Ryanair offers ‘grace period’ over new bag charges

A ‘GRACE’ period will be given to Ryanair passengers over baggage charges this month – a decision allegedly made ‘weeks’ ago, despite confusion this week after a new bag policy was brought in.

Under the new policy, two bags can now only be brought onto the plane if a passenger pays €6 per journey for priority boarding, while a 10kg bag can be placed in the hold during check-in for €8.

If an oversized bag, or two bags, are brought to the departure gate without priority boarding, then a fee of €25 will have to be paid.

Many passengers did not know about the change when they brought their bags to the gate this week. However, the new charges were not applied – in what has been termed a ‘grace period’.

Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: ‘We decided we were going to have a grace period and waive fees weeks ago.’

But passenger Geoff McGrath, from Dublin, who flew to Dublin Airport yesterday, said he was sent 22 ‘contradictory’ and ‘confusing’ emails in the weeks leading up to his flight. He said: ‘I was sent a lot of emails just telling me various things. I had to read them carefully to find out if I had to do anything. Within 24 hours they sent me contradictory things.

‘I did have a separate bag from the shop I did not know if I could have. They stopped the guy in front and said they were giving a day’s grace. What I found annoying was that I booked a flight and then they changed what I paid for. It was almost like they had changed their mind on the emails, they were so confusing.’

A Ryanair spokesman said last night: ‘While our new bag policy came in to effect yesterday, we have briefed our gate agents to take a reasonable approach while customers get used to the new rules over the month of November.’