Alison Evans flew with her nine-year-old son Arthur Evans from Belfast International Airport to Stansted, London, to visit her dad for a 10-day trip on 29 July.
The 36-year-old claims she was ‘shocked’ to be told her cabin bag ‘clearly didn’t fit’ the sizer and would need to pay a £48 fine despite her measuring the suitcase at home herself.
She alleges a staff member blamed the bag’s handle that was ‘slightly sticking up’ but maintains it fit the measurements anyway.
Afraid she’d be thrown off her flight the full-time carer says she felt ‘bullied’ into reluctantly paying the fine, which put a ‘financial strain’ on her trip.
However she made sure she took photos of the situation as evidence – which she later used to pursue the airline.
Taking to X, Alison shared photos of her suitcase clearly appearing to fit inside the airline’s sizer checker captioned ‘please explain why I was charged £48 for this bag when it fits’.
On her return trip the parent felt ‘conned’ after discovering it only cost £32 for a large cabin bag so she decided to purchase it to avoid another fine.
She has since complained to EasyJet over their ‘money-grabbing tactics’ and to try to get a refund but claims they initially told her it’s non-refundable.
EasyJet have since admitted the photos show the bag does ‘appear to fit within the gauge’ so are investigating and said they will refund her if they discover an ‘error’ has been made – before subsequently agreeing to the refund.
Alison said: “I was shocked and I think it’s a money-grabbing tactic.
“At the gate there was a woman at the desk who approached me and got me to put [my bag] in the little holders they have there. She said ‘it’s too big [with the handle]’.
“There’s a handle on the side of the bag and that must’ve been slightly sticking up and I said I could push the handle down. Even with the handle it still fit in the measurement checker but she was adamant that my bag was too big.
“I measure all my bags before I went on and I’d taken this bag with me twice this year already.
“She said she was going to charge me £48 because ‘it clearly didn’t fit’. She thrusted the card machine in my face and I reluctantly paid it but she didn’t give me a receipt.
“I feel ripped off. She was quite rude and I felt bullied because I thought if ‘I don’t pay this I won’t be able to board my flight and go and see my dad’.
“I just felt very victimised and that I didn’t have a choice to pay it. It’s just lucky I had the money in there.
“It really put a financial strain on me for the rest of the week. To have them slap a charge like that on me when I hadn’t even left was a bit much because I was already travelling on a very tight budget.”
The carer revealed she paid £32 for a large cabin bag on her return journey to avoid an extra fine.
She claims she sent photos of her baggage to the airline in hopes of getting a refund and encourages other passengers to ‘measure their bags’ and take photo evidence.
Alison, who lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland, said: “I reluctantly put my bag through as a large bag even though it’s not a large bag but on the way home I didn’t get looked at at all.
“Not only did they charge me more than what it said on their website, I just felt conned because my bag met the requirements but they stung me for an extra £16.
“I feel like I deserve my £48 back. That’s all I’m asking EasyJet to do is admit they made a mistake. I feel it could’ve been dealt with a lot better and it’s put me off using the airline again.
“[I’d encourage others to] measure your bag and take a lot of pictures if they insist on the charge. Don’t be conned out of your money.”
An EasyJet spokesperson said: “Bag sizing is inclusive of wheels and handles and we provide very clear information on our bag sizing policies and options to customers.
“Given the bag shown appears to fit within the gauge, we are investigating further and will refund the extra charges incurred by the family as a gesture of goodwill if an error has been made in this instance.”
Alison has since confirmed that EasyJet said they will refund her after reviewing the photos.
