Mum slams Ryanair after €60 charge for daughter’s bag
An airline passenger has hit out at Ryanair after being charged £55 (€63) for her child’s carry-on bag, despite believing it fell under the airline’s own luggage exemption policy.
Luana Botas was travelling home from a family trip on April 3 when she was stopped at Budapest Airport over her seven-year-old daughter’s suitcase.
The 43-year-old said she was asked to place the child’s hard-shell case into the airline’s luggage sizer, and when it didn’t fit, she was told to pay a fee before boarding.
However, Botas argued that the bag should have been allowed under Ryanair’s policy for children’s luggage.
Budapest Airport. Pic: Andras_Csontos/Shutterstock
As reported by GB News, the airline’s website states that children aged between two and 11 can bring a Trunki or ‘Trunki-style’ case on board, even if it exceeds the standard small bag dimensions of 40 x 30 x 20cm.
The policy also notes that other brands with ‘similar dimensions’ may be accepted.
Botas said her daughter’s case measured 48 x 26 x 33cm and believed it would qualify, especially as she had no issues when flying out from Birmingham Airport.
‘I went through Birmingham Airport and no one batted an eyelid,’ she said, via GB News.
Pic: Toni. M/Shutterstock
‘On Ryanair’s website, there’s a section that says kids’ luggage, like Trunki and similar brands, are exempt from the strict limit.’
But things played out very differently on the return journey.
‘We were going through boarding in Budapest when a staff member asked me to put my daughter’s luggage in the sizer,’ she explained.
‘It only went halfway in because it’s a hard shell, and she told me I had to pay.’
Pic: LadyLensArt/Shutterstock
Botas said she tried to explain the policy to staff but felt she wasn’t being listened to, and with boarding closing, she had little choice but to pay.
Ryanair, however, has stood by the decision.
In a statement to the outlet, a spokesperson said the bag in question exceeded the dimensions of a standard Trunki case and therefore did not qualify for the exemption.
‘This passenger’s bag exceeded the permitted dimensions and was correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee,’ the airline said.
The incident comes amid ongoing scrutiny of airline baggage policies, with passengers increasingly calling for clearer guidelines.
