How travel expert snuck huge hand luggage bag onto Ryanair flight despite it being three times too big

For holidaymakers, one final yet dreaded step before reaching the destination is the airport experience, involving security queues, the possibility of delays and of course the tense weighing of bags to see if you've actually managed to pack beneath the limit.

Airlines are notorious for being strict with their baggage allowance, and budget airline Ryanair is no exception.

But one woman and travel expert was left shellshocked after she was able to sneak a huge, 80-litre sized shoulder bag on board with the airline without paying a single penny.

For included hand luggage with Ryanair, passengers are able to take a free-carry on, under-seat sized bag which is capped at 40x30x20cm - or 24 litres. Overhead baggage meanwhile is capped at 55x40x20cm.

Rows over Ryanair baggage are nothing new. One family previously shared their experience with Which? Travel, revealing they had to cough up a whopping £400 for not having the correct sized bags on their flight home.

Another passenger previously also hit out and spoke to LADbible after claiming she had been charged £75 for a small suitcase-style bag, because it slightly crossed the tip of the 'bag too big' line at the bottom of the measurer.

Of course, restrictions are in place for a reason. For the free under-seat bag, Ryanair states passengers must be able to carry them on easily themselves and must fit both beneath the seat in front and within the measurer at the airport gates.

Sharing her experience in a Reel online, Chelsea, who goes by the @holidayexpert on Instagram and is a columnist offering travel advice and tips, revealed that she was actually able to board a Ryanair flight with a bag more than three times the permitted size.

The clip, now with over one million views, was part of a comical series that saw her increase the bag size every time to see how far she could push it before somebody actually spotted it and charged her the fee.

Speaking to LADbible, Chelsea explained the outcome was totally 'unexpected' as she breezed past the boarding gates with the protruding bag sticking out beside her.

Despite this, she said she would've been happy to pay, and said she would not encourage other people to do the same, putting her being allowed on down purely to circumstance and saying it was 'plain silly'.

"I make loads of different types of travel videos - from the best budget days out to what to expect at the airport when new border procedures kick in, and yet, the most popular video is always me testing out bags to see if they fit within Ryanair's small baggage allowance," she explained.

"I think it's because people are really nervous about being stopped and charged an extra fee for being a centimetre or two over. So in this series, I decided to find out and show what would happen if you do go over the allowance.

"Thanks to Ryanair's 40x30x20cm small bag allowance, I knew that you could get a bag on for free that was around 24 litres in size. So I started on day one with 30L, increasing to 45L, then 60L and finishing up with 80L.

"I didn't attempt to hide the bags in any way, but simply approached the desk as normal and waited to see what happened."

In the latest video, the comically gigantic bag can be seen dwarfing Chelsea as she makes her way through the airport. From the beginning of the clip, it's clear it is far too big to even attempt being squished into the baggage size checker.

"Let's just say, I was not expecting the outcome I got," Chelsea added. "I fully expected to be charged €75 at the gate, especially for the 80L bag and would have been happy to pay it.

"I was, after all, very much over my limit. But that didn't happen, even though I saw other people with smaller bags on my flight being charged.

"Why do I think I got away with it? Perhaps it's to do with being towards the back of the queue. Some argue that the closer you pass the gate to boarding time, the more likely the staff just want to get you on the plane.

"At the end of the day I think it simply comes down to chance and circumstances. I think I got very, very lucky and I absolutely would not recommend others attempt to lug an 80L bag through with them without being slapped with a fine.

"It's not the outcome I expected, but it would also be insincere for me to show anything other than what genuinely happened."

According to the Ryanair website, it charges between £40 and £75 if carry on luggage exceeds permitted allowance and must then be checked into the hold.

In the video, Chelsea added that she 'loved' Ryanair because it's an airline that can 'give as good as it gets'. The airline actually then responded to the video with a witty response, writing "Bill is on the way".