Passengers flying with the Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air are being warned that meeting the airline’s baggage size requirements may not be sufficient to avoid hefty charges at the gate. In a report from Spain, one outraged traveller alleged that staff employed by the ground handling firm Menzies — a partner of Wizz Air — sought to fine as many passengers as possible. Those who resisted, the passenger claimed, were reportedly threatened with being denied boarding.
Unknown Wizz Air rule about “falling smoothly” into the metal frame?
According to a report by Hungarian travel portal Okosutas, some travellers have found themselves facing penalties despite carrying bags that technically met the airline’s published size requirements. The problem stems from the way baggage is measured during boarding, where even a compliant bag may not fit smoothly into the metal sizing frame used by staff.
Travellers flying with Wizz Air from several Spanish airports have reported being charged extra for cabin baggage that allegedly complied with the airline’s published size limits, prompting an investigation by the Hungarian low-cost carrier.
What initially appeared to be an isolated incident has developed into a growing source of frustration for passengers, particularly at airports in the Canary Islands and Alicante, where baggage checks carried out by ground handling staff have sparked a wave of complaints.
Delays and disputes at the gate
One member of the Hungarian travel portal Okosutas’s community experienced the situation first-hand at Gran Canaria Airport. According to the account, two employees of ground handling company Menzies Aviation systematically inspected passengers’ bags before boarding, leading to delays and disputes at the gate.
The traveller claims that a backpack which had been used for years on flights and met Wizz Air’s baggage requirements was deemed oversized because it did not fall freely into the measuring frame. Although the bag reportedly fitted completely inside the metal gauge when gently pushed into place, staff allegedly refused to accept it.
Matters became increasingly tense when passengers were reportedly told they would either have to pay a EUR 73 charge or risk being denied boarding. According to the account, one bag was accepted only after items had been removed and discarded. Another passenger allegedly had to throw away a neck pillow because staff insisted it be packed inside an already full backpack.
The problem is in Spain only
At the time, Okosutas believed the incident was an isolated case. However, the publication says it has since received numerous reports from passengers describing remarkably similar experiences at Spanish airports, most commonly involving Menzies Aviation staff. Complaints on social media have also increased in recent weeks, with travellers repeatedly claiming that bags fitting within the measuring frame were nevertheless deemed non-compliant.
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The situation is particularly controversial because, according to Okosutas, Wizz Air’s baggage rules have not changed. The publication notes that the airline does not state that a bag must fall into the measuring frame under its own weight. Furthermore, Wizz Air has previously communicated that handles and wheels protruding by up to five centimetres are not included in the size limit for small wheeled suitcases.
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While the travel website reports that baggage checks remain strict but generally fair at other destinations, it says it has not observed similar issues outside Spain during recent Wizz Air journeys.
In response to questions from Okosutas, Wizz Air said it was sorry if passengers had been unfairly charged additional fees for appropriately sized baggage and confirmed that it was investigating the matter. The airline promised to provide further details at a later date.
Among the key questions still awaiting answers are where affected passengers can lodge complaints, whether ground handling staff may prevent travellers from taking photographs during disputes, and how many similar complaints Wizz Air has received.
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It’s a little known fact that gate staff are usually incentivised with a bonus system to find as many people as possible with ‘non compliant’ hand luggage. Typically this is done on the basis of a commission payable from the ‘gate bag fee’ that hapless passengers are charged in order to take their out-of-gauge luggage on board or for the item to be checked into the baggage hold at the gate. This is one of the reasons that low cost flights typically instruct passengers to ‘go to gate’ well before boarding commences; it’s while passengers are lined up that gate staff prowl the queue looking for their victims, plucking suspect passengers out of the queue to test their luggage in the metal frames.
The obvious issue this causes is that otherwise low paid workers are financially incentivised to charge as many folks as they can, including by relying on ‘locally invented’ supplements to the rules like bags having to fall into the frame with no force or dimensions having to include any protruding wheels or handles. I’ve witnessed more heated arguments at the boarding gate than anywhere else in Hungary.
Where there’s any question at all about the size of hand luggage, either because I think it might be a few microns larger than the permitted dimensions, or because it’s heavily packed, or just because I haven’t had a chance to measure it with a tape measure, I’ll steer clear of the gate until the queue has visibly depleted and gate staff suddenly lose interest in hand luggage because they want to close boarding as soon as possible in order to head off for a tea break. The obvious alternative is to fly with checked luggage, the fee for which is vastly cheaper than paying these penalties at the boarding gate and is often the same price as the cost for taking ‘large’ hand luggage on board. It makes for a much more relaxing travelling experience being unencumbered with bags when transiting the terminal and boarding the plane and leaves zero chance of falling foul of the ‘gate bag police’.