We usually streeeeetch the rules a bit with our carryons to avoid paying to check our bags, and have two flights w\ Ryanair next month.

What is your experience with them and carryons?
Their website and a few posts scattered throughout the internet seems to indicate that they're pretty uncompromising with carryons.

They even threaten a 60 pound surcharge if they catch you with an oversize carryon and make you check it at the gate!!!! WOW!! Has this ever happened??

WE'd hate to pay to check our bags since that fee is almost as much as the fare!!

Don't even bother to contemplate messing with Ryanair. They make good their threats and it is a regular occurence and not folklore about gate check-in of oversized baggage. You don't pay, you don't fly. You make a fuss, you don't fly. No refunds, no rebooking, nothing.

Not worth the hassle. And please note that their handbaggage dimensions are specific and unvariable AND smaller than the usual standards. Be careful that the wheels of any bag also fit within the dimensions and into their cage - at security and at the gate. They also weigh hand baggage at certain airports ... I have personal experience of this at Karlsruhe-Baden, and 1 g over the 10 kg is likely to spoil your day.

Don't get caught out. Remember you have to tick that you have read and accept the conditions of carriage before you can buy your ticket. And they are sharp. Razor sharp.

I fly DUB-LPL quite often and have seen dozens of people stung at the gate for having oversized bags. These are usually groups of girls returning from hen parties (naturally I hide behind these so that I am not caught myself).

They weigh everything at most airports. I avoid RyanAir at all costs, but I *had* to travel with RyanAir last year. I had a tiny bag weighing less than 0.5kg, it was obviously well within the rules but the drones at both airports made me weight it and cage it.

You are not in the land of the free and the home of the brave when you travel with Ryanair so you cannot bring the kitchen sink on unchallenged , and you will not sweet talk them, as it is not open for debate. There is not a snowballs chance in hell that you will pull one over on them.

Funnily enough I have flown for years with Ryanair and used the same small rucksack that fits into their cage and never once been asked to weigh it or see if it fits.

Like everything else with Ryanair if you stick by their rules which are very clearly outlined on their website they are by far the cheapest and most reliable airline in Europe.

I'm not a full-on RyanAir hater, but they are infrequently the cheapest, checkout EasyJet. On the same routes, EasyJet will be full and RyanAir flying half empty.

I'm only speaking Ireland-UK as I don't really use them elsewhere. Provided you can be flexible with your travel time they beat EI hands down every time.I'm on a late flight this evening and back on Monday afternoon for €50. When I checked EI before booking a few weeks ago they wanted €140.Easyjet gave up on Ireland a long time ago.
I'd say I've flown FR more than a hundred times and never once had a problem.

I wholeheartedly agree with the advice not to fly them.

However, it can be done, even with extra weight. There's no restriction on your weight, so you can just wear 10 layers of clothes with laptops and items in your pockets (after security of course) until you're under weight. But it also has to be all in a single bag, no extra camera bag or purse or anything, so whatever you're carrying has to at least physically fit together and in their size check bin.

We did actually manage to "pull one over on them" by playing a bit of musical bags at the gate and shifting items between bags when weighing, even though no single bag would have passed.

But we were also yelling at them that our flight door was closing, and this is after paying massive in-airport fees because it was too late to check bags even though we already prepaid the nonrefundable fee. And something about a ticket print charge or whatever other reason they could muster to charge us.

So in conclusion, no, don't try it. Run away from it fast. But if somehow you get stuck there, dress for winter.

I've done the layers of clothes game. In Germany they weighed my bag and I was a bit over, so I got out of the line, went in the restroom and put on a pair of trousers under my skirt, then went back through. Passed with flying colors. :-D

You mean you thought that Ryanair wouldn't close the bag drop EXACTLY 40 minutes before the flight, nor that Ryanair wouldn't charge you for printing boarding cards at the airport, nor that Ryanair would leave without you because you turned up late for the flight.

I really don't understand all this Ryanair animosity.
They are quite clear and specific about allowances and what it costs extra if you breach them.The 10kg hand luggage allowance is double Thomsons and Thomas Cook allowance and the same as Monarch and Jet 2.
They will fly you a couple of thousand miles for as little as �10 and yet people still try to take the kitchen sink with them without paying extra.

You pass the Ryanair check and fail the style check!

Simply put, it's not a threat, it's a reality.

I've never understood the animosity. The rules are clear, they are uniformly enforced and the result is an efficient and smooth process. Those who can't live within the lines go into this experience with eyes open and choose to do it.

At some airports, they will give you the option of throwing away the piece of luggage instead of paying to check it, but this is not always practical.

Keep in mind that 1 piece means 1 piece. Not 1 piece plus a purse. Not 1 piece plus a newspaper. Not 1 piece plus a kid's toy. I've seen kids bawling their eyes out as their precious doll or teddy bear has been confiscated at the boarding gate when ruled to be a second piece of carry-on luggage.