Ryanair new airline bags policy launches September 1 for flights from November 1, 2018:
Non-priority customers who wish to bring a second larger wheelie bag (10kg weight) must purchase the 10kg Check-in Bag for €/£8 if purchased during the initial flight booking, or €/£10 if added online after booking up to 40 minutes before the scheduled flight departure time. The 10kg wheelie bag must be deposited at the airport bag drop desk prior to entering security.Â
The main difference from the old policy is non-priority members could gate check their 10kg/22lb roller bag for free. Ryanair’s reasoning is the large number of gate checked bags delayed flights.
Priority customers and why I buy Priority Boarding
My standard ticketing practice for Ryanair and WizzAir flights this past year is to pay for Priority Boarding. The primary advantage of Priority Boarding is the benefit to bring your 10kg carry on bag on board along with an under seat personal bag. I generally fly with a small backpack and small roll-aboard bag.
The namesake priority boarding aspect is a hit or miss benefit. Priority boarding benefit pays off when the aircraft is located at a gate for boarding and Ryanair processes those ticket holders first to board the plane. I get on the aircraft early when there is still plenty of overhead bin storage space.
Priority Boarding has not been as significant a benefit when there was a shuttle bus from the gate to the aircraft. I rarely saw Priority Boarding passengers get preferential treatment to board the plane first when loading a bus to capacity for ground transportation to the aircraft.
The reason the new bags policy is better in my opinion is not that I expect there to be more space in the overhead bins, but I expect there will be more flyers willing to pay for one checked bag at the lower 8eur/8gbp price for a 10kg bag.
In my analysis of our low cost carrier flights, the ticket price increases 40% for flights when my wife pays for one checked bag compared to my ticket price flying with only two carry-on bags – one roll-aboard bag in overhead bin and my backpack under the seat.
Ryanair has some cheap flights if you have flexibility to plan your travel around the lowest fare dates. In 2017, I flew Warsaw to Gdansk for $1.99 ticket one-way. In June 2018, I flew Copenhagen, Denmark to Kaunas, Lithuania for $11.93 one way. Kelley’s ticket was also $11.93, but her checked bag cost $29.99.
The advantage of Ryanair’s lower priced 10kg checked bag policy.
The reason Kelley needs to fly with a checked bag is too many and too large liquid cosmetics for a carry-on bag airport security check. The option to pay 8eur for a 10kg checked bag means our Ryanair ticket prices should be reduced with the new policy.
Ryanair ticket example London Luton LTN – Rzeszow, Poland RZE
Standard Fare = $50.70usd one way.
Plus Fare = $87.46usd one way (additional $26.76 more for seat, priorty boarding and 20kg checked bag).
If Kelley only needs a 10K checked bag and we can buy that for about $9 or $10, then she can fly for less than $87.46.
Priority Boarding for $7.50 gets me two carry-on bags I need.
A prepaid seat selection for $3.74 even allows an aisle seat choice.
10kg checked bag $10 + seat $3.74 + Priority Boarding $7.50 = $21.24 extra.
Base Fare $50.70 + $21.24 = $73.94 one way for ticket with checked bag, seat and priority boarding compared to $87.46 one way to buy a Plus fare offering a 20kg bag. Kelley can get the services she needs and save $13.52 on the total ticket price compared to the current price scheme.
As long as Kelley can pack a 10kg bag with all her cosmetics, the new Ryanair baggage policy with the option for a low cost 10kg checked bag will likely reduce the total ticket price on our Ryanair flights.
