Ryanair & the luggage...

I assume most of you know or would read the small-print about luggage but...

Guys – please, please, please take note that you can ONLY take 15kg as luggage on Ryanair PER BAG.

Each bag will cost you £10 but it’s SUSTANTIALLY cheaper to pay for 2 bags than what you will be charged per kg.

On the way to Saltsburg I thought this guy was going to start to cry when he was told he would have to pay £82 for the bag that weight 32kg.

From Ryanair web site:
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>A Baggage Fee is charged for the carriage of each item of Checked Baggage. The Baggage Fee may be prepaid at the current discounted rate of €6.00/£5.00 per item of baggage/per one way flight when making your reservation. If the Baggage Fee is paid after you have made your booking either at the airport, or through a Ryanair call centre, at the full rate per item of baggage/per one way flight is charged. Baby buggies, wheelchairs, scooters and walking frames are carried free of charge <hr></blockquote>

I may be wrong but the way I interpret this is you will be charged for every bag and every kilo above a total of 15kg. So if you carry 20 kilo in one bag you will be charge for that bag (€6.00/£5.00) plus having to pay for your 5 extra kilo.

If you carry 20 kilo in 2 bags, then you will have to pay the fee (€12.00/£10.00) for 2 bags plus the same fee for the same 5 extra kilo.

If I am right (and feel free to correct me, I woun't charge you) you will end up paying less by checking one bag of 20 kg than you would pay for 2 bags of 10kg each.

Sorry guys - it get's worse - I was wrong as Alan on UK branch pointed out:

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Please Note: That the total Checked Baggage Allowance per person is 15kg irrespective of the number of items of baggage purchased per person<hr></blockquote> Link from Ryanair...

So it's 15kg ONLY no matter what. After that you pay the charge per kg...

Ria, thanks for the original post, which I originally read on the England board. I would never have thought to read teh fine print about luggage restrictions. Although I'm not totally stressed out about being over 15kg, knowing that will definitely factor into the way I pack. Despite the nickel and diming Ryanair seems to do (sorry about my North Americanisms with the currency terms), I still am happy with the £17 total (pre luggage weight issues) fare I paid for Stansted-Biarritz.

dude that freakin sucks.
im gonna be travelling for 4 months around europe and am gonna fly a bit.
was gonna pack a full 20 kgs but will now reconsider.
should not be a problem for me, but im travelling with my girlfriend! how can a woman expect to travel that lightly? :P

Yes as you say there is also 10kg allowed on ONE bit handluggage (laptop bag is not allwed as seperate bag) & the do weigh it (seen it many times).

I have seen people having been sent back & being forced to check in handluggage because of any of the following combination:
1) it didn't fit the dimensions
2) they had 2 bits of handluggage
3) it weight more than allowed
& then you will be charged £5 (single) & then per kg. So be careful with your handluggage too...

Well, you could just choose the £15 wintersports option, when booking the flight, or £20.50 if you call the 0871 number, and that allows up to 32kgs! Of course, you'd have to pack things in a relatively flat manner but hey...

Don't use the premium rate 0905 number, just use the wheelchair option on the 0871 number.

As the Ryanair ticketing confirmation says:

The checked baggage allowance is 15kg per person (no infant allowance). No pooling/sharing of baggage allowances is permitted, even for passengers travelling together on the same reservation.

Customers wishing to check baggage into the hold of the aircraft must pay a Baggage Fee for each item of checked baggage, per flight. The Baggage Fee can be prepaid either at the airport, or through a Ryanair call centre, at the rate of 7GBP/10EUR) (»10/?12 for all flights from the 1st March 2007 onwards) per item of baggage/per one-way flight.

Actually Ryanair has become one of the toughest discount airline for luggage .. the 6€ luggage fee (apparently now 10€) is a real sting and is per piece of luggage booked .. I've got flights booked with 5 discount airlines in August and this is the ony one that has a 15 Kg limit AND NOW ALSO asks for re-confirmation!! I quote:

Passengers are advised to reconfirm their flight times on WWW.RYANAIR.COM
Using the REVIEW function 24 to 72 hours prior to scheduled departure.

Now this is a real pain in the $%& if you are in the mountains .. does any one know what happens if you DON'T RE-CONFIRM??

I've never done it - since when are they asking for it?

Who wants to fly Ryanair anyway? It's the worst of all the worst airlines on this planet.

Hi Ria,

This was the header to my booking confirmation email when I booked about 4 weeks ago ...


THANK YOU FOR BOOKING WITH RYANAIR

Please do not reply to this e-mail.

Passengers are advised to reconfirm their flight times on WWW.RYANAIR.COM

Using the REVIEW function 24 to 72 hours prior to scheduled departure.



I've since logged to Ryanair and there is a detailed webpage for confirmation and changes !!!

As I see it I thought I had a confirmed booking but I am wondering if they are using this to avoid the penalty for overbooking flights .. ie sorry but you cant go as we have sold your seat (as I didn't re-confirm) to a full fare passenger and well .. here's your 1 € back and no the flight's not overbooked becuase we cancelled your booking as per our terms and conditions bla bla bla ...

I've flown with Ryanair several times without a problem ( incl 1 GBP flights) it's basic no frills but I get concerned about the apparently new innovation of cancelled flights. I also thought they replaced the plane with one that worked .. albeit several hours late ..

Did the price increased from 6€ to 10€ per bag? That's much.

I just returned from a 3 week trip on a Ryanair flight and i must say that 15kg per person should do, even for a female, even for 4 months (you'll have to wash clothes don't you?). They only disadvantage i see is that you can't buy a lot of stuff to bring home but apart from that i didn't use almost half the weight i had carried with me all the time (about 12 kg) - as usual :)

Could someone please tell me what's in your bags? You can take 15+10kg. What do you have that weights more then that? I understand if you have some fluids so you are not able to bring just hand luggage, but more then 25 kg?????????

Hi Roine,

The 15 Kg limit is a concern for me as my backpack is about 3.2 Kg and my tent is 3 kg - add fittings, sleeping bag and a beach towell this is almost 9 Kg - these are all things which cant be carry on which leaves about 5 kg for everything else. I actually have a 1.2 Kg hiking tent but in summer its too hot so I prefer the bigger tent.

The size limit for carry on also means that there's not too much that you can add there that is bulky - such as a pair of trekking boots which I prefer not to wear on short flights but are othewise too bulky not to wear on long flights.

The other issue is of course is if you visit that Turkish carpet salesman the week before you leave for home.

In summer, the 15 Kg is not a major problem but when you mix seasons ( its winter in the south) and europe in the north then you also need a set of cold weather clothes ( eg an extra set of jeans and a jacket .. all dead weight for most of a european summer).

Hi Meka.
Ok, if you are a hiker with tents and hiking boots, then I can of course understand 15 kg isn't that much. Do you mean you can't take the boots as hand luggage? How about a travell towel instead of a beach towell? Hope you don't mind I have this questions, don't have any experience in hiking.

I've only met ordinary backpackers who travel around in european cities and still have problems with the weight limits. I did meet an austrian girl who was backpacking in Italy (only Italy, and only in towns) and should take the flight Rome - Bratislava/Wienna back home. I think her hand luggage was atleast 15 kg and the backpack at least 25 kg. Still wonder what she had put inside. And I still wonder if she was able to flirt with a man on the boarding desk. That was her plan anyway. I didn't have the heart to tell her that there are almost only girls who works there.

Roine,

With hiking the problem is 15 kg is a comfortable limit so you dont want more than that. Hand luggage is extremely ackward to carry for long distances so you dont want to push any where near the 25 Kg .

But lets be realistic .. using a travel towell at the beach? This is like flying without a seat to sit in ...

Sometimes the check in staff will take pity provided you appear to be a frequent traveller or have some other tactic .. but not with Ryan air it seems ..