A wallet-conscious travel expert shared a surefire way to save those precious pennies on flight luggage. Chelsea Dickenson, also known as the Cheap Holiday Expert, addressed the price rise for cabin baggage on Ryanair flights in a recent TikTok.
At the beginning of October, it was reported that Ryanair had changed its pricing for passengers wishing to travel with larger cabin bags. The airline charges a higher fee for Priority upgrades made after booking or at the airport.
Previously, Ryanair’s website stated these fees as £20 to £38, but they’ve now been hiked to between £20 and £60, according to BirminghamLive. Chelsea warned her followers that they could be subjected to an additional fee of up to £60, but suggested an easy way to avoid any extra charges.
In the video, Chelsea said: “Your large cabin bag could cost you £60 on your next Ryanair flight. This is due to cabin bag price changes that have just come in, and in the past if you wanted to add a large cabin bag, it could’ve cost up to £38, but will now cost you a whopping £60.”
She continued: “But actually, there is a way that you can avoid this. The prices haven’t gone up if you add the baggage at time of booking. So the key takeaway here is, if you know you’re gonna need a large cabin bag on your next Ryanair flight, make sure you add it when you’re booking your flights, not after, and certainly not at the airport.”
Chelsea further explained in the video’s caption: “PRIORITY – the only way you can now pay for a large cabin bag on Ryanair is to buy ‘Priority’ which lets you have a small cabin bag, a large cabin bag and allows you on the plane first.
“In this video, I’m talking about paying for PRIORITY which allows you to take a LARGE CABIN BAG onto the plane… In the past, if you wanted to buy PRIORITY, it could cost you between £20 and £38 if you added it post booking or at the airport.
“However now it could cost you between £20 and £60!! That’s an increase of 57%. HOW TO AVOID THIS HUGE PRICE INCREASE.
“The good news is that Ryanair has not put up the cost of PRIORITY if you select it at the time of booking, and so it will cost you between £6 – £36 THEREFORE, this is your reminder to add it to your booking at the time of booking if you think you’re going to need a LARGE CABIN BAG.”
In response to queries about the price hike, Ryanair pointed to this section of its luggage policy: “Fee varies depending on the route and travel dates selected. Non-priority customers who have not added a bag to their booking can still purchase a 10kg Check-in bag at the airport bag drop desk for €/£ 35.99. Non-priority customers who bring their 10kg Check-in bag to the boarding gate may check it in against payment of a fee of €/£ 46.00 – €/£ 60.00.”
A representative from the airline also noted: “This is to align with the gate bag fee if passengers choose to bring their 10kg to the boarding gate and want to carry it on board, then they are subject to a gate fee.”
According to Ryanair’s website, fees for baggage vary from £6 to £60, depending on when luggage is added to the booking. All passenger fare types include a small personal bag, which must fit under the seat in front and measure no more than 40 x 20 x 25cm, free of charge.
If you want to add Priority and two cabin bags (a maximum of ten kgs, 55 x 40 x 20cm, and fit in the overhead compartment), it can cost between £6 and £36 at the time of booking, or £20 to £60 after booking or at the airport. Fees can vary depending on the flight and dates you’re travelling.
For a 10 kilo check-in bag, prices vary between £9.49 and £44.99 at the time of booking, or £23.99 and £44.99 after booking. Once again, fees can vary depending on flights and dates. If you’re planning to travel with a 20kg check-in bag, it will cost between £18.99 and £59.99 (per flight) at the time of booking, or £39.99 to £59.99 (per flight) after booking.