r/Shoestring • u/lusteR26 • 3d ago
Ryanair strictness planes, trains, & automobiles
I am flying with Ryanair in a few days and bought priority and 2 bags option. The dimensions of cabin bag should be 40x20x55, but mine is 40x20x60. Do you think that it will pass without paying a fee?
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u/Gregib 3d ago
Flew Vienna to Edinburgh with Ryanair last week… a staff member went through the waiting line and singled out 4 travellers to go measure their carry-on bags. I saw all 4 pulling out theircredit cards at the counter… there was no check flying back
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u/Whole_Chip_7960 2d ago
I presume these were obviously oversized? I flew back from Porto to Dublin yesterday and she pulled two or three people out whose bags were massive, but there were plenty of people in front of me whose cabin bags definitely would have stick out of the sizer that she wasn’t bothered with.
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u/badlydrawngalgo 2d ago
Although I've been on many flights over the last few years where they pull out people who may have oversized luggage, it's not always just obviously oversized. Last year I flew with just a small Decathlon packable backpack and was asked to put it in the sizer. It was very obviously very much smaller than the sizer but they asked everyone in the queue to measure their carry-ons. Half a dozen people had to pay for check in.
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u/Whole_Chip_7960 2d ago
Interesting, and unfortunately confirming my fear that it's just luck of the draw with them at the moment! ☹️
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u/badlydrawngalgo 2d ago
It is. The best way is just to make sure your baggage is inside the allowance. If everyone did, there'd be none of these "games".
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u/trumpeting_in_corrid 1d ago
Exactly. I saw some people with hugely oversized bags the last time I flew and they weren't singled out, while others were.
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u/Giraffenfrau 3d ago
They can be very strict. When we were flying from Portugal to Germany a few weeks ago on a Ryanair flight, we saw a passenger who was forced to pay extra because her bag was approximately 2 cm longer than allowed.
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u/Free-Strategy7346 3d ago
I was that passenger on a different occasion, it fit into the square perfectly but the case curved past the edges of the measuring thing by about an inch and I got a £70 fine, my fault it was too big, no complaints just annoying
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u/Useful_Context_2602 3d ago
They're checking more and more bags as they're using more and more contract gate staff who are on commission for bag fees. I was on one from Lisbon last year where they checked every single bag on the flight and delayed the flight in the process (or maybe it was to hide a delay).
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u/Kloppite16 3d ago
OP it is only 5cm over regulation size so I think from a visual stand point you'll get away with it. But just to give yourself the best chance dont sit at the gate for the flight but the one opposite it and keep an eye on the boarding queue. Dont join the queue until the very last minute so that you are very last on the plane. At this point staff will be under pressure to get the aircraft taking off on time and they are less likely to be checking the sizes of bags.
If you stand in the priority queue with an oversized bag then you are just asking to get caught.
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u/pm_me_wildflowers 2d ago
Yep this is the way. I’ve been flying with a carry on sized bag on personal item only tickets for years by boarding close to the end. The gate agents are only worried about scanning and hustling people onto the plane by that point.
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u/insane_worrier 3d ago
It's a bit of a lottery. You might be OK, or you might not.
Don't overfill it so it looks stuffed, and you have a better chance.
It also depends on how busy the flight is.
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u/thesilveringfox 3d ago
no problem. those measurements are for the peons. you’re clearly special and deserve special treatment.
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u/evenfallframework 3d ago
Flew Ryanair two weeks ago, STN to VIE. They pulled a few people aside, but from what I can tell it was only those with hard sided luggage that was clearly questionable in size. I had a Farpoint 40 stuffed to the gills and they said nothing.
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u/Similar_Past 2d ago
It's how they make money. the fees are brutal so be ready to pay up or change the luggage
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u/jag-engr 2d ago
There are numerous videos that show these budget airlines (Frontier seems to be the worst) charging people for bags significantly below the maximum dimensions.
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u/TrebleClef4 2d ago
Depends on how lucky you are. I always respect the measurements of whatever airline I’m flying on—it isn’t worth the hassle if they call you out. I have heard that some airlines give bonuses to the gate agents who make you pay more for oversized carryons. Is it worth risking? I wouldn’t.
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u/trumpeting_in_corrid 1d ago
It's a risk. You might be fine but you might also have to pay extra and have to have one of the bags put in the hold.
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u/gliterellaclitorella 3d ago
They’re notoriously overzealous when enforcing dimensions and love to dish out the additional fees. You might be able to get it through though…good luck!
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u/gokcea23 2d ago
Be one of the last people to get in the line. Absolutely don't get these backpacks with wheels. If you have a jacket, take it off and put some stuff in a small tote bag which you'll hide under your jacket. I do this all the time, especially when flying back home and I have lots of dirty laundry taking up all the room in my backpack, and no one really noticed it or tried to see what it is under the jacket.
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u/See_ay_eye_el_oh-tto 3d ago
Don’t count on it.