Passenger slams 'outrageous' airline after €115 charge for boarding with two backpacks at Irish airport

Cliona McCarney claims she and her partner were charged a fee to fly with their backpacks after easyJet staff said they couldn't 'push' the bags into the sizer at the airport

Airline passenger Cliona McCarney was fuming after claiming that she and her partner were hit with a hefty £48 fee each (approximately €115 in total) by easyJet when boarding a flight at Belfast International Airport.

McCarney and her partner were allegedly hit with the charge after easyJet staff claimed they couldn't push the bags into into the bag sizer at the airport, reports Belfast Live.

The couple reluctantly handed over approximately €115 ahead of their trip to London, aggrieved at what Cliona described as "appalling" customer service from the airline.

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"Charged £48 to fly with this backpack by easyJet, despite flying with it on same airline on Thursday," Cliona said in a fiery social media post on X (formerly Twitter). "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 Belfast Airport."

Adding fuel to her frustration, Cliona further claimed: "They both easily fit in with room but apparently you have to "drop and go" and not allowed to touch your bag to place it in. Absolute nonsense. The bag definitely fit the measurements and within the sizer, the issue as I see it is the 'drop and go' policy which seems to be new and I also don't see it anywhere on easyJet's website."

After the "travel drama", she and her partner still managed to have a good time in London, taking in a walking tour and attending the Anthony Joshua v Daniel Dubois boxing match at Wembley on Saturday night, according to the Daily Star. But she couldn't hide her annoyance, saying: "Really took the shine off our day and cost us £98! That could be a huge chunk of someone's budget for their trip. Outrageous."

BBC weatherman Barra Best weighed in on Cliona's ordeal, calling it "horrendous". He commented: "That's horrendous. Have witnessed that happening before and never understood why". Others joined the conversation with their own similar tales. One posted: "I'd the same issue flying with them from one airport, but different from the other."

Cliona added her two cents: "My partner flew Belfast to London last week with easyJet using the same bag and had absolutely no issue."

The easyJet website does not explicitly state that bags should not be forced into the sizers. It simply states that "your 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 addressed the incident in a statement, saying: "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."

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