You think you’re getting a £80 Ryanair flight to Europe, and then it’s time to add luggage.
Before you know it, your ‘budget’ holiday is working out to be anything but, and you’ll need to remortgage your house in order to bring a suitcase on board.
So, you end up squeezing your belongings into a tiny rucksack that sits at your feet (or resorting to crazy TikTok hacks). At least you don’t have to pay for that particular privelege.
It’s no wonder then that the news that Ryanair is upping its hand luggage size limits might seem like cause for celebration.
No more avoiding eye contact with gate staff, or steering well clear of the scary baggage sizer. Right?
Well, not neccessarily. Here’s everything we know about the Ryanair’s new hand luggage policy so far.
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Can you bring bigger bags onto Ryanair flights now?
From September Ryanair passengers will be able to bring slightly bigger bags on board.
But, crucially, this isn’t the bag that fits in the overhead locker, but rather the ‘personal item’ underseat bag that fits underneath your seat. This is the one you get free of charge.
The size increase isn’t exactly huge, though.
What is Ryanair’s new small bag size?
Previously, the underseat ‘personal item’ could be 40 x 20 x 25cm. The new rules will bring that up to 40 x 30 x 20cm from September.
That means you can add 10cm onto either the width, length or depth of your bag. But 5cm must also come off somewhere too.
Or, if you want to consider the change in terms of volume, it means you get four litres of extra space, which is roughtly the size of two big milk bottles (the four pinters).
The sizing restrictions on hand luggage and checked baggage have remained the same — and yes, you still have to pay for those.
Does this mean Ryanair won’t be as strict with the baggage policy anymore?
In a word, no. In fact, the airline is encouraging its staff to keep an even beadier eye on your bags.
It’s a known fact that Ryanair offers incentives to employees to catch people breaking baggage rules. And, Ryanair bosses have now announced that the airline is boosting those rewards, from €1.50 (£1.30) for each bag, to €2.50 (£2.25).
There was also previously an earning cap of €80 (£69) per month, which has now been lifted.
This means that if an employee catches just two bags per day, for a month, they could earn an extra £139.50 per month.
Speaking to the Independent, Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary said: ‘99.9% of Ryanair passengers comply with the bag rules, no issues.
‘That 0.1%, we need to get rid of them. We need to get rid of those big bags. Everybody has to play by the rules, and then there’ll be no issues, but we are going to continue to catch more people.’
Michael said incentives have been increased because staff are now finding less oversized bags as people comply with the rules.
According to him, catching rule breakers is better for everyone. ‘The more we can do that and eliminate that, the faster the boarding will be, the quicker the turnarounds will be and the more efficient overall Ryanair will be – and we’ll keep passing on those efficiencies in the form of low fares.’
Why have Ryanair made the change to baggage sizes?
Well, it’s not because of pleas from desperate passengers.
EU lawmakers recently voted to ensure that free airline luggage allowances must meet certain minimum sizes.
As a result, Ryanair has been forced to increased their dimensions, upping the volume by 20%.
Currently, the carrier offers passengers the smallest dimensions of all of the major UK airlines.
Ryanair told Metro: ‘Ryanair will increase its max “personal bag” dimensions to 40x30x20cm, so that Ryanair’s “personal bag” allowance is bigger than the EU standard.’
Perhaps it’s meerly a coincidence that increased incentives for staff have come at the same time the airline has been forced to up their baggage allowance, but either way, you’ll want to get that measuring tape out before your next flight.
Are any other hand luggage changes coming?
In June, European Union lawmakers approved an amendment that would give people the right to travel with a 7kg carry-on bag at no extra cost.
If the rule is confirmed, travellers could bring this on board for free — plus one smaller item that can fit under a seat.
‘Today’s vote marks an important step toward fairer and more transparent travel,” Matteo Ricci, vice-president of the EU Committee on Transport and Tourism said.
He added that free luggage was ‘a fundamental right to avoid unjustified extra costs.’
It’s important to note though that the amendment still needs to be negotiated between EU member states, and has not yet been made official.
Airlines4Europe (A4E) represents 17 airline group members across Europe — including the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet, Jet2, IAG (who own British Airways) and TUI.
When asked for their thoughts on the free-hand luggage policy, they told Metro it will spell bad news for passengers.
A spokesperson said: ‘There is a cost to carrying bags for airlines and the approach proposed by the Parliament means airlines will have to pass this increased cost onto all passengers, not just those who feel that a trolley bag is the choice for them that they wish to pay for.’
Ourania Georgoutsakou, managing director of A4E, likened the decision to ‘mandatory popcorn and drinks as part of your cinema ticket’, adding: ‘The European Parliament should let travellers decide what services they want, what services they pay for and, importantly, what services they don’t.’
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