Blame the wheel of misfortune.
A Ryanair passenger was incensed after getting forced to fork over a $60 baggage fee because a wheel was poking out of the size checker.
“I thought she was joking,” Elizabeth Keenan, 31, told Jam Press of the “ridiculous” penalty, which she incurred while traveling from Dublin, Ireland to London, UK aboard the budget carrier.
The Dublin native, who had paid nearly $16 for priority boarding, said she specifically bought her roller board suitcase because she knew it fell within the airline’s 40 x 20 x 25 centimeters specifications.
However, while waiting to board, a Ryanair employee pulled her out of line and asked her to place it in the measuring box.
Thinking her bag was big enough, the passenger obliged the clerk’s request, finding that her luggage fit like a glove.
“I put it in and took it straight back out because it fit perfectly,” said Keenan, who works in marketing.
Despite seemingly adhering to the baggage parameters, the employee declared that her suitcase was too large because “the wheel was sticking out,” rued the Dubliner.
“I couldn’t believe she was saying it was too big,” said Keenan, who was informed that she’d have to pay a £50 fine ($64).
She said she found the penalty especially ludicrous as “there were lots of men with bigger cases than mine that got on the flight without being stopped.”
Unfortunately, missing the flight was not an option because the flyer had a conference in London, so she sucked it up and shelled out the dough.
While the employees’ colleague did apologize, Keenan has vowed to file a complaint over the “money-making scheme.”
“I want a refund,” she declared.
Keenan said that ordeal makes her not want to fly with her Ryanair, noting that “with an added 60 euros it’s not cheaper than other airlines.”
She’s not the first to get whacked with an obscene baggage fee by the low-cost carrier.
Last month, a senior passenger claimed that she was discriminated against by Ryanair after having to pay a $100 bag-checking fee while younger, “attractive” passengers boarded without penalty.
