Ryanair has been in a lot of trouble lately, primarily due to their labor issues, which have caused tons of flight delays and cancelations. While I haven’t yet flown Ryanair, James has written about why he doesn’t mind flying with them, assuming you come into the experience with the right expectations.
Ryanair had made changes to their baggage policy as of November 1, 2017, and now they’re making changes to their policy again, which kick in as of November 1, 2018. This sure will create a lot of confusion, given that they’re totally overhauling their baggage policies twice within a year.
Ryanair has announced the following changes to their baggage policy for tickets booked as of September 1, 2018, and for travel as of November 1, 2018:
- Ryanair is introducing a new lower checked bag fee option; previously the lowest cost to check a bag was €/£25 for a 20kg suitcase, while now there will be an option to pay €/£8 for a 10kg suitcase
- Priority customers will continue to be able to bring in two free carry-on bags (a 10kg wheelie plus a small bag), while non-priority customers will be limited to bringing on a small bag (previously they could bring a 10kg wheelie to the gate, but it would be gate checked for free)
Ryanair claims that 60% of passengers will be unaffected. Their logic is that 30% of customers already buy priority boarding, and 30% already only travel with one small carry-on bag (which I’m skeptical of).
Ryanair says that the remaining 40% of non-priority customers will either switch to priority boarding, will switch to traveling with just one free small carry-on bag, or will use the new lower fee checked bag option.
Having other passengers switch to priority boarding of course reminds me of this “Come Fly With Me” skit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrhMcqx6vw
The funny thing here is that most people shouldn’t pay the €/£8 to check a 10kg suitcase. Instead you can purchase priority boarding for just €/£6 at the time of booking, and then you can continue to carry-on a bag of the same dimensions. So the only person who would be paying for that is someone who really doesn’t want to carry-on a bag, or who wants to check a second bag of those dimensions.
What’s also puzzling is that Ryanair says that they’re making these changes to minimize delays and speed up boarding. They made changes to their policy last year with the exact same stated purpose, except their changes actually caused delays.
Under their system for the past year all non-priority passengers could bring a full size carry-on, but it would simply be checked at the gate at no cost. How that was supposed to speed things up is beyond me.
Bottom line
Ryanair is making changes to their baggage policy for the second time in a year. These are no doubt negative changes. Non-priority customers are going from getting a free full-size gate checked bag, to having to pay an extra €/£6 for priority boarding, or an extra €/£8 to check a 10kg suitcase.
What do you make of Ryanair’s baggage policy changes?
Up in the air again with Ryan Air! Quite a good airline for short trips as long as you know that everything costs. But they seem very confused as to what works and what doesn’. It’s quite unreal that priority boarding plus a bag is less expensive than just the same bag - be it checked or not! I’m sure there’ll be another change to correct that. Make up you mind, Michael!
So much hard work costing our flights nowadays. Shame the Regulator doesn't step in to stop this abuse, so we as consumers can see the whole picture INSTANTLY and chose our airline with a simple overall cost, then make a personal decision.
The amount of times I've ended up (within Europe), going with a national carrier instead of these complex businesses like Ryan, because it may only be £10 dearer, AND I get food...
So much hard work costing our flights nowadays. Shame the Regulator doesn't step in to stop this abuse, so we as consumers can see the whole picture INSTANTLY and chose our airline with a simple overall cost, then make a personal decision.
The amount of times I've ended up (within Europe), going with a national carrier instead of these complex businesses like Ryan, because it may only be £10 dearer, AND I get food etc.
These sods unfortunately are now forcing the big boys into lowering themselves to Ryan/Easy's level. Funnily enough the self same people used to moralise about the "cheap tactics" used by Ryan etc.
Happy enough with this chance if it speeds it up. Never flown Ryanair with anything more than a small carry-on anyway.
Never get the hate for Ryanair. I'd choose them over Aer Lingus any day
I'd rather walk than fly Ryanair. It's not a question of them charging extra for oxygen masks or speedy disembarkation but the real doubt with Ryanair's service is 'will there be a plane there to actually fly on?' Reliability of service is the issue.
"Let's throw another campaign at the wall and see if it sticks"
RyanAir sucks! I really had hard time getting refund when i cancelled it within 24hr of booking the flight! Their customer service is so bad and gave me lot of run around. Never again!
Is it stretching the name "priority boarding" too far when literally half the plane (95pax) can be in the priority boarding line?
We're calling them wheelies now instead of rollaboards?
@Alwayslearning
If you click on the link that takes you to Ryanair, it says (FAQ) that you can either add €8 for Priority boarding or €10 for a 10kg bag or cancel your booking and get a full refund.
10% of people actually read the rule and are aware of what they get when purchasing a ticket on RYAN Air .... with that said I do not read rules thus dislike the fine print extra fees and just general hostility RYAN AIR creates in a travel experience ..... but what do you expect when you can fly from Dublin to Split for 30 EUROS ..... its a choice no one is forcing you to...
10% of people actually read the rule and are aware of what they get when purchasing a ticket on RYAN Air .... with that said I do not read rules thus dislike the fine print extra fees and just general hostility RYAN AIR creates in a travel experience ..... but what do you expect when you can fly from Dublin to Split for 30 EUROS ..... its a choice no one is forcing you to take. Unfortunately with European LLC its a race to see who can take more of your money without you realizing .....
@Lucky
The airline colours on the Come Fly With Me skit look exactly just like the colours/Lively for Eurowings! mmhh... someone at Lufthansa must have been paying alot of attention to the BBC comedy.
Now giving luggage directly at the aeroplane does indeed save time as it doesn't involve actually checking in the luggage as you just put your bad in a container before going up the aircraft stairs where it's loaded and then...
@Lucky
The airline colours on the Come Fly With Me skit look exactly just like the colours/Lively for Eurowings! mmhh... someone at Lufthansa must have been paying alot of attention to the BBC comedy.
Now giving luggage directly at the aeroplane does indeed save time as it doesn't involve actually checking in the luggage as you just put your bad in a container before going up the aircraft stairs where it's loaded and then you just pick it as soon as you leave the aircraft.
These changes don't really make sense but oh boy, it's Ryainair.
Just adding to that... I'm amused that they're doing it to "eliminate gate bags and cut boarding gate/flight delays."
Uhuh. Because if you were doing that you wouldn't have an option to pay extra for a gate bag.
So can anyone tell me what I can bring abord my flight? I booked now already, but flight is in December (it was the cheapest fare flight)
I guess trying to trick people into paying for bags wasn't working out of them. I'm surprised, because it seemed to me that a lot of people flying Ryanair didn't actually realise that you technically get two bags (with one being checked at the gate).
I'm not surprised about this, because their entire site is designed to try and coerce you into paying for things you don't actually need. That said, I guess this now gives a meaningful value to priority at least.
Priority boarding is limited to 95 people per flight.
For us city-breakers, it's not good news, now officially have to pay for a full-size carry-on. This was FR's advantage over Wizz Air (especially in Eastern Europe, where the euro is very strong compared to local currency).
what do i make of it ? absolutely nothing. i have much better things to do than parting my money to the European greyhound that is powered by CFM56 instead of diesel engines.
Ryanair is getting worst more and more every year. I would really love to boycott them but they almost gained absolute monopoly between LCCs in my home airport and also have the most extensive network of european routes from there, so it's really really difficult for me.
I'm totally confused.
That said, I did fly Ryanair last year and it worked out just fine. I read all the rules, and knew what I was getting myself into. Paid for priority, checked a bag, etc. Flight was on time, at the times I needed to go, and the whole affair, at the end of the day, was unmemorable. Which is the best one can expect from them. I'd book them again if they fit my needs.
"So the only person who would be paying for that..."
The whole point of this kind of structure is to be confusing. The people who pay for it are those who don't sit down for 30 minutes, load up an excel spreadhseet, and do a cost benefit analysis while projecting their future baggage needs. You know, most people.
Some will raise their hands and just pay for "priority" (if everyone pays, who really is priority)....
"So the only person who would be paying for that..."
The whole point of this kind of structure is to be confusing. The people who pay for it are those who don't sit down for 30 minutes, load up an excel spreadhseet, and do a cost benefit analysis while projecting their future baggage needs. You know, most people.
Some will raise their hands and just pay for "priority" (if everyone pays, who really is priority). Others get caught with fees at the gate.
Ryanair runs to the bank in the short term and continues their reputation as an airline to avoid