A Ryanair passenger was charged £75 for having “stiff wheels” on his suitcase, despite having used the luggage for three years with no issue.
Austin Price, from Plymouth, has slammed staff at the budget airline for being “jobsworths” after they said his suitcase failed to meet the requirements of the “if it fits, it flies” measuring stand.
The 28-year-old was flying from Bristol Airport to Krakow, on October 4 when he was asked by Ryanair staff to place his suitcase in the luggage holder.
He said that whilst the luggage did fit, he was told that he would have to pay a fee due to his wheels being “wonky” and “a bit stiff”.
The 28-year-old said: “I literally used it a month ago with easyjet. I flew with Ryanair in April with the same bag and had no issues.”
The cyber security worker had already paid extra for priority boarding to take the 10kg bag onboard.
He was adamant that the suitcase passed the checks, though was dismayed when a “rather rude” employee told him he would have to pay if he wanted to fly.
Taking to social media, Price slammed Ryanair online: “What kind of f***ery is this? Just been charged £75 for a bag which clearly fits. Sort this s*** out.”
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For a 10kg bag allowed with priority boarding, the budget airline requires items of luggage to fit within three dimensions of height, width and depth – 55 x 40 x 20cm.
Whilst his case met the height and width requirements, photos shared by Price show that suitcase did in fact stick out of the measuring stand, something he blamed on the wheels.
Ryanair justified their decision by stating that “passenger’s bag exceeded the dimensions allowed” and was “correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee of £75”.
The 28-year-old said he places blame with the staff worker who was “trying too much to do his job”.
“We had priority, with which you get one hand luggage bag and one small suitcase. I used the same suitcase I have probably used for the last three years,” he said.
“When boarding, there was one individual [member of staff] that was rather rude. There was a guy that was asked to put his backpack in the box and the worker’s response was that he has an attitude problem.
For a 10kg bag allowed with priority boarding, Ryanair requires items of luggage to fit within three dimensions of height, width and depth – 55 x 40 x 20cm
Ryanair
“The guy had his headphones on so he did not even hear him. He seemed confused; he had to put his backpack in when it obviously fit. They have changed the [measuring] boxes now. Before, you could wheel the suitcase in, while the new ones are like an open gap, almost like they are trying to catch people out.
“My suitcase was the size that fit in the gap and I have a photo of it sitting in, but because the wheels are a bit stiff it wouldn’t sit flat because of the weight of the wheels. The wheels are not the size of the suitcase. I said it clearly fits in but he said that I have to pay.
“I thought it was only going to be around £28 as it is on their website and I thought ‘that’s annoying but I’ll take the hit, gave my bank details and all of a sudden I got charged £75.”
He said that he didn’t get a chance to remove anything from the suitcase to try and make a difference to the dimensions.
Price continued: “I feel like he [the member of staff] was trying too much to do his job. I know he was trying to do his job but he did it a bit too much and poorly. There were a few people that had to pay for their luggage as well. There was someone with a tiny little pram and they had to pay also.
“The majority of people we saw on the way out were on the same flight back and no one had to pay, not one person. It’s one of those frustrating things, some people lose a big part of their spending money, some people are going on these holidays on a budget and can only afford three or four meals out on their holiday.
“It would be better to spend that money on a nice meal with your partner on holiday than paying double for luggage that you have already paid for as priority.”
