Trying to Understand RyanAir's Fee System
 

Hello all...

I'm looking to book flights from Dublin to Gatwick and back. I've never used RyanAir, and their fee structure is perplexing. I understand you have to pay a little here, a little there, for everything. (I know they charge for checked bags and assigned seats, for instance.)

Specifically:

Is a single overhead carry-on and under-seat small item free?

Is there anything else I have to be aware ("beware") of?

Thanks.
ssander

From the Ryanair Website

"You can carry one cabin bag weighing up to 10 kg with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm, plus 1 small bag up to 35 x 20 x 20 onboard the aircraft."

Ryanair has become far more transparent with regard pricing. Booking flights does involve multiple choices, but you can decline the offers to check in baggage, choose a seat, pay for priority boarding or buy insurance.

To be aware of - pre printing your boarding pass - if you don't they will charge you a fortune to do so at the airport.
You can display the ticket on an electronic device, but double check this as I think there are restrictions.

If you have a non EU passport:
<b> Irrespective of a passenger's visa requirements, all non EU/EEA citizens must have their travel documents checked and stamped at the Ryanair Visa/Document Check Desk before going through airport security. </b>

One cabin bag + one small bag is free.
You have to pay for your (reserved) seat up front.
If you want priority check-in & boarding, you have to pay a little extra.

All useful information is in their FAQ's.

My daughter's experience w/Ryanair........They are VERY strict about the size of carry-on luggage.......Or just plain cranky. While studying in Italy, my daughter and friends made a long weekend trip to Dublin. Two wheels on my daughter's luggage broke off right before her return flight. She purchased a new carry-on, which looked identical in size to her original piece. When my daughter approached the entry to board the plane, the flight attendant told her she couldn't board b/c her luggage was too large. Upon measurement, the luggage was 2cm too wide! After much pleading from my daughter and her companions, she was finally allowed to board. Ryanaire is either incredibly strict about their carry-on luggage specifications, or some attendants like to give travelers a hard time......or both! ;)

For what it is worth I downloaded their app filled in once and for all the requested info (like ID bummer and date of issue *).
Now I check with the app and just use my iPhone.
* since I am paranoid I didn't correct the mistakes I made in the ID number.

Or... you could fly British Air non-stop to Heathrow. It's closer to London (if that's your final destination), so you're saving both time and money there.

I really dislike the budget airlines that charge for everything, even boarding passes if you don't print it out yourself, so vote with our dollars! If BA is the same or only marginally more, I'd choose that every time.

(or is it Aer Lingus ... still better than RyanAir)

The RyanAir specific passport check requirement for non EU/EEA traveler is a bizarre requirement for those who has not taken Ryanair. However, my friend just flew RyanAir from Edinburgh to Dublin and despite reminding him to have his passport checked BEFORE going through security, he forgot. But the gate agent must have been in good mood and after giving him a bad dog lecture, the gate agent checked the passport for him. Obviously, this kind of halcyon day in your favor is totally unpredictable. He could have been told go out and come back through security to have his passport RyanAir checked and would have missed the boarding cut-off time and would have had to buy a totally new last minutes ticket for the next available flight. I presume this is a part of the business model.

The general approach is, if you HAVE to use a fee incurring service, do it at the booking time. The same thing done at later steps incur increasingly steeper fees.

Ssander:
Let the airline's computers streamline the complexity. Fill in the boxes as if buying a ticket. Choose the "extras" you want (and don't bother worrying about whether the fee schedule is morally sound; it is the way it is.) The webpage will total it all up for you before you decide to buy.
One more comment about the regulations: Ryanair and many other budget airlines really really want you to file your check-in data on-line ahead of time. You don't have to wait until 24 hours ahead like many inter-continental carriers, and will pay the price if you wait until arriving at the airport. Here's a YouTube video showing the details (with mood music.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLyOkYqLtTk

When I missed a flight last month (entirely my fault), they were quite understanding and allowed me to change my existing ticket for a fee that was significantly smaller than buying a last minute ticket.

I seem to be making a habit out of defending Ryanair, but the fact that they offer some very,very cheap fares has been the reason that I've been able to travel so much in the last 15 years or so. In the late 1990s I was looking at flights from London to Naples that cost around £350 return. Last month I flew to Italy for less than a quarter of that.

>>Or... you could fly British Air non-stop to Heathrow. It's closer to London (if that's your final destination), <<

Really makes no difference LGW or LHR. LHR may be 'closer', but travel in to the city -- especially to some parts, is actually faster from LGW.

Tube from LHR about an hour to most parts of central London. Train from LGW 30-35 minutes depending on the train.

If there is one company that is absolutely NOT strict about the size of carry-on luggage, it's Ryanair. Our carry-on luggage has never been weighed. Next to our 10 kg carry-on suitcases my 'small bag' is always a big shopper ; my husband's is a medium-size backpack. No one ever said something about it.

Once I misbooked a flight: Berlin - Brussels that should have been Brussels - Berlin. I immediately opened a chat session and they simply cancelled and rebooked without charging me a fee, even though this was my own fault! They had every right to charge me for the wrong flight.

As willit says, it is thanks to Ryanair's cheap flights that we can travel so often.

"If there is one company that is absolutely NOT strict about the size of carry-on luggage, it's Ryanair."
It depends on the agent on duty. You were lucky ! My bag has been checked several times in Girona, Madrid, Cochstedt etc...

>> Our carry-on luggage has never been weighed.<<

Mine has never been weighed either . . . but it has almost always been 'sized'. IME they are VERY strict about dimensions, not weight.

If it's size, my carry-on has the right size indeed.

I looked into Ryan Air when flying family from LHR to Palma this past summer. I read numerous reviews and almost without exception the complaints were made by those who either hadn't read the rules or thought they could ignore them. There are strict regulations ( for a reason ) and you do need to read carefully and understand that they will apply to you or you will pay heavy fees. However, their size restrictions regarding carry on are close to most airlines. MyriamC has given a short but accurate review of their rules. Just read and comply and all the ranting you hear about their extra, heavy fees won't apply.

BTW, I ended up flying British Airways instead but only because of scheduling. The cost was considerably more.

Ryanair doesn't serve Heathrow (too expensive, difficult to get slots etc).

We use Ryanair fairly often. I don't pay extra for anything, preferring to be herded into the cattle pen for their general boarding, rather than pay for the privilege of early boarding. Maybe I shouldn't be so stubborn.

I've taken Ryanair flights in and out of Ancona (Italy), Stansted (London area) and Charleroi (Belgium, closeish to Paris). I've never had a Ryanair agent even glance at my bags. I always carry bags that meet their weight and size limits, but many of the other people I see boarding are way over the size limit, if not the weight limit. I wish they <b>would</b> check the size, because often there isn't room in the cabin for all the carry-on bags, and those who board towards the end have to gate check bags that are well within the limits.

<<because often there isn't room in the cabin for all the carry-on bags, and those who board towards the end have to gate check bags that are well within the limits.>>
That's why I buy priority check-in & boarding when I travel with carry-on only, to be sure I'm among the first passengers to board, so that I don't have to pass through baggage claim first. If I have other checked luggage, I don't care for my carry-on to be checked (for free), I'll have to pass thru baggage claim anyway.

First 70 carry-ons are usually allowed to be brought into the cabin, so if you don't have priority boarding, go to the gate the moment it's announced on departure board (usually around 40 min before scheduled departure) and queue up in the non-priority line.