ryanair ski bag weight allowance .unsure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi everyone ,due to change of plans and lack of communication with the bergland express snow train ,i have had to rescue our family ski trip to zell m see austria by booking return flights with ryanair, now i am not going to knock them as we havent flown with them before but i have read a few things about them on the web,my concerns are having paid for the check in and bags x4 plus £50 for a ski carrying bag, i am not sure what the weight for ski bag is, normal bags are 15kg limit but there is nothing mentioned about ski bag ,i have tried to contact ryanair but i dont seem able to speak to a person it is all automated on line stuff, is the max 32kg like other airlines or less my ski bag weights 6kg on its own, also i did not know that its a run for the best seat ,we have never done this before does it mean my wife and kids might all be sitting in different seats,if so my son and daugter will be terrified it sounds like something out of a cattle market,any advise would be very helpfull ,flying from bristol 2 weeks time

tomski Quite a stressful time for you. Well done on getting alternative travel organised for your family.
Ryanair are very strict on luggage weights, so weigh your suitcases before you leave home.
You are quite right, there are no details about ski bag weights on their website, and as the Customer Service Centre is quite expensive to call, so I would be inclined to print off the page with details about ski carriage and take it with me to check in (just in case).
It would be unreasonable for a carrier to refuse to carry 1 pair of skis and poles having accepted the contract if that is what the bag contains. Some check in's now demand that passengers open ski and snowboard bags, as by unloading what we pack around our kit to protect it they can make more money by charging extra as hold baggage.
I have not carried skis on Ryanair, only Easyjet, and I have a pair which weigh 7 kgs, plus poles, plus bag. They weigh what they weigh (if that makes sense).

There are enough seats on the plane. Yes, there is no seat allocation, or priority boarding,unless you pay extra for the service. You might choose to do this online, if it is important for your family to sit together.
If you find you are sitting apart, then you may be able to ask the crew if they can assist with a seat swop with another passenger. If you find you are sitting apart it will be only for the duration of the flight, assuming the seat belt signs stay on throughout.
As for the "cattle market" it varies, IME, pensioners are far more um...assertive in getting to the aircraft first :D

Relax, you're going skiing :D

I did Ryanair just befor Xmas to England and back (I live in Germany) and took a full size suitcase about (20kg) and a fully packed snowboard bag (approx 20kg). This was because I was doing a weeks business in the UK then flying directly to Val d'Isere from England. I paid the extra ski/snowboard charge and prnted out the T&C just in case. They didn't ask any questions either way. If you are flying from Stanstead they really have no time to bother (unless you get an arse on a power-trip).

Regarding the seats with Ryanair, you can either pay the surcharge for priority boarding or be a little clever. Turn up early make sure you are at the head of the standard boarding. At Stanstead and a lot of Ryanair destinations they use a bus to take you to the plane. The priority people will all be on the 1st bus along with the head of the standard queue. In effect this means you get the benifit of the priority boarding without paying. Obviously this changes a bit on buisness routes because more peope priority book, but generally it works well for me.

I agree with the previous answers re baggage.

Re sitting with your family, Ryanair always call families with 'small children' to board first anyway so you should be fine as long as your children are 'small' enough to qualify!

hi again all ,thank you for the info,i have allready printed a copy of the flight details it basicaly says that we have paid for 4x baggage item, and 1x skis /boots/poles bag, so i will put that in and pad the bag with ski jackets & trousers ,as for the kids are they young enough to get pref treatment my boy 8 and girl 14 so might have to pay a bit more at the airport to get early boarding (better half is getting anxious,not good news :roll:) but what the hell im going skiing in wonderfull austria for a whole week in perfect snow conditions and i feel good,cheers all

I usually send one of the party onto the plane with the first bus load and get them to lie across a row of seats and put bags on others, to save them for the rest of us. Do other people get p***ed off? Yes. But thats life.

Anyway, its only a short flight, so just think of the skiing ahead.....


As for ski bags, I believe if you have paid for carriage, you are entitled to a pair of skis and poles in the bag irrespective of weight, but they may be arsey and demand you take out anything else in the bag. I usually pack my jacket and salopettes around the skis so if I end up emptying the bag, at least I will be warm travelling!!!
I dont think you will have a problem, however, provided your ski bag isnt obviously bulging with extras!

nice one tony sound advise

I brought my ski bag on a Ryanair flight just before Christmas and it was full with all my ski gear for the week and my skis and poles and there was no problem with Ryanair.

You will be fine.