I was hoping to carry a handbag & husband is planning to carry a bag that will have camera, camcorder, batteries & chargers in it. My question is whether I & husband can carry a handbag and a back pack along with cabin luggage? Can the children carry a shoulder bag too? >>

No. as others have said, one bag per person. i personally would not bet on them being lax about sizes either. This is but one reason why I would not travel on Ryanair unless I had to.

Alex - when people talk about "pooling" they generally mean sharing weight between passengers, ie 5kgs in one bag and 15kgs in another, not just sharing things out between their luggage, which is so obvious as not to be worth mentioning, surely.

My favourite Ryanair moment (and I promise I'm not making this up). Ryanair "customer service" desk at Stansted early one morning. Customer and his girlfriend have missed their connection by a few minutes and are complaining (loudly but not offensively) to the uniformed Ryanair employee at the desk. After a few minutes, the Ryanair girl shouts at them in a broad Essex accent "to just f#&k off then!!!". This was clearly heard by myself and many other passengers waiting to board a nearby flight. You have been warned...

After a few minutes, the Ryanair girl shouts at them in a broad Essex accent "to just f#&k off then!!!".>>

and your point is?

this is 1. Ryanair. 2. Essex.

'nuff said.

Annhig - one more...innit?

Yes I fly from Stansted sadly. I'm not saying it's an enjoyable experience, I don't like Stansted, I don't like the fact you have to pay to drop or pickup someone from the airport. I don't like Ryanair but sometimes the price difference is too high for me to be that fussy. Never had my hand luggage weighed, never been told I had to repack my duty free into the hand luggage. Ryanair staff do walk up and down with a cardboard replica of the hand luggage dimensions but never seen them doing anything about the oversized bags or those with 2 bags. I've seen repacking at the gate on Easyjet but not so far on FR. In the general check-in area landside, yes for sure there is repacking.

this might be a good chance to use that windbreaker with multiple zippered pockets! Wear it to board... and put heavy stuff into it (especially chargers). For a handbag, take something that can be folded up into another bag and pack everything into your ONE bag. When you arrive, you can always expand. Your husband's camera backpack is one bag, and you and the kids split up clothes. Wear the heaviest/bulkiest shoes and carry on any other pair.

Here are some things that Ryanair passengers have tried!

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...#r=nav-r-story

Wow I like Ryanair. I don't see why people feel the need to drag everything they own onto the darn plane. It's foolish.

1 & 2 make you look like a dickhead

3. At some airports you can do it as part of the deal the airport did with Ryanair, at others your can't

4 is the only sensible solution - but even that bag is a tadge on the heavy side

I understand that people try to avoid the fee to check bags, especially on short trips. But if getting all stuff in proper cabin luggage is SO hard, I'd just pay for one 20kg checked bag and go easy on what I have to drag on board. Even if the fee is €20-50, I would still consider that somewhat negligable vis-a-vis the overall budget of a family vacation. More than once, even with the checked bag fee, the airfare is still much lower than with others who let you check one for free or have lower fees.

I usually fly from Stansted and witnessed real dramas at the check-in. Beware of expandable trolleys!! I am very careful with my case, even leave a space for a bottle from the duty-free, but never been forced to put it inside...Are you allowed a ten-kilo trolley PLUS the duty-free bag (point 3)?
The man with the scale is at the passenger-only door, before security control. I dont believe is a Ryanair man...is he?

But if getting all stuff in proper cabin luggage is SO hard, I'd just pay for one 20kg checked bag and go easy on what I have to drag on board.>>

on Ryanair, it's 15kgs, not 20kgs max in the hold and 10kgs in the cabin.

josele - it's probably me but I'm missing what you mean by expandable trolleys, unless by that you mean bags with wheels. My understanding is that you are allowed one bag plus duty free - at Bristol they now have big signs as you enter the D/free area reminding you of this as I think they were losing sales!

We have flown with Ryanair once (only when absolutely necessary) & survived. They were very strict about luggage. The second time we tried to fly with them they cancelled our flight completely. It took months and months to receive the refund. If I could possibly avoid Ryanair I would. I don't like their business model.

Now Easyjet on the other hand are fabulous and have gone out of their way to help. Of course, you need to obey their luggage rules. When they cancelled a flight, they phoned us. in Australia to work through solutions. Silence from Ryanair.

We always pay for one cabin luggage between us and sometimes I bring a lightweight jacket with deep pockets. I do prefer Easyjet to Ryanair but I'm thankful they both make travel more affordable for us.

<<on Ryanair, it's 15kgs, not 20kgs max in the hold and 10kgs in the cabin.>> You can pay for either 15kgs or 20kgs in the hold. I have never had the issues that others claim they have on FR, I have even received small refund due to flight not departing on time, credited back to my credit card before I even got back. Waiting for months for a refund is not something I believe.

Sorry Odin - Why would I confabulate about Ryanair's tardiness?

<<on Ryanair, it's 15kgs, not 20kgs max in the hold and 10kgs in the cabin.>> You can pay for either 15kgs or 20kgs in the hold>>

it appears that they have changed the rules since we last flew with them, when 15 kgs was the max allowed. Still no "pooling" though.

<<No pooling or sharing of baggage allowances is permitted, even within a party travelling on the same reservation. Pooling of an individual checked baggage allowance is not permitted even if you have two items of checked baggage (each item must be within its own prepaid weight allowance).

No upgrading of a checked bag from a 15kg bag to a 20kg bag is permitted.

The transfer of a checked bag from one passenger to another is not permitted.

Any passenger exceeding their personal checked baggage allowance will be charged for excess baggage at the rate prevailing on the day of travel. This is currently £20/€20 per kilo (or local currency equivalent)>>

anyone ever check whether the scales that Ryanair etc use?

Do you mean whether Ryanair use scales. They did with us at the small Carcassonne airport. The woman was quite abrupt but became friendly once she realised we were under weight.

pay for a checked bag between the four of you and stop worrying.

annhig, I mean those bags with wheels with several zippers that when unfastened the bag increases about 10%, accordion-style. Do it and then It Wont Fit, I've witnessed it. Thanks for the tip on Duty free, yes, obviously they should be losing sales....how not?