Ryanair have become notorious as the leaders in “extra charges” when booking your flights and charging to place luggage in the hold is one of them. If you can manage with their generous 10kg hand luggage then that’s the way to go. However, if you must place luggage in the hold then you’ll have to pay per bag (maximum 15kg) for each leg of your journey. Be sure to pay the bag fee when booking as it’s more expensive at check-in. And be sure to check in online (for which there’s another fee) as checking in at the airport is more expensive again.
And remember … When Ryanair states a limit of 15kg this doesn’t mean that when travelling as a couple one can carry 20kg and the other 10kg. “All baggage allowances are personal and cannot be combined”. This nonsense is being enforced to the extent that people are having to repack at the check-in desk so that each individual bag conforms to the weight limit (particularly a nightmare for families with young children).
The result is long waits at the check-in desks as people juggle the contents of their luggage between bags. Just what the airline claim they are trying to prevent! Strangely, having checked in online you still have to wait in the same queue to drop off any bags so online check-in is of no advantage if you have hold luggage (well that was certainly our experience at Bergamo airport in Italy recently).
One thing to remember in Ryanair’s favour is that if you travel light and book early you can get some incredible bargains. I’ve been critical of some of their policies over the years through this website but at the end of the day they usually offer the best deals so I find myself heading to their website before trying alternatives.
Paying with the Ryanair Cash Passport
Ryanair used to accept the Visa Electron card as a way to avoid fees but then moved on to accepting various MasterCard Prepaid Debit Cards. However, they again moved the goalposts by introducing their own “Ryanair Cash Passport” as the only way to avoid booking fees. From December 2012 this option was also dropped and now there is no way to avoid paying a £6 each way booking fee per passenger on each Ryanair flight. Don’t be too angry though as they still usually work out cheaper than their competitors!
Please take a look at the Ryanair website directly for an explanation of all their fees and luggage allowances as we cannot keep up with them here!
You can compare Ryanair flight prices for any departure date with other airlines at Skyscanner.
Warning to Anyone Flying Ryanair:
I post this as awarning to anybody flying from Malaga airport on Ryanair. Below is a letter I have sent them by Royal Mail and Email. I have also tried to speak to them by telephone. To date this has been a complete waste of time as I never had a reply. Has anybody taken Ryanair to the small claims court as I think that will be my next move?
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Booking Ref HG6KSG
Dear Caroline Greene
I am writing to you as head of customer services for Ryanair in the hope that you might be able to help me. I am writing regarding Ryanair’s policy for carry-on baggage and also duty free carry-on bag. On Sunday the 14th October 2012 returning to Manchester from Malaga Spain on Ryanair Flight FR3209 leaving Malaga at 20.55 PM. I had bought some duty free consisting of some sprits and chocolate and I and my wife had a carry-on case each.
Both these cases adhered to Ryanair’s rules on size and weight. My case weighed 8.6 Kilo and my wife’s weighed 9.1, although not weighted by Ryanair I assure you that was what they weighted. At the departure gate B13 we were made to put the cases in the frame/cage at the gate used for checking case size, both cases fitted without any problem, the problem started with my duty free bag. I was told that I had to put it into my carry-on bag, as only one carry-on bag is allowed, there was no way it would fit.
I pointed to a large airport advertising sign right next to the departure gate but there were many more all over the airport which stated “DON’T FORGET YOU ARE ALLOWED ONE EXTRA CARRY-ON BAG OF GOODS BOUGHT IN ANY OF OUR SHOPS” or words to that effect. I was told that this was so for all other airlines but not for Ryanair!
I argued and argued the point to no avail and was told one of the bags had to go into the hold, which in its self was a stupid statement. How on earth are you supposed to put a plastic bag filled with duty-free bottles in to the hold of a plane without damaging them? I had to put my wife’s case into the hold and was charged 50 Euro’s. I have been a Ryanair customer for many many years, if you check your computers you can see the amount of travel me and my wife have done using Ryanair, we have travelled a lot of miles on Ryanair. We had travelled from Manchester where you are allowed an extra carry-on bag of goods bought at the airport (again advertising signs all over the airport stating this fact). Some weeks previous we travelled return on Ryanair to Barcelona. On returning to Manchester with duty free we had no problem.
On finally boarding the plane at Malaga after paying the ransom for my case, I complained to the stewardess on the plane about what had happened and she told me she was sure I should have been allowed an extra carry-on of duty-free but no Ryanair staff onboard the plane had done anything to check this out. They were too busy making sure we took off on time. Me and my wife are retired and travel quite a lot using mostly Ryanair. This is the first time we have ever had a problem with Ryanair and apart from disagreeing strongly with some of the statements and remarks of your Director and Chief Executive Officer have always found Ryanair to be a great airline and the planes clean and always on time, the onboard staff to be friendly and very helpful.
It is wrong that an airline should have different rules and conditions for different airports and at the very least should warn people when they book that this is the case. I feel in this case I followed all the rules but in the end I was mugged by Ryanair of 50 Euros. Nowadays fifty euro’s is not a lot of money, but it is to me and my wife as pensioners and the principle involved in what happened to me and my wife is huge. I feel I have done nothing wrong and Ryanair should refund this fifty euro’s. They should also make people aware that every airport has different rules and people should not believe all the signs they read in airports especially when it comes to Ryanair. For instance if they book to Malaga surely a warning could be printed on their boarding pass informing people of one bag rule from this airport. If I had known this I would not have purchased duty free and would have saved me and my wife a lot of upset and the ruining of the end of a great holiday. I would also like to point out that I am not an imbecile, just someone that thought he was following the rules. I await your reply before taking this matter further.
Yours Sincerely
William O’Connor
Hi William
Whilst Ryanair are very clear with regard to their rule about one piece of hand luggage they are in dispute with the Spanish Airports Authority (AENA) who wish to protect retailers in their airport departure lounges. Unfortunately, individual passengers such as yourself are being caught in the crossfire between these two organisations. There’s a lot of discussion about this online such as on the Costa News Website. I doubt that you’d get any joy in referring this matter to the small claims court as Ryanair’s rules are very clearly stated.
Regards
Gerry