A holidaymaker was forced to cough up £55 for her daughter’s carry-on, after being caught out by the “petty” wording of Ryanair’s own exemption.
Luana Botas was travelling home from a six-day trip to visit family on April 3 when she was stopped at Budapest Airport over her daughter’s case.
The 43-year-old was told to put her seven-year-old’s hard-shell case into the sizer and ordered to pay £55 when the luggage failed to fit.
However, the project manager explained that Ryanair’s own website states that children’s Trunki or Trunki-style cases may exceed Ryanair’s restrictions and still be accepted on board.
As stated on their website, Ryanair states that children aged between two and 11 are permitted to carry one Trunki case, which may exceed the dimension limits of the small bag (40 x 30 x 20 cm).
As well as Trunki cases, other brands “with similar dimensions” are also accepted on board.
The mum-of-one admits her daughter Maia Robinson was carrying a case that was 48 x 26 x 33 cm, but thought this would fit the description.
Ryanair confirmed that in place of a personal carry-on bag, children are permitted to carry one Trunki case or “other brands with similar dimensions”, and this can be bigger than the usual baggage restrictions.
Luana Botas with the hard-shell case
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However the airline said that Luana’s bag of 48 x 33 x 26 cm “exceeded” the dimensions of a Trunki case (46 x 20 x 31 cm) and stood by their decision.
Ms Botas said the family had no issues when travelling through Birmingham Airport through the luggage, describing the charge as “embarrassing and humiliating”.
Ms Botas, who lives in Birmingham, said: “I went through Birmingham Airport and no one bat an eyelid, it was absolutely fine. We had two backpacks and they were pretty much the same size.
“On Ryanair’s website, there’s a section that says kid’s luggage, like Trunki and other similar brands, are exempt from the strict limit.”
Luana Botas said she was left disappointed
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Ms Botas continued: “We were going through the boarding procedure at Budapest when a staff member signalled for me to put my daughter’s luggage in the sizer. My bag was fine, even though it was the same size.
“[My daughter’s case] only went halfway and because it’s a hard shell, it didn’t go all the way down. She asked me to pay the surcharge. I tried to explain to her that I had no issues going from Birmingham to Budapest and that a Trunki is allowed
“I couldn’t get through to her in any way and boarding was almost complete.
“I said ‘even though I’m trying to explain to you that this is your own policy, you’re still going to charge me? And she said ‘yes I need a passport please’.
The two cases side to side
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KENNEDY NEWS AND MEDIA
Ms Botas believes she was ‘targeted’ for financial reasons, calling the fine an ‘injustice’.
She said: “We went through the very embarrassing and humiliating procedure of me paying for a service that was exempt. I was genuinely in such shock. This was just a little pull-along for my daughter to enjoy.
“The policy on Ryanair’s website says similar brands are exempt. This was [bought online] and [the website] said it was under-seat cabin approved.
“It’s wrong to have a policy that you make an exemption for and then still charge me.
“It was very petty. I felt targeted because there was no one else that was asked to do the sizer. This luggage was for a child. It felt like it was intentional and they hadn’t made any extra money on the flight, and they picked on us.”
She continued: “It’s not about the £55, it’s about the injustice of the system, which is taking advantage of the customer’.
A Ryanair spokesman said: “This passenger’s bag exceeded the permitted dimensions, and they were correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee (£55) by the gate agent at Budapest Airport.”
