A Ryanair passenger says she was charged £50 for bringing a water bottle onto her flight.
Reporter Ruby Flanagan flew earlier this month to Dublin for a quick getaway to visit friends, so booked a ‘non-priority’ ticket for £35.86.
Ryanair’s luggage policy allowed Ruby to bring a small bag that could be tucked under the seat in front of her – her backpack was a no-brainer.
Rather than her bag getting her into trouble with the budget airline on her return flight on February 4, it was her 750ml bottle by eco-brand Super Sparrow.
Boarding her flight to Stansted, Ruby wrote for The Mirror that she suddenly ‘felt a tap’ on her shoulder.
An airline worker told Ruby to pop her carry-on backpack in a box to make sure that it was the correct dimensions.
‘After pulling it back onto my shoulder, the staff member sharply pointed to the water bottle hanging in a strap across my body, stating: “That will need to go in the bag”,’ Ruby said.
‘I croakily asked if that was necessary, as I didn’t need to do that on my incoming flight. She responded by saying that I needed to have all extras inside my bag when going on the flight and ushered me back to the departure seats.’
Managing to shove the bottle into her backpack, Ruby claimed that another Ryanair staffer told her: ‘That bag is too big. You’ll need to go over there and pay to get on the flight.’
‘I was told that the water bottle needed to fit into the bag; otherwise, it would be classed as a “second bag”, which was not allowed with my ticket,’ she wrote.
Ruby watched passengers holding laptops, Burger King bags and travel pillows cruise through the gate as the clock counted down for departure.
She continued: ‘Ryanair officially closed the gate for our flight, and, at this point, I was in a state of panic. I’d never missed a flight before.’
‘”You’ll have to pay for it either way,”‘ a staff member told her. “Out, it’s a second bag and in, the bag’s too big, so you’ll need to pay.”‘
Ruby coughed up €60, twice the cost of the bottle, so she could take her water bottle with her. Her bag was tagged with a yellow sticker and got boarded the plane.
‘On the 50-minute flight back to London, I realised that it would’ve been cheaper to throw the bottle away and buy a new one for £25 when I landed,’ she said.
‘Of course, that level of hindsight just made me feel stupid.’
Ryanair’s bag policy states passengers can bring a 40x20x25cm personal bag – such as a backpack or laptop bag – with them.
Riders can pay a fee between €20 (£16.70) to €60 (£50) to upgrade their carry-on to a cabin bag, which measures 55x40x20cm.
Ryanair said in a statement: ‘This passenger booked a Basic Fare ticket for this flight from Dublin to Stansted (February 4), which allowed them to carry a small personal bag onboard.
‘This passenger attempted to board with an additional carry-on, and as it would not fit within their permitted bag, she was correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee (€60).
‘Once payment was made, this passenger travelled on this flight from Dublin to Stansted (February 4).’
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