Ryanair fine over 'potentially oversize' cabin bag

Catherine Warrilow said the "added extra" culture was stressful for air passengers

An air passenger has said she was ordered to pay £75 by Ryanair for having a cabin bag that had the potential to be oversize.

Catherine Warrilow, a branding consultant for travel firms, said her expandable case "fit flush" into the airline's measuring cage.

However, the 45-year-old from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said Ryanair staff told her she might have to kneel on it to get it into an overhead locker on the plane.

The airline told the BBC the bag "exceeded the dimensions allowed".

Ms Warrilow said she was "confused and frustrated", having checked her bag before travelling from Stansted Airport on Tuesday to an event in Seville, Spain.

She said when she arrived at the airport gate, she had to remove items and add a luggage strap to keep within the airline's allowance.

The consultant said: "I put it in the rack and it was within the size.

"But as I let go of the case it tipped forward slightly because the bottom wasn't particularly stable and she said that it's too big.

"She said: 'I'm sorry, I can't let you on board with this suitcase because I can't have you having to kneel on it to get it into the overhead locker.'"

Ms Warrilow said her expandable bag "fit flush" into Ryanair's measuring cage

Ms Warrilow said she decided to bite her tongue and pay the £75 gate fee, plus £35 extra to bring it back home, on top of her £170 air fare.

She told BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine: "This 'added extra' culture that we find ourselves wrapped up in is crazy.

"The problem is, it's very unclear. If I'd contacted Ryanair... to check that my case met the standard, then they would have said yes based on the measurements.

"I work in the travel sector, I travel a lot, I know the industry well. And I fear we're making it very difficult for people to travel without this huge added layer of stress."

In a statement, Ryanair said: “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)."

In 2023, a BBC investigation found that three of the UK’s most popular airlines -Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air - had cut the size of their free cabin baggage allowance by half since 2018.