The Right Size Hen Weekend
We have just had this picture sent in from the girls who were on Carolyn's hen weekend in Magaluf on the Spanish island of Mallorca. They flew from Stansted airport last Friday and as far as we know they returned a few days later without any major complaints from the Spanish authorities, so we are sure that they didn't behave too badly.
Carolyn and her friends all bought a Right Size Cabin Bag for their trip, which of course meant that they did not have to take any hold luggage, which meant they saved a fortune, thus leaving them more money for their weekend of fun. We don't know what sort of fun was had as they wouldn't tell us the details!
Carolyn is due to marry Simon later this month in Norwich. All of us here at The Right Size Cabin Bag hope that Carolyn and Simon have a wonderful wedding day and we wish them every happiness for the future.
Picture. Left to right : Kristina, Alex, Kayleigh, Carolyn (The bride) and Hayley.
Cabin bags resting by the pool!
Thank you to Natalie Miller from London for sending us these pictures of her beloved Right Size Cabin Bags sunning themselves by the pool near Malaga in Spain.
As it was your holiday Natalie, shouldn't the bags have been working rather than putting their wheels up by the pool?
Anyway, Natalie told us that she loves the bags so much because the amount of money that they saved her and her 3 friends at the airport. Apparently she saw at least 3 or 4 people at the gate charged by a popular budget airline for over sized bags, and as a result were “fined ￡50”. Their bags were unceremoniously marched to the aircrafts hold for transport. This of course means that these people will have to pay a further ￡50 on the return leg for their bags, unless they buy the right size cabin bag while they were in Spain. This reminds us of the old adage “buy cheap, pay twice”!
Natalie's bought the Leopard Print cabin bag for herself as she says it matched her personality and half of her wardrobe. She also, along with her friends, took advantage of our 10% discount when you buy 3 bags or more (use code “2RSC10PC”).
Why not send us a picture of your “The Right Size Cabin Bag” so we can show everyone what a great time you had while the rest of us were sitting at home in the cold and rain!
How to avoid Ryanair fees
The simple fact is that whether it is for pleasure or for business, we all want to fly at the best possible price possible and the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet and Germanwings have made air travel accessible to us all at extremely cheap prices.
So, with these cheap prices, should we really be expecting nice boarding cards, a meal and an inflight movie? I think that most agree that this is an unnecessary expense especially where short-haul flights are concerned.
However, there is now a growing group of travellers that are starting to talk out against various airlines claiming that their fees (or some would say fines) are disproportionate to the service offered. For example, Ryaniar are now charging an “Airport Boarding Card Re-issue Fee”, which plainly put means that if you turn up to the airport (out or return) without your boarding pass print out, Ryanair will charge you a staggering ￡60/€60 to reprint it. Ironically, that would by you a brand new Epson wireless, all-in-one inkjet printer and a few reams of paper.
Checked baggage has also become a major target for Ryanair, a bag (up to 15kg – high season – selected flights) booked online is ￡30/€30, however if you turn up at the airport with the same without pre-booking, then you had better have deep pockets because you will have to shell out ￡120/€120. And if you think that a second checked bag would be the same price, then think again. Using the same restrictions, you will have to add another ￡150/€150 to your trip. So, you could literally be caught out with fees (or fines) of up to ￡270/€270 for a return trip.
And the big one is cabin baggage, their terms are as follows: “Strictly one item of cabin baggage per passenger (excluding infants) weighing up to 10kg with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm is permitted. (handbag, briefcase, laptop, shop purchases, camera etc.) must be carried in your 1 permitted piece of cabin baggage.
Extra/oversized cabin baggage will be refused at the boarding gate, or where available, placed in the hold of the aircraft for a fee of ￡50/€50.” So, once again, a return journey could potentially cost you ￡100/€100, even if your bag is an inch in any direction oversized.
Does this mean that you shouldn't travel with Ryanair? Far from it, they are the biggest (if not one of the biggest) carriers in Europe and the fact remains that they do offer great deals. You just have to plan, you have to be careful and you have to be aware of their rules and regulations, in the same way that if you booked a hotel, you'd make sure that it had a pool, bar, the beach was near, or it was a good location for your business needs before you booked it.
So, a couple of tips for you:
- Check their T7C's and “table of optional fees” very carefully, their fees are constantly on the rise and they will add fees.
- Their ￡6/€6 “admin fee” will be waived if you a “Ryanair Cash Passport holder” or if it is “MasterCard Prepaid”.
- When printing off your boarding passes, print at least one (we print 2) spare set for everyone in your party and put them in different bags so you have back ups, just in case you lose them.
- And make the most of your cabin bag. DO NOT get caught out with an oversized bag. In fact buying a Right Size Cabin Bag (50cm x 39cm x 19cm) could save you up to £40/€40 on a single trip and all the staff at the airports can see instantly that it is the right size bag. And you never know, you may get a smile from the checkin staff rather than a fine….. oops, I meant fee!
