Ryanair aircraft passenger fuming after being fined £75 to take a carry-on suitcase he’d already paid for – who do you agree with?
A Ryanair passenger has shared his outrage after he was fined £75 for a bag he had already paid for.
Posting on X, user @JeffreyPeel wrote: ‘So @Ryanair your agent in Belfast International airport is refusing to allow me to fly to Malaga (without additional charge) with this bag even though I’ve already paid for it and priority boarding.’
In the post, which has been viewed more than five million times, he included a photo of his bag in the Ryanair bag sizer.
In a second post in the thread, he added: ‘I have now submitted a complaint to Ryanair.
‘When I finally boarded the flight last night – after paying the £75 “fine” – I received a round of applause from my fellow passengers.
‘However the experience was truly appalling. The fact that a Swissport check-in agent in a Grinch sweater could deliberately cause such mayhem, delay the boarding of the already delayed flight, call for police intervention and require my wife and I to wait right to the end of the boarding process under police supervision is reprehensible.
‘And, so far, despite over 50,000 views of this post, not a single word of response from Ryanair.’
Ryanair’s bag policy allows passengers to bring one small bag onboard for free which must fit under the seat in front of them.
A Ryanair passenger has shared his outrage on X after he was fined £75 before boarding a flight from Belfast to Malaga after an agent said his bag was over the size limit
The 10kg bag must fit into the overhead locker and needs to be within the 55 x 40 x 20cm size requirements
Passengers can pay for Ryanair’s Priority Boarding, as the X user did, which lets them board first and bring an extra 10kg cabin bag, plus a small personal item.
This 10kg bag must fit into the overhead locker and needs to be within the 55 x 40 x 20cm size requirements.
While it seems strict, the bag’s wheels and handles must fit within those size requirements as well.
Passengers travelling with Ryanair face strict luggage rules, with fees of up to £75 for putting an oversized bag in the hold if it is brought to the boarding gate.
The X post has received mixed reactions from commenters, with some people pointing out that the handle is slightly over the size limit in the gauge.
One user commented: ‘I think there is a game of pass the buck going on between Swissport, who are contracted to run check-ins and flight boarding etc and other airlines. It’s a complete scam. There’s literally nothing a passenger can do.’
Another wrote: ‘Why should Ryanair respond? The bag is clearly too big. You won’t be getting a refund and you should count yourself lucky you was able to fly and that Ryanair aren’t pressing charges against you for the delayed flight.’
‘Jeffery, I have often taken chances with Ryanair but your bag is pretty obviously bigger than allowed dimensions – just get over it – you took a chance and lost,’ another added.
The X post has received mixed reactions from commenters, with some people pointing out that the handle is slightly over the size limit in the gauge
A Ryanair spokesperson said: This passenger booked a Regular Fare ticket for this flight from Belfast to Malaga (8 Dec), which allowed them to carry a small personal bag and a 10kg cabin bag onboard.
‘As this passenger’s bag exceeded the permitted size, they were correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee (£75) by the gate agent at Belfast Airport.’
The airline’s strict luggage size limits have caught many travellers out over the years, with passengers forced to pay a fee if they bring an oversized bag.
A passenger previously told the Daily Mail that she will never fly with Ryanair again after the bargain airline charged her £62 for an oversized bag.
Kay, a 32-year-old from London, said she was ‘made to feel targeted’ by the airline.
The passenger was flying from Dublin to London Stansted when the incident occurred.
Kay’s cabin suitcase was ‘slightly out of line’ when it was placed in the bag’s checker, as the wheel extended over the airline’s marker.
She was made to pay the airline’s standard €75/£62 oversized baggage fee to board the flight.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary shared he makes ‘absolutely no apology’ for catching people who are ‘scamming the system’
Ryanair plans to increase staff bonuses for employees who catch passengers with oversized bags.
It comes after it was revealed staff working for the budget airline can make up to €80 (£68.98) a month just from enforcing the strict rules.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary shared he makes ‘absolutely no apology’ for catching people who are ‘scamming the system’.
He announced at a press conference in central London that he plans to raise incentives for gate staff who intercept passengers trying to bring oversized luggage onboard.
The bonuses are likely to be increased from €1.50 (£1.29) to €2.50 (£2.16) per bag.
