A Belfast woman has been left furious after being charged almost £100 by easyJet to carry two small backpacks onboard the aircraft because she and her husband weren’t allowed to “push” them into the bag sizer.
Cliona McCarney was travelling from Belfast International Airport to London with her husband over the weekend when the pair were told they would have to pay £48 each to proceed with their trip.
She said the “outrageous” incident was even more infuriating because her partner had travelled with the same bag and on the same airline without any problems just days earlier.
“Apparently you can’t push your bag to get it in the bag sizer, it has to drop in by magic,” she posted on X.
“Appalling customer service from two very rude and aggressive staff at Belfast Airport.
“They both easily fit in with room but apparently you have to ‘drop and go’ and [you’re] not allowed to touch your bag to place it in.
“Absolute nonsense.”
The traveller insists the luggage “definitely fit the measurements” permitted by the airline as she claimed the issue is with the company’s apparent “drop and go” policy which does not appear on its website.
Charged £48 to fly with this backpack by @easyJet, despite flying with it on same airline on Thursday. Apparently you can’t push your bag to get it in bag sizer, it has to drop in by magic. Appalling customer service from two very rude and aggressive staff at @belfastairportpic.twitter.com/J3ERHQ9AJj
— Clíona McCarney (@clionamccarney) September 21, 2024
Despite the “drama”, the couple continued with their city break, which included a walking tour and a world title boxing match at Wembley where Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois went head to head on Saturday night.
However, they were left as deflated as Joshua was demolished by his opponent in just five rounds.
“It really took the shine off our day and cost us £98,” she told the Daily Star.
“That could be a huge chunk of someone’s budget for their trip.
“Outrageous.”
Belfast boxer Anthony Cacace’s retention of his IBF and IBO World super-featherweight titles following a unanimous points win over Josh Warrington helped soften the blow inflicted by easyJet.
BBC NI weather presenter Barra Best was among the many social media users to respond to Ms McCarney’s online post.
“That’s horrendous,” he wrote.
“Have witnessed that happening before and never understood why… jobsworths ruin everything”.
Many others shared tales of similar experiences and expressed anger at easyJet.
“I saw a woman shoving a clearly oversized duffle bag into an easyJet bag sizer at the gate,” one person wrote.
“Staff waited for it to be pushed in fully so this is an absolute scam.”
The airline’s website states that “cabin bag allowance is one small cabin bag (max. 45 x 36 x 20 cm) which needs to kept under the seat in front of you”.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Our ground crew must ensure that customers’ cabin bags are within the maximum dimensions to safely and securely fit where they need to be stowed in the cabin and so customers will sometimes be asked to check this using our baggage size gauges in the airport.
“We clearly inform customers of maximum cabin bag dimensions when booking, via email before they travel and it is also clearly displayed on boarding passes.”