Ryanair have really ramped up charging people for bags that "don't fit"

DoctorEdgeWild · 29-01-2025 04:50PM

The more people who get charged for going against the rules, the cheaper the flights are for the rest of us. I'm going to Sarajevo for 14 quid on Friday. Unbelievable value. Some of that low cost is thanks to the charges that others choose to pay for not playing by the rules. I can see how aggrieved someone might feel if they weren't informed but the app/website bangs on about it constantly!

Oscar_Madison · 29-01-2025 05:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123112857#Comment_123112857

In fairness going back to the early 90s I wasn’t impressed with Ryan air cabin crew even then so I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with them 😀

DayInTheBog · 29-01-2025 05:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123107286#Comment_123107286

I know someone who flew Kerry to Dublin to Krakow, back to Dublin and was told the case was too big getting on the return Kerry flight. They had plastic bags and put the case contents into them and left the case at the gate. They boarded the plane no issue.

Funny how it travelled across Europe without issue and was suddenly too big.

pgj2015 · 29-01-2025 07:13PM

Has anyone being on with Joe Duffy about this yet?

its such bad business to be sly like this with customers, thats a great way to lose customers forever.

cj maxx · 29-01-2025 07:43PM

My pringles are upside down in the tube

Donald Trump · 29-01-2025 07:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123112888#Comment_123112888

You might change your tune if you get nabbed for an additional 60 Euro you weren't expecting because they make you put the souvenir baseball cap present that you were carrying in your hand into your bag which causes it to bulge 1mm too far for their liking.

cobham · 29-01-2025 08:12PM

I had reason to travel frequently with Ryanair. I often used the same odd bag (a craft bag) with wheels and handle but soft sides with only a few items such as laptop, bottle of water etc but I would put winter coat/hat/scarf etc unneeded indoors at airport in it also. Plenty of room and bag fitted under seat in front. I got challenged on return trip to Dublin and left the Q to put on the coat/hat/scarf and returned but she refused to look at my bag sitting in her crate…. ok so the handle bit did stick up a bit. I was not prepared to pay but she refused to engage and kept my passport. A gentleman offered to adopt me and so sorted the situation. I took a photo of said bag in crate and tried over many months to make my complaint but it went no where. I think they have a quota set up to achieve and also she probably had sight that I had paid very little for my fare.

jimmycrackcorm · 29-01-2025 08:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123113576#Comment_123113576

Did you use a credit card to pay and request a chargeback from your bank? I'd take a photo of it fitting in the measuring box and include that in the chargeback details.

blackvalley · 29-01-2025 08:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123113490#Comment_123113490

So could you not just pop the souvenir baseball cap on your head smile pleasantly and carry on. Even over another cap or is there something in the small print about wearing more than one cap. 😁

Donald Trump · 29-01-2025 10:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123113693#Comment_123113693

That was why I said present. It's still in it's wrapper!

I have actually taken a hoodie out of a case for an international flight when the "lady" at check in wanted to charge me something like $100 for a suitcase being maybe 300g overweight. I took it out and tied it around my waist. After I did that she made me go back and put my carry on into the sizer again and called over her colleague to check that it fit! (It did)

DoctorEdgeWild · 29-01-2025 10:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123113490#Comment_123113490

But why would I do that? I know the rules of the game. Do around 40 flights a year. (Not a millionaire Globetrotter, some are work 😂) My inbox is full of Ryanair emails about every rule. The app tells me every week. Signs at the gate. People everywhere checking. Why would I risk 60 quid when I know the rules. Flight costs 20, why would I risk tripling the cost? Just doesn't make sense unless it's someone's first time flying, for which I'd have a little sympathy, but still thankful they are subsidising my holidays.

cobham · 30-01-2025 12:04AM

"Did you use a credit card to pay and request a chargeback from your bank? I'd take a photo of it fitting in the measuring box and include that in the chargeback details"

I did not pay a charge in the end as a man offered to include my bag in his unused allowance ( surely contra security?) I was rather upset at this stage as was just over close family bereavement, late at night etc. Then she forgot to give me back my passport so major bru ha on plane trying to find me! Yes I did take a photo and one of the staff member tho there is a sign up saying no use of cameras.

Donald Trump · 30-01-2025 12:28AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123114353#Comment_123114353

The point of the thread is the (anecdotal) reports of people whose were as sure as you that their bags were correct, and that their bags actually physically fit into the cages (accompanied by photographs showing this) but who were charged nonetheless in what amounted to a shake down. They aren't people whose bags were clearly over the limits (which you do see on planes when you board and there is a bag lying sideways in the overhead locker because it won't fit in the way it is meant to fit in) and then there are people whose bags fit into the cages but won't "slide" in without a bit of a push.

Of course, they could be lying. Who knows. But some of those people may even have been as smugly confident of their knowledge of the rules before they were ripped off.

HBC08 · 30-01-2025 01:02AM

My Mrs had to leave a hard shell case at the airport on a return flight from Spain last year.Apparently the bag wasn't too big on the way over but somehow was on the way back.

She didn't want to argue so took out her phone to pay the €60.They couldnt/wouldn't take a payment off the phone,asked for cash or physical card,she had neither so had to leave the bag.

The girl she was dealing with was rude and aggressive.During the flight there was a medical emergency, a passenger identified himself as a doctor and the wife identified herself as a paramedic.They dealt with the passenger as best they could,the plane avoided being diverted and ambulance waiting to meet it on the tarmac in Dublin.

Rude,aggressive trolley dolly was very quiet when all this was happening.

pgj2015 · 30-01-2025 01:39AM

what if you said I have no cash or card on me. it was all stolen on holiday :(

harryharry25 · 30-01-2025 02:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123114904#Comment_123114904

This happened me coming back from Portugal (I did have the money just wasn't paying)

All was in my bag was Penney's shorts/tshirts/socks etc

Girl told me bag too big, I said it wasn't too big going over and it's got less stuff in it now. Wasn't budging, said the bag is not getting on plane if u don't pay.

I said to her fine, I don't need the bag anyway and left it beside the desk at the boarding gate

As I went show my passport, second ryanair worker spotted bag and said he can't leave that there and I said well I've no money and I don't need the stuff in it. She whispered something to the other one, who lifted the bag handed it to me and said go on

DoctorEdgeWild · 30-01-2025 02:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123114778#Comment_123114778

It's absolutely possible that the multimillion airline is running a small sideline shakedown scam I suppose.

Seems way, way, way more likely in my opinion that people are bringing bags that are too big or packed too full.

Fatnacho · 30-01-2025 08:09AM

I went on 12 short distance journeys with Ryanair last year. Used the same full-up carry-on bag every time. Got stopped once as the attendant was clearly trying to shakedown passengers at the end of the queue as the gate was closing.
I could’ve spent over €250 in total for priority bookings on all my flights so paying the €60 penalty once wasn’t a bad result.
Until they become more consistent and fine everyone with oversized luggage rather than 3 or 4 random passengers, it’s still a chance worth taking if your bag is going to be close to the limit. Most of the time they”ll let you through as they won’t want to cause a delay to onboarding.

Fatnacho · 30-01-2025 08:23AM

However, one major complaint was that the attendant at the gate tried to keep my passport until I paid. They’ve obviously been told to do this as an extra coercive measure to get people to pay. I told her she didn’t have any authority to keep my passport and she promptly gave it back.
I know they can deny you boarding but there’s no way they should be encouraged to hold passports until people pay.

Mister Vain · 30-01-2025 09:53AM

I never understood why people need to bring so much shyte with them as carry on luggage. Use a small carry on bag for valuables and put the rest in the check in bag. It can't be that difficult.

Rocket_GD · 30-01-2025 10:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123115202#Comment_123115202

Not everyone has a check in bag though. Many have the 10kg cases as their entire luggage. No need for a checked bag if only going somewhere for a few nights.

Never had any issues myself but my in-laws both got fined, their carry on cases were massive, surprised it's only happened them once.

Pauliedragon · 30-01-2025 10:51AM

Ryanair should do a side hussle selling bags that are the exact size to fit into the bin. It would save a lot of hassle. I'm sure they could price it appropriately so that it doesn't wipe out the money they make with the charges.

ancapailldorcha · 30-01-2025 11:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123115202#Comment_123115202

When I went home for Christmas, I only brought my toothbrush, socks, underwear, t-shirts, chargers and my small tablet. I use a small bag and it barely fit in their box.

I understand how Ryanair fees used to work. Charging €50 to print a boarding pass meant that people brought their own which cut operating costs. Same for bags for short trips.

This just feels like rinsing customers and it's especially crappy that only the minimum wage-earning staff will pay the price while the airline rakes it in. It's just shoddy. You could put up with crap like the constant selling on board the flight because it was so cheap but if Ryanair keep rinsing people like this, they'll just push people to other providers. It happens regularly and no company ever seems to learn from it.

Banzai600 · 30-01-2025 11:17AM

Right now I’m stood opposite two gates in T1 , lots of disgruntled ppl arguing over bag sizes they’ve used for yrs with Ryanair

Ryanair making a killing , mostly cases with wheels from what I can see , few over the shoulder bags. Good few ppl from both priority queues.

Money racket.

Mister Vain · 30-01-2025 11:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123115379#Comment_123115379

Yeah but I've often seen people with both and they'd be bursting. I was coming back from Malaga last year and I saw one girl pulling hair dryers and god knows what else out of her bag to try and meet the requirements.

HBC08 · 30-01-2025 12:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123115117#Comment_123115117

Do you understand what a hard shell case is?

I'm not going to try to explain it to you but it doesn't get bigger or smaller based on the contents.

StormForce13 · 30-01-2025 12:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123111610#Comment_123111610

Flew back from Fuerteventura last Saturday on a full Ryanair plane. Boarding was a nightmare: front door boarding/disembarking is only allowed there - although Ryanair don't bother to tell people that, so our seats near the back were a bad call! It took over half an hour to board, a delay in part cased by every second passenger having a very obviously far too big suitcase with them I really wish that Ryanair had applied their rules on that flight. But they didn't.

pgj2015 · 30-01-2025 02:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123114925#Comment_123114925

I would throw the bag in a bin in front of them rather than pay them.

Charles Babbage · 30-01-2025 02:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123111214#Comment_123111214

However, you get people trying to put coats, duty free etc in the overhead locker, when FR have already sold hand baggage tickets to the max capacity of this locker.

HeidiHeidi · 30-01-2025 02:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123111214#Comment_123111214

The point is, most in this thread who were charged or saw others being charged also had no problems whatsoever - until they did.

It's the randomness of it all - some get picked out of queues, most don't. Sometimes nobody at all gets pulled - most flights I've done in the last couple of years I didn't see anyone challenged, except for that one guy that had a tiny hard-shell carry-on that was about half the maximum size but the wheels were a couple of mm outside of the cage.

I've travelled with bags that easily fit under the seat, but if I was made put them in the cage I guarantee some bit would flop outside the parameters, just because it's a soft bag.

Ryanair have really ramped up charging people for bags that "don't fit"

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