Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on airline baggage fees

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Hand luggage must comply with the airline's size regulations (Getty)

Q My daughter, husband and three children visited me in Spain. They left Gatwick with only hand luggage with no problem. On returning to UK with the same luggage, easyJet staff said her bag was oversize and charged her €60. The bag was never put in the hold; she carried it on the plane and placed it in the overhead locker. So she was charged for her own handling. Is this right?

Barbara Thomas, Benejuzar

A Sorry to hear about your family’s experience. It’s frustrating to be penalised for an apparent luggage transgression when flying home with the same baggage as the outward leg. But the crucial point here is: at the departure gate at the Spanish airport, did the bag comply with the easyJet cabin baggage maximum size of 56 x 45 x 25cm including handles and wheels? If it did, then your family potentially has a claim against the airline - though it would be be very hard to prove retrospectively.

I imagine, though, that your daughter was invited to place the bag in the gauge and, for whatever reason, it did not fit. At this point the airline, in line with its terms, will have charged €60 and tagged the bag for loading at the aircraft door. Your daughter may have been asked to carry it to the plane and leave it with the loaders. On occasion the owner of a piece of luggage and may decide to ignore the instruction, and the tag, and carry it on to the aircraft anyway. But the fact that they have then acted as baggage handler is not relevant to the issue of whether a bag fee was fairly levied.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder