A recent report by Holiday Which? has revealed that passengers are being charged for extra costs for their flight - above and beyond the figures advertised. A recent ruling by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said that all compulsory taxes and charges should be included in advertised prices.

OFT said [quote] "If these costs are genuinely optional then we would not generally object to them being displayed separately, provided they are clear to consumers".

Passengers are often forced to pay out up to £28 a ticket in excess of the advertised prices.

The biggest offender was Ryanair which may advertise a price for a flight, but to get on the plane you need to pay £20 to check-in a bag to the hold and £4 to use the check-in desk.

bmibaby and Monarch Airlines both charge £20 for handluggage only passengers and easyJet charge £10.

The numerous options on top of the ticket such as priority boarding passes (£15 with easyJet and £4 with Ryanair) and even credit card fees of up to £4.90 per transaction boost the overall cost that passengers have to pay.

Companies with a high turnover on credit cards - such as airlines - are typically charged 1-2% for handling each credit card. The close to £5 per transaction for most budget flights is way in excessive of the actual charge for the transaction.

Lorna Cowan, editor of Holiday Which?, said [quote] "We’re disappointed to see the major budget airlines are introducing charges for services that were once included in the full cost of the ticket. "

Holiday Which? stated in their report that they would like airlines to halt all the extra charges. After all, if you are flying abroad for a week, who would fly without having to put a bag in the hold so why should they have to pay extra for it?

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