Ryanair will fine passengers who board with too much carry-on

Ryanair -- easily the worst non-Russian airline I've ever flown -- will now fine passengers 30 Euros if they're caught with overlarge carry-ons. This is against the backdrop of Ryanair's 10-20 Euro bagcheck fee, which has prompted many travellers to try to beat the system with carry-ons. Now, I hate selfish jerks who fill every compartment with their carry-ons as much as the next guy, but it's hard to imagine how giving Ryanair's already vicious flight attendants the power to issue on-the-spot fines and boot off passengers who won't pay will improve the situation much.

For context, the last time I flew Ryanair, it was from London Stansted to Berlin (supposedly). After keeping us on the ground for an hour, they boarded us, then announced that we were not going to Berlin, as we'd missed our landing window, and would instead land in a secondary airport near Munich, sometime after midnight, and that coaches would be by before 3AM for the three hour journey to Berlin. The return trip wasn't much better: Ryanair called us to the gate an hour early, then locked us in there with no toilets. After we boarded, I needed to tap a kidney, but the flight attendant said I'd have to wait another hour until we taxied, took off and attained altitude. When I argued, he threatened to have me arrested.

It's not really any wonder that this airline would start issuing "fines" to passengers -- they already treat them like prisoners.

Ryanair to ticket passengers who try to cheat the baggage system (via We Make Money, Not Art)

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Anonymous

Which Russian airlines were particularly bad? I’ve been on Rossiya & S7, and both were drastically better the Ryanair. I’d prefer Rossiya to some of the major US carriers I’ve been on.
Anonymous

I flew Ryanair from Pisa to London for a weekend while I was studying in Italy. The flight seemed like a great deal, and I don’t usually mind no-perks flying. However, as my roommate and I were gallivanting around London (and having a grand time of it), we realized very suddenly that our Ryanair return flight was scheduled in such a way that there would be no way to reach the airport (Stansted) in the morning without a very expensive cab ride. The Underground didn’t open in time, and there was no express train to Stansted in time anyway. We rushed back to our hostel, grabbed our things, and hauled off for the airport. We arrived in time, but had to spend the night curled up on our bags on the icy airport floor. The terminals themselves were closed, so there was no food or concession available. We were some of the few caught off guard by this; many other Ryanair passengers had air mattresses and sleeping bags with them.
JimBob

So what’s your point?

Go ahead and pay at least 250% more and fly the full fare airlines. If you don’t accept that a massive discount entails some compromises, then I’ll enjoy the extra room to spread out next time I fly discount. I’m even willing to pay $10.00 if I need to carry a large bag. Though I can travel just fine with a carry-on. I flew Stanstead to Palermo for $50.00 rather than $450 on a major airline. If I felt like it I could have even splurged on one of their sandwiches, but with the money I saved I was able to have a real meal and not need to eat airline food.
nixiebunny

Trains and ships are the new romantic travel modes. Air travel really is just like going to jail.
Roburrito

And to think it used to be considered a luxury to fly. I’m going to take a guess and say that the snacks for $2.50 are just a bag with one nut in it.
godfathersoul

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Buckets McGaughey

Classic Ryanair.

Not so long ago (and maybe still, I don’t know, I haven’t flown with them for a while) they encouraged people to carry their bags on, because it meant they’d have to pay less in handling fees at the airport, and they could turn the plane around quicker. Now they fine people for doing what they told them.

I remember getting on one of their flights out of Nantes and my check-in bag was overweight. The woman at the desk told me I’d have to pay eight euro per kilo over the limit. “OK”, said I, lifted out a couple of bottles of wine and put them in my carry-on. Hey presto, no fee. Because we all know it doesn’t weigh anything when it’s in the cabin, right?
Antonio Silva

I don’t think Ryanair service is great but you get what you pay. And when I paid Â£10 return (including taxes+fees) to go from London to Barcelona I definitely got a lot more that what I paid. It’s annoying to have to be fined, but their guidelines are clear, you can bring up to 10kg into the cabin for free, any bigger you have to check in and pay. And if I am not mistaken Ryanair is actually the most on time airline in Europe.
So Ryanair is far from perfect but it has allowed me to keep two long distance relationships in past years which would have been nearly impossible with traditional airlines and their exorbitant prices.
Yes and environmentally is indefensible, I know…
rasz

Nice one Cory, its not Virgin that buys ads here so you have to spit on it (and lie a little about magic 3 hour Coach).
Talia

the comments on that blog entry get pretty vicious.

I am now worked up and once again aggrieved with the general nastyness of the human race.

*sigh* maybe I should go live in a cave in the woods. I hate people.
Keversky

Ryanair have every right to fine people with too much luggage. They operate on a low fares, no frills system. More luggage means more frills and so should be discouraged. If they want to travel in luxury they can buy a private plane.
Funny thing is that the same people who criticise Ryanair end up using them time and time again.
Bionicrat2

I flew them a few times traveling Europe a few years ago. It struck me how young all of the staff looked. I think the pilot was 14. I was also stunned to see how quickly Europeans descended into a Southwest Airlines-style cattle stampede trying to get on the plane first. I had been impressed how much better folks were regarding general civility on public transportation (in the UK and Europe). Apparently that all gets tossed out the window for a cheap, 50 minute flight since it happened every time we flew Ryanair.

That said, it was dirt cheap and I’d do it again if I needed hop around Europe.
Clif Marsiglio

While I think the airlines are going too far, considering the idiots I’ve seen recently with their oversized bags (while some of us have figured out how to do two weeks worth of packing to an art…if I’m gone more than a week, I ship things to where I’m staying so that I don’t have to deal with it at the airport).

But considering people don’t have a reason not to try to game the system, lets give them a reason.
murrayhenson

My wife and I flew Ryanair once between Poland and Norway. I knew they were cheap but had no idea how cheap, how utterly anti-customer, how completely dispiriting they could be.

Flying anywhere more than a few hundred kilometers is the fastest and usually least expensive but most thoroughly irritating way to travel. I prefer to drive whenever it is reasonable to do so and to simply take a few extra days of holiday to account for the travel time.
Anonymous

Just as a comment to Cory’s account of his last flight with Ryan Air, that can’t have been Munich you landed near to, because getting to Berlin from Munich in 3 hours by coach would take a supersonic bus with Evel Knievel at the wheel at the least ;-). Maybe it was Leipzig?
Other than that, the few times I’ve flown RyanAir I’ve always had cause to regret it. Any of their competitors in the market offer better service, it’s a wonder they’re still in business.
bigvicproton

And so now those sado-masochists who still fly Ryanair will start WEARING everything, shoving the rest in oversize pockets. This used to be done back when you could get cheap air courier tickets but were only allowed carry on. You would wear every single thing you could not fit into your carry on and have a garbage bag in your pocket. Soon as you got on the plane you removed it all and shoved it into the garbage bag, which because its long and moldable can easily be shoved into almost any overhead bin.
zio_donnie

it’s true that Ryan air sucks but you really can’t beat the prices. customer service sucks, the personel treat you like cattle and take seriously the rule of being in the airport 2 hours before flight. they left a friend of mine stranded in Germany due to a flight departing 45 minutes before!? schedule. he had to pay a full ticket to return in Italy and the rates they charge on spot are more British Airways than low cost.

but i actually flown from Rome to London for 1 euro buing a last minute ticket from their site and i’ve done some other weekends across europe only because it costs less than a lunch in a good restaurant like rome-berlin and rome-barcellona for less than 50euros.
Kit10inDublin

People should never expect a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g from Ryanair – other than then eventually, just about, being delivered to your supposed destination – after much waiting, delays, hassle and extra charges. It’s the way it, eh, ‘works’.

I’m amazed when I read or hear about people who have GOOD things to say about Ryanair. But it actually happens that people do! Like some posts here as well – makes me shake my head in wonder.

My sis, her hubbie and three young kids have flown to a few destinations in Europe with Ryanair – with no hassle! Unbelievable but bloody true.

I’ve used them three times, with long memory erasing breaks in-between each experience and always regretted it. Hideous, awful airline. I think they’d rather their passengers weren’t human and that they transported non-emotional robots that can be re-programmed to accept each horrible wait, extra charge and hassle they seem to excel in.

And it makes money! Lots of it.

Ryanair was the only airline to make profits (huge profits) for ages after 9/11. Possibly because people knew even terrorists wouldn’t subject themselves to that torture.

A friend of mine thinks Ryanair is akin to cockroaches and will survive no matter what.

Ryanair’s MD, Michael O’Leary is someone worth looking at – his attitude and business sense (which is horrible and utterly directed towards making vast amounts of money) permeates every part of Ryanair’s business.

He owns a home of ‘historical and architectural’ note in the mid-lands of Ireland which he opens once a year so that he can write off expenses on his home via tax!
coffeemoon

“for the three hour journey to Berlin.”
Official speed camera photos are acceptable of proof! 581km according to Google Maps
Baldhead

so, they really want to go out of business right?
skygzr

I’ve never flown that airline, but I don’t see a problem with them charging a fee if you choose to carry an oversized bag. Must we all be victims?

I flew Thai Air a while back. I got a place to sit and air to breathe. You want a pillow or a bag of nuts, you paid for it. I kinda liked that approach, actually.
Charlie Stross

I refuse to fly Ryanair any more. They’re that unpleasant.

It’s not just cheap-ass stuff like this; they seem to me to have an actively malignant corporate culture, rotten and nasty and bullying from the top down.
wil9000

Great. Now all the carriers in America will probably try to jump on this. I haven’t traveled in a while, and Delta charged me 15 bucks for one suitcase to be stowed. Their logic for charging was high fuel costs, and if I’m not mistaken, fuel costs have dropped. But have the fees been removed? No. One of the worst indignities is that the bag you check is labeled “EXCESS”. One bag is excess? Try packing a suit into a carry-on and having it come out looking half decent. Anything over one might be excess, but one bag should be considered common courtesy.
acb

There’s a song on Swedish indie singer-songwriter Pelle Carlberg’s last album about how rubbish Ryanair are; and a jaunty little singalong it makes too. “The airline of shite”, indeed.
barbarab111

RyanAir has allowed me to explore Europe on a shoestring – 19 Euro from Dublin to Marseilles, Stockholm, Barcelona, etc. It isn’t the lap of luxury and I do feel like part of a herd. After awhile you get used to the drill of keeping the luggage weight down and landing in a town an hour away from where you really want to go.

RyanAir arranges for low cost bus service from the little airports it lands at out to the destination cities. Ironically the bus can cost half as much as the airfare. It is still a bargain and seeing the outlying areas can be part of the fun.

I have traveled on RyanAir a dozen or so times and not had any horror stories (knock on wood) nor encountered any rude flight attendants. I am saddened that you had a bad experience.

Thanks for the tip from BigVicProton about wearing your luggage. I wonder how many bottles of wine a photographer’s vest can carry?
FPF422

Never use such company.
Bye doing so, you support modern slavery with ultra low income and no rights for the workers.
I prefer to pay more and that the people working have a decent salary…
downdb

Never having flown Ryanair, I can’t comment on their overall crappiness.

Having said that, I have absolutely no problem with people being charged for overly large carry-on bags. On every flight I’ve been on in the last few years, the overhead compartments have been crammed to the gills by people bringing on huge bags, often 2-3 per passenger. The rest of us end up having to cram jackets and reasonably sized bags under our seats, and boarding/de-boarding takes forever as a result.
Digilante

Living in Luxembourg for a few years now, we often use Ryan Air out of nearby Frankfurt-Hahn to visit various parts of Europe. There is no other way that we could afford to escape to some other cool destination on a whim and just for a weekend.

Since we already know what to expect, we suspend sanity for the duration of the exercise (check-in, boarding, flight, etc), and we make other preparations. Do the toilet at the airport, bring some snacks from home, pack light, and just ignore ignore ignore the bad service, the small delay here and there. Let other passengers get upset. Like this, looking back, I’d say we’ve had a fantastic time with Ryan Air.

On the other hand, they’ve really ramped up the range and prices of all these various charges. Thus, in order for a weekend getaway to be economical, the cost of the actual flight needs to be less than 10 Euro each. With all the other charges (avoiding all other fees that we can avoid), it still comes to around 100 to 140 Euro for two people return.
dainel

Don’t airports in Europe have those metal boxes used to measure carry on bags? If your bag can fit in that box, you can carry it on to the plane. If not, you have to check it in. In the airport here, these boxes can be found everywhere.
Riu

I regularly fly from/to North/South Europe (1 or twice a month) with Ryanair. Although I think airlines shouldn’t be given too much ‘powers’ etc etc and the proposed fine is on the high side. The limits on weight and size are pretty well known and easy to check. Anybody that tries to drag fifteen kilos in his carry-on luggage and gets stopped, has only himself to blame.

As for the flight ‘experience’ it is a little sterile yes, but then what do you expect for 10/30 quid. Time-wise (for me) what is scheduled as being a 2 hour flight only takes 1h45/1h50. The ‘no seat assigned’ practice can potentially suck if you get stuck in a weird spot but greatly aids everybody board quickly. For price/quality/distance/speed I think Ryanair does a decent job for 2-2,5 hour flights. It is a bit like travelling coach, except that instead of being stuck in it for 12 to 20 hours it only lasts two…
Mindpowered

I was just going to mention Westjet.

There really is no reason (other than flying to Gimli Manitoba) to take Air Canada. None. None at all. Air Canada makes American look competent ( and American muffed 3 out 4 flights last time I flew on them).

I flew RyanAir, Buzz, Easyjet. You do get what you pay for. I once paid 1p for a return between Charleroi and Stanstead.

I’m joining to the chorus to know where these German mag-lev buses are. Maybe they chartered a ICE EuroStar and everyone was too sleepy to notice?
Pedro

There’s no use for Ryanair when you can book cheap flights in conventional companies. One just has to check their websites once in a while to learn about the good deals. TAP and Lufthansa have allowed me to explore most of Europe since I turned 18, and I’m certainly not a rich person.
Felix Mitchell

I travel very streamlined too, but am not going to join in bashing people who take on ‘too much’ carry-on luggage. Most people who will get stuck with this fine are simply taking what they feel they need while abroad.

I feel, as a travel company, it’s not in Ryanair’s remit to limit things like this – other forms of travel do not do the same thing.

Is it legal to chuck you off a flight for not paying the fine? Why can’t they bill you later? It doesn’t seem right that they can refuse you a service you’ve paid for, on the basis of a test (weighing) that they will do just before you travel.
agger

#17 Felix Mitchell:

I travel very streamlined too, but am not going to join in bashing people who take on ‘too much’ carry-on luggage. Most people who will get stuck with this fine are simply taking what they feel they need while abroad.

To be fair, in that case they can put this stuff in their checked luggage, if any. When buying the tickets, the 10kg limit for carryon is explicit.
Blackbird

I don’t like this. I’m all for ‘charging’ for an overweight, or oversized carry-on, but not a FINE for it. There are many opportunities between check-in and the plane for a system to be set up to pay for the courtesy of pissing off other passengers. I wonder WHY it’s done on the plane. Is there some different legal standing to have it done there, versus at the gate just before getting on (sorry George Carlin…getting IN) the plane, or back further at check in (provided you don’t do electronic…)??

If there isn’t a valid reason, it’s a money grab. Pay or kick you off the plane? Wait…that’s more like extortion…
Anonymous

I traveled with Ryanair a couple of times.. And I was amazed that I always arrived ahead of schedule. Then I checked the flight times of other airlines on the internet: a flight from Brussels to Porto takes around 1 hour and 20 minutes. According to Ryanair, however, it takes them 1 hour and 45 minutes. I don’t know if they underestimate their planes or if this is just a quite clever marketing technique: unless something goes seriously wrong, they are always on time!
codereduk

Remember when flying was romantic? Remember when the rich and famous were called Jet Setters, and flying was something we looked at as exciting and glamorous.
There is a great picture in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, of Schiphol back in the 60′s where they had benches and open observation sections on some roof areas, where you could relax in the open air and watch the planes take off and land.

A different time and place, I guess….
Sork

@#2 Buckets McGaughey:

“…lifted out a couple of bottles of wine and put them in my carry-on. Hey presto, no fee.”

That’s why they invented the security check no-liquids rule. Today’s best option would be to drink the bottles before the security check. Then maybe regurgitate into canister B straight afterwards.
alisong76

Hang on – you buy an el cheapo, no frills ticket, so they charge for bag check. You try and cheat that by bringing extra baggage on with you, so they fine you for cheating.

I’m not seeing a problem here. With other aspects of the service that you’ve outlined, sure, but not this.
Anonymous

I’ve flown Ryanair many times, and I agree that it can be a cheap way to travel around Europe, which is great. As someone else said, you get what you pay for.

On the other hand, what I DO object to most strenuously is the idea that somehow we are expected to suspend our rights when we board an airplane. Complaining about service is not terrorism, and airlines should be much, much more restricted in what they are able to do to passengers.

For example, if I am forced to sit somewhere for four hours, and then have to go to the bathroom, and am told it is not possible when there is a perfectly functional bathroom not ten feet away, I am going to get a little cranky – a perfectly normal human reaction. I’m not going to feel bad about it either.

What can be done? As long as we all fly the same way we take a bus across town, and with the expectation of the same price, we will get treated this way. If people stopped flying as much, the airlines would have to resort to something called, what was it again, oh yes – “customer service” to entice people to use their services.
ill lich

The way things are getting, it’ll be be cheaper to ship your luggage ahead via UPS. Of course, if I buy a one way ticket, with NO luggage, I’ll end up detained indefinitely and cavity searched.
Rezpect

f t scks tht bd, s nthr rln, jz.
rasz

out of business? Ask Virgin Express about that :)
Fact is people like cheap, even when they are cattle for 1 hour flight. You cant compete with 30 Euro ticket to any place in Europe.
fALk

Not even to talk about the commercials that go on all flight long telling you to take part in lotteries and other bogous endeavours ryan air tries to keep their ticket prices down with. They are so loud that even closed big headphones and my walkman to max donÂ´t help.
I much prefer Easy Jet – especially on the Berlin UK route… (so they are not exactly getting better by the day either as you also have to pay for one piece of luggage nowadays and the prices stayed the same (so you pay more in the end)).

But a Busride from Munich to Berlin in 3 hours – you have to tell me where to get on that busline – it is more like 5-6 hours last time I drove a car down there (3 hours sounds more like Leipzig – but that is bad enough)
Narfmaster

I took a Ryanair to meet my parents in Italy a few years back, that was a mistake.

Crappy waits at the terminal, food service was atrocious (they ignored me twice leaving me without even water during the flight) and “Sponsored by Red Bull” posters everywhere. To round things off they made an announcement half way through the flight (waking everyone up) asking whether we’d like to take part in some raffle for a load of the stuff. Lots of pissed off people, I can tell you.

You can pay the same with other Budget Airlines and get a much better service.
The Unusual Suspect

The point is that the crap people have to put up with on the discount airlines (like RyanAir) quickly spreads to the average airlines (like Air Canada) and even to premium airlines (like British Airways).

We’re in serious need of a Air Passengers’ Bill of Rights, or at least some minimum service standard.

Without it, you simply won’t be able to pay enough to avoid being treated like dirt when you fly.
Anonymous

I’m inlined to agree with #15, pack your sanity in your hand luggage with everything else and try and remember how to deal with Ryanair.

I don’t like their service by any means, but getting wound up about it just makes flying – never a great experience, since it’s mainly about the airport and airline staff demonstrating how much more valuable their time is than yours – that much more unpleasant. So I make an effort not to get wound up despite the provocation.
davedorr9

For service, Ryanair could learn a lot from Southwest. I actually yelled, in a queue, because the people in line somehow ‘bumped’ us out. It was in France, so they were very amused. It wasn’t so much Ryanair as the unsupervised mob, however.

For opening up the affordable markets in Europe, I think they fill an important niche.

EasyJet and others may be good alternatives. I was impressed with the regional SAS – all of the no-frills with none of the attitude.
insomma

If you’ve got an hour google-video the Dispatches investigation of Ryanair. It’s an eye-opener.

I personally don’t think airlines should be able to set a size restriction on carry-on baggage that rules out 100% of carry-ons on the market but that’s just me.
The Unusual Suspect

Air Canada has a similar nasty, bullying, rapacious top-down mentality.

(This is the airline that charges $20 in advance for each customer service request, regardless of whether the request was to correct their own mistake or whether they actually did anything to fulfill it.)

But unlike RyanAir, Air Canada is a full-fare airline, so you pay several times more to suffer the same brutalization.
Secret_Life_of_Plants

I’ve never had a bad experience on Ryan Air…I’ve been all over Europe on their “penny flights” — for the price I don’t need anyone to be nice to me. I also don’t need to schlep everything I own from Paris to Barcelona or Rome.

I only fee guilty for the carbon footprint, but since I don’t have kids or own a car or eat meat, I figure I can splurge on travel now and then.
Sus

I fly Ryanair all the time to go home and see my folks. They’re dirt cheap and I’ve come to expect the worst from them – so I’m consistently surprised when everything goes well. In 5 years, flying from the UK to Germany and back 4 times a year, we were delayed twice. Not such a bad record, I think.

What I’m mostly interested in, though, is how you got from somewhere near Munich to Berlin in 3 hours!! I need to know the name of that bus operator…
The Unusual Suspect

Arkizzle, fair enough.

And I suppose that when upper-tier airlines decide they can also get away with passenger abuse like RyanAir, they create market opportunities for upstarts who will treat passengers a little better.

They ARE out there – two examples local to ma are WestJet and Porter Airlines.
knutmo

3 hours from Munich to Berlin? Those are pretty damn fast coaches! Maybe Ryanair should go in the coach business.
Sus

Ah, the dreaded crosspost. I did not mean to pile on.
arkizzle

‘Suspect

While I do agree with your point, the difference between Â£200 and Â£5 (or a penny) is pretty stark. Flying in and out of Ireland used to be a monopoly affair, Aer Lingus owned it. Now you can often fly from Dublin to London cheaper than internal bus journeys within the UK. It was a game changer in every way, from business to pleasure – it opened the border for affordable, quick commutes.

Ryanair shifted the goal posts and now travel is vastly cheaper and only marginally worse (In general. On RyanAir it’s awful, but that’s their price).

I don’t know where it’s going to end up though. Some took RyanAir’s lead and managed not to be Satan about it. British Midlands for one.
arkizzle

It’s been said before, but:

You do get what you pay for. RyanAir is dirt cheap, and SHIT.

But I’ll still use them, just like everyone else.