It seems like no time at all since Ryanair last decided to change its baggage policy. Indeed it was only in January that the Irish airline delivered its most recent missive, banning travellers taking cabin baggage on board unless they paid the extra priority charge. Now however, barely eight months later, it has changed its policy yet again.<\/p>\n
So what do the latest changes mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n What are its current rules on hand luggage?<\/strong> How has this changed?<\/strong> Will it cost me more?<\/strong> Now the airline says it is trying to smooth the switch by allowing you to bring bigger bags onboard. This means that it has increased the size of its \u201csmall\u201d bag, which was previously just a back-pack or hand-bag from 35 x 20 x 20cm to 40X20X25cm (see picture). It has also almost doubled the size of its \u201csizer\u201d, which allows room for these bags to expand to almost 25 per cent more than the small bag allowance.<\/p>\n Why don\u2019t I just book priority then?<\/strong> The airline however says it doesn\u2019t expect everyone to pick priority \u201cbecause some customers don\u2019t want to carry a bigger bag through airport security\u201d.<\/p>\n In any case priority boarding is capped, at 95 customers per flight (out of 189 guests), which means that not everyone will be able to get it.<\/p>\n Why has the airline changed its policy again?<\/strong> But I\u2019ve already booked my flight?<\/strong> Is the airline going to make more money from the change? \u201cWe expect more customers will switch from the current \u20ac \/\u00a325 checked bags to this cheaper \u20ac \/\u00a38 checked bags,\u201d it says, adding that the revenue lost \u201cwill outweigh more customers switching to priority boarding which is capped on each flight\u201d.<\/p>\n It also expects that more non-priority guests will choose to travel with just one free (small) carry-on bag.<\/p>\n What if I don\u2019t book my bag in?<\/strong> And if you rock up to the gate with a free \u201csmall\u201d bag which is substantially bigger than it should be, again you will have to pay \u20ac\/25 for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems like no time at all since Ryanair last decided to change its baggage policy. Indeed it was only in January that the Irish airline delivered its most recent missive, banning travellers taking cabin baggage on board unless they paid the extra priority charge. Now however, barely eight months later, it has changed its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1614,"featured_media":43343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9350],"tags":[10419],"class_list":["post-43342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-ryanair"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSince January, Ryanair has allowed passengers who don\u2019t pay the priority fee (\u20ac6\/\u00a36) travel with two pieces of hand luggage for free -one small handbag, and one small suitcase. However, only those priority passengers were allowed bring their luggage on-board; while everyone else could travel straight to the gate, without having to queue at departures to drop off their luggage, these bags were then gathered at the foot of the plane and put into the hold. The inconvenience for passengers meant that they couldn\u2019t just disembark with their suitcases to hand; they would then have wait to collect their bags on the conveyor belt once they arrived at their destination. On the flip side, it did mean that planes could be boarded and exited faster – a boon not just for the airline, but also for passengers.<\/p>\n
\nNow however, the airline has changed its strategy once more. From November 1st, passengers will only be able to bring one small bag – ie a hand-bag or lap-top bag – on board with them for free. Parents will still be able to bring a small (5kg) baby bag for free with them when travelling with a baby.<\/p>\n
\nUnless you can travel abroad with little more than your wallet, passport and a change of underwear and a pair of shoes, the new rules are going to hit your pocket. So, if you want to bring a bag bigger than a hand-bag with you, you will have to pay from November 1st. Your options will be to either book a flight as a priority passenger (\u20ac\/\u00a36), which will allow you continue as before, bringing two bags for \u201cfree\u201d onboard, or pay a charge for the 10kg bag (\u20ac8\/\u00a38), which will be checked into the hold.<\/p>\n
\nBooking as a priority passenger costs \u20ac\/\u00a36 – which is cheaper than the cost of booking your bag separately (\u20ac\/\u00a38), and also allows you to avoid having to check the bag in.<\/p>\n
\nAccording to Ryanair, allowing passengers to bring a second bag to the gate has been causing \u201cflight delays\u201d. Now you would think they would have known this before, but it seems not. Indeed in its press statement the airline said that allowing passengers bring their bags to the gate \u201cled to the tagging of up to 120 free gate bags which caused delays to 25 minute turnarounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhile the new bag policy kicks off on November 1st, it will start to impact non-priority customers who booked flights before September 1st, for travel after November 1st. This means, for example, that if you booked a flight in August to go to Spain in December, you will have to go back to your booking and add priority boarding for \u20ac\/\u00a38 or a 10kg bag for \u20ac\/\u00a310. \u201cOr they may cancel their booking for a full refund\u201d the airline says.<\/p>\n
\nApparently not. It says, in fact, that it will make \u201cnothing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nAs always, you can expect to pay significantly more if you wait until you get to the airport to pay for your luggage. According to Ryanair, you will be charged the gate bag fee of \u20ac\/\u00a325 should you arrive with your wheelie bag to the gate.<\/p>\n