The other day I went online and booked my wife and I on an Aer Lingus flight to Cork. The website gave the impression that you could fly there for a fiver. And you could if you chose one particular flight. If you don't, as the website eventually reveals, it is much more expensive.
In the end the return trip for the two of us, once taxes and a £10 per person per flight handling charge were included, cost £220.
Now I travel a lot, and know that the real cost will often be much greater than the advertised price on many of these offers. What irritates is what happened next. Foolishly, and without properly reading everything on screen, I opted to choose our seats.
That decision, which involved Aer Lingus in absolutely no effort whatsoever, cost me another £28.
I am not alone in feeling miffed about these `hidden' charges.
A survey by Which? Holiday revealed that 77 per cent of respondents think the cost of checking a bag into the hold, for example, should be included in the advertised price as it is with most of the big airlines like BA.
And almost as many thought fees to use the check in desk equally outrageous.
Now Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary has even talked about charging passengers an extra quid to use the loo.
All right we all know these headline prices are just a come on. And, of course, not everyone needs to check in a bag or buy the ludicrously expensive food they sell on board in a bid to make up the financial shortfall.
It is also fair to say that by slashing prices so dramatically, businesses like Ryanair and EasyJet have made worldwide travel much more accessible to thousands of people who couldn't otherwise afford it.
But trying to charge my mate Jack £240 as Ryanair did because the names on his kids' tickets were Ellie and Charlie not Eleanor and Charles as it said on their passport is unjustified profiteering.
And let's not forget some of these organisations are flouting EU law which says quite categorically that airlines must quote all non-optional taxes and charges in the advertised price. Not all do that and in most cases they get away with it.
One final word of warning - if you are booking online book with a credit card, otherwise if that organisation goes bust you are unlikely to have the protection you would get by booking with a travel agent or a major tour operator.
Our £7bn bill for the Lloyds legacy of failure
BURIED in the detail of the Lloyds Bank annual report the other day was information of particular interest to all of us taxpayers who bailed out this chronically mismanaged institution.
The good news is that since the revelations of the casino-like atmosphere that prevailed and that cataclysmic decision to merge with HBOS, there has been much stricter control of executive pay and bonuses.
The top brass froze their enormous salaries - (pay for abject failure in many cases) - and now any bonuses they receive are awarded only for long-term performance improvement.
All well and good until you look at the circumstances of people like chief executive Eric Daniels, the Quiet American as he is known in the city of London.
Observers far cleverer than me reckon that even though Mr Daniels's salary has been decreased to just over £1m a year, (including £60,000 for his children's private education) a share scheme means that he could, in three years' time, make an additional £3.9m on top of his salary.
If that is an example of the pay restraint that Gordon Brown and others called for, then I am King Kong.
Two other Lloyds directors , incidentally, have been offered a similar deal. And throughout the city it is predicted that bonuses this year will top £7bn.
Seven billion paid in part by taxpayers who helped keep this lot in work when they recklessly led the country to near economic ruin.
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The very thought of flying with any of these so called budget airlines fills me with dread .The aggresive stance taken by thier staff is akin to belligerance (often covered with the repetitive use of the word 'unfortunatly')of the highest degree and they leave you with a sense of foreboding and intimidation,should you disagree with any of thier policies.The carrot and stick approach used in most sales scenarios is replaced by the mask of deceit and the pick axe handle.The fact is that they have not been slow in exploiting their positions as this type of service as a limited lifespan and in time will fizzle out as quality returns.
And there is the airline that charges you £40 each to sit next to your partner on a flight...
Everyone calls these charges “Hidden” but when you get to the end of the booking form it gives you the final price you pay so if you don’t want to pay it you can stop right there.
And as for the name change it is up to the person making the booking to get the correct names on the tickets (i.e. the names that appear on the passport).
Oh! good heavens,you must realise that it is impossible to fly U.K/ Ireland for a fiver,what planet does John Stapleton live on?
Every one knows that there is tax on the tickets for a start.Each item of luggage in the hold requires a handler and will cost extra fuel. OK the cost of booking your seat is a rip off,but the flight will only be an hour it doesnot matter where you sit,you will not loose your wife unless she gets off somewhere!
As far as Llloyds/HBOS goes every one knows about them why is John Singleton jumping on a bandwaggon that's already left the station?
after the two experiences of these so called cheap airlines i'll never use them again.
Dont forget the hidden charge with baggage allowance for your one piece of carry on..size does matter...BA's carry on is 56cm x 45cm x 25cm,whereas other carriers stipulate 55cm x 40cm x 20cm.
I agree with Dennis is the law - I am flying on a Thomson flight (charter flight) next week and its ridiculous that you are expected to pay an extra £40 per person to guarantee sitting next to your husband - its robbery! I refuse, and just insist on seats together at check-in - it works just as well and saves me £80.00.
Having used both budget airlines and “Normal” airlines I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with either.
All my dealings with budget airline staff have always been ok and I put that down to my philosophy of treat people how you yourself would want to be treated, if you antagonize people they will do as little as possible to help you.
The main problems arises when people treat budget airlines like a bus service and turn up about 10 minutes before takeoff and then expect to get on.
I do agree that some budget airlines seem to be putting on charges just for the fun of it, but my rule now is only take what you can carry in one small suitcase and then you can take it in the cabin.
I've flown on budget airlines several times. I'd avoid it if at all possible - mainly because you get naive people like John Stapleton moaning that the advert said the flight was a pound and they finished up paying £100.
I would personally worry if they genuinely charged £1. How would they ever be able to afford to service the plane?
Surely nobody can REALLY be stupid enough enough to put their childrens' names down differently than they appear on their passport. Charles/Charlie Eleaner/Ellie, these are completely different names to any computerised security system. The names have got to be correct letter for letter or you know you're going to get an admin charge. Surely the middle class muppet realised that?
I, like you, booked a reduced cost flight for myself and husband with BMI Baby - £17.08 per person return trip to Jersey from Manchester. Add to this taxes and charges, seat reservations (I'm a nervous passenger), baggage which means I have to pay for airport check-in. Then came the greatest shock £14 credit card fee unless I had a BMI credit card!!!! The total cost of of these reduced cost flights amounts to £181.46 which is still cheaper than any other flight to Jersey in July but I do think the credit card fee is excessive. What do you think? Patti, Stockport
As I do have a special character in part of my name, this is never printed on any airline ticket. So far no airline charged me because the name in my passport is not identical with the name of the ticket. 240 £ sounds like a lot to me.
As far as the advertised prices go, then it has to be acheiveable. If they say flights for a fiver, then that has to include any non-optional charges. If not, report them to the ASA - I know they have adjudicated on Ryanair in the past, along with the other airlines. If they cannot prove at least 10% of seats are available for the price quoted, then they will be found against. Of course, the 'extra' charges are a rip-off, but it Is possible to avoid them if you read the conditions carefully.
Well said, the Stape. £240 is far too much touppee.