The lowdown: sneaky airline fees

Airline

BA

(0844 493 0787, www.ba.com)

Bmibaby

(0905 828 2828, www.bmibaby.com)

Easyjet

(0843 104 5000, www.easyjet.com)

Fly Thomas Cook

(0871 230 2406, www.flythomascook.com)

Flybe

(0871 700 2000, www.flybe.com)

Jet2

(0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com)

Monarch

(0871 423 8568, www.monarch.co.uk)

Ryanair

(0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com)

Thomson

(0871 231 4787, www.thomson.co.uk)

Route

Gatwick to Malaga

East Midlands to Malaga

Stansted to Malaga

Manchester to Malaga

Exeter to Malaga

Leeds Bradford to Malaga

Luton to Malaga

Stansted to Malaga

Gatwick to Malaga

Basic fare[1], return

£97.40

£85.98

£51.98

£104

[Ouch – pricey!] £119.98

£60.48

£91

[Low – but misleading] £45.98

£93.38

Carry-on allowance

[Tied: Most generous]

Two items: one handbag/ laptop bag plus one bag (23kg; 56cmx45cmx25cm)

One bag (10kg; 55x40x20cm)

[Tied: Most generous]

One bag: no weight limit, but you must be able to lift it into overhead bins unaided (56x45x25cm)

[Tied: Stingiest!]

One bag (5kg; 43cmx28cmx23cm)

One bag (10kg; 50x 35x23cm)

One bag (10kg; 56cmx45cm x25cm)

One bag (10kg; 56cm x45cmx25 cm)

One bag (10kg; 55cm x40cmx20 cm)

[Tied: Stingiest!]

One bag (5kg; 55cmx40cm x20cm)

One 20kg checked bag (return, booked online at time of original booking)

[Free!] £0 (23kg; 90cmx 75cmx43cm)

£31.98 (22kg; no size specified)

£28 (20kg; no size specified)

£24 (20kg; no dimensions specified)

£25.98 (20kg; no dimensions specified)

£32.98 (22kg; no dimensions specified)

£31.98 (20kg; no size specified)

[Expensive!] £50 (20kg; based on an ‘off-peak flight’. Unclear whether your flight is off-peak until halfway through booking. The same luggage costs up to £70 return on ‘peak flights’)

£25 (20kg; no size specified)

Seat selection or priority boarding fee (return flights)

[No fee!] No charge for seat selection (free 24 hours before flight; £20 if you want to choose seats before then)

£17 for seat selection

£21 for priority boarding

£10 for seat selection

£12 for seat selection

£11.98 for seat selection

[Not bad] £9.98 for seat selection

£20 for seat selection

[Bum deal] £24 for seat selection

Meals (return flights:sandwich, crisps, beer and coffee, unless otherwise specified)

[Tasty] £0

From £22

From £23.70

From £19.50 for a hot meal with coffee, plus beer (£3.75) bought separately

£22.90

From £22.98

From £22.60

From £24

[Hunger strike] From£35.80 – hot meal plus beer and coffee

Charge for paying with Visa Credit Card

[Credit worthy] £4.50pp per return flight; free for debit cards

£9pp per return flight; free for Visa Electron

[Credit crunch] £12.95 per booking, regardless of number of passengers or flights, but the charge is £8 + 2.5% of total transaction, so increases with more passengers; free for Visa Electron

£8pp per return flight; debit card £6pp per return flight; free for pre-paid Electron and Mastercard

£9pp per return flight; free for Visa Electron

£9.79 per booking, based on 3.6% for most payment types + another 3.6% for credit cards, so this increases with more passengers; free for Visa Electron

£10 per booking; free for debit cards

[Ouch!] £12pp per return flight; free for Mastercard Prepaid Card

£4.95 per booking, based on 2.5% charge, so price will increase with more passengers; free with Visa Electron

Online check-in (return flights)

£0

£0 (but not an option if you have hold baggage – with one checked bag you’ll pay £16 to check-in at the airport)

£0

£0 (but in order to check-in online, you must have paid to pre-book your seat)

£0

[Un-fare!] £10

£0 (but in order to check-in online, you must have paid to pre-book your seat)

[Sneaky fee!] £12 – and it’s the only option!

N/A (not possible to check-in online)

Subtotal

[Value for money] £101.90

£165.96

£137.63

£165.50

[Steep surcharges] £189.86

£148.21

£165.56

£163.98

£183.13

Seats with extra leg room (return flights)

£0; no extra charge for exit-row seats, but to bag them you’ll usually need to opt for early seat selection, which costs £20

£23

[Comes up short] No option for extra leg room

[Tall order!] £35

£30

£19.98

£19.98

£20

£20

Airport check-in fee (return flights)

£0

£16

£0

£0

£0

£20

£0

[Rip-off alert!] Airport check-in not an option, so you’ll be stuck with an £80 ‘Boarding Pass Reprint Fee’ (£40 each way)

£0

Boarding pass reprint fee (return flights) – if you checked in online but couldn’t print your boarding pass, or lost it

£0

£22

£0

£10

£0

[Yikes!] £35

£0

[Worst offender!] £80

£0

Sports equipment/ musical instruments (return flights)

From £30

From £35.98

From £50

From £40; one set of skis/snowboard is free

£60; can’t be booked online, so add on call charges

£60

From £39.98

[Over-priced!] From £80

[Good deal] From £15

Phone bookings (based on a BT landline)

5p/minute + £5pp return

65p/minute + £15pp return

5p/minute + £8pp return

10p/minute (no additional booking fee)

10p/minute + £14pp return

10p/minute + £12pp return

10p/minute (no additional booking fee)

[Bad call!] 10p/minute + £40pp return

10p/minute (no additional booking fee)

Total including all extras above (assume 10min phone call)

[Fare deal!] £137.40

£283.94

[Runner-up] £196.13

£251.50

£294.86

£269.19

£226.52

[Sky-high price!] £384.98

£219.13

Result

9/10 Miles ahead on value, but those sneaky fees are creeping in.

3/10 Unexpectedly expensive, with pricey fees for almost everything.

7/10 Surprisingly, vastly cheaper than Ryanair and the best value of the budget airlines.

4/10 Poor performance – and stingy carry-on!

2/10

The basic fare was the most expensive – and extra fees almost treble the price.

2/10

Expect hefty extras – plus complicated credit card fees can really add up.

5/10

Not the worst, but plenty of room for improvement.

1/10 Can be a bargain – if you don’t need bags, food, to sit with friends – or to check in!

6/10 A mixed bag – not bad overall, but when fees are applied, they’re very high.