To not know what a 20kg suitcase looks like and think Ryanair will fleece me anyway?!

[Acunningruse]

Due to fly with bastard Ryanair this summer. We haven't flown in forever (years of UK self-catering holidays with small DC then post-poned holidays due to Covid) and therefore don't have any suitable luggage, nor, apparently, the brain power to work out what to buy!

We are getting a family pass thingy with Ryanair which means we get 4 x 10kg bags and 2 x 20kg bags. ALLEGEDLY this can be shared amongst us, ie, could have different weights between us but I'm not sure I trust Ryanair.

I have no idea what a suitcase suitable for holding 20kg looks like! I dont want to buy a huge one then find it's too big and I can't fill it within weight limits, but equally I don't want to get something too small!

If you have flown with Ryanair recently and used a 20kg baggage allowance, please could you send me a link or share a picture as to what suitcase you used?

Many thanks.

We flew ryanair recently. Family of 5. We had 2 x 20kg bags (wheeled holdalls) and a small hand luggage bag each - just a small rucksack, not a 10kg case. Was fine. I think you'd struggle to need more weight and space than you have booked

20kg in summer is a medium sized suitcase. You know the sets of 3 you see displayed in shops? The small one is the 10kg cabin bag, next one is medium. I use that for summer and under 20kg. You probably won’t be able to fill the biggest.

I have the Roncato Modo Starlight set but they’re very expensive. Amazing quality though.

To the poster saying that Ryanair change their dimensions every year, that’s not true. They haven’t changed them in forever. Prices and allowances have, but not suitcase dimensions.

I’ve taken over 30 Ryanair flights in the last 5 years alone and have never had a bad experience with them. Some delayed flights, running out of one type of sandwich on board or a rude flight attendant, sure. But that can happen on literally any airline. I find easyJet the worst about luggage, and BA the most delayed airline from the ones I regularly use, and I fly several times a month.

The friend who needed to pay for an extra night in a hotel should have claimed on their travel insurance and/or requested compensation from Ryanair. By law they have to (and will) give it to you.

If you're not going self catering, why are planning on taking towels? AI hotels include towels?

The weight of the suitcase is based on what you put in it, not on the size of the actual suitcase.

I use a duffle bag - the North Face one and I can have it weighing 80 kgs or 10 kgs depending on what is in it. Advantage to a duffle bag is you can stow it away easily so you don't have hard cases all over hotel rooms. Brilliant for packing down in the back of taxis too. The disadvantage is you may more for the wheeled versions and often have you to use special bag drop (though this does mean it comes off the plane first in most cases).

I am on holiday right now. I have this suitcase ( I put it against the table to show you rough size). When I weighed it before leaving it was round 19kg and I had it full. The allowance you have is fairly generous. By a suitcase scale thing. They are invaluable.

I didn't attach the picture!

Ryanair put it up to the airline industry all those years ago, my brother flew into Leeds Bradford to see me, there was no Ryanair in fact IIRC Aer Lingus had the monopoly. Fast forward twenty years and he flew Ryanair into LGW airport with his wife and two children for the same price.

People give out about Ryanair, but if you read the rules and stick to them, then it is all fine, if however you are like my dear departed mother who thought rules in aviation were for other people, 🙄then you can run into trouble...Just sayin.....

I found Flybe the most stringent for carry-on bags - their sizes are unusually small due to smaller planes and they were very very strict. As they are shorter flights people were less inclined to pay for a hold bag but some people were really taking the piss with the stuff they turned up with hoping to cram into the cabin.

I struggle to pack more than 12kg for a week. Pack what you need and weigh it.

I agree - just need to adjust your expectations. My experience with Ryanair has been good because I don't expect the world in crystal bucket from them.

We fly regularly with Ryanair and I’d recommend a nylon fabric type bag, as 20kg is less than you think.
Ours is about 3ft x 2.5ft x 1.5 ft and has wheels at one end but weighs very little empty.
i like the pp suggestion of gather what you want to take into a sheet and weigh yourself holding it!

If buying a new suitcase get the lightest one you can. Some are surprisingly heavy even when empty!

Also if you are used to way over packing I reccomend having everything out you think you need a week in advance then whittle it down. You really don't need a whole lot. You don't need a new swimming togs every day, new beach dress, rinse them out and they will be dry. I don't know what you're like but I never wear heels on holidays and no longer pack them.

Plan out what you'll wear. Remember as well unless you are going to the middle of a desert somewhere you will be able to buy something. Also if there is a large boots at your airport you could buy sun cream once you're through security. That'll save some weight.

No need to buy a suitcase scale if you have a scale that you use to weigh yourself (e.g., bathroom scale). I weigh myself and then weigh myself whilst holding the suitcase as you usually can't read/balance the suitcase if you try to put it on the scale by itself. Then just subtract to find the weight of the case.

Save yourself the cost of the suitcase scale anyway!

Never heard of a scale op???

I used our digital scales to weigh the cases , but it's hard to see the figures that well.
Now I know about case scales you can buy online my life is totally transformed (thanks mumsnet )
Hope you'll be ok op, going abroad is nice , but it's also faff too sometimes and flying isn't as easy as it once was either. A lot of it you have to do yourself as well at airports, which surprised me at six am in the morning at a busy Gatwick!

We got this one when we recently went away .
www.argos.co.uk/product/7299065?clickPR=plp:13:22
it was fine. Definitely weigh before you go!

Stand on your own scales with and without the case.

Easyjet charged us £150 extra when we came back and we paid to upgrade allowance via ryanair in advance. They are all grabbers!!!

We always use this! X

Get one of these op. Accurate luggage scale for weighing suitcases and luggage. 32KG capacity. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002EDGKZ0/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_VS72C3QSEA6J2V49Y32A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

If you’ve filled it to 20kg it’s basically when it’s almost impossible to hoike it down the stairs and it’s a curse to lift and swing into the boot.

I can tell now when I’ve packed mine to close to 20kg. I always buy one 20kg option bag for myself and DC so it’s only one bag to lug about.

get a suitcase that is basically two sizes up from cabin size. You’ll have cabin, bigger weekender, then big suitcase. That’s the one you need. Loads in TKMaxx

Get a suitcase scale! Don't teeter around on bathroom scales holding luggage. With a suitcase scale you just pick up the case and the scale tells you what it weighs. They're brilliant! With a lightweight suitcase from tk maxx similar to a pp's picture, you can fill it with normal holiday things like clothes etc and it will usually be under 20kg. You can fit quite a lot of stuff in. The 10kg suitcase you can also get from tk maxx. Some of them say they're suitable for Ryanair on the label. But just make a note of the allowed dimensions and take a tape measure with you when you go to buy it. Or if you have a medium sized frame rucksack they often comply with the dimensions - that's what I use, and I'm good at packing rucksacks so I get a lot in.

If you find you're tipping over the 20kg on your suitcase, put things like shoes and beach towels in the hand luggage and have the heavy liquid things in your 20kg in the hold.

Agree that often you can pick up suncream and after sun cheaper in other countries anyway especially in their own discount supermarkets. Oh and decent face cream is available for amazing prices in pharmacies in Spain, Portugal and the islands so don't pack that - just take a bit of extra cash and get yourself some nicer stuff than we have in the UK when you get there. The pharmacists there will practically give you a skincare consultation just when you're browsing. So that saves on your baggage allowance too - win win! Enjoy your holiday OP.

We used to go to the States for a month at a time, BC, (Before Covid) and we had a 20kg allowance, we each had a regular suitcase and never came anywhere near the 20kg, it's actually quite a lot.

Just a standard medium-large suitcase I think. It’s more what you put in it than the size once.

a few years ago I got caught out coming back from New York because I’d crammed that much shite into my very average medium suitcase it weighed 38kg