Flying with gear on Ryanair (EU)

Hi guys,

I’m flying from UK to Spain where i’m in the process of relocating.

I’m keeping my studio in the UK for now, but want to take a few bits on the flight back.

I obviously don’t want to check anything into the hold, so am wondering what my chances are of taking a 2x104hp case of Eurorack on board.

Has anyone managed to get it a 2x104hp case on a Ryanair flight?

Any experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Ryanair are one of the strictest with carry-on dimensions… They check on the majority of flights. So just measure up… If it’s too big and you try your luck, there’s a good chance it’ll end up in the hold

Thanks, yep definitely need to avoid risk of being put in the hold.

Any personal experiences out there?

Here you go mate:

Musical Equipment – Ryanair Help Centre.

2x104 hp case could be considered a priority bought cabin baggage, take accurate measures, and better check this with the airport clerk one day, as it will be very hard for you to get Ryanair on the phone. If it’s too big, then get a separate seat for the case.

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I fly Ryanair all the time, mainly between UK and Spain. I have carried music gear in my hand luggage no problem.

They used to be quite strict on checking that your cabin baggage was not oversize. However, for the last couple of years if you are priority boarding (which simply means you can have a large and a small cabin bag) they don’t seem to care about the size of your cabin bag (obviously within reason).

The people they seem to check are the non priority boarders who are only entitled to a single small cabin bag.

These days the priority queue is the really long one and the non priority queue is the really short one.

The thing is an Eurorack case (I suspect it’s the Erica one) will stand out quite a bit, and they might want to check the size because of it.

Yes it would definitely be out in one of the allowed dimensions. The thing is I have seen people bring all sorts of oversized bags on board, large back packs being the most common.

Like I said, Ryanair went from being very strict to virtually not caring. Obviously that is no guarantee of what they will be like tomorrow.

Yes, I stopped flying with Ryanair after I took my guitar on board, which at the time was legally allowed (this was about 12 years ago). At the boarding gate the guy said ‘you can’t bring that on board.’ I told him I could. ‘no, you can’t’ he said. I pulled out a printed out paper from the Musicians Union showing the guidance at the time. He read it, looked at me, at the guitar, back at the paper, sighed, waved me on and then said “I f**king hate people like you!” Classy indeed.

Hope you are well Dave! And good luck!

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…as with all cheap airlines, they charge u big time for any additional luggage…
and take any chance to further charge u if ur handluggage does not suit THEIR terms, which always feel like, they’re making them up out of the blue in real time…
it’s pretty much cheaper to buy two tickets at once and right upfront, if u wanna make sure…

not to mention…ryan air are the worst of all those cheap, cheaper, the cheapest airlines…
bad karma is all what’s inclusive and for free here…

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As someone who has flown regularly with Ryanair for the last 15 years or so I respectfully disagree with everything you have just said. :grinning:

Ryanair give you a price to fly somewhere with just a book and a sandwich in your hand. They give you another price to bring a cabin bag and yet another price if you need to bring a suitcase.

I have often flown from Spain to the UK for the princely sum of £20. My subsequent train fare from the airport to Norfolk costing half as much again!

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I have often flown from Spain to the UK for the princely sum of £20

cause somebody else had to pay for the rest of the real price of your ticket.

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I work within the business aviation sector, and to be honest, I have no idea how these low cost airlines continue to survive after a year and a half of pandemic. There is no hoards of travelers and the scratch card and perfume sales can’t possibly be enough for maintenance, airport handling, parking and fuel prices, not to mention flight and ground crew salaries.

Regarding the baggage limitations, they are in place because of weight and balance restrictions of each aircraft. Cabin and hold space is limited.

These companies now employ all possible tricks to get paid additionally, or not to bleed money once flights are cancelled, even though it is very shameful towards the customers unable to get a response from the airline, especially since most people can not afford to loose the money they paid for economy tickets, let alone to pay for luxury travel.

I’m writing this just to offer a different perspective. Operating planes is severely expensive, did not really understand this before I started working in the industry.

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Id check executive compensation packages before considering an opinion

Why the risk with your beloved gear to fly with a low-cost airline just to save a few bucks. I’d fly with a more premium airline company so you are sure you can take it with you on the flight.

Paging @Ryan

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If you buy an “Extra” seat with Ryanair your precious musical instrument can have its own seat.

Also, what happens if a so called “premium” airline company doesn’t fly to the airport you want to fly to.

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Can‘t add anything substantial to the original question but I felt like sharing my experience with Ryanair and luggage:

Some years ago we flew to Spain for a small gig and an extended weekend. 4 guys with a big suitcase each filled with bare minimum clothes and equipment. Luggage weight limit was 25kg and since nobody had a proper scale we had to do it at the airport. One might think you‘d be able to weigh your luggage at checkin and if it exceeds the limit you could shift around a few things and try again. Not so with these guys… the person at the checkin pointed to a digital scale close to the counter which only works if you throw in a coin. And on top of that has a timer going making sure you’re not wasting the machines time and giving you the equivalent of a nice middle finger after 60 seconds.
Oh well we thought, we‘ll make it quick and we might make it in 2 attempts or 3 tops. But as soon as you lift one bag that’s it and you have to throw in another coin. I think we spent almost 10€ on that until we shifted everything around and each one of us ended up with a suitcase with exactly 25kg.
Horrible travel experience (including the flights) but epic weekend after all.

Ha! I had a moment of confusion seeing this thread waking up morning!

These nightmares are exactly the reason why, if I ever move countries again (which I probably will), I will sell most of my heavier things. I came here 6 years ago with 1 small and 1 large suitcase, all else was given away or sold. I don’t have many other large wants, but now I try to buy only gear which is extremely portable, or I know I can sell here at any point. Sure, I am dying to get a Polybrute, but at least I have an excuse not to get it… well, that is what I tell myself…