Penalised just for sitting together

RESERVING SEATS

Many airlines charge families extra to guarantee seats together. Examples include: Ryanair: Standard seats £2, extra legroom £11, front seats £7 Flybe: £6.50 for a standard seat online or £8 at the airport; exit/extra legroom seat is £15 online or £16 at the airport Jet2: A standard seat starts from £5.50; extra legroom seats start from £11 per passenger Easyjet: Reserving a seat starts from £1.99 British Airways: Reserving a seat costs from £7 on UK and European flights and from £20 internationally. Exit-row seats are £50.

BOARDING PASSES

Some airlines charge passengers an extra fee if they fail to print their boarding pass before arriving at the airport. Jet2 charges £17.50 per person – £70 for a family of four.

BAGGAGE

Most budget airlines charge passengers to put luggage in the hold. But prices shoot up by as much as 50 per cent if customers fail to pay in advance. With Ryanair, it is £50 per return ticket to check in a bag online and £80 at the airport. Customers exceeding their 20kg allowance pay £10 per extra kilo.

CHANGING DETAILS

If one member of a party can no longer travel and wants to give their ticket to someone else, most airlines charge an administration fee to change the name. With Ryanair this is £110, or £160 if passengers wait until they are at the airport. If the airfare has increased since the original booking, some firms insist customers pay the difference.

CLAIMING TAX

Airlines have to pay passenger duty only if the customer travels on the plane. So if the customer cancels their journey this should be refunded. But most charge a fee for doing so and this can be more than the refund is worth. Flybe charges £25 per passenger per flight. So a couple reclaiming the cost of a return journey have to pay £100.