So... this Ryanair "skis/boards go free" thing...

A snowHead

...we all know there will be a catch... what will it be?

I have just booked Birmingham - Grenoble and, as I have a full-on "coffin case" style snowboard bag, I declined their polite offer of £5 each way for baggage check-in and their equally kind offer of any hold baggage at £10 per case each way as, quite simply, all I'm taking is my snowboard bag and hand luggage, right? And as per their kind offer, this travels free of charge. I therefore escaped all surcharges except for the inevitable "anything but electron" charge at the end and got return flights for £49.98. My confirmation says "ski" on the booking with "online check in".

So... my theory is that I turn up at the airport and present my "oversized baggage" at the relevant place along with my pre-printed boarding card. I expect them to reject the item telling me that it doesn't have a luggage label on it.

At this point I expect to have to find the relevant place to check in baggage for Ryanair and ask for a luggage label. At this point, one of two things will happen:
a) The check in girl will be mesmerised by my dark, brooding good looks and super-cool snowboarding swagger and will pass over the required luggage label with a bead of sweat on her forehead and a trembling hand... or
b) She'll demand to know why I didn't pay for baggage check in when I have baggage. I'll explain that it's a pre-booked winter sports item and their system didn't require that I paid for check-in even though I ticked the, "I have a sports item to take" box. She will demand that I open the bag and remove anything that isn't a snowboard, bindings or boots and will then tell me I need to buy a suitcase and pay excess baggage for all the gear now on the floor at £400 per kilo or thereabouts...

Where's your money, folks... a) or b)?

Seriously... I used their booking service, I told them I had a snowboard bag, in previous years I've explained to budget airlines that it's simply a long, flat suitcase (in the days when they didn't charge for them) and they've made me pay for it as a winter sports item, so surely I am completely in the right on this, aren't I?

It's hopeless. It's Ryanair, it's O'Leary and I'm gonna get slaughtered by the check-in warriors, aren't I?

A snowHead

I did the same with Easyjet last year (not free carraige though) and my board bag was 16 kg but the ski carraige allowance was only 12 kg. they wanted to charge me excess baggage but i rightly argued that whilst i had not checked in any other bag I still had a 20 kg general baggage check-in allowance (in addition to the 12 kg ski allowance I had paid extra for) because the 'baggage fee' was for each bag I checked in and not related to the 'free' 20 kg allowance, so zero bags meant zero fee but I still had 20 kg, 3 bags meant 3 fees but i still had 20 kg. The girl at the check-in agreed (I had 32 kg allowance and they were trying to charge we excess baggage for checking in 16 kg Puzzled

) but could not do it so the the manager was called and he sorted it out for me.

get there early fight your corner because the travel gods are on your side Very Happy

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Yup

And the worst part still has to come: After you paid a fortune to transport your gear, the throwers (agitated by the disturbing size) will be happy to handle your gear in their 'special' way. (Witnessed them killing a McCoy surfboard last summer.)

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buddie

This is why I need clothing packed around my beloved Rome Notch... Twisted Evil

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put anything heavy in your hand luggage, bindings etc, wear your ski jaclet and jumper'fleece with the pockets full of all your odds and ends etc, and if your board bag is below the allowance for the ski carraige then there will not be an issue , hopefully Very Happy

btw what is the weight allowance for ski carraige ?

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carled, good luck Wink

buddie, welcome to sH

tbh I'd expect these no frills airlines to be so anal about the "only board + boots or 1 pair of skis, poles and boots" that they try to charge the excess fee for the velcro straps holding a pair of skis together.

As for the coffin cases... the handlers only need to lose one bag, and you're screwed for the week. I always split enough bits across as many bags as I can, so if they do lose a bag, at least I can get on the slopes or a day or so with at worst just a trip to the ski shop.

After all it is free

The thing to remember is that Ryanair don't give anything away for free - it always comes back to bite you on the a** Smile

When Aer Rianta started charging 1EUR for the clear bags for carrying bottles thru to departures I actually heard a Ryanair spokesperson on condemning them for this needless charge! I thought it was hilarious considering they are looking to start charging to use toilets to make more money, they charge EUR10 just to pay for your flights online, they want to introduce standing room on flights so that they can fit more bodies on, there was talk of them charging for overweight people (not too sure if this one is true or not) etc. etc. etc.

So carled, better get your dark, brooding good looks and super-cool snowboarding swagger working for you Very Happy

Only joking - I am SURE it'll all go well in the end!!!! But good luck anyway

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I never quite understand how Ryanair gets such an unjustified kicking on here.

If everyone would actually read the terms and conditions before flying, and have a copy of them at the airport when checking in, then you'll avoid all problems. We all know the general luggage limits are pretty low. We know that they've always got some kind of "wacky" new idea to cut costs in some way. We all know the "price" you first see will go up with various additions. But just take a look at the end price, and know exactly what you're entitled to, and there's no problem.

I did a similar Ryanair deal a couple of years ago; booked a return from Stansted to Friedrichshafen, took my skis on a "skis-free" deal, put all my other luggage in my ski bag (ensuring it weighed less than as stated in the T&Cs), and paid just under £35 for the privilege. Absolutely no problems going out or coming back. Your booking confirmation shouldn't even highlight that you paid nothing for your ski carriage, it will just list them as an addition.

I've flown with Ryanair about 3 or 4 times since then, and never had problems in this regard as I've known what I'm entitled to each time.

Airlines can't just make up rules on the spot. As long as you know (and can prove) what you're entitled to and stick within those restrictions, you'll be fine.

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There is still bag check-in, you'll still have to take it to the desk, they normally weight it also, but I think this is more to do with knowing the weight in the hold than any weight limit as last year my bag was well over 20kg with Ryanair. Lots of coffin bags on last Winter flight I got back from Grenoble last March.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

that's news re 20kg limit but it seems to be true, from website 'Sports Equipment* Fee charged per Item/ Per One Way Flight A maximum weight of 20kg per item'

so what happened in the past might not apply anymore regarding weight as I don't remember any weight restriction before.

and fee gone from €30 to €40 each way! Have they not heard of the recession!

Time to book with a Tour Operator.

A snowHead

carled, try to keep you board bag weight to 20 kg and put all the heay stuff in hand baggage. My coffin bag has ranged from 16 - 23 kg depending how I packed it and whether I had any hand luggage, so you should be able to juggle the two for a weeks holiday

A snowHead

rayscoops, it's a right pain though, €80 return is a lot to pay for 20kg luggage, it was OK when you could fill it to the brim, especially a wheeled ski bag as it's bigger again and get two pairs of skis into it. What next they will start charging golfers for every club they have in their bag!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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yip well worth for free ski carrraige, god bless Ryanair Very Happy

Now, who else does it, Swiss, BA Puzzled

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carled,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

Winterhighland, I agree with you entirely, it can't be economically viable to offer any form of transport for 3.25 pence per mile. I was trying to point out how cheap the flights are when the main thread is about how the airline companies rip people off.

Hi All.

I'd heard that ryanair "sports equipmetn can only be the skis/poles and not helmet/boots/clothing etc etc.

CAn anyone confirm that they allow you to pay for the skis and then fill the bag up to 20kg with other gear.

Cheers
Bob

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

glasgowcyclops, I'm sure I read on their site that boots are included in this even if packed seperately. That was over 6 months ago which is a long time in the terms and conditions of Ryanair.
Ryanair won't allow boots in hand lugage as I know only too well. Twisted Evil

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Is it really 20kg for ski carraigewith Ryanair i had drumed it into my head it was 15kg.....
Actually just found it on thier website it is 20kg, are they keen with what you put in it as i usually put 2 boards two bindings and boots in mine?

snow reports

I'm equally surprisd about the "no boots in hand baggage" thing. There appears to be a few airports that have a policy of no helmets (not sure on boots) in hand baggage but I doubt it's anything to do with Ryanair themselves. Unless, of course, they are simply trying to force you to put the boots in the hold and pay £30 each way for them, which is eminently believable.

I don't think there is any hard & fast rule on what can go in the bag. Usually you've paid £60 return (£80 now) for the privilege of 20kg of ski/snowboard carriage (which used to be unlimited - or at least unspecified - until recently) so I don't think they reqlly cared what you had in the bag as long as it was not "too heavy".

In this case, having taken advantage of the "free skis/boards" carriage offer, a few people (myself included) are nervous about what they might do regarding inventing some rule of what can actually be taken free. I suppose it depends on what their screen tells them. If it just has "ski" as confirmation then they don't know if you've paid or not but if it has the full breakdown, they'll know you've had teh free skis offer and may be more vigilant on what goes in the bag. Who knows? I'm unable to find anything that states that it's not permitted to pad your skis/boards with clothes for protection of your valuable equipment, so I can't see that they'll put much effort into arguing the toss really. A friend of mine rang them up to enquire and they told him the free offer was for sports equipment only and anything else would be taken out and charged as excess if you couldn't get it in your allowance. I fail to believe that they'll have the time or inclination to do this as they're potentially opening a whole can of worms by doing so.

However, imagine if you were travelling over and though, "hmmm, I can avoid paying for my luggage here" and told them you had no hold baggage but you did have sports equipment. If you were daft enough to present a normal case and tell them you had skis in there, I think you'd be asking for trouble (blades, perhaps?) but if you borrowed someone's board coffin case and packed it with clothes, unless they look in it, they'll never know. I have heard tales of them counting boards/skis in bags before but I've never seen it. People in the past have recommended hanging back at check-in and seeing if they're doing this and, if so, take one board out and leave it with a mate out of sight around the corner. Then present your luggage, they'll see one board and when you go to oversized baggage, simply stick the "hidden" board back in the bag on the way.

Help!!

So... this Ryanair "skis/boards go free" thing...

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