not the second bag that is the issue IMO. It is the fact, that Ryanair does not appear to enforce the size/weight rule anymore. About 5-10 years ago. They were always checking bag sizes, weights etc. Now you see people with pretty much their entire wardrobe in a massive gym bag and the staff same nothing.

A second bag of duty free is fine. Ciara and the girls bringing their entire wardrobe to Amsterdam for the weekend, not so much.

Like I have been in airports, where the local airport staff are doing most of the work eg check-in, boarding cards etc. 95% of the time, they could not care less. I convinced one to let me check in a really overweight bag for no extra cost

J.pilkington

ED E wrote: »

Can you compare them directly though?

I cant find the link right now but IIRC the overhead space in the 737 is almost 30% greater than that of the 320.

Can you back this up. I find that stat extremely hard to believe. Are you sure it's not a Boeing fanboi stat - e.g. A 737-max with optional space bins v a320 pre neo?

737max

I just wish they'd start enforcing the rules regarding bag dimensions whatever about weight for cabin baggage and I wouldn't resent Ryanair or Aer Lingus making more money out of passengers who attempt to bring bigger bags on board.
you can fit a lot more than 90 of these in the overhead lockers. These bags are the maximum size permissible.

737max

homerjay2005 wrote: »

i remove the TAGs 100% of the time. if i wanted to be delayed on arrival, id check my bag in. i also keep important personal items in my bag such as passports etc and i dont want them lost by some incompetent bag handler.

i keep to the rules, keep to the limits and take 1 bag, why should i lose out due to others bringing on too much!?

If you had one of those soft rucksacks which I posted above and carried it on your back you wouldn't even have your bag tagged. I've never had my one tagged despite never queuing early to board...but I know that for some people being a Scallywag adds a certain frisson to the whole travelling experience

trellheim

If I'm bringing a rollie I will always check it in , its easier by far.

I'd be interested in a square cm comparison between the new FR 800s overhead lockers vs the 320

but also a cubic cm comparison - it seems to me that the new 800 lockers are much larger by volume with the downward opening rather than the lid type on the older ones.

kevinandrew

The new 'Sky Interior' overhead bins on the latest 737-800s and the future MAX aircraft are indeed larger but the extra space only really becomes usable if you fit your bag in sideways instead of flat which is proving difficult in actual operations. It also depends on what bins Ryanair has fitted on their latest 737s because Boeing offers two types, the standard Sky Interior bins and newer 'Space Bins' which can fit up to 6 standard wheelie bags on their side over the usual 4 that NG and even the latest designs fit. 

In some cases the new bins just look nicer and hold a few more smaller items but don't actually provide that much additional space for wheelie bags over the old design unless you've opted for Boeings 'Space Bin' design.

L1011

ED E wrote: »

Can you compare them directly though?

I cant find the link right now but IIRC the overhead space in the 737 is almost 30% greater than that of the 320.

Wizz are thought of now like Ryanair were years ago, "limitnazis". Doubt MOL wants to go back to that image.

Believe that figure requires comparing a brand new Sky Interior 737 to a 1988 320.

The 320 is a larger aircraft, tube-wise. Its easier to fit bigger bins to it.