To have not known this about Ryanair?

[eastandwestand]

So, we’ve not flown for around 5 years.
Instead we’ve done ferries, a couple of cruises and U.K. holidays.
Booked our flights with Ryanair and booked 2 bags which could each contain 20kg.
Weighed them the night before. 1 bag was 20kg and 1 bag was 22kg. So 2kg over.
Spoke to a few people who said the person checking the bags usually turns a blind eye with a couple of kg extra weight. In fact I’ve never been charged for excess luggage, even when my bag was 29kg instead of 25kg EasyJet just stuck a “heavy” label on it.
Anyway, got to the airport and it’s self check in.
You weigh your own baggage and before the machine prints you a luggage label you have to pay on the card machine attached to the scales for any KG you are over.
So you can’t physically board a flight until you have paid £11 per kilo for anything over.
I paid obviously, as my case was over, but I never realised this check in system even existed!
Has it been around for long? Or am just not an airport pro these days?

Well I can’t see how wrangling cabin bags plus children is any easier than taking an extra suitcase and dumping it at the bag drop for one thing, then you’d only need a small bag for a couple of toys and the ubiquitous ‘snacks’ so hmm yourself

Because my child can pull along a cabin case

Ryanair’s rules are definitely there for a reason - to maximise their profits.

That's what businesses do.

We recently did dublin to spain snd back and was 22kg each way. Self check in first leg, a human coming back and not an eyelid batted!

Yes, we do know that @NoBaggyPants. The issue is how they do it.

Clothes shoes and toiletries in suitcase. I pull this, along with mini rucksack with passports wallets etc.

Inflatables, books, first aid bits, 1xchange of clothes and snacks in cabin bag, which my older child carries.

It’s very tight but it’s the reason why so many single parents do it. Only two hands!

Ryanair doesn't allow two of you to pool luggage either, as some other airlines do when flying together. You pays your money and you takes your choice, but I acquired a reasonably accurate weighing device for a fiver to avoid just such eventualities when travelling back.

This is not true! Ryanair do allow this for checked baggage as long as you don't exceed 32kg for any individual bag. We travelled 2 days ago with 3 x 20kg allowance and had bags over and under but not exceeding 60kg total. Their website clearly states that pooling is allowed for passengers under same booking ref.

Like many other posters I can only echo that you get what you pay for. Budget travel is just that. Treat it like a bus from A to B, pay for the extras you need and read the latest rules as everyone knows they change frequently. We couldn't have done half the travel and family visiting we have without them. If you want something fancier - pay for it !

The so called "low cost" airlines are a rip off in my view. At any chance they take your cash. They aren't cheap unless you are fully familiar with all the rules and keep by them to the letter.

Ryan air charged us to pay for our over priced coffees with a visa debit card didn’t realise till got home and saw the statement ... they shouldve said there was a charge .cheek!

What did the charge say on a statement?

Was the charge to use the card or to change the currency from your GBP debit card to euros they were selling the coffees in?

They are cheap though. Even if you fall foul of some of the extra charges they're still often cheaper than the 'full service' equivalent distance flights. Not for everyone, not always, etc etc. But on average, yes. That's how they work.

Ryan air will charge you for breathing soon! They are the leaders in 'how to screw the customer' tactics. Other airlines are though creeping up and aren't far behind in the luggage minefield. You definitely need to read all the info before hitting the 'buy' button.

The so called "low cost" airlines are a rip off in my view. At any chance they take your cash. They aren't cheap unless you are fully familiar with all the rules and keep by them to the letter.

Flew with easyJet a couple of weeks ago. It was no different to flying with Delta a couple of weeks before that. (In fact the EJ experience was much nicer) Checked in online, checked my baggage allowance got on the plane. It’s not difficult, nothing is hidden.

The self-check-in/bag drops have been in place for a while. I also remember flying Ryanair in the 90's and my Mum being fastidious over our baggage, so I think their strictness over excess baggage has always been a thing.

On a side note, I fly quite a bit in the US where there's some pretty big thunderstorms. They use computer models to calculate the fuel needed based on weight, and they need to budget more spare fuel during stormy weather for detours. They know the weight of the hold cargo, but they budget a certain amount per passenger in these models. It's about 200lbs for a man, 180lbs for a woman. They know that's always an overestimate.

I've been on flights where they've taken small items out of the hold and asked for us to put them under seats/in the overheads so they don't have to boot people off and given compensation. I was on a flight recently where they still couldn't get the hold weight low enough for the model after doing this, so they asked for 4 volunteers to come off the flight for $1000. Cue me and 3 other petite women being the first to volunteer... it all seemed VERY arbitrary, given that we probably only equalled 2 actual people under their average passenger weight calculations.

You definitely need to read all the info before hitting the 'buy' button.

Why wouldn't you though?
It's like booking room for 2 people but not reading that it's a twin rather than double you wanted.
It doesn't take much time to read through.

Lol! Competitive underpacking definitely would be a mumsnet thing. I can't be arsed to deal with all the luggage so we just use one of those websites like mybaggage.com to get it shipped ahead. Cheaper, easier, don't have to deal with those machines and I can take more stuff 😂 mainly just so I can cope with the toddler (and now baby).

Glad that you got it under 20kg on the way home OP!

I wondered if I was missing a trick with sending the luggage ahead, but having looked at the quotes, it seems not - we usually go to Malta or the Canaries and it's far far more than just taking it on the plane with us, even with Ryanair.

We usually pay around £400-450 for two return flights to Canaries or Malta including 3 hold cases of scuba gear - we could cut this down a bit by hiring, but we like to use our own kit, in reality we'd still probably take 2 bags and the cost of the hire would make it that we wouldn't save. The flights alone are usually around £100-150 for two return flights - anyone just going on a holiday wouldn't pay any more than this, just take a packed lunch or spend a fiver on a Boots meal deal if you don't want the food on the plane.

And what a lot of people don't seem to realise is that, if you live in northern England, it isn't a case of 'just use BA it's no more expensive and much nicer' because they don't do direct flights for us, so our choice is pretty much Jet2, Ryanair or Easyjet and Ryanair are usually the cheapest and Jet2 always seem to cost more these days.

Is it not time for there to be a standard luggage allowance, or at least maximum weight on any flight outside of the UK? A draconian airport tax for any airline not complying would ensure it was enforced.

Incidentally, don't hold your hopes that things would be better with a Heathrow third runway. All this would do would mean more market dominance by a few airlines.

The so called "low cost" airlines are a rip off in my view. At any chance they take your cash. They aren't cheap unless you are fully familiar with all the rules and keep by them to the letter.

What an utterly ridiculous comment. Of course you need to keep to the rules. It's not difficult, it's all there in black and white.

**Is it not time for there to be a standard luggage allowance, or at least maximum weight on any flight outside of the UK? A draconian airport tax for any airline not complying would ensure it was enforced.
**

Absolutely not.
An aeroplane will be able to carry XYZ maximum weight.
For the government / airport authorities to get involved in how that weight is divvied up amongst passengers would be ridiculous

Returning from Turkey a few years ago, my luggage was overweight by quite a bit. Forgotten the Carrier - might have been Turkish? The young Turkish man was being very strict and applying excess to people, so I got prepared to pay and made a feeble joke about my luggage being so much heavier leaving Turkey with all the Turkish delight I'd bought for friends. Feeling a poke in the back I looked up to find that the young Turkish Airline man had swept my case through and was waiting for me to go - no excess fee! Apparently he was pleased I'd bought Turkish delight for my friends! (I had, btw)

I’ve flown a lot and I’ve never known any airline ever “turn a blind eye”. Whatever the allowance that’s the allowance! Also, the cheaper the airline the more strict they are on hand luggage size! Never chance it.

I've never seen this system in Liverpool or Manchester when I've flown.
I don't understand why you took your suitcase over though.

If you're talking about the weighing machines, self check in Fowles I'm fairly certain they have it at both, but they have different check in areas for different airlines, so if you don't fly with Ryanair or Easyjet, which I think are the main two who use it, you'll probably go to a different part of the check in area and not see them,

Sounds like you have just been lucky. We have always been charged for being over. Even years ago.