Budget Airlines rip off

Holiday flights advice: Beware the budget airlines rip off. Passengers can pay 30% more for a flight on a no-frills Budget airline if they check in a bag and use a credit card, according to our research.

Prices from four of the UK’s major no-frills carriers – easyJet, Ryanair, bmi baby and Jet2 – were compared on flights to four destinations, including extra charges for paying with a credit card and checking in one item of luggage.

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The following figures are based on two passengers booking on a credit card and checking in one item of luggage between them.

The survey found that Ryanair charges an extra £50 on all routes for checking in a bag and using a credit card – representing an increase of between 8% and 29% on the advertised fare.

Flights to Paris and Malaga with bmibaby went up by 25% and 23% respectively with these charges.

EasyJet was found to have the lowest luggage and card charges of the four airlines, with an average of £26-£38 being added to the initial price.

Jet2 recorded the highest individual extra charge, £92.16, on a flight to Rome, but this was only 10% above the advertised flight price.

“It’s hard to believe that any airline could justify increasing the ticket price by almost a third just for checking a bag into the hold and paying on a credit card – two services that not too long ago were included in the headline price.”