Ryanair: Mum's travel hack helps beat baggage charges

Powys County Times

3 days ago

A mum boarded her Ryanair flight despite refusing to pay the baggage charge - by ditching her suitcase and using a bin bag in front of a gobsmacked 'jobsworth'.
Natalie Sadler was boarding her flight from Palma de Mallorca to Leeds Bradford last month and claims she was asked by a member of staff to place her suitcase in the baggage sizer.
She had purchased priority boarding for her family holiday to Magaluf and was entitled to a small personal bag (40x20x25cm) and a 10kg bag (55x40x20cm).
The 43-year-old caterer admitted her 10kg suitcase was a 'thumbnail' too big and that one of the wheels was sticking out.
She claims a Ryanair staff member then said she would need to pay Euro 70 [£59] to take the bag on the flight.
The mum-of-three claims a Ryanair staff member told her she had to pay the money or she would not be able to board the aircraft.
Natalie said she refused to pay the fee because the staff member was 'rude'.
Thinking on her feet, she headed towards a nearby bar at the boarding gate and asked them for a bin bag.
When she returned to the gate she emptied all of the clothes from her suitcase into the blue bin bag, leaving her case behind.
A triumphant Natalie said she boarded the plane with the bin bag and placed it in the overhead locker while on-lookers applauded.
Footage shows Natalie talking about her experience and the blue bin bag with her possessions in it.
Ryanair, who claim the worker involved was from a third party assigned to deal with baggage, said 'our bag policy is simple - if the bag fits in our bag sizer, it gets on free of charge'.
Natalie said: "It [the suitcase] was literally a thumbnail too wide and the wheel was slightly out so I'm not going to dispute that.
"She [a Ryanair staff member] was like, 'if you don't pay Euro 70 you'll get a new flight home. I'll send the flight without you.'
"It wasn't the money, it was the principle at this point because she was so rude.
"But I said to my husband, 'open the case' and I ran over to where the bar was near the boarding gate and I went, 'have you got a bin bag?'
"I opened the case at the door for boarding and she [the Ryanair staff member] was stood next to me and I filled the bag with everything out of the case.
"I flung it over my shoulder like Santa and I just went 'there you go, you can keep that'.
"And off I went onto the plane. When I got on everyone was clapping, it was hilarious, it was so funny.
"Everyone was just laughing. They were clapping as I walked on with this bag.
"I couldn't get down the aisle because it was so big. Everyone found it highly amusing.
"I told them [the passengers on the plane] there was no way after the way she spoke to me was I giving her any of my money. Not a chance."
Natalie claims she had flown out to Palma de Mallorca on Ryanair just seven days prior with the same suitcase and experienced no problems.
Natalie said: "The suitcase is only £45 new so I wasn't going to pay £59.
"I needed to solve my problem. I'm a fixer and I fixed the problem.
"I was fuming. I just had to laugh it off, as much as I was annoyed, it's a suitcase, no one died.
"They [Ryanair staff] just kept looking but said nothing despite the bag being bigger than the case at that point.
"It is absolutely ridiculous but I'm glad I stood my ground. There's so many people who would have just gone, 'get the card out, pay them.'"
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Ryanair's bag policy is simple; if the bag fits in our bag sizer, which is bigger than our agreed dimensions, it gets on free of charge. If the bag doesn't fit within our sizer, it will get charged for.
"This passenger's bag exceeded the permitted dimensions, and they chose to repack their items in an alternative bag that would fit the sizer instead.