PREPARE FOR RIPOFF!
Cheap f lights can come at a serious cost, but not if you read our savvy f lyer guide
When Petra Polonkai’s son Alex fell seriously ill, she had more things to worry about than a missed flight to her native Hungary. But when Alex recovered she assumed Ryanair would allow her a refund as most airlines say they do in a medical emergency.
Petra said she gave Ryanair an ‘unfit to travel’ letter from the hospital and other documentary evidence of his illness. However, the refund offer states it is ‘at the discretion’ of Ryanair – and Petra’s pleas fell on deaf ears.
A Ryanair spokesman said Petra was ‘offered the opportunity’ to change her flight dates to a different date upon the payment of ‘our flight change fee’.
So she had to stump up another €426.
We printed Petra’s query about seeking a refund anonymously in our former Q&A section last April.
When the secondary issue of how much airlines earn in extra charges came up this week, Petra was so annoyed that she agreed to waive anonymity and let us use her photographs.
Petra said: ‘My blood is still boiling when I think of it.’
She is just one victim of the myriad of costly extras airlines use to wheedle more money from us.
Extra or ‘ancillary’ earnings accounted for over a quarter of Ryanair’s income.
When we asked Ryanair how much it makes from extras, it proudly pointed out that ‘ancillary income’ grew from 24% in 2016 to 27% last year and is expected to rise again this year.
Research outfit IdeaWorksCompany rated the Irish airline among the world’s top 10 for squeezing more money from passengers in this way.
Aer Lingus is not far behind and for some things, such as allocated seating, charges even more than Ryanair (see table).
A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said the fee to prebook a standard (short-haul) seat is €9.99 – but only when checking in more than 30 hours in advance of the flight. If you check-in online within 30 hours there is no charge – nor is there one at the airport.
‘Ground staff will ask if you have a seat preference and will endeavour to meet your request as best they can, subject to availability,’ she said.
Ancillary income includes anything from paying extra for your suitcase, choosing a seat, buying snacks and even scratchcards.
Ryanair had to defend itself in a Facebook furore in 2015 when a passenger decried his poor chances of winning the €1m prize in Ryanair’s scratchcard lottery. Apparently, ‘winners’ are offered 25 envelopes to pick from, only one of which contains the big prize.
Ryanair was forced to admit then that time the jackpot had yet to be won, although over €1.5m had been given out in cars and cash prizes. This week the airline said that the big prize still hasn’t been won!
YOU’LL PAY DEARLY FOR YOUR MISTAKES
Making passengers pay dearly for any mistake when they book is a nice little earner.
I witnessed one distraught young man called Will refused boarding by Ryanair because the name on his ticket didn’t match the name on his passport (William).
Surely it’s not that hard to write a new name on the ticket? But airlines can’t pass up the chance of making extra money.
He was able to fly in the end – but presumably had to fork out a €100 fee to change his name. Aer Lingus charges the same sum for name changes.
If you miss your €19.99 flight, don’t expect to get on another one without being hit.
Ryanair charges €100 and Aer Lingus €75 for missed departures.
Taking an infant with you? Surely you shouldn’t have to pay.
The little mite doesn’t take up any room.
He or she will sit on your lap and not cost the airline a cent. But here again, the opportunity to charge extra can’t be resisted.
That’ll be another €25 please, sir! (From Ryanair, €20 with Aer Lingus, short haul).
Most major airlines charge 10% of the adult fare, which would usually work out a lot less than either of the Irish ones.
CARRYING THE COST OF PERSONAL BAGGAGE
And don’t get me started on baggage costs.
Oh, I have already? Well here goes then:
The latest wheeze from Ryanair is further restricting cabin luggage allowances in a move that has some benefits but also seems designed to corral more passengers into paying for priority boarding.
Most airlines allow two cabin bags at no cost, but Ryanair has changed that – and where it goes in its usually successful quest for money, other airlines are likely to follow.
Priority bookers can bring on two carry-on bags as before. The rest will have to squeeze their belongings into a bag measuring 30cm x 20cm x 20cm.
The check-in allowance has gone up from 15kg to 20kg for all bags.
And the standard check-in bag fee will be cut from €35 to €25 for this 20kg bag.
Ryanair charges €25 for a 20kg bag checked in online, or €40 if booked in the airport or added post-booking. That’s each way.
A €10 supplement could be added at peak times – again each way.
A spokesman said: ‘The policy was introduced in order to eliminate boarding delays due to too many bags being brought on board and improve our on-time departures.’
Weigh and book luggage ahead of a flight. The €10/€11 surcharge per kilo with airlines is outrageous.
If you need extra legroom, it costs more to book special seats with Aer Lingus than Ryanair.
Adding bags online after you have booked can cost €10 more per flight and paying at the airport will cost more again.
Sometimes checking in luggage using the Ryanair app will be cheaper.
Luggage couriers such as SendMyBag.com and LuggageDeliveryCompany.com can sometimes be cheaper than airlines for large bags.