Latest news with #RubyFlanagan
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Ryanair's little-known bag rule can cause passengers a major headache
Ryanair passengers could see their luggage rejected at the boarding gate, even if they are willing to pay extra for it. The budget airline allows passengers on regular fares to bring one "personal bag" for free, as long as it meets a certain size restriction. Ryanair passengers face getting into a spot of bother at the boarding gate thanks to one of the airline's little-known rules. The Irish airline's passion for fining travellers whose bags are too big is now well known. Less widely circulated are rules about how much you can and can't pay if you get caught with a non-compliant piece of luggage. Ryanair has a no cash policy at the boarding gate. That means even if a passenger is prepared to pay the fee, if they only have physical money on them, they may be forced to leave the bag behind. This comes after the amount Ryanair pay boarding staff for catching oversized bags came to light. Have you been caught out by Ryanair? If you'd like to share your story, email webtravel@ "Our bag policy is simple; if it fits in our bag sizer (which is bigger than our agreed dimensions) it gets on free of charge. If it doesn't fit in our bag sizer, you pay a gate bag fee. As our boarding gates are cashless, gate bag fees cannot be paid in cash. These fees are paid by less than 0.1 per cent of passengers who don't comply with our agreed bags rules," a spokesperson for Ryanair said. "For the 99.9 percent of our passengers who comply with our rules, we say thank you and keep flying, as you have nothing to worry about." The budget airline permits travellers on standard tickets to carry one "personal bag" free of charge, as long as it adheres to specific size limitations. This is a recent change in policy. Previously, the dimensions were 40x25x20cm, but these have been updated in line with changes to EU legislation. Now, Ryanair's personal bag requirements are 40x30x20cm, and staff members can use bag measuring tools at every gate to check if passengers' luggage exceeds this limit. If your bag doesn't fit into the sizer at the gate, you'll be slapped with an additional fee to bring it on board, which could amount to £70 or 70 euros. The most affordable Ryanair flights are the Basic Fares, which only permit a passenger to bring a personal item (which must fit under the seat) on board, as well as being allocated a random seat. Despite the ticket price being lower than other fares, it comes with numerous restrictions. We've all read or heard tales about travellers getting stung with eye-watering fees because their personal items exceeded the size limit. Arguably, one of the most shocking happened to Mirror reporter Ruby Flanagan, who was charged £50 to take her water bottle onboard. "On the 50 minute flight back to London, I realised that it would've been cheaper to throw the bottle away and buy a new one for £25 when I landed. Of course, that level of hindsight just made me feel stupid. But that would've been ridiculously un-environmental - and would've taken away from the satisfaction of being the over one-millionth plastic bottle of water saved from landfill by refilling mine. Shout out to Dublin Airport for informing me of that info," she recalled.
Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Ryanair lets on eye-watering amount it really makes from bag and seat fees
Tucked away in Ryanair's end-of-year results is a clear reason why the Irish carrier is so keen to keep the fee revenue rolling in, with its ancillary revenue reaching a record amount Ryanair raked in around £24 in extra revenue from each customer who flew last year. The budget airline has long been known for its punchy approach to extra fees, slapping on charges for hand-luggage that's slightly too big, checking in less than two hours before departure and even for bringing a large water bottle on-board, as the Mirror's Ruby Flanagan recently found out. One unhappy customer found themselves unable to check-in a bag with Ryanair, despite paying to do so just a minute earlier. He ended up ditching his suitcase in the airport and sprinting to the boarding gate. Tucked away in Ryanair's end-of-year results is a clear reason why the Irish carrier is so keen to keep the fee revenue rolling in. Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@ Over the most recent full financial year, Ryanair raked in €4.72billion (£4billion) in 'ancillary revenue'. That means anything extra that passengers pay for, such as excess luggage, seat selection and a cup of coffee. For every one of the 200million passengers who flew with Ryanair last year, they forked out on average £23.80 on top of their ticket. The figure is a 10% rise on the previous year, when Ryanair scored €4.30billion (£3.67billion) or €23.40 (£20) per passenger. That number is a big deal for the airline, as it represents around a quarter of its total revenue for the year - €13.95billion (£11.9billion). If that ancillary income is removed from the Ryanair cost sheet, then the airline would be in the red, given its €12.39bn (£10.57billion) operating costs last financial year. As of 2023, Ryanair ranked among the top five airlines in the world in terms of the revenue it generates from ancillary streams. These figures make it clear why Ryanair and other budget airlines are so opposed to a vote by the EU's Transport and Tourism Committee that would boost the amount of free hand luggage passengers flying to or from member states can take. "Passengers should have a right to carry on board one personal item, such as a handbag, backpack or laptop (maximum dimensions of 40x30x15 cm), and one small hand luggage (maximum dimensions of 100 cm and 7 kg) without an additional fee," the committee decided. Before this decision becomes law, it must be voted through by the European Parliament in the coming weeks, and then discussed by country representatives for the European Council. The proposals have been met with fierce opposition from budget airlines and the Spanish Association of Airlines (ALA), which has criticised it and the Ministry's fines. The organisation argues that such measures limit consumer choice and disrupt fair competition in the EU's single market. 'It's about offering different service models at different price points,' the association stated. This week Ryanair was handed a massive £91million victory by a Spanish court. The budget airline has been let off paying a €107million (£91million) fine slapped on it last year by the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The organisation had claimed that the airlines' policies on charging for hand luggage violated consumer rights. The fines were part of a wider crackdown that included three other airlines, including Norwegian, totalling €179 million (£152million) in fines. Now the Spanish High Court in Madrid has decided to let Ryanair off, allowing the ruling to sit as a precautionary one.
