UKC

Hi, we are flying next week and have paid the money for the premium thing to get both a small and 10kg bag.

We have also paid for a 20kg check in bag between us.

My question is can we check our 10kg bags in as if we can they can obviously have climbing gear in, but if we have to take them on the plane we can't.

Ryanair have said we can't check them in, but does anyone have first hand experience of doing this?

It's from Stansted and I was thinking they would offer check in rather than going on the plane if we are already checking in one bag.

In reply to smithaldo:

You say your cabin baggage cant have climbing gear in, why not? I always put all my gear in carry on apart from ropes and nut keys. The rack, harnesses, etc all comes on the plane as it is heavy and dense - and I can make it look light when they don't weigh stuff.

In reply to philhilo:

I'm pretty sure they frown on sharp things like axes.

Bl&&dy snowflakes

In reply to smithaldo:

Looks like you have your answer from Ryanair, they are trying to discourage hold luggage, (less handling, fuel savings). Personally I would always put climbing gear in the hold, you have a 20kg bag so shouldn't be a problem. I know people do get away with carrying on climbing gear but it's a lottery and things can get a bit silly at security when the staff find unfamiliar items. It's a real arse ache if you are prevented from proceeding. As an aside I once had a tin of mackeral which caused suspicion and led to me having to turn my sac out so don't expect common sense to prevail!

In reply to smithaldo:

I flew from Stansted on Ryanair two weeks ago – they seemed strict with bags and the new rules. If you don't pay your bag must be small enough to go under the seat in front of you. You can't use the overhead lockers! If you pay for the premium 10kg carry on the bag goes in the overhead locker and you can have a second small bag under the seat in front of you. 

They were measuring/inspecting bags at the gate and a couple of people on our flight were fined £25 for having bags that were too big. 

So yeah, the rules were being enforced so if Ryanair say you can't check them in I would definitely assume you can't!

That said, the contents of the bag is a security gate issue and nothing to do with Ryanair. I think Stansted are pretty good on that front. I had draws, slings and screwgates in my hand luggage and they didn't bat an eyelid. You just need to be confident whatever airport you fly back from will be equally cool! 

In reply to smithaldo:

What's wrong with ropes in cabin luggage? That's how you save hold weight.

In reply to chrisdevon:

"But you might tie someone up with it".  I've had that for a roll of insulation tape which would be far less use for that than a rope.

If you're carrying climbing gear you need to pay for a checked bag of suitable weight (or two).  Anything else will cause you no end of problems.  If you can't afford to do so (as it can be pricey), that sadly means the trip is unaffordable.

On the original question...no, they won't let you check them in without paying.  Ryanair do not do "reasonable", it doesn't make them money under their business model.  You follow the rules or you cough up.

In reply to philhilo:

I would not risk that.  A krab would make an effective knuckle duster.  You could swing a hex around and whack someone with it.  Etc.

Security people like thinking of these things and confiscating stuff.

Can't see a harness being an issue, but harnesses aren't heavy.

In reply to chrisdevon:

Have you flown recently?  You can't even take a normal bottle of shampoo on board.  There is no way they will allow ropes and metal gear.  

In reply to Takein: my god is there no other choice in flights? seems a lot of hassle to give a company your custom, as for measuring the bags at check-in that's just embarrassing. what a company. sorry for the off topic reply but just amazed that people give this company any custom at all.

 

In reply to marsbar:

Yes I have. I have taken ropes and other gear in to the cabin on dozens of occasions without any problem at all.

In reply to marsbar:

They can and sometimes do allow metal gear. It's just a risk and potential major hassle if you are unlucky and they don't. I pretty much always keep metal climbing gear in my hold luggage as I dont want that hassle but nearly always forget the locking carabiner on my camera. 40 plus two way flights and I've not lost it to the security check bins yet.

In reply to Neil Williams:

I've been on a trip where one of the group was sent back by security to check her harness in (it could be used to tie someone up apparently). If this happens then depending on time available you either end up out of picket, or without a harness. Just not worth the risk.

In reply to Neil Williams:

They have a clear set of rules which are enforced. What's unreasonable about that?

In reply to andrew breckill:

Despite all the talk of competition sometimes there is only one low cost carrier for the direct flight you want. I'd never fly Ryan Air if I could conveniently avoid it.

In reply to chrisdevon:

Always seemed perverse to me that people try to get heavier gear into their cabin luggage in order to save weight in the hold.

In reply to ianstevens:

I don't think it's unreasonable at all per-se - you know exactly what you will get for your money.  My point was that going to any Ryanair member of staff and asking for an exception to any rule, regardless of how reasonable that might seem, *will not* meet with success.  It's pointless even trying, and all it will cause is bad feeling on both sides.

In reply to smithaldo:

Flying back from Barcelona with Ryanair recently and the lady doing the check in claimed my check in hold bag was 'special' because it contained camping gear. I didn't even bother to mention the climbing gear. She was trying to claim check in luggage is just for clothes. Just a scam really, it was under 20kg and didn't contain a bomb, I argued for a bit and she checked it in. 

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

I don't believe they actually have that rule, but don't put it past them to introduce it at some point - i.e. that you must put sports equipment of any kind (pair of running shoes?) in a separate bag and pay richly for it.

More usually for airlines "sports equipment" means "sports equipment in excess of the regular size/weight of a checked bag".  But this is Ryanair.

In reply to andrew breckill:

The flight I mentioned cost me £22.99 return to Denmark. The staff are (mostly) polite, and 90% or so of their flights are on time. I'm happy to fly with them! If you know the rules and stick to them it's no hassle at all and it's amazingly cheap travel. I'm a big fan of Ryanair.

In reply to smithaldo:

If Ryanair have said you can't check them in then you really don't need to ask the question. Ryanair will do everything they can to take money from you, it's why the fares are so cheap. You might get away with it, and you might not.

I flew from Alicante to Manchester recently with Ryanair. I had no hold luggage.

I carried boots, harness, helmet and chalkbag in my "priority" carry on bag.

I would never take metalware on as hand luggage as it's too easy to fall foul of someone being over zealous.

As I had checked in online the day before, no one at the check in desk saw my carry on which was bigger than it was supposed to be. No one at the gate checked it either. The staff on the gate were ServisAir who probably didn't care about the size of bags.

 

 

 

In reply to Neil Williams:

I never saw any rules apart from weight. Why should it matter if the weight is rope or clothes? Obvious it doesn't and like you say, it's Ryanair.

In reply to andrew breckill:

What's wrong with measuring cabin baggage? If it stops knobs with 80 litre haul bags trying to cram them in overhead lockers and whacking people in the face with them it gets my vote.

In reply to smithaldo:

I think a lot of people miss the point about this topic. The decision about what can be taken in hand luggage is, in practice, determined by the local security Policy/staff not the airline eg Ryanair

The airline may determine the size/ weight of your bag but security, at the airport, determine what the contents may be...

In reply to Kimberley:

Exactly. I've been on a flight with slings and QDs in hand luggage when my mate who went through the other x-ray machine had to check in his QDs.  It's a total lottery and not worth the hassle.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Wonder if the staff have targets for rejecting gear/extra baggage fees.

 

In reply to oldie:

It's put me off using Ryanair, but would depend on price differences and other options. A bit like Goldcar. I've had cheap rentals a couple of times, but it's the lack of transparency and surprise extra charges. Even though it still worked out super cheap anyway.

In reply to ianstevens:

What is unreasonable is that there is no transparency between what Ryanair have listed as dangerous items on their website (or at least when I got shafted by them) and what security will or will not allow through. My incident, yes a rope that could tie everyone up, had to be checked in, and when appealing the decision to Ryanair afterwards they said "we have no control over what airport security may deem a risk" or something to that matter. To spite them, I posted my rope home so as not to give them the money on the return journey, only to find the staff in Barcelona were so apathetic (probably as it was siesta time) we could've got away with it. 
In fairness I should've looked on the forums here first but I was a bit naive thinking we could get away for a cheap holiday.

The best bit was when the security staff asked me "so is it 1 big length, or lots of little lengths?" This was after me losing my sh*t and literally throwing my toys across the airport floor. Not my finest moment.

In reply to Derry:

 

As mentioned previously, Ryanair have no control over what security will allow through

 

See government guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions

There is a specific sports section but no specific guidance on climbing gear. Hence defaulting to the judgment of individual security staff and what they might deem dangerous.

 

"Airport security staff will not let anything through that they consider dangerous - even if it’s normally allowed in hand luggage"