The airport is a notoriously stressful place—from the rush through security to the triple-checking of documents and the crowds at every corner.

Naturally, you want everything to go as smoothly as possible. So nothing throws you off balance quite like being told, just as you’re about to board, that your perfectly packed bag is suddenly too big and you’ll have to pay up.

That’s exactly what happened to one woman on a recent Ryanair flight. Despite buying a suitcase that matched the airline’s size requirements, she was still pulled aside and charged. Frustrated, she took to Threads to call them out—and didn’t hold back.

The woman on a Ryanair flight was charged for having a bag that was supposedly too big, despite it fitting in the sizer

Image credits: Niklas Jonasson / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Now she’s demanding an explanation from the airline

Image credits: naomiworden

More flyers speak out about questionable bag fees

Image credits: Gabrielle Henderson / unsplash (not the actual photo)

This story is far from the first of its kind.

Passengers across various airlines, Ryanair included, have shared countless complaints about being charged for bags that allegedly exceeded size limits, even when they appeared to fit.

Recently, one woman vented on TikTok, claiming Ryanair charged her a fee because her otherwise acceptable bag had a broken handle. Another woman, featured in a BBC article from last year, won a dispute against the airline after being charged for her carry-on. However, the company insisted her bag was still too big and only refunded the money as a gesture of goodwill.

According to Ryanair’s current policy, the standard cabin bag size allowance is 40cm x 25cm x 20cm (15.7in x 9.8in x 7.9in), while passengers with priority tickets are allowed one larger bag up to 55cm x 40cm x 20cm (21.7in x 15.7in x 7.9in). If a bag exceeds these limits at the gate, a fee of £/€70.00–£/€75.00 may apply.

Many passengers report that the issue arises when placing their bags in Ryanair’s sizer. A common complaint is that parts of the luggage, like the wheels or handle, slightly extend past a warning line inside the sizer, not the physical edges. In many cases, these parts could simply be straightened or adjusted.

One commenter under Naomi Worden’s post suggested that this might have been the issue in her case. Even so, others were quick to express frustration, calling the situation “rubbish” and “ridiculous.”

Last year, some customers went as far as to accuse the airline of using sizers at the gate that were actually smaller than the listed dimensions online. Others claimed Ryanair had quietly updated its baggage allowance without informing passengers.

However, Ryanair’s head of marketing, Jade Kirwan, pushed back against those claims. Speaking to Cork Beo, she said the hand luggage dimensions haven’t changed in a decade.

“It hasn’t happened, I’ve just checked into this again because we have seen all the chat on social media,” Kirwan stated. “The rules have not changed in ten years. What may be happening, is that people that have gotten through a few times before because they were not closely checked have finally gotten that check.”

She even joked that passengers can verify this for themselves: “Just look at them the next time you fly, they usually look like they’ve gotten a fair bit of use over a long time!”

Whether the policies and baggage checks are truly fair is still up for debate, but one thing is clear: the criticism isn’t going away anytime soon.

In the replies, the woman added that she had purchased a priority ticket to bring a bigger bag

Readers were frustrated on her behalf and shared some advice in the comments

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