Baggage dimensions don't measure up:TREASA FAIRBAIRN recently returned from "a lovely weekend in Barcelona" where she had travelled with four of her friends and wanted to highlight a situation where Aer Lingus passengers "may be unfairly overcharged for carry-on baggage that meets specifications set by the airline".

The group flew return from Cork to Barcelona with Aer Lingus and she had carry-on luggage only but, as online check-in is not available from Barcelona, they checked it at the desk in the airport.

“Prior to travelling, I wanted to ensure that I would have no issues with the dimensions or weight of my carry-on bag, so I duly checked the Aer Lingus carry-on specifications and measured my bag to ensure that there wouldn’t be an issue. Although I was close to the limit, I had a few centimetres to spare which was reassuring,” she writes.

In Barcelona airport, her bag was weighed and it was fine. Then she was asked to place her bag in the measuring gauge. “Initially, the bag didn’t fit in as the handle was causing slight interference with the fit. I removed a piece of foam padding from the handle (approx 1cm by 1cm by 10cm) and the bag fitted completely into the gauge,” she says.

The check-in clerk continued to insist that she check in her bag and pay the fee as it was only just inside the measurements. “I started to take photos of the bag in the gauge, and he relented. Needless to say, I was furious. I’m an engineer – it either meets specifications or it doesn’t.”

She was perplexed as, based on her measurements, she knew that her bag should have had no problem fitting in the gauge even with the foam padding, so she noted the specifications on the gauge – 50cm by 40cm by 20cm. "On the flight, my friend spotted that in the Caramagazine, carry-on baggage specifications are noted as 56cm by 45cm by 25cm. Today I checked the Aer Lingus website, which also specify the larger set of measurements."

She says that, luckily, she was not out of pocket on this occasion “mainly due to perseverance on my behalf and the backing of the people in the queue behind and next to me” but says that several passengers ahead of her had to check in bags that appeared to be minimally larger than the gauge – but quite possibly within the larger specified limits.

“My intention was to highlight the discrepancy to Aer Lingus. However, when I searched for contact details, it appears snail mail is the only option, so I thought that you may or may not be interested in this information. My sister did spot Joe Duffy in Barcelona airport last night, so maybe we could have fed him some material for today’s show but you are probably a marginally less hysterical option.”

Less hysterical than Joe Duffy? Surely not. At any rate we contacted the airline to highlight this apparent anomaly. A spokeswoman said the airline was “currently investigating this matter with our handling agent in Barcelona”. She said that the Aer Lingus hand baggage dimensions are 56cm by 45cm by 25cm. “Ms Fairbairn’s account concerns us, as it would appear that the handling agent has acted inappropriately in this instance. There are two standard Aer Lingus specification gauges for measuring hand luggage at the check-in area at Barcelona airport. Handling agents are instructed to use these gauges when measuring hand luggage for Aer Lingus passengers.”

Price of Dublin Airport sandwich takes the biscuit

PERCY BOLAND was in Dublin Airport not long ago when he came across what he describes as “a new low, or high depending how you look at it”. He writes that a takeaway plain ham salad panini with two sachets of mayonnaise was €9.30. “No wonder the tourists are staying away.”

State site saves you €28 if travelling to the US

A READER by the name of S Conroy sent us a mail to remind readers that, if they are travelling to the US, they can save at least €28 per person by applying for “Electronic System for Travel Authorisation” (ESTA) on the official US government site instead of many of the commercial sites which have been set up to process applications.

“If you search for ESTA in Google you will get several results offering to submit your application. Commercial sites charge for their service. This is free if you log onto the official US government site which is about the third down the Google search list,” he writes.