Really low cost flights? With extras the price also increases by 363%. The ranking of airlines
The initial price, the one you are attracted to, according to Altroconsumo, is much lower than what you will actually pay later
ROME – With the arrival of the first warm weather it is already time to think about summer holidays. And if you haven’t already done so, you will surely be tangled up in a thousand comparison sites trying to find the most attractive offer. This year too Altroconsumo has monitored the increases relating to ‘low cost‘ flights. The issue is not of little importance because not having clarity and transparency, right from the start, of how much you will pay for a plane ticket does not allow travelers to make comparisons in a simple way and, therefore, to look for the most convenient solution. What is certain is that the initial price, the one by which you are attracted, is much lower than what you will actually pay later, adding other extra services, often necessary and not so accessory< /strong>.
The consumer organization has therefore selected six return flights for each company considered when possible for a total of 58 flights (a return trip by Volotea was excluded from the analysis because it was operated by another company which applied conditions different from the low cost). The selected flights included departures from Milan and Rome for national and European tourist and holiday destinations (Athens, Lisbon, Prague, Palermo, Lampedusa etc.). The low-cost airlines evaluated were: easyJet, Ryanair, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air . The measurements were made in May 2024. For each route, a return flight was searched for at the cheapest possible price between 21 June and 7 July 2024. For each flight, the purchase process was followed until payment to detect the costs subject of the investigation, without then proceeding to purchase the ticket. The first result is that, on average, the prices of extra costs are a little higher than a year ago.
DI HOW MUCH DO TICKET PRICES INCREASE
Altroconsumo writes: “We simulated the case of a person who goes on holiday and who – in addition to the small bag included in the price – wants to bring with them a hand baggage such as a trolley and a hold baggage ; furthermore, as often happens, you want to choose your seat so as to travel next to the person you are going on holiday with. This table indicates the sum of the extra costs that had the least and greatest impact on the price of the ticket In the last line “Incidence” you will find how much these costs are worth compared to the initial price: if the initial price is 10 euros, for example, and the extra cost is 2, the incidence of the extra cost is 20%. In practice,the percentage indicates how much the price of the ticket has increased, once the three items for extra services have been added.
| EXTRA COSTS IN EUROS AND % INCIDENCE ON THE INITIAL PRICE (for one passenger and a single flight) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXTRA SERVICES | easyJet | Ryanair | Volotea | Vueling | < td colspan="2">Wizz Air||||||
| min | max | min | max | max td> | min | max | min | max | min | max |
| Standard seat selection | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 20 |
| Hand luggage (trolley type) | 29 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 27 | 48 | 52 | 30 | 31 | 38 | < /tr>
| Small hold baggage | 45 | 34 | 17 | 17 | < td>2634 | 82 | 40 | 57 | 33 | |
| Incidence | 81% | 303% | 108% | 262% | 41% | 183% | 121% | 322% | 61% | 363% |
The costs of additional services can therefore be equal to almost four times the initial ticket price, as in the worst case of Wizz Air. In this case the initial price of the Rome-Budapest flight one way was 24.99 euros, the final price was 115.69 euros: the spending increased by 363%, as we anticipated. Even for easyJet and Vueling, in our tests, the extra costs represent over 300% of the initially proposed cost: more than triple. Going into specifics, for easyJet, in the worst case scenario we went from an initial price for a Milan-Prague flight of 22.99 euros per a total price of 92.71 euros, 303% more. For Vueling we went for Rome-London from 22.99 euros to 96.99 euros: spending increased by 322% . Even for Ryanair the maximum costs of additional services are very significant: they are worth more than three times the initial price. We therefore went, for a Palermo-Milan flight, from an initial price of 14.99 euros to a final price, including the three added items, equal to 54.33 euros, spending increased by262%. The maximum impact of extra costs for Volotea is more limited, however equal to almost three times the cost of the ticket initially offered. For a flight Pantelleria-Milan we went from 51.39 euros to a final price of 145.39 euros, 183% more”.
WHAT ARE THE EXTRA COSTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES
Altroconsumo continues: “The initial cost of airline tickets does not include other items (besides hand baggage, hold baggage and seat selection); for example check-in at the airport, the amounts to be paid to get a refund if you can no longer leave, for the change to the flight > or the name change. And even the penalties for oversized hand luggage (i.e. larger and heavier than what is allowed by the company) are to be considered among the most insidious and high extra costs. Each company applies different rates for each item, and in some cases fixed and in many others variable depending on the flight: therefore they are not predictable expenses, unless the entire purchase process or unless you find yourself, for example, in the need to change the flight or the name of the passenger (in these cases, the conditions of various companies indicate a spending range, without giving the possibility of know for sure how much you could spend). And all this only makes it increasingly difficult to compare prices between multiple companies. However, we summarize in this table the minimum and maximum costs detected for each individual item because they can give you a useful idea of the figures, in view of your travels.
| EXTRA SERVICES | easyJet | Ryanair | Volotea | Vueling | Wizz Air | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| min | max | min | max | min | max | min | < th>maxmin | max | ||
| Standard seat selection | 8 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 20 |
| Choosing the most comfortable seat | 25 | 43 | 16 | 30 | 17 | 23 | 32< /td> | 69 | 12 | 28 |
| Large hand luggage (trolley type) | < td>2838 | 10 | 24 | 18 | 48 | 26 | 56 | 27 | 48 | |
| Small hold baggage | 29 | 45 | 15 | 21 | 26 | 34 | 32< /td> | 82 | 11 | 57 |
| Large hold baggage | 42< /td> | 58 | 20 | 43 | 33 | 57 | 33 | 86 | 50 | 92 |
| Check-in at the airport | ND * | 55 | 10 | 0 | 13 | |||||
| Maximum penalty for oversized hand baggage at the boarding gate | 58 | 70 | 65 | 75 | 55 | |||||
| Refund penalty for cancellation | 59 | No refund | No refund | 0*** | 60-80**** | Name change | 66 | 115-160 | 40- 50 | 50 | 60 |
| Change on the fly | 28-53 | 45-60 | 50-60 | 50-60 ***** | 40-50***** | |||||
The lines in gray refer to fixed costs envisaged by the contractual conditions of the individual companies (not variable based on the flight as in the other cases detected)
* check-in possible at the airport only if there are technical problems online
** with priority check-in and boarding
*** no penalty but the refund is a credit towards the purchase of another flight
**** within 14 days before departure
***** plus the difference in ticket price
The costs of each service change, even with the same company, depending on the flight we were saying and – in some cases – they change a lot, starting from more or less small figures but also reaching very high figures. Here’s a rundown of some of the more “noteworthy” extra costs, so you can avoid any nasty surprises.
- easyJet: the penalty for oversized hand luggage is 58 euros (per flight), so if you are afraid of going overboard, it is better to purchase extra baggage directly, even after purchasing the flight, but before departure. Changing the passenger’s name? It can cost almost 70 euros.
- Ryanair: very also in this case the penalty for oversized baggage upon boarding is high, which is 70 euros; for the choice of the most comfortable seat you can spend as much as 30 euros; the cost of check-in at the airport is also very high, 55 euros (in this case it is better to choose the “Plus” extra service package which includes choice of seat, 20 kg hold baggage and check-in -free at the airport). The change of the name to which the ticket is registered comes to a whopping 160 euros. Also be careful because Ryanair does not provide refunds for tickets that you are forced to cancel.
- < strong>Volotea: also in this case the penalty for oversized baggage at boarding is very expensive, which is 65 euros. To add a hand luggage from the hatbox, the price range is very variable, ranging from 18 euros to as much as 48 euros. As with Ryanair there are no refunds for canceled tickets if purchased with the standard fare.
- Vueling: the costs of Vueling’s extra services have the highest ranges of variation compared to other companies, to give just one example the cost for small hold luggage goes from 32 to 82 euros. The free airport check-in is good and there is no penalty in case of cancellation, even if the refund is made as a credit for the purchase of a new flight and not in euros.
- Wizz Air: also in this case, pay attention to the variability of costs, the choice of seat can reach as much as 28 euros and the cost for the small hold baggage at 57 euros, the large one at 92 euros”.
IS THE PACKAGE FOR THE EXTRA SERVICES WORTH IT?
The extra services, says Altrocunsumo, “can be purchased individually, or within packages which are offered immediately after selecting the flight (as a first option: skip it if you then want to proceed with the selection of single services without a package). Even the costs of the packages are not always the same, but vary according to the flight. However, we tried to understand if they are really worth it than purchasing individual extra services: in some cases they were actually cheaper, in others not. So, they can certainly save a little time, because you select everything together at the beginning, but it doesn’t mean that they guarantee even financial savings.
easyJet
Immediately after choosing your flights, packages are offered with combinations of additional services, such as an extra hand baggage and hold baggage, with the indication of the overall cost of the package per person per flight.
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Evaluating the convenience of these packages on one-way flights, we verified thatthe prices are aligned with those of individual servicescan be purchased, andin some cases you can even save.Purchase these packages, however, only if you are interested in all the services included, otherwise it is better to choose the standard rate and add only what is needed.
The lack of transparency on the cost of the flight package is criticisable, however return which is visible not immediately, but only in the screen following the selection of the package.
In this case we were able to evaluate the convenience of these packages on both the outward and return flights, because it is clearly indicated that it is the same cost for each flight.
TheRegularoffer with choice of seat, priority boarding and 10kg hand luggage, in addition to small luggage, isslightly more expensiveof the purchase of the seat and hand luggage, so if you only need these two services it is better to purchase them individually. If, however, you also need the priority boarding service, it is not possible to purchase it individually: you will necessarily have to purchase a package that includes it.
Volotea
For Volotea we were unable to carry out an analysis of the convenience of the service packages because, unlike other companies, to use them you also have to pay a fixed amount per year. ;(in addition to a variable part that changes depending on the flight): therefore the package is more or less convenient based on how much you travel with this company.
In in this case you can evaluate the convenience of these packages both on the outward and return flights, because the price indicated refers to the additional cost on all tickets.
The Fly offerwith the choice of seat and with 25 kg of checked baggage (adding 15 euros) in addition to the price of the package) was not convenient compared to purchasing individual services on any of the flights analysed. With theFly Grande package you purchase one large hand baggage, one 25kg hold baggage, the choice of seat, changes and cancellations and priority at the airport:respect It is convenient to purchase the same individual services, but you must always evaluate whether everything is really necessary.
Wizzair
The costs of the packages are indicated in a rather clear and transparent way.
The “All-in-one flexibility – Wizz Plus” and “Pack your bags and save – Wizz Go” offers they were convenient on all flights compared to the purchase of the individual services included in these packages. The “Fast Travel – Wizz Smart” offer on some flights, however, was more expensive< /strong> compared to the sum of the costs of the individual services included”.