Avoiding Ryanair’s ridiculous baggage charges!

tiggerbabe16

Hi, there may be thread already about this, so please drop me the link if there is!

Has anyone ever sent their bags home by courier from Dublin Airport to avoid Ryanair’s crazy baggage charges?  We are looking at return flights back to Glasgow in April, the flights are only £20 each but add on our baggage when returning from long haul takes the flight up to just over £200! I have priced a courier company online that would take our bags back for just £48, takes 3 days but who’s in a rush to get their dirty holiday washing back?!

Just curious ;-)

martindow

Most parcel services are not going to take cases - you would need to put things in a cardboard box.  DPD would send 20kg in an 18 inch cube box (48cm cube) for a little less than you have quoted.  You would need to check out the customs declaration needed to be sure that you do not incur or at least minimise import fees thanks to Brexit.

tiggerbabe16

Thanks Martin, like I said, it was just a thought and might not be any cheaper with all the customs cost etc added.  The Ryanair charges just give me the rage!

Worried_fool

There are a couple of companies that provide precisely this service: one of them is called Send My Bag. They would obviously be far cheaper than Ryanair: the main problem is that you have to wait for them to collect your bags at any time within an eight-hour window.

Unless you are in a great rush you could go home by train and ferry.

IvanOpinion

We cut costs by rethinking what needed to be packed.  I used to haul 4 large suitcases, at least one of which never even got opened.  Now we can do a 2-3 week long haul with one large (20ish kg) and one medium suitcase (15kg) and our carry ons.  For longer holidays I buy items at the destination and leave old worn stuff behind. So consider trimming back what you are taking. 

We talk about high prices, which nobody likes paying, but overall the cost of travel today, even after adding on the extras we actually want/need, is still much better value than the days when everything was included "free".  I would hate to go back to the old charging model.

CKhalvashi

IvanOpinion said:

We cut costs by rethinking what needed to be packed.  I used to haul 4 large suitcases, at least one of which never even got opened.  Now we can do a 2-3 week long haul with one large (20ish kg) and one medium suitcase (15kg) and our carry ons.  For longer holidays I buy items at the destination and leave old worn stuff behind. So consider trimming back what you are taking. 

We talk about high prices, which nobody likes paying, but overall the cost of travel today, even after adding on the extras we actually want/need, is still much better value than the days when everything was included "free".  I would hate to go back to the old charging model.

I've done the same.

3 weeks with just a backpack can be managed if you have somewhere to clean clothes, including a laptop.

Also look that the type of bag being taken is maximising efficiency. My backpack is in 3 compartments, with liquids and chargers in one, laptop and its charger in another and clothes in a third. It's more than possible to get 4-5 shirts, a week of underwear and a spare pair of trousers into the third compartment, just leaving an interesting situation of finding where to put a block of cigarettes on the return.

Sandtree

tiggerbabe16 said:

Hi, there may be thread already about this, so please drop me the link if there is!

Has anyone ever sent their bags home by courier from Dublin Airport to avoid Ryanair’s crazy baggage charges?  We are looking at return flights back to Glasgow in April, the flights are only £20 each but add on our baggage when returning from long haul takes the flight up to just over £200! I have priced a courier company online that would take our bags back for just £48, takes 3 days but who’s in a rush to get their dirty holiday washing back?!

The crazy element is the fact the flight costs £20... its clearly a loss leader and hence has to be augmented with the optional extras.

We have friends who use dedicated luggage services each time they go to see their family overseas and therefore for them the collection window is less of an issue. Most of these things are a balance though as how much is losing the last day of your holiday worth -v- the cost of baggage? I'd certainly consider if the volume of baggage is required and if it cannot be rationalised or consolidated. 

tiggerbabe16

Hi worried_fool we are coming back from Bangkok, my fiancé would throw me over the edge of said ferry if I was to suggest trains, planes then automobiles unfortunately 😂 

IvanOpinion, we only take a CabinZero bag each and a small carry on rucksack.  We have travelled long haul to Bangkok several times and yes, we did used to take the massive roll on suitcase full of crap you dont need!  But now, its a CabinZero bag each, but even its too big for Ryanair to let you take it on as carry on (even though they are specifically designed to fit in overhead lockers, hence the name, CabinZero).  

I’m definately not one for buying stuff and leaving it, I have a business who’s main aims are to help reduce fast fashion and textile waste so that would totally go against my grain!  The only things we leave are books that we’ve finished reading (hotels usually have a lobby that have books for travellers to borrow/take) and also all of our spare change and lower denomination notes for the maids/cleaners with a note saying we’ve permitted them to have that when we vacate the room 😊 what is spare change to us, is a helluva lot to them and their families over there (many of whom are from Northern Thailand or Cambodia and are away from their families working in hotels for months at a time)

Going to look in to the send my bag thing though ;-)

jon81uk

Can you fly with a different airline who include the price of baggage in the fare?

BA doesn't do a direct flight, so needs to be via London, but can do Business Class so includes 2x 32kg bags plus handbag plus cabin bag for around €190.