A couple of years ago, Manchester Evening News reporter Emily Chaplin thought she'd lucked out when she managed to bag £50 return flights from Liverpool Airport to Barcelona with a carry on case. But all was not what it seemed, and now, she's found the case to answer all of her travel prayers. Recounting her experience, she wrote: In advance, I looked up the baggage dimension rules, and eagerly packed my items thinking all was above board - not realising I'd made a rookie error.
While my actual cabin case was within the correct dimensions, what I hadn't realised, was that my wheels and handle were part of these. As such, I was fined to fly both there and back - and it's fair to say it ate into the small holiday budget I'd allocated. For money-saving tips, sign up to our Money newsletter here READ MORE: Roman's 'comfy' elasticated trousers with pockets that 'look good in all the right places' READ MORE: 'Amazing' natural remedy hailed 'life changing' for people with constipation and IBS I was upset, but knowing there was nothing I could do about it at the boarding gate, I was forced to cough up.
Since then, I've never made the same mistake, and now I'm overly cautious about the bags I take on board budget airlines. My go to cabin case for budget airlines is now Antler's Icon Stripe Cabin in Taupe , which isn't cheap at £140 (currently on sale down from £175 in the brand's summer sale), but has saved me a lot of money on hand luggage fines. I've taken it on TUI, Ryanair and .