RS Bags and Ryan Air/Easy Jet

My wife and I, as we had otherwise disgraceful luggage from many decades ago, bought a pair of the Rick Steves convertibles last year at this time, with the express idea of traveling light and traveling carry-on only. As it turned out, we did in fact take an Easy-Jet flight inside Europe on our trip this summer, and these bags are fine with them for carry-on. And although no one specifically checked us on this flight, they have the same measuring device at their check-in counter to size a bag that you will find at all the full-service airlines (e.g., British Air, which was our main flights). As we've yet to use Ryan Air, I have not closely looked at their policies, but I believe they are the same. You can easily find this out by burning your eyeballs to see if the fine print is the same on both their web sites, this information is there.
HOWEVERpay close attention to their rules regarding carry-on. I did not believe this, and asked by e-mail, and they do mean it. It's ONE carry-on/cabin item per person. So if you are carrying a handbag or purse with this, then that is your item and the bag has to be checked. Make certain that whatever you feel you need to access to use on board is part of the RS bag when you board (or is in your pocket), and then take it out once you are settling in. Just to take this idea further, my wife had a nasty cervical disc problem last spring, and along with the epidural and the physical therapy, she was also prescribed a McKenzie Roll for her lower back for whenever she is sitting - at work, car, dining room table, couch - and obviously for a flight. So we e-mailed EasyJet about this situation, and the only way this would NOT count as a cabin item is if she had a prescription w th her for it from the orthopedist, which was no big deal to obtain. As it was, we were able to get it inside her pack without bursting the pack and making it oversized so this became a moot point.

Emily, Especially with RyanAir pay careful attention to the weight as well, as they are VERY strict. If you get "nicked" with an overweight charge, it won't be cheap! If the Pack isn't too heavily loaded, you shouldn't have any problems fitting the sizing frames (in my experience, they will check!). Happy travels!

In the past, I have put my understuffed RS convertible bag in the Lufthansa sizer (21.65 x 15.75 x7.87, same as RyanError) and it slide in fine. Just don't pack it so the sides bulge.

Thank you so much! I definitely don't want to have to check a bag and it seems like the convertible backpack is going to work out good!

Luggage sizers - another plus for soft-sided backpacks. Welcome to the Helpline!

Re the above reply: I don't remember where I saw this being discussed, but I definitely read this as we were researching earlier this year prior to booking Easy Jet. At some airports, the plane will not be loading directly from the gate, but instead you will be conveyed by vehicle out to the plane on the tarmac. In which case, the preferred boarding will get you onto the vehicle first, but there is no guarantee it will get you OFF that vehicle first to get on the plane, and the whole group, preferred or not, turns into another line-rush frenzy. As far as I know, there would be know way to find out in advance whether or not this will apply where you are flying from, perhaps some others with more experience with Easy Jet and/or the minor airports involved would be able to give some info.

Suggestioin....on Easy jet, pay the small extra fee to be on the first boarding group....certainly worth the few dollars /euros to be at the head of the line!

I think what Lee says is key. Your "understuffed" RS bag will be okay. Just because an RS bag works, doesn't mean you can pack it full. If you cram everything you can possibly fit in it, it will be oversized and need to be checked. As always the key to packing light is challenging yourself to carry the least you can, rather than trying to fit the most you can into your carry-on.

the bag will fit into the sizer; the more important restriction is weight. They don't always check, but if they and make you check the bag the charge is steep. Do your research to see what people say about the 2 carriers you mention; last fall I found people definitely preferred one to the other.

I have a 21" standard roller bag. Fits great on all flights, even Ryan Air, however, one time boarding an EasyJet flight (don't remember where) and the gate agent stopped me and made me gate check the bag. Same day, there were a couple of 20 somethings (they looked like they had been transported from a Grateful Dead concert circa 1969) that were over their weight. They started pulling clothes out of their bags and putting them on (two pairs of pants, 3 shirts, two sweaters, etc....) until they were under weight. It was quite an amusing show. The whole place was watching these two. Then once through security in the waiting area they began taking off the layers they had added. That was an even bigger show for everyone to watch. And yes, they were Americans.

Ryan Air regardless of the size of carry-on luggage will weigh it. My daughter had to pay a VERY HEFTY excess baggage surcharge. My daughter and I were doing a European trip following her one year working and living stint in Dublin. Even though she had sent bags back to Australia via ship, she obviously needed to have sent more!!

Ryan Air will weigh it! They got me, and I thought that I was underweight. They will also put your bag in the size checker if they think it is too big. And their fee for prefered boarding is worth every penny.....yes, you are with a group of "prefered boarders", but we usually mangageto snag Exit row seats using Prefered Boarding. Go to their web site and check the size restriction for carry ons...much tighter than other airlines.

Regarding priority boarding for Ryan Air: I never pay for it because it has been my experience that it usually doesn't exist. Almost everytime I have flown this airline, in spite of the signs indicating where to line up, there has not been a queue at all--only a big mob of people pushing to get through. I could hear occasional plaintive voices in the crowd asking pitifully, "Is this the priority boarding line?", but no one ever answered. And yes, they are strict about weight. Most of the time our bags have been weighed just before exiting the gate to board. In my opinion the weight limit is pretty low and would be easy to exceed just with normal amount of items filling a carryon size bag. I use a handheld scale before leaving home to double check the weight.