UKC

Hi folks,

Flying Ryanair with a 45l rucksack that will be under the 10kg for cabin baggage, but bigger than the dimensions given on their website (pretty much all of them).
I've seen people taking rucksacks this kind of size on Easyjet, and was surprised that they weren't challenged. Has anyone tried something like this with Ryanair, and if so what did you find?

Thanks

Lee

In reply to clipskipper:
You'll be fine. You should see some of the bags that most people travel with, heeeuuuuge.

are you sure it will be bigger when all the straps are done up?

Flew 6 times in the last few months with a POD Back Ice as hand luggage. I think that's supposedly 50 litres or thereabouts.

Just make it look effortless to carry. Usually works.

Though I did get caught out traveling back from Germany pro Osama when security asked me to hand them my tiny rucksac that contained only 24 cans of finest Erdinger Weissbeir. That made a thump as it hit the floor.

In reply to clipskipper:

If it's on your back it'll get a lot less attention than those hard walled wheelie suitcases do.. and if it's that big and under 10kg I assume it'll only have clothes or other 'squashable' items in so if you were to be apprehended it should be persuaded in to the rack easily enough! I've travelled with a 45L bag with them as hand luggage, and if I recall it was probably a couple of kgs over.. not a word or sideways glance was offered

In reply to clipskipper:

Will it fit in the overhead locker? If not, they may make you recheck it in as hold luggage. A lot will depend on how fully the flight is.

In reply to clipskipper:

Have you read all the posts that say flying with Ryanair is fine 'as long as you abide by their rules'?


Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

That depends on how tall you are I think!
I've flown with my Deuter Guide 35+ as hand luggage at least 10 times over the last few years, generally I just take the aluminium stays out of the back and stuff the lid inside the main body of the rucksack which puts it comfortably within the Ryanair size limits.

In reply to spenser:

We both carry 40L sacks regularly but with the straps all tightened up they will (just) fit in the test cages,


Chris

In reply to clipskipper:
I flew to Spain last year with FlyanRyan. I only took hand luggage. Had a small day sac, no problem. But there were people who had quite big rollie type cases. They looked quite a bit bigger than the maximum allowed carry on. In the boarding queue the flight crew asked them to put their bag on a trolley that went in the hold. They didn't pay any extra.
I'd say hang back in the boarding queue. They are on such a tight schedule they won't have time to mess around with a dispute over a bag size. They just wanna get off the ground. Good luck

In reply to clipskipper:

I've seen passengers get hassled about bigger bags when flights have been full.

In reply to clipskipper:
Don't wait near the end of the queue if you are in a rush at the far end, as if flight is full they may make you put it in the hold, even if of correct dimensions. Happened to us, ended up with a wait of 1.5 hours at luggage collection due to them messing up the unloading. When we got on the plane there was loads of room.

In reply to clipskipper:

Don't forget that you can have 2 items of handluggage with Ryanair, though the second is smaller. This helped on a recent trip as I could divi the stuff up, so that my larger sack was about the right dimensions with the compression straps cinched up.

In reply to clipskipper:

I flied with Ryan Air last week and used a Lowe Alpine Alpine Attack 35-45 as hand luggage.
I checked the dimensions carefully and it just fit if I didn't overstuff it. Cinching the compression straps in made the pack narrower but fatter so meant it struggled to fit in the basket they use to assess size, loosening them off made it wider but with less depth which made it bang on.
Mine was the biggest pack on by a margin but drew no attention and fit the overhead locker fine.
On the way home, to compensate for the extra weight of wet ropes in our hold luggage I packed more in my rucksack so it was pretty full yet we had no problems again.
That said, we packed our helmets in the hold luggage on the way home with a view to carrying them separately as the second small bag if the pack was too big as was.

In reply to clipskipper:

just make sure you have enough clothes in there which if required can be worn to make the bag fit and then taken off when on the plane.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Quite.

Take the risk if you must, but be ready to pay the hefty fee without arguing (you will not win the argument, you will just look stupid) to check it at the gate if you are asked for it. Your gamble.

And remember that easyJet's hand luggage size is bigger than Ryanair's - easyJet is 56x45x25cm (IATA standard size used by most of the "proper" airlines), Ryanair is smaller at 55x40x20. The reason for this is that Airbuses have bigger overhead bins than Boeings.

In reply to clipskipper:

Yes go for it. Totally ignore all Ryan Air advise on the website. You take your advice of some anonymous person on the internet. If stopped at the airport, tell them, Lenin said it would be fine.
HTH

In reply to clipskipper:

Is the bag rigid along the back? If you can squash it into the given dimensions it's usually fine, but obviously if it's stuffed full, they will be well within their rights to make you pay to check it.

In reply to clipskipper:

IME bigger bags are far more likely to be weighed than small ones, so worth making certain it is under the weight limit.

In reply to clipskipper:

What the first reply said!

Just make sure you have some clothes packed so you just threaten to put everything on. I've never been stopped in my life. I've got a Pod Alpine 40-50l sac and it fits into the overhead lockers fine when fully packed with the lid removed without needing to put it sideways. I'm probably taking up less space than the regular hard cases because it's narrower.

In reply to Neil Williams:

^ this.
I made especially sure that my pack fit these dimensions as it's just not worth the argument that you are going to lose. The back length of my pack was dead on 55 cm so as long as I cinched the lid right down and left the side straps looser it fit the criteria. That left plenty of space for the overhead locker door to close. It also weighed sub 10kg.
On the return flight I packed more in, in the knowledge that I could quickly whip out the helmet and a random drybag as my smaller carry on and not fall foul.