Selasa, 12 Juni 2012

Travel advice: Airline baggage charges

Travel advice: Airline baggage charges

By Fred Mawer

PUBLISHED: 09:45 EST, 10 June 2012 | UPDATED: 03:07 EST, 12 June 2012

Putting a bag in the hold when flying with Ryanair has long been a costly thing to do - and now it's become even more expensive.

If you are travelling with the airline between now and September, then on top of your basic fare it will cost you up to £80 per bag on a return flight, depending on the weight of the case and your destination. These charges, which apply if you pay in advance online, are £10 higher than last summer and £20 more than for travel at most other times of the year.

Ryanair

On the up: Ryanair has raised its baggage charges again this year

Should you wait until you get to the airport to pay for checking in a bag, Ryanair's fees this summer are staggering: £200 to £260 per bag on a return flight. That's more than double last year's fees.

Though Ryanair is far from unique in charging for checking in bags, I believe it is alone in demanding more money during the summer. Why?

Ryanair says this is when its baggage handling costs are higher. Yet Swissport, the luggage handler for the airline at Stansted, says it does not charge operators any more during this period.

I wonder whether Ryanair charges more at this peak time because this is when families take a longer break and are therefore more likely to need to check in their luggage.

Ryanair also points out that its fees are avoidable by travelling with hand luggage only, and says that only 30 per cent of its passengers check in a bag. But that still means more than 22million people are suffering these high costs.

In contrast to Ryanair, another low-cost airline, Flybe, is taking a radically different approach. It has scrapped debit-card charges on all bookings (with Ryanair, a family of four paying this way will have to stump up a £48 'admin fee'). Flybe has also created a new type of ticket called New Economy, which includes a 20kg baggage allowance and advance seat selection in the ticket price.

'For a small majority of consumers there is growing resentment to airlines' add-on fees,' says Simon Lilley, Flybe's director of marketing. 'They don't like the fact that the price they see advertised is not the price they end up paying.'

But, says Lilley, some people do prefer having the option of booking a basic ticket and paying extra for checking in a bag if they wish. So Flybe also offers an Essentials ticket, which does not include a checked-in bag and other perks.

Whoever you're flying with, consider the following points to keep costs to a minimum:

Airline baggage charges

Who charges what? Baggage fees can vary sharply across the main short-haul airlines

Who flies where?

Luggage fees are now so steep with some so-called low-cost airlines that it can work out cheaper to fly with a traditional operator such as British Airways, which has a free baggage allowance and doesn't charge extra for paying with a debit card. Check your flight options on websites such as www.flightmapping.com and www.skyscanner.net and compare the actual price you will pay, not just headline fares.

Checked-in baggage

As you can see from the chart above, charges vary massively. Establish and stick to baggage allowances, including hand luggage, because excess fees can be hideous (£20 per kilo with Ryanair). And be sure to check the rules on pooling your allowances, because they can differ.

Admin Fees

Most low-cost airlines offer a free payment option, usually by paying with a Visa Electron card, but with Ryanair you need to use its own Cash Passport pre-paid MasterCard. Getting one of these cards is time-consuming but it can save you a sizeable sum.

Rival easyJet now charges an unavoidable £9 'admin fee' per booking which isn't included in initially quoted fares - to my mind, that's wholly unacceptable.

Boarding cards

With a few airlines, passengers who turn up at the airport without a boarding card will have to pay to have one issued - with Jet2.com, the fee is £17.50, with Ryanair it's £60.

For more information, visit the Civil Aviation Authority website (www.caa.co.uk) - it includes a chart showing leading airlines' extra charges. And find precise costs in our table, above.

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

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Never ever fly Ryanair

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"Ryanair says this is when its baggage handling costs are higher. Yet Swissport, the luggage handler for the airline at Stansted, says it does not charge operators any more during this period". Just about sums up my impression of them. Never flown with them, never will. BA is far cheaper.

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It's all very well saying other airlines may be cheaper than Ryanair or Easyjet but, I live 10 mins from Liverpool airport. Should I want to fly BA, for instance, because it's cheaper, by the time I get to wherever BA flies from, it would probably end up being more expensive! The fact is, flying is no cheaper than it ever was, for the most part. Yes, you can get bargains but they are few and far between and we should not be pandering to Ryanair or Easyjet by continuing to refer to them as 'Low-cost' airlines.

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Easy Jets £9 admin fee is a hidden extra, there is NO admin involved with a computer generated ticket.

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