Cheap flights: how the add-ons add up. Just a bag and the credit card fee can be £82. We look at the real cost of budget flights (The Guardian -UK)

May 12, 2012

Holidaymakers travelling to Europe this summer on budget airlines face soaring fees for taking just a single bag on the plane – and staggering costs if they have to make any changes to their tickets or discover at the airport that their bag weighs too much.

Ryanair‘s new “high season” rate of £70 return for a 20kg bag to go into the hold comes into force in June and lasts to October, with an £80 charge if you’re heading to the Canaries, Greece or Cyprus.

If you don’t book online, but turn up at the airport with your bag, the fee rises to a staggering £130 one way.

Meanwhile, passengers on easyJet this summer face a charge of up to £32 for a 20kg suitcase on a return flight, up from £28 last summer, while Aer Lingus has hiked its bag charge from £24 to £36 return.

Read complete article in TheGuardian.co.uk