18 April 2023 , 12:49
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Passengers face forking out up to £220 on top of their plane tickets in hidden fees.
As seasoned holiday pros know, it is not always the wisest financial move to opt for a destination purely based on cheap flights.
Getting from the UK to the likes of Majorca in Spain or the Algarve in Portugal can be cheap due to how well the routes are serviced, but hotels, food and drink can be pricier than other, less popular destinations.
Sometimes it is also better to avoid travelling with certain airlines even if the ticket seems to be cheap on the face of it.
TradingPedia compared seven airlines that fly to and from the UK to Spain, Portugal and other European destinations to see what the total flight costs were once extras were added.
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EasyJet fees can stretch to £183 (Bloomberg via Getty Images)The additional fees per airline ranged from £66 to £220.
Analysts looked at average fares marketed as value, budget or standard flying mid-week in July to European cities including Rome, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Nice.
At the top of the list with the biggest additional fee potential is Ryanair, according to TradingPedia.
The airline charges £31 for checked baggage, £18 for an extra carry-on bag, £15.50 to choose a seat, £55 for airport check-in and £100 for as a rescue fee.
A rescue fee is charged if you miss your flight but arrive at the airport not later than a certain amount of time after it was due to depart.
If everything goes wrong and you fail to plan ahead, you could be forking out £220 extra on top of your plane ticket price.
Airlines with the highest hidden fees
(Checked baggage, carry-on baggage, seat selection, online booking, airport check-in and rescue fee)
Ryanair: (£31, £18, £15.50, £0, £55, £100) total - £220
Vueling: (£41.50, £38.30, £16.10, £0, £0, £115.30) total - £211
Wizz Air: (£57.40, £0, £29.30, £9.80, £24.30, £73) total - £194
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EasyJet: (£31.50, £17.50, £24, £0, £0, £110) total - £183
British Airways: (£50, £0, £20, £0, £0, £0) total - £70
Norwegian Air: (£27.90, £12, £27.90, £0, £0, £0) total - £68
Jet2: (£31, £0, £20, £0, £15, £0) total - £66
Vueling had the second highest additional fees (PA)Michael Fisher from TradingPedia said: "The report includes information about fees charged by seven airlines, of British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Norwegian, Ryanair, Vueling, and Wizz Air.
"To be fair, fees are not exactly hidden on the websites of the airlines – they are fully disclosed on each screen while you are making an online booking.
"However, they are not added to the final cost of the fare in advertisements and special offers, and do not become clear until the actual process of booking the flight is completed."
TradingPedia warned that in some cases, passengers had no choice but to purchase "optional" services.
These include WizzAir having a group booking administration fee of £4.50, while easyJet charge £15 per person.
Anyone flying with an infant under the age of two doesn't need to buy a ticket but there is a variable mandatory fee across airlines.
Wizz Air charges £28.50, while easyJet and Ryanair add £25 and Jet2 charges £20. Norwegian, on the other hand, offers infant fares, which are around £20 to £30.
Vueling also has an infant fee, ranging from £13.82 to £142.91, depending on the adult’s fare, the destination and the date of the flight.