Ryanair has been criticised for their “excessive” baggage policy by Spanish courts. The airline charges a fee for hand luggage, but may now have problems in Spain following the court comments.
Ryanair are standing by their policy, and said in a statement: “This ruling will not affect Ryanair’s baggage policy, either in the past or in the future, as it is an isolated case that misinterpreted our commercial freedom to determine the size of our cabin baggage.”
The airline also noted the case was note seen by the Spanish Supreme court and does not set a precedent.
Is it worth passengers paying extra to get priority boarding and ensure they can being luggage onboard, rather than put it in the hold?
Nicky Kelvin, content director from The Points Guy UK, spoke with Express.co.uk to share his top tips on how to determine whether the spend is right for you.
The best way to do this is to figure out how much a seat is going to cost you.
“Seat selection fees can run from as low as about £1.50 per seat on a short-haul route with a low-cost carrier like Ryanair to £50 for an exit row pick on a long-haul route with Air India for example to more than £80 for preferred or premium seats on international routes with carriers like American Airlines,” explained Nicky.
Every now and then, an airline may not show the cost of seat selection online at all, which is why having a phone number for the carrier on hand is useful.
Nicky also suggests being sure about where you want to sit and knowing exactly why, before dedicating the additional money.
“Deciding where it is you want to sit isn’t always an exact science,” he continues. “You could be a die-hard window seat person, more maybe you really only like to have the window on red-eye flights when you prefer to sleep and otherwise prefer the aisle. If you’re flying a route you know has turbulence, maybe you’d prefer to sit over the wing.
“Or, if you have a short layover, you may want to sit closer to the front to deplane first.
“And, if you’re flying with a group, you’ll have to consider not only your needs but your family’s or travelling companions preferences too.”
Luckily, if you are absolutely certain you want a specific seating arrangement, there are some tricks you can test out. One is using a seat-review website which will map out the plane and even compiles reviews from other recent fliers.
