Ryanair passenger charged £50 for bringing water bottle onboard
A Ryanair passenger says she was charged £50 to bring a water bottle that she had strapped across her body onboard after the airline claimed she was violating its baggage policy.
Ruby Flanagan was flying from Dublin to Stansted on 4 February when she was stopped at the gate just before boarding her flight back to London, she wrote in the Mirror.
A member of the gate staff asked to place her carry-on backpack in a box to make sure that it was the correct dimensions, and with a little shove, it did.
However, the gate staff then pointed to a large 750ml water bottle, hanging by a strap across her body, and told her that it would have to go into the bag.
Ms Flanagan was not required to do this on her outbound flight to Dublin, so she asked if this was absolutely necessary, but the gate staff member responded by saying that all extras needed to be within the bag while boarding the flight.
After fumbling about with the contents of her bag, Ms Flanagan was finally able to pull the zip over the large bottle and went to re-scan her boarding pass.
However, once she again reached the gate, another Ryanair staff member told her that her bag was now too big and she would have to “pay to get on the flight”, Ms Flanagan claimed.
She watched other passengers holding laptops, Burger King bags and travel pillows pass through the gate, but eventually, the airline closed the flight.
"You'll have to pay for it either way," one staff member told her. "Out, it's a second bag and in, the bag’s too big, so you'll need to pay."
In order to not to miss her flight, Ms Flanagan paid the €60 charge (£50), which is twice the amount she paid for the bottle in the first place, and her bag was tagged with a yellow sticker.
In a statement, Ryanair told the Mirror: "This passenger booked a Basic Fare ticket for this flight from Dublin to Stansted (4 Feb), 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 (4 Feb).”
Ryanair’s baggage policy states that all passengers are eligible to bring on a free small bag that must fit under the seat in front of them, and it can be a handbag, laptop bag or backpack that fits the 40 x 20 x 25cm dimensions.
If passengers want to upgrade to a cabin bag after booking or while at the airport, the prices range from €20 (£16.70) to €60 (£50).
Simon Calder, travel correspondent at The Independent, said: “I have sympathy for Ruby.
“Discovering the cost of a flight from Dublin just tripled because of outsized cabin baggage is upsetting.
“But Ryanair was in the right. In addition to her dimension-compliant bag she was carrying a very chunky water bottle.
“I hear from a lot of Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air passengers who complain about having to pay what feels like a disproportionate fine. Often they say, as Ruby did, ’I wasn't charged on the way out’.
"But the correct way to look at stories like this is that Ruby got away with the bumper bottle on one leg of the flight.”
The Independent has contacted Ryanair for further comment.
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