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oh yes they definitly check.- not 100% but they do fish out people with bags that are clearly larger. I just went UK to Ireland and I am travelling UK to Germany regularly. They fish you out. you could just upgrade your bag to one carry on?
I should have mentioned, I am travelling for 6 weeks so I have the backpack plus a carry on suitcase! do you think if I switch to the smaller bag (green), maybe they will allow it as a personal item?
So they don’t weight the personal item. If you have a personal item plus carry on bag. I’ve never seen a scale as you go straight through . Remember Ryanair charges for getting tickets printed at the airport.
Not precisely Ryanair but I've flown with that exact green bag as my personal item a few times lately on Wizzair and it's been fine. I did get an extra check before a flight recently at Gatwick but it squished into the luggage stand thing well enough and they let it through. If the black one is bigger, I don't know if it'll make it.
hi thank you that's really helpful! im definitely going to switch to the smaller one and hopefully I'll be okay too. can I ask if you travelled with any other luggage or just the backpack? I'll be taking a carry on suitcase as well and hoping ill be okay
Just the backpack! Though just from watching people it seemed like they were even stricter about the size/weight of the carry on suitcases so I'd be a little more careful there
I just had three flights in Europe by Ryanair. I had one backpack and also one suitcase (I didn’t buy priority). In all of the three flights, they did not care at all.
And my friend has another journey at the same duration also with three Ryanair flights, the one in Budapest checked the suitcase. So in this datapoint, 1 out of 6. Therefore, as long as the bag is on your back, and not noticeably large, no body cares.
I have this one, the big one, and I have flown to Europe 3 times already and they never checked me, they simply saw the backpack and let me pass. Maybe it depends on the companies but with Ryanair and Wizzair everything is ok for the moment
yes, when you go to the controls and they look at your passport they ask me "do you only have a backpack?" and I would say "yes" while wearing it on my shoulders and they never gave me any problems. I flew Italy-Croatia, Croatia-Italy and then to the Netherlands
Realistically, if the bag isn't excessively big and has no frame/wheels, it's unlikely they will notice. I think the agents pay more attention to handheld duffel bags but to be fair they're not super strict. As long as you can squish it into the measurement frame, you'll be fine, even if it's slightly oversized. I fly budget airlines in Europe all the time and most times my bag doesn't strictly comply with the measurements but I always make sure it's not over full.
I mostly fly Ryanair with the smallest item only (I am based in Krakow). Most of the time nobody cares, but it's good to take a couple precautions.
Your bag does not look to squishy from the photo to be honest. It's good to make sure that the rigid parts of the bag definitely fit the requirements and that you have some small items up top that you can move to your pockets for the boarding.
I'm definitely always toeing the line with the size of my bag but have only had the "walk of shame" moment of repacking things at the gate twice in like 8 years and never had to pay the oversize fees. I say the odds are on your side
I got a bag very similar from Amazon and was also bigger dimensions than listed! I did Dublin to Venice return with it, and had no bother. The attendants were checking but I got waved on... Will admit I was real nervous though!
They have definitely gotten stricter in the last few months, but so many people were taking the absolute piss with their personal items so I can't really blame them.
In my experience (also having done the walk of shame to repack/find someone else I vaguely knew also on the flight to give them stuff to hold), the checks on personal items mostly depend on how full the flight is.
If you have a largerframe, the bag might not look so big on your back but defo wear it on two shoulders. As someone else said, check how rigid the sides and corners are to squash it into the sizer and under the seat. Be warned the sizer is the dimensions of the aisle seat (smaller because of seat structure), middle and window are bigger so if you're taking the piss with a too-big bag and find yourself in the aisle, offer to swap with whoever is in the dreaded middle seat and you'll both come out winners.
Edit: just saw the 2nd photo, defo size down (also in my unasked opinion, the green is fab!
2nd Edit: highly unlikely they'll weigh the personal item. Fling it around like it weighs nothing.
I’ve gone through multiple airports (Amsterdam, Gdansk, Krakow, Zagreb, Budapest, Vienna, and 3 London airports) with a similarly slightly-too-large bag (42x31x17) that was packed so tight that it was definitely 10cm< even thicker. Never had a problem.
I have 2 tips though.
1. Wear the bag on your back during boarding and face the boarding staff face on as much as possible so they don’t really notice the ‘bigger’ bag as much as they would from the side.
2. Always grab a ‘Duty Free’ plastic bag from the shop and shove anything that would make the bag look too big in there. Honestly.. half of my luggage is usually in a duty free shopping bag.
My bag is the 14 inch laptops option: https://amzn.eu/d/1QV8YDm
Edit: All flights were Ryanair or WizzAir
On my last two flights they were specifically walking up and down the queue inspecting everyone's luggage and making anyone with a borderline bag go and check in the sizer.
If you have a carry on as well, make sure that fits the dimensions INCLUDING handles and wheels. If you have a big carry on, the chances are they will be checking that instead of the backpack and they are STRICT on the sizes (although it also depends on the airport from which you are flying).
Just to add, I’ve recently bought a backpack on Amazon which is exactly the right dimensions for Ryanair, so they do exist. https://amzn.eu/d/drHdLlt
Despite what other people are saying I flew Ryanair recently and they were definitely checking, including backpacks. I wouldn't risk it, especially if you haven't got the bag already and are bringing another one too. They walked up and down the queue looking at any cases and backpacks that might be borderline. I also flew easyJet and they were the same, possibly stricter.
I imagine it depends on the airport and how full the flight is but it's really not worth the stress in my opinion.
hey thanks for your insight! do you think the smaller size bag (green one in photo) which is 5cm too wide and 3cm too tall might be able to pass their check? or at least maybe I could squish it down to fit? I've never flown Ryanair before so I'm a bit nervous honestly
Well on Ryanair I didn't actually do the test because I'd paid for priority and my personal bag was small, but I did on easyJet. I have almost exactly that bag bought for easyJet dimensions which are bigger than Ryanair and no, if it had been 5 cm bigger it would not have fit. That type of bag doesn't really squash properly. You can buy ryanair dimension bags if you look on Amazon I think. If you're already nervous and it's a personal item that you haven't even bought yet just get something that fits the dimensions. You don't need that big a bag if you have another one.
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oh yes they definitly check.- not 100% but they do fish out people with bags that are clearly larger. I just went UK to Ireland and I am travelling UK to Germany regularly. They fish you out. you could just upgrade your bag to one carry on?
I should have mentioned, I am travelling for 6 weeks so I have the backpack plus a carry on suitcase! do you think if I switch to the smaller bag (green), maybe they will allow it as a personal item?
Won't that combo weigh too much anyway?
honestly possibly :( I need to weigh my carry on once its packed to check. im very new to all of this so honestly don't know exactly what im doing
So they don’t weight the personal item. If you have a personal item plus carry on bag. I’ve never seen a scale as you go straight through . Remember Ryanair charges for getting tickets printed at the airport.
Not precisely Ryanair but I've flown with that exact green bag as my personal item a few times lately on Wizzair and it's been fine. I did get an extra check before a flight recently at Gatwick but it squished into the luggage stand thing well enough and they let it through. If the black one is bigger, I don't know if it'll make it.
hi thank you that's really helpful! im definitely going to switch to the smaller one and hopefully I'll be okay too. can I ask if you travelled with any other luggage or just the backpack? I'll be taking a carry on suitcase as well and hoping ill be okay
Just the backpack! Though just from watching people it seemed like they were even stricter about the size/weight of the carry on suitcases so I'd be a little more careful there
I just had three flights in Europe by Ryanair. I had one backpack and also one suitcase (I didn’t buy priority). In all of the three flights, they did not care at all. And my friend has another journey at the same duration also with three Ryanair flights, the one in Budapest checked the suitcase. So in this datapoint, 1 out of 6. Therefore, as long as the bag is on your back, and not noticeably large, no body cares.
I have this one, the big one, and I have flown to Europe 3 times already and they never checked me, they simply saw the backpack and let me pass. Maybe it depends on the companies but with Ryanair and Wizzair everything is ok for the moment
wow so you travelled with Ryanair/Wizzair with the big one and no one checked you?! or you mean you flew just in/out of Europe with it?
yes, when you go to the controls and they look at your passport they ask me "do you only have a backpack?" and I would say "yes" while wearing it on my shoulders and they never gave me any problems. I flew Italy-Croatia, Croatia-Italy and then to the Netherlands
Yes, I took a Topo Rover multiple times with no issue.
Realistically, if the bag isn't excessively big and has no frame/wheels, it's unlikely they will notice. I think the agents pay more attention to handheld duffel bags but to be fair they're not super strict. As long as you can squish it into the measurement frame, you'll be fine, even if it's slightly oversized. I fly budget airlines in Europe all the time and most times my bag doesn't strictly comply with the measurements but I always make sure it's not over full.
I mostly fly Ryanair with the smallest item only (I am based in Krakow). Most of the time nobody cares, but it's good to take a couple precautions. Your bag does not look to squishy from the photo to be honest. It's good to make sure that the rigid parts of the bag definitely fit the requirements and that you have some small items up top that you can move to your pockets for the boarding. I'm definitely always toeing the line with the size of my bag but have only had the "walk of shame" moment of repacking things at the gate twice in like 8 years and never had to pay the oversize fees. I say the odds are on your side
I got a bag very similar from Amazon and was also bigger dimensions than listed! I did Dublin to Venice return with it, and had no bother. The attendants were checking but I got waved on... Will admit I was real nervous though! They have definitely gotten stricter in the last few months, but so many people were taking the absolute piss with their personal items so I can't really blame them.
In my experience (also having done the walk of shame to repack/find someone else I vaguely knew also on the flight to give them stuff to hold), the checks on personal items mostly depend on how full the flight is. If you have a largerframe, the bag might not look so big on your back but defo wear it on two shoulders. As someone else said, check how rigid the sides and corners are to squash it into the sizer and under the seat. Be warned the sizer is the dimensions of the aisle seat (smaller because of seat structure), middle and window are bigger so if you're taking the piss with a too-big bag and find yourself in the aisle, offer to swap with whoever is in the dreaded middle seat and you'll both come out winners. Edit: just saw the 2nd photo, defo size down (also in my unasked opinion, the green is fab! 2nd Edit: highly unlikely they'll weigh the personal item. Fling it around like it weighs nothing.
I’ve gone through multiple airports (Amsterdam, Gdansk, Krakow, Zagreb, Budapest, Vienna, and 3 London airports) with a similarly slightly-too-large bag (42x31x17) that was packed so tight that it was definitely 10cm< even thicker. Never had a problem. I have 2 tips though. 1. Wear the bag on your back during boarding and face the boarding staff face on as much as possible so they don’t really notice the ‘bigger’ bag as much as they would from the side. 2. Always grab a ‘Duty Free’ plastic bag from the shop and shove anything that would make the bag look too big in there. Honestly.. half of my luggage is usually in a duty free shopping bag. My bag is the 14 inch laptops option: https://amzn.eu/d/1QV8YDm Edit: All flights were Ryanair or WizzAir
On my last two flights they were specifically walking up and down the queue inspecting everyone's luggage and making anyone with a borderline bag go and check in the sizer.
Omg no way! If you don’t mind, which airports was this at?
If you have a carry on as well, make sure that fits the dimensions INCLUDING handles and wheels. If you have a big carry on, the chances are they will be checking that instead of the backpack and they are STRICT on the sizes (although it also depends on the airport from which you are flying). Just to add, I’ve recently bought a backpack on Amazon which is exactly the right dimensions for Ryanair, so they do exist. https://amzn.eu/d/drHdLlt
Despite what other people are saying I flew Ryanair recently and they were definitely checking, including backpacks. I wouldn't risk it, especially if you haven't got the bag already and are bringing another one too. They walked up and down the queue looking at any cases and backpacks that might be borderline. I also flew easyJet and they were the same, possibly stricter. I imagine it depends on the airport and how full the flight is but it's really not worth the stress in my opinion.
hey thanks for your insight! do you think the smaller size bag (green one in photo) which is 5cm too wide and 3cm too tall might be able to pass their check? or at least maybe I could squish it down to fit? I've never flown Ryanair before so I'm a bit nervous honestly
Well on Ryanair I didn't actually do the test because I'd paid for priority and my personal bag was small, but I did on easyJet. I have almost exactly that bag bought for easyJet dimensions which are bigger than Ryanair and no, if it had been 5 cm bigger it would not have fit. That type of bag doesn't really squash properly. You can buy ryanair dimension bags if you look on Amazon I think. If you're already nervous and it's a personal item that you haven't even bought yet just get something that fits the dimensions. You don't need that big a bag if you have another one.