NEW legislation is set to crack down on airlines who don’t declare their extra charges upfront.
However, this could make your cheap flights much more expensive.
AlamyA ban on hidden fees could soon make your ‘cheap’ flights much more expensive[/caption]
The new rules, announced during King Charles‘ Speech yesterday, confirmed that companies who use ‘drip pricing’ will face stricter rules.
‘Drip pricing’ is when extra costs are not declared upfront – something commonly used by low-cost airlines.
Many will offer cheap flight tickets, only to charge extra for seat reservations, checked-in luggage and car hire at the checkout.
Some like Ryanair have even stricter fees, like printing boarding passes out.
However, an assessment conducted by the government has revealed the new rules could make cheap flights £80 more expensive at first glance.
Some of the cheapest basic flight tickets on the market now are as little as £14.99 with Ryanair and easyJet, or £12.99 with Wizz Air.
But the report found the average price to pay to check in luggage was £65.
And the average cost of reserving seats online was £15.
This means the ‘cheap’ fare could now appear much more expensive, with an additional £80 on top of the cheap fare – making the total cost almost £100.
Other extra fares include airport fast track, which costs an average of £28 extra.
However, experts have warned that the new legislation is unfair on airlines, with the cheap fares advertised available to passengers without needing to pay any extra.
One airline executive told The Times: “These are not examples of drip pricing in the way the government imagines.
“We believe that drip pricing is booking a cinema ticket and then finding out it’s an extra 10 per cent in booking or service charges – that is not the case here.
“You can book one of our flights and get on it, have a safe journey and arrive for exactly the fee we quote – it will just be a small cabin bag and random seat selection.”
A study conducted earlier this year found that Wizz Air had the priciest extra hidden costs.
The research, revealed by NetVoucherCodes, found that the extra costs including luggage, fast track, reserved seats, WiFi and insurance, cost an average of £93.56.
However, while Ryanair didn’t have the highest fees overall, they had the highest in comparison to their faces.
And easyJet’s hidden fees worked out to £62.84, while British Airways had the lowest extra charges.
A couple flying with Ryanair earlier this year had to pay £110 after they printed the wrong boarding passes by mistake.
Here are three other ways Ryanair could catch you out at the airport with extra costs.
But if you want to keep costs down, there are some simple tricks that travellers swear by.
Only flying with a carry-on bag is the best way to avoid the pricey fees.
Some people have even resorted to taking clothes in a pillow as a way of getting around the charges, although this comes with a risk.
AFPRyanair and easyJet currently have cheap fares from just £14.99 to Europe[/caption]