A Ryanair passenger’s water bottle ended up costing her £50 if she wanted it on the flight.
Ruby Flanagan paid £36 for a getaway to go to friends within the Irish capital, flying out of Stansted.
She was allowed to take a small bag that she could tuck under the seat in front of her.
But on the return flight earlier this month, she got a faucet on her shoulder and a Ryanair employee asked to ascertain that her backpack was the proper dimensions.
Ruby wrote on the Mirror: ‘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 may must go within the bag”.
‘I croakily asked if that was crucial as I didn’t need to do this on my incoming flight. She responded by saying that I needed to have all extras inside my bag when occurring the flight and ushered me back to the departure seats.’
After she got the bottle into her backpack, she claims one other member of airline staff told her: ‘That bag is just too big. You’ll must go over there and pay to get on the flight.’
‘I used to be told that the water bottle needed to suit into the bag; otherwise, it might 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 because the clock counted down for departure.
She continued: ‘Ryanair officially closed the gate for our flight, and, at this point, I used to be in a state of panic. I’d never missed a flight before.’
‘”You’ll need 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 that you’ll must pay.”‘
Ruby coughed up £50 – twice the associated fee of the bottle – so she could take it along with her. Her bag was tagged with a yellow sticker and she or he boarded the plane.
‘On the 50-minute flight back to London, I realised that it might’ve been cheaper to throw the bottle away and buy a brand new one for £25 once I landed,’ she said.
‘After all, that level of hindsight just made me feel silly.’
Ryanair’s bag policy states passengers can bring a 40x20x25cm personal bag – akin to a backpack or laptop bag – with them.
Flyers can upgrade their carry-on to a cabin bag, which measures 55x40x20cm, after booking for between £20 and £60 depending on the route and travel date.
Ryanair said in a press release: ‘This passenger booked a Basic Fare ticket for this flight from Dublin to Stansted (February 4), which allowed them to hold a small personal bag onboard.
‘This passenger attempted to board with an extra carry-on, and as it might not fit inside their permitted bag, she was appropriately required to pay a normal gate baggage fee (€60).
‘Once payment was made, this passenger travelled on this flight from Dublin to Stansted (February 4).’
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