Bags on flights

[Elsiedarlingputthekettleon]

I've not travelled on a plane for 15 years so am not up to speed on everything, so was super careful to ensure that the bags I got were specifically to size. I flew RyanAir on the way out and I'm just about to get on a plane with Jet2 coming home. I was measuring and stressing that I was a cm out and bought new bags and cases. Turned up at the airport and all sorts of sizes are breezing through. Same now on the way home. What have I missed? Is it just so that they can pounce and charge more if they feel like it? I mean there are people here with more than one bag, carriers not from duty free etc etc. Am I being unreasonable to say if that's the size - that's the size? I'm really confused. 🤔

I tend to take a bag that is the correct size onto the plane

However, I agree that some people take huge bags onto the plane !

I have seen the airline stop people before boarding & weigh & check the size of bags, so checks do occur.

That is the risk that you take

Duty free is not counted in the size allowanxe

Yeah most of the time they don't care, but occasionally they clamp down really hard and catch a load of people out. It's a small chance of getting "caught" but very expensive if it happens to you.

Ryanair's model has extremely quick turnaround times so often they don't have have staff or time to argue with people. But personally I stick to the rules so I am not worrying about being charged.

Do you mean in the airport in general or specifically on your flight. The original low cost airlines are pretty hot on dimensions (although as you will have seen when booking EasyJet you have two size options for hand baggage). But if you mean more generally, the yes, wheelie cases which used to be the preserve of crew only and now ubiquitous and especially on long haul flights, you can take some fairly large ones as hand baggage.