A Ryanair passenger said she has been awarded a refund by the airline after being fined £75 for using an expandable suitcase with “the potential to be bigger than the size allowance”.
Catherine Warrilow, 45, was travelling from Stansted Airport to Seville on 22 October when she was told her carry-on did not meet Ryanair’s luggage allowance at the gate due to its expandable zips.
She had paid £170 in advance for a priority fare, which allowed her to travel with a small personal bag and a 10kg bag.
Catherine shared the “mindbendingly ridiculous” rule on TikTok: “I got fined yesterday, £75 at the gate because the carry-on cabin bag that I prepaid for with priority boarding was apparently too big for the size restrictions because of the expandable zip as it had the potential to be bigger than the size allowance.”
Read more: Baggage allowance guide – luggage limits for British Airways, Ryanair, easyJet and more
She claims that with the expandable zip closed, the case fits within airline restrictions—no larger than 40cm x 20cm x 50cm, including the wheels and handles.
The Oxfordshire-based woman said gate staff told her she could either leave the case behind or pay a £75 fine as they could not allow the “possibility of me having to kneel on it to get it in the overhead locker.”
“The irony is with the big yellow ‘you’ve been naughty, we’ve fined you’ sticker on my suitcase, I take it down to the runway where we are boarding because it needs to go in the hold, and there’s nobody anywhere to be seen to give my bag to.
“They just took the label off and took it onboard anyway, and yes it fit in the cabin and the overhead locker,” she said.
In an update on 31 October, Catherine said that Ryanair had fully refunded the £75 they charged at the gate and the £35 she paid to put her bag in the hold on the return journey following her complaint.
She told BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine that the airline refunded both sets of fees as a “gesture of goodwill”.
“I think it is absolutely time that Ryanair stop taking the mick and ripping people off, it is not fair,” Catherine added on TikTok.
The Independent has contacted Ryanair for comment.
The airline told BBC News: “This passenger purchased a Priority Fare which permits a small personal bag and a 10kg bag.
“As this passenger’s bag exceeded the dimensions allowed for a 10kg cabin bag, she was correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee (£75).”
New overhead bins that will be introduced to some Airbus planes next year could completely change the game for those who travel with cabin bags.
The arrival of the newly designed bins is only a few months away, with 38 of Lufthansa’s A320s being the first to receive the new storage spaces in January 2025.
Airbus says the new bins will provide 60 per cent more bag capacity than the previous generation of A320 bins, allowing space for three extra bags per bin.
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