Handy information for those who like to chance their arm at the terminal
18:54, 17 Jan 2026Updated 19:35, 17 Jan 2026
A Ryanair bag checker(Image: Ryanair)
With Ireland still in the grips of winter weather, many people are already putting together their travel plans for the new year. Passengers are always looking for ways to save money on their trips, and packing smart can be one of the best ways to do it – but there are also plenty of people who try their luck at the terminal with overweight bags.
Those looking to travel on a budget often opt out of throwing in additional baggage, instead jamming everything into a single carry-on suitcase. While it always seems like a good idea when you’re booking the tickets, once you get to boarding the plane, it can be a tense wait in the queue, hoping you don’t get singled out.
Ryanair allows passengers to bring one small bag free of charge, provided it fits under the seat in front of them, and turning up with an oversized or overweight bag can result in additional charges of up to €75. In 2026, the Irish airline slightly increased the allowance for this bag to 40 x 30 x 20 cm, up from 40 x 20 x 25 cm. Oversized carry-ons may be asked to go into the hold for a fee or, in some cases, refused at the gate.
Last year, Irish passengers shared reports on social media about being stopped for these bag checks, which prompted Casino.org Ireland to create a bag sizer odds index to estimate which airports are most likely to stop passengers.
According to the Index, Knock Airport (Ireland West) has the highest estimated rate of bag checks, with around 96% of flights likely to see at least one traveller checked – at a rate of about 1 in 50.
Cork follows closely at 93%, while Dublin sees checks on an estimated three-quarters of flights. The figures are based on passenger reports and are indicative rather than definitive.
Here’s how Ireland’s main airports rank for the likelihood of Ryanair bag sizer stops:
Knock (Ireland West): 96.1% of flights, 1 in 50 passenger level riskCork: 93.4% of flights, 1 in 67 passenger riskDublin: 76.4% of flights, 1 in 125 passenger riskShannon: 66.2% of flights, 1 in 167 passenger riskKerry: 38.2% of flights, 1 in 333 passenger risk – the ‘safest bet’ in Ireland
Ryanair previously confirmed it pays staff €2.50 for every oversized carry-on they catch. When contacted, a spokesperson said: “We only check bags we suspect are oversized, which is a tiny minority (less than 0.1%) of passengers. We are determined to eliminate the scourge of oversized bags, which delay boarding and are clearly unfair to the over 99% of our passengers who comply with our baggage rules.
“Our bag policy is simple and has not changed for many years; if it fits in our bag sizer (which is bigger than our agreed dimensions), it gets on free of charge. If it doesn’t fit in our bag sizer, it will get charged for.” Despite this, the Bag Sizer Odds Index shows that the likelihood of being stopped can vary by airport
The analysis focused on Ryanair passengers at Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry airports primarily between January and August 2025. The team scraped Google Reviews and TripAdvisor for passenger complaints mentioning bag checks, extra charges, and carry-on issues. They also monitored public posts on TikTok, X and Facebook referencing bag sizer checks, prioritising content with more than 50,000 views.
Passenger volumes were estimated using 2024 data from the Irish Aviation Authority and CSO. These complaint rates were then converted into passenger-level odds and per-flight impact to indicate the likelihood of at least one bag check occurring on a flight.
While the numbers provide a useful snapshot, Casino.org Ireland notes the figures are conservative. Many passengers do not post publicly, and enforcement may vary, so actual bag checks may differ from the analysis.