More and more of us are taking our own luggage on flights, to avoid baggage charges so it’s no wonder that Ryanair has a brilliant record at not losing bags.
But when you travel this summer, make sure you know what costs you are letting yourself in for before you pack.
Consumer affairs journalist Tina Leonard gets down to brass tacks with Today with Pat Kenny
SITA, the airline IT solutions provider used by 440 airlines worldwide has just published their World Tracer Statistics for 2010.
Fewer passengers are checking bags in with 70% doing so in 2010, down from 82% just three years earlier in 2007.
But even if you are clever about packing, it’s easy to turn up at the airport and find you’re bags been sent to the hold.
Bag charges can be hefty. A family of four could easily top €150 in charges.
So here are some tips before you pack.
Know the cost of checked-in bags
Passengers like to be in control of their belongings and as short-hop, short-stay flights become more common there is less of a need for big checked-in bags. But the biggie is that with some airlines you have to pay extra for checking in bags.
Ryanair:
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First bag is €20/€40 each way (from June to end of Sept)
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€25/€45 to the Canaries for 15kg.
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€30/€50 or €35/€55 for a higher weight allowance of 20kg.
- Excess €20 per kilo.
Aer Lingus
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€15 and €20 depending on where you are flying
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But. it is between €30 and €40 if you pay at the airport – be careful to book bags on early, leave it to web check in just before you leave the house and you be forced to pay at the airport and therefore incur the higher charge
- Excess is €9 per kilo.
For a family of four this could add €160 to the cost of your flights (booking online), so the question is can you afford it?
Know the allowed weight of carry-on
If your carry-on bag is judged too heavy or is too big at the departure gates, you will be heavily penalized.
Ryanair charge €40 with Ryanair and Aer Lingus charge between €30 or €40.
To avoid charges, weigh your bag before you leave home.
Aer Lingus and Ryanair have a 10kg limit for carry on luggage.
Aer Lingus allow you an additional handbag, laptop or camera for example, but Ryanair do not.
Know the allowed size of carry-on bags
Ryanair and Aer Lingus have the same size requirement for carry-on bags which is 50cm x 40cm x 20cm.
Make sure your carry-on bag doesn’t expand!
This might sound daft but I have heard from many consumers whose bag fitted the required dimensions but they were nonetheless not allowed to bring it on board and charged the hefty fees for putting it in the hold.
Or the bag was accepted on departure but not on return.
So, you have to make sure that if you have a ‘soft’ bag it hasn’t expanded once you’ve put the items in. And if you’ve bought new stuff when on hols, that could expand the bag even more and/or make it heavier.
If you are buying a new bag make sure it really is airline compliant
The measuring devices that the airlines use at the airports should all be the same. For example Ryanair say that “the sizers are all made by one manufacturer and distributed to all our airports across Europe” and Aer Lingus say “the dimensions of Aer Lingus hand baggage measuring gauges are consistent across and within the airports where Aer Lingus operate. Aer Lingus ensures this by providing the gauges to our handling agents.”
This is important, as these measuring devices are not regulated by the Legal Metrology Board, that’s the agency that regulate and licence weights and measures used in trade, including the luggage weighing machines at airports, It is up to the airlines to ensure the measurements are consistent across the airports.
Do bear all of this in mind when you see bags advertised as airline compliant.
The only bag I know of that is absolutely guaranteed and approved is the Ryanair/Samonsite bag available on Ryanair’s website (€99).
