Stansted airport - hand luggage

[newbiee]

As you probably know, Stansted airport is one of those which has removed the one piece of hand luggage per person limit.

Can anybody who has travelled via Stansted recently tell me how Ryanair are handling this please?  Their policy is that only one piece is allowed ... but are they enforcing this when travellers are boarding the plane?

Thanks [:)]

[Eos]

I my experience, which admittedly was three years ago now, security at Stanstead is an entirely different animal from Ryanair and I had to stuff my outdoor coat into my hand luggage as well as the book I was holding before they would let me through. The lady I ended up sitting beside had two very large hat boxes and a big piece of baggage. I now use any airport other than Stanstead. Happy with Ryanair though.

[Ron Avery]

Ryanair seemed to have a pretty relaxed policy to hand baggage as far as only one small case was concerned, you could certainly take a handbag or carrier before the Government's rule of one bag only was strictly enforced by airport security.

 Now the one bag only in the cabin rule has been relaxed at some UK airports, not all, EasyJet  and Ryanair have both announced they are retaining the one bag only rule.

"One item of cabin baggage per person, weighing no more than 10kg and with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm, may be carried into the aircraft cabin free of charge".

But you should be aware of this though!

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline today (23rd Jan) announced that it is increasing checked-in baggage and airport check-in fees with immediate effect for all new bookings as part of its continued drive to encourage passengers to travel without checked in bags and avail of Ryanair’s free of charge online check in.

For all bookings made from today (23rd Jan) onwards, Ryanair’s checked in baggage fee will increase from £5 to £6 per bag and the airport check-in fee will increase from £2 to £3. Ryanair hopes that these increases will encourage more passengers to avoid these charges by travelling with its generous hand luggage allowance (10kg) and checking in free of charge on-line, which also has the benefit of free priority boarding.

And they say that these checked in luggage prices are set to rise even further,until 50% of passengers do not check-in luggage, so that is £18 for three bags, the maximum per person now, it seems they do not want the holiday trade do they?

[newbiee]

 

Anybody who has travelled through Stansted recently?? .......

 

Thanks [:)]

[jon]

It is obvious that if you are going on holiday you need to take clothes with you and in some months...as we know winter clothing is  much heavier.It does look as if they want buisness clients flying off for a few days.

 

[Iceni]

[quote user="jon"]

It does look as if they want buisness clients flying off for a few days.

[/quote]

Or those with second homes who can leave clothes at both addresses.

Or those who take only the clothes they will need.

John

[Pierre ZFP]

[quote user="newbiee"]

 

Anybody who has travelled through Stansted recently?? .......

 

Thanks [:)]

[/quote]

Last Sunday evening there were signs up (pretty small I have to say) saying ONE bag only.  Whether this was Ryanair or Stansted policy I don't know.

A woman in front of me in the queue took her laptop out of another bag ready to pass by the scanner to be told 'Only one bag!!' She tried to say she had just taken the laptop out to make things easier, as we all know, they are scanned separately, to be told to put it back in.  Seconds later he asked 'have you got a laptop?' Yes you've just seen it 'well you have to take it out '  DOH!!!

[Cat]

I flew via from Stansted 2 weeks ago.  Ryanair customers are still only allowed one piece of hand baggage.  The airport staff at the departure area were being very strict about it.  Anyone with a Ryanair boarding card was made to put all items (including handbags, plastic carrier bags with sandwiches in, etc) into one bag before being allowed through security. 

[jon]

Iceni....If you are staying in hotels ...or anywhere not too close to a washing machine it is not so easy to all you need for two or three weeks into a 15kilo case.

Going on holiday is an adventure not a voyage to the nearest launderette.The French have very few launderettes!

Come-on once you have a few jumpers, a couple of cardies, a change of shoes, underwer and a few skirts...there is hardly musch room for hairdryers, a few reading books, guide books and favourite cosmetics.

[Andyphilpott]

Although I am almost always able to travel with hand baggage only (as all I need is left at my house in France) I do agree with Jon here. It is really just another way for Ryanair to boost profits, but you do have a choice. If you do not want to pay these charges book with another airline. But then the fare is often higher.

I guess you just need to weigh up all the costs of the competition in this industry but if, like me, no-one else serves the airport I want to go to there is not much choice other than to drive down. Then you can take as much luggage as you like!

Incidentally, I never book cars etc through the Ryanair site, partly as a point of principle - anyone linked to Ryanair is likely to adopt their "add ons" tactics - and partly as I can almost always get the service elsewhere cheaper.

Incidentally I have recently found that Expedia are doing some great deals on car hire - substantially less than my usual provider Holiday Autos - and cheaper than going direct to the car hire firm direct because of their buying power.

Just booked a return flight with Ryanair Stansted to Toulon at the end of March for £20 return - happy with that despite the hoops to jump through.

Andy

[jon]

Maybe the point has been missed a 15 kilo cas is not enough...what is the cost for another case...therefore giving one person 30kilos???????????

Flights to Bergerac have risen greatly...noticed near christmas time....nearly 300 pounds each way....last year that was...when I looked in Nov

[Baz]

[quote user="jon"]

Maybe the point has been missed a 15 kilo cas is not enough...what is the cost for another case...therefore giving one person 30kilos???????????

[/quote]

Checked Baggage Fees - (Each passenger is permitted to check-in up to 3 bags with a maximum combined weight of 15kgs ) 1st Bag – Per bag/ Per One Way Flight 2nd & 3rd Bag – Per bag/ Per One Way Flight

£6.00 £12.00

€9.00 €18.00

 

Excess Baggage Fee - Per Kilo Fee can only be purchased at the airport ticket desk

Not Available Online

Not Available Online

£7.50

€10.00

I hope this answers your question. The airline said it would keep raising the fees until it had deterred a majority of passengers from putting bags into the hold

This was quoted in a publication last Friday: "Ryanair increase extra charges, officially making chief executive Michael O'Leary Europe's most unpopular man"

Shares in Ryanair fell as much as 7.5 percent on market talk of a profit warning yesterday, so maybe the public are no longer prepared to tolerate the hidden charges being imposed.

Baz

[Benjamin]

[quote user="Andyphilpott"]

Just booked a return flight with Ryanair Stansted to Toulon at the end of March for £20 return - happy with that despite the hoops to jump through.

Andy

[/quote]

Presumably at 1p each flight so the taxes are less than £ 10 per leg?  I've never been able to get these sort of tax totals as they always seem a minimum of £ 20 and rising when I look.

I thought the low cost carriers had been warned about manipulating the taxes but does it still go on?

[newbiee]

[quote user="Cat"]

I flew via from Stansted 2 weeks ago.  Ryanair customers are still only allowed one piece of hand baggage.  The airport staff at the departure area were being very strict about it.  Anyone with a Ryanair boarding card was made to put all items (including handbags, plastic carrier bags with sandwiches in, etc) into one bag before being allowed through security. 

[/quote]

 

I'm amazed that Stansted security staff are doing this.  Isn't this doing Ryanair staffs job for them?  This must be pretty time consuming .... I wouldn't be very happy if I was held up at the secuirity area becasue security staff are enforcing Ryanair's policies, rather just the airport's own policies.  

Ryanair have appalling customer services and irritating policies and we all know this.  Yet still we continue to fly with them.  Because they are cheap!!!!  You get what you pay for.  If I wasn't prepared to go through these minor irritations then I wouldn't travel with them.  But I do, so I don't whine and moan about them - it was my choice. 

[Cottage Garden]

I flew via Stansted yesterday to Bergerac.   At the check in I wasn't asked about my hand luggage.   I went to security with hand luggage and handbag to be told that only one item is allowed.   When I mentioned that the law had changed the officious little so and so told me not to listen to everything I heard.   I put handbag in with the case and tried to go through security but he made me weigh the case which I have never been asked to do before.   He said that there would always be only 1 piece of hand luggage as this was a low cost airport.   Not heard that one before.   My bag came to over 10 kg as my handbag was also in there.   He told me to go away and check the case in which I wasn't going to do.   I tried very hard to get the weight down by putting things into my coat pockets and stuffing magazines up my jumper.   It was quite amusing if I hadn't been so cross.  I tried again with a different security person even though the weight was still over.   She let it through at 11.5 kg.   When I got to the scanner I had to take everything out of the pockets and the magazines were put into one of their trays.   I was then let through.   Of course, when you get through to the other side you then can have as many bags as you like and nobody complains.   It's all very futile and to me the change in law has made things a lot worse not better.   Certainly yesterday the security people were being very strict with the size and weight of your hand luggage.

[Bastet]

And yet a couple of weeks ago when I flew back to La Rochelle from Stanstead, there was a couple on the same flight, who were very smartly dressed, and he was carrying 2 huge cabin bags, and she had a very large handbag slung over her arm.  I had, like other passengers, squashed everything into the one bag; would have loved to have had a shoulder bag for passport etc.

I know for a fact that they went through security like this as I noticed them in the queue.  Maybe the secret is to dress up....

[newbiee]

I've just checked on the Stansted Airport website and it does indeed say that only one piece of hand luggage is allowed.

http://www.stanstedairport.com/

I guess it depends on how officious and jumped up the secutiry bod you happen to get is.

So ... I guess the next step will be for those in the duty free shops to refuse to sell their goods to you if you already have your compliment of hand luggage.  NOT!!! 

If they took away a few of the shops, they would have more space for security checks.  After all, we can shop anywhere ... we go to an airport to fly!

link shortened by a mod.

[Hagar]

[quote user="Bastet"]

I know for a fact that they went through security like this as I noticed them in the queue.  Maybe the secret is to dress up....

[/quote]

Quite likely they were off duty aircrew - restrictions don't apply to them.

rgds

Hagar

[Stefan]

[quote user="Hagar"][quote user="Bastet"]

I know for a fact that they went through security like this as I noticed them in the queue.  Maybe the secret is to dress up....

[/quote]

Quite likely they were off duty aircrew - restrictions don't apply to them.

rgds

Hagar

[/quote]

 

Um, doesn't sound like they were off duty aircrew to me ........perhaps these passengers were musicians - their Union got a waiver from the 1 bag rule very early in it's existence...an exemption that caused much bewilderment and annoyance amongst aircrew travelling as passengers...[8-)]

 

I digress - the one/two bag rule, Stansted, allegations of it being jumped up officials, etc.  The Dft ( actually it's security arm Transec) dropped the blanket UK "one bag only" rule earlier this year...however some airports are required to still enforce a one bag rule because they do not yet have the resources to screen 2 bags per pax. That's why LGW (N) is still one bag only and probably the reason why Stansted is the same.    

[Maricopa]

as newbiee suggested, for any information of this nature, take a look at the BAA - Stansted website, all you need to know is there.  ie Stansted, despite the original news report, still operates a one item only of hand luggage rule, due to the nature of the airlines that operate from there.[8-)]

[Iceni]

[quote user="Bastet"]

And yet a couple of weeks ago when I flew back to La Rochelle from Stanstead, there was a couple on the same flight, who were very smartly dressed, and he was carrying 2 huge cabin bags, and she had a very large handbag slung over her arm.  I had, like other passengers, squashed everything into the one bag; would have loved to have had a shoulder bag for passport etc.

I know for a fact that they went through security like this as I noticed them in the queue.  Maybe the secret is to dress up....

[/quote]

The problem, as usual, is inconsistent application of the rules. But no surprise to those who live in France.

John

not

[P3]

[quote user="Baz"][quote user="jon"]

Maybe the point has been missed a 15 kilo cas is not enough...what is the cost for another case...therefore giving one person 30kilos???????????

[/quote]

Checked Baggage Fees - (Each passenger is permitted to check-in up to 3 bags with a maximum combined weight of 15kgs ) 1st Bag – Per bag/ Per One Way Flight 2nd & 3rd Bag – Per bag/ Per One Way Flight

£6.00 £12.00

€9.00 €18.00

 

Excess Baggage Fee - Per Kilo Fee can only be purchased at the airport ticket desk

Not Available Online

Not Available Online

£7.50

€10.00

I hope this answers your question. The airline said it would keep raising the fees until it had deterred a majority of passengers from putting bags into the hold

This was quoted in a publication last Friday: "Ryanair increase extra charges, officially making chief executive Michael O'Leary Europe's most unpopular man"

Shares in Ryanair fell as much as 7.5 percent on market talk of a profit warning yesterday, so maybe the public are no longer prepared to tolerate the hidden charges being imposed.

Baz

[/quote]

Are they trying to reduce the hold baggage OR increase their revenues.

Thankfully live near Gatwick and at least BA still seem to treat passengers not too badly - and are often cheaper than the other low cost airline.

[AnOther]

For what it's worth 'er indoors and I are so sick of airports, particularly Stansted, we have decided that, other than for the very briefest unscheduled visits to UK, we will be driving from now on. In truth what it will cost us can be measured far more in time than money and I wonder how many people never even consider the option.

The sums are compelling:

The cheapest possible Lyinair fare from Bergerac to Stansted is €134.42. Add on around £350 for 10 days hire of a cruddy gutless 1.2 Euro shoebox and a tank or two of petrol and you're quickly staring down the thick end of well in excess of £500.

On the other hand, in my diesel car I can drive to UK, bumble around for 10 days and drive home on little more than 3 tankfuls of juice which is going to cost me around £150, Booked intelligently a ferry crossing can be got for under £50 so thats job done for £200, under 1/2 the price of flying and of course, the advantages of having ones own car to transport all those goodies back home needs no explaining [;-)]

Yes, there are some hidden costs and incidentals to factor in, wear and tear on the car for instance, but I think my point is made, cheap air travel is a myth and what you're really buying is time and convenience, although I'd definately put the latter in parenthesis !

Fair enough too, not everybody is up to long distance drives but fortunately we are and are well accustomed to doing marathon, Pee & Petrol only, trips so for us it's bye bye Lyinair  - and thanks for all the fish !

 

[Stefan]

[quote user="Iceni"]  

The problem, as usual, is inconsistent application of the rules. But no surprise to those who live in France.

[/quote]

But the alledged inconsistent application of the rules happened in the UK  [8-)]

[Andyphilpott]

Benjamin wrote

Presumably at 1p each flight so the taxes are less than £ 10 per leg?  I've never been able to get these sort of tax totals as they always seem a minimum of £ 20 and rising when I look.

I thought the low cost carriers had been warned about manipulating the taxes but does it still go on?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benjamin - yes that is right 1p plus taxes and charges each way. But although I understand how Ryanair can cut or cancel their own charges I fail to see how if the airport taxes are a fixed figure - usually around £20 as you say - they can be arbitrarily amended. At least the manipulation is in my favour for once.

I did  get a return flight Stansted to Toulon last November for £12.39 all in including the card fee. How do they account for the supposed airport taxes - payable to the government - in those circumstances? There is no way what I paid covered what they say they have to pay to the government on a 'normal' flight. I wonder if it is made up by 'contributions' from passengers paying higher prices for the flight?

I also recently learnt that Ryanair fee for amending a ticket over the internet is over £30. How can that be justified? Given that The Bank's are in Court at present for unjustified charges maybe Ryanair will be next on te hit list!!

Andy