Ryanair's little-known bag rule that cause you trouble at the gate

Ryanair passengers could find themselves in hot water at the boarding gate due to one of the airline's lesser-known regulations. The Irish carrier's enthusiasm for penalising travellers with oversized luggage is very well-known.

However, what's less widely known are the restrictions surrounding payment methods when caught with non-compliant baggage. Ryanair operates a cashless policy at boarding gates. This means that even if passengers are willing to pay the penalty fee, those carrying only physical currency may be forced to abandon their bag.

This revelation follows reports about the compensation Ryanair provides boarding staff for identifying oversized luggage, reports the Mirror.

"Our bag policy is simple; if it fits in our bag sizer (which is bigger than our agreed dimensions) it gets on free of charge," a spokesperson for Ryanair said.

"If it doesn't fit in our bag sizer, you pay a gate bag fee. As our boarding gates are cashless, gate bag fees cannot be paid in cash. These fees are paid by less than 0.1 per cent of passengers who don't comply with our agreed bags rules."

"For the 99.9 percent of our passengers who comply with our rules, we say thank you and keep flying, as you have nothing to worry about."

The budget airline has updated its policy, allowing passengers with standard tickets to bring one "personal bag" on board free of charge, provided it meets certain size criteria. This shift in policy aligns with recent changes to EU legislation, altering the previous dimensions from 40x25x20cm to a slightly larger 40x30x20cm.

Ryanair staff are equipped with bag sizers at each gate to ensure that travellers' luggage does not exceed these new limits.

If your bag doesn't fit into the sizer at the gate, you'll face an extra charge to carry it onto the plane, which could be as steep as £70 or €70.

For those looking for the cheapest travel option, Ryanair's Basic Fares are the way to go, though they come with their own set of limitations. These fares allow only a personal item small enough to fit under the seat and include a randomly assigned seat.

Many have heard horror stories about passengers being hit with hefty fees for luggage that's too large. One of the most startling incidents involved Mirror journalist Ruby Flanagan, who was charged £50 just for bringing her water bottle on board.

"On the 50 minute flight back to London, I realised that it would've been cheaper to throw the bottle away and buy a new one for £25 when I landed. Of course, that level of hindsight just made me feel stupid. But that would've been ridiculously un-environmental - and would've taken away from the satisfaction of being the over one-millionth plastic bottle of water saved from landfill by refilling mine. Shout out to Dublin Airport for informing me of that info," she said.