The top five airline rip-offs - Video script

by Rachel Wait on 19 April 2010  |  12 comments
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Rachel Robson highlights five of the worst airline rip-offs to watch out for...

If you’re planning to jet off on holiday any time soon, I’m going to highlight five top airline rip-offs you need to watch out for.

Check-in charges

Some budget airlines, such as Ryanair, have the audacity to charge you a fee just for checking in! Ryanair charges ten pounds per return flight to check-in online. So make sure you factor this in when you’re shopping around for flights.

Baggage fees

As well as being charged to check yourself in, you may be charged to check-in your luggage. Easyjet, for example, charges eighteen pounds per bag per return flight.

Ryanair is even worse, charging thirty pounds per return flight for baggage, although this will rise to forty pounds return in the summer holidays!

Card charges

You should also be careful how you pay for your flights. With Ryanair, unless you have a Mastercard prepaid debit card, you will be charged a fee of five pounds per person when you go to pay.

And easyJet charges a three pounds fifty booking fee unless you have a Visa electron card. Bookings made by Visa Credit Card, MasterCard or American Express will incur an additional fee of 2.5 percent of the total transaction value.

Airline food

Another big rip-off is airline food. Budget airlines often charge ridiculous sums of money for their food and drink. So if you’re going to need food on your flight, make sure you stock up at the supermarket beforehand. That said, remember you won’t be able to bring any liquids through security.

Toilet fees

Finally, Ryanair is now taking its charges to ridiculous levels with plans to ask customers to pay for the toilet. If the plans go ahead, all onboard toilets will become coin-operated, so you’ll have to fork out one pound every time you want to go!

So whatever you do, make sure you do your research so you can try to avoid these massive rip-offs as much as possible!