Victims of shrinking Easyjet hand luggage allowance

itm2

A couple of weeks ago my wife was stopped at the gate of our Easyjet flight to Malta, and told that she would not be able to bring her rucksack onto the plane unless she paid a £48 charge. She had been using the same bag regularly on Easyjet for the last 15 years without any issues. The bag was virtually empty (no more than 10-12cm wide), but the length exceeded the size of the measurement device at the gate by less than one inch. No flexibility was shown by staff at the gate, and she was refused boarding with her rucksack unless she paid the charge. Since the bag was not worth £48 the only sensible option was for her to abandon it, and carry the contents in a carrier bag.
Be careful when you book with Easyjet - your hand luggage allowance may be smaller than you think (and smaller than it used to be). I expect this sort of nonsense from RyanAir, but it seems that Easyjet are now using whatever tactics it can to screw every last penny out of its customers.

marcia_

itm2 said:

A couple of weeks ago my wife was stopped at the gate of our Easyjet flight to Malta, and told that she would not be able to bring her rucksack onto the plane unless she paid a £48 charge. She had been using the same bag regularly on Easyjet for the last 15 years without any issues. The bag was virtually empty (no more than 10-12cm wide), but the length exceeded the size of the measurement device at the gate by less than one inch. No flexibility was shown by staff at the gate, and she was refused boarding with her rucksack unless she paid the charge. Since the bag was not worth £48 the only sensible option was for her to abandon it, and carry the contents in a carrier bag.
Be careful when you book with Easyjet - your hand luggage allowance may be smaller than you think (and smaller than it used to be). I expect this sort of nonsense from RyanAir, but it seems that Easyjet are now using whatever tactics it can to screw every last penny out of its customers.

 Yes I've got easyjet flights booked for summer and went on the website to book seats as i need to be sat next to my son. I noticed the hand baggage size and weight was no more than a handbag which must fit under the seat not in the overhead locker. You could pay to upgrade to a standard size cabin bag. 

Westin

EasyJet changed their hand baggage rules in February 2021 - over four years ago.

Neither you or your wife are “victims” of anything other than your own misfortune in not reading or abiding by your size allowance.

The size information is on their website, given several times during the booking flow, given again on your confirmation paperwork, printed on your boarding passes, shown at airports.

MikeyPGT

45x36x20 cm is the size for Easyjet - certainly bigger than 'a handbag' and a medium rucksack I'd have thought ...

marcia_

MikeyPGT said:

45x36x20 cm is the size for Easyjet - certainly bigger than 'a handbag' and a medium rucksack I'd have thought ...

 Maybe my handbag is large 

MikeyPGT

marcia_ said:

MikeyPGT said:

45x36x20 cm is the size for Easyjet - certainly bigger than 'a handbag' and a medium rucksack I'd have thought ...

 Maybe my handbag is large 

An 18 inch x12 inch handbag does seem a little excessive to be honest!

TheShape

As above, and from the Easyjet website:

Everyone can bring one small under seat cabin bag per person on board for free.

It can be a maximum size of 45 x 36 x 20 cm (including any handles and wheels) and must be kept under the seat in front of you. That should be enough to bring all the essentials for your journey or for a short trip. Your bag can weigh up to 15kg, but we do ask that you’re able to lift and carry it yourself.

Was the back of the rucksack rigid so that it would not fit into the sizer?

Edit: for spelling.

katejo

I travelled back last week with the same  daysac which I have been using for years and had no problem. It fits under the seat in front. 

daveyjp

Probably nothing to so with the bag, more to do with how rigorously they enforce the rules.  I was in Geneva a few weeks ago and an Easyjet flight was boarding.  Every bag was checked.

One person took clothes out, put them into duty free bag and the other bag she had and wore an extra coat.  Another emptied a few items into her friends bags so there was enough room to squeeze the bag into the sizer.

MikeyPGT

daveyjp said:

Probably nothing to so with the bag, more to do with how rigorously they enforce the rules.  I was in Geneva a few weeks ago and an Easyjet flight was boarding.  Every bag was checked.

One person took clothes out, put them into duty free bag and the other bag she had and wore an extra coat.  Another emptied a few items into her friends bags so there was enough room to squeeze the bag into the sizer.

The problem may be down to the change from a cage style sizer to one with a taped line on the front.  Soft shell cases can be squeezed into a cage (and under the seat) but a magazine in the front pocket could be enough to take you 'over the line' and into the money making bracket ...

itm2

It was a roller rucksack - the handle caused it to be 1/2" too long