{"id":367358,"date":"2026-01-13T11:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/367358\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T11:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:46:12","slug":"ryanair-passengers-left-crying-and-distressed-after-being-forced-to-pay-75-for-luggage-as-part-of-a-money-making-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/367358\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryanair passengers left &#8216;crying and distressed&#8217; after being forced to pay \u00a375 for luggage &#8216;as part of a money-making scheme&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-4561\/index.html\" class=\"author\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ERIN DEBORAH WAKS, TRAVEL WRITER<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  07:07 EST, 12 January 2026   |  Updated:  07:07 EST, 12 January 2026   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ryanair passengers were left &#8216;crying and distressed&#8217; after being forced to pay \u00a375 for luggage &#8216;as part of a money-making scheme&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">One Ryanair passenger says she was fined \u00a375 because the wheels on her suitcase were poking out of the airline&#8217;s bag sizer \u2013 even after she paid extra to take it on board.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Gilly Bachelor was flying from <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/birmingham\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e1da0420-efa1-11f0-859c-b7f27d442516\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> Airport to Malaga in <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/spain\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e1dbfff0-efa1-11f0-859c-b7f27d442516\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spain<\/a> when she was stopped at the boarding gate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The 55-year-old said she was told she couldn&#8217;t bring the bag on board despite paying extra for both the priority and two cabin bags options.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Gilly alleges she was fined an extra \u00a375 to take the bag on board, on top of the \u00a3125 flight, during the &#8216;stressful&#8217; episode.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Another couple were reportedly told to pay \u00a3150 for two suitcases reportedly not complying with size rules.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Lisa Sheasby, 58, and her husband Fabio Lima, 49, claim they were &#8216;targeted in a money-making exercise&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Lisa told <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" class=\"class\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/ryanair-passengers-left-crying-distressed-33191087\">BirminghamLive<\/a>: &#8216;Despite using a branded suitcase specifically designed to meet Ryanair&#8217;s measurements, I was forced to pay \u00a375 at the gate&#8230; at least 15 people were also targeted, some left crying and distressed.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-8f0a7ce67fde7e9a\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105440103-15455675-image-a-1_1768213851747.jpg\" height=\"698\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Gilly Bachelor says she was charged \u00a375 due to her luggage size\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Gilly Bachelor says she was charged \u00a375 due to her luggage size<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-156c1f149881ea6a\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105440099-15455675-image-a-19_1768214946287.jpg\" height=\"847\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The wheels on Gilly's suitcase were poking out of the airline's bag sizer\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The wheels on Gilly&#8217;s suitcase were poking out of the airline&#8217;s bag sizer<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Meanwhile Gilly, from Brewood, near Cannock, Staffs, told <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" class=\"class\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsthejam.com\/\">What&#8217;s The Jam<\/a>: &#8216;I&#8217;ve taken that bag on lots of flights with no problem, just not Ryanair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;As we were boarding, a gentleman was checking all the bags.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;They put it in the sizer, and the issue was with the wheels, and that it was slightly too wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;I travel a lot myself, so I&#8217;m usually pretty relaxed, and clearly this caught me out this time.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Gilly, who is a travel agency owner, claims a member of staff was checking every bag as passengers boarded the aircraft, with at least 20 pulled aside and fined.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She added: &#8216;Ryanair is a very low-cost airline, so they operate to tight margins and will generate extra revenue wherever they can.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;I also heard that Ryanair staff receive an incentive for every bag they flag as oversized.\u00a0I checked, and it&#8217;s true, but it&#8217;s only a small portion of the fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Even so, it&#8217;s clearly enough to keep staff vigilant and enforce the rules strictly.\u00a0At least 20 people were caught out.\u00a0Ryanair gets a lot of criticism, but the rules are clear and easy to follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-3e3d6a509bc8de01\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105440097-15455675-image-a-3_1768213863740.jpg\" height=\"790\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The same thing happened to other passengers onboard the flight\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The same thing happened to other passengers onboard the flight<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-cdc57a50c7fa5e6b\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105440101-15455675-image-a-4_1768213866319.jpg\" height=\"434\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The incident took place at Birmingham Airport\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The incident took place at Birmingham Airport\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;I used them outbound because the timing worked, but flew home with easyJet and my bag was fully compliant, as it would have been with Jet2.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Gilly added a word of caution: &#8216;My advice is to check the size rules carefully and invest in a compliant bag.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s much less stressful than being caught at the gate and paying a fine.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Regarding Lisa&#8217;s flight, a statement from Ryanair said:\u00a0&#8216;This passenger and her travelling companion booked Regular Fare tickets for this flight from Birmingham to Verona (28 Dec), which allowed them to each carry a small personal bag and 10kg cabin bag onboard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;As their cabin bags exceeded the permitted size, they were correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee (\u00a375) by the gate agent at Birmingham Airport.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Ryanair passengers left &#8216;crying and distressed&#8217; after being forced to pay \u00a375 for luggage &#8216;as part of a money-making scheme&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By ERIN DEBORAH WAKS, TRAVEL WRITER Published: 07:07 EST, 12 January 2026 | Updated: 07:07 EST, 12 January&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3094,84,97,59,2122,640,387,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-367358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-birmingham-airport","tag-business","tag-dailymail","tag-gb","tag-ryanair","tag-spain","tag-travel","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}