Airlines are catching passengers out with pricey add-ons – and some people are trying sneaky tricks to avoid them | The Sun

THE act of booking a flight used to simply involve picking a destination, which dates you want to fly and which class you want to sit in.

However, extra costs and options have made things much more difficult now, with so many choices designed to increase the cost of your flights.

Airlines will offer people the chance to pay for things like extra luggage, which seat they want to sit in and in some cases, the chance to have no one sitting next to them.

All of these additional selections, or "ancillary extras" as they're known, can be very costly, depending on which ones you choose – and it can also make booking a flight quite a complicated process.

Research published this month by the Telegraph revealed that passengers can pay as many as 32 different prices for the same Ryanair flight. 

However, it works in the airline's favours, with the extras costing more than the initial cost of the flights in some instances.

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John Grant, from air travel analyst OAG, told the Telegraph: “It has undoubtedly proven to be a very lucrative form of revenue generation.

“Some low-cost airlines are now generating more revenue per passenger from ‘ancillary revenues’ than the actual airfare.” 

These extras mean that passengers can end up paying almost the same on budget airlines as they do on pricier carriers like British Airways.

Research published by This is Money showed that flight extras can sometimes triple the cost of the initial flight ticket – making them roughly the same price as flying with a more expensive airline.

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They wrote: "Extras such as ‘speedy boarding’, cabin bags, hold luggage and meals can inflate the price of a budget flight. 

"All these add-ons may cost you triple the advertised fare. And if you forget to print your boarding pass, it can cost £40."

As part of their research, they showed how an easyJet flight from London to Paris went from £57.99 to as much as £151.96 when add-ons like checked luggage and seat selection were chosen.

The same route with British Airways cost £167.88, with all of those add-ons already included in the price.

While that flight is still a bit more expensive, some will pay the extra for the simplicity of knowing exactly what they're getting and for how much when booking, rather than having to select their extras.

It's therefore up to budget airline passengers to try and keep costs down when booking their flights, by not selecting too many add-ons, if any.

Bringing your own food, instead of paying for a meal on the plane, is one way to do that – with snacks permitted within hand luggage.

Only flying with carry-on is another way to eliminate costs too, as is not paying for a seat – as long as you can handle being away from family or friends for the duration of the journey.

However, some people try to get the add-ons, without having to pay for them, with sneaky tactics.

Plenty of people have filmed themselves on Tiktok sneaking extra hand luggage onto a plane inside a pillow, which most airlines allow as part of a passenger's carry-on.

However, some people get caught out and just end up having to pay the fees at the airport.

That happened to one woman recently, who tried to wear six kilos of clothing on a plane, instead of packing it in her suitcase.

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Meanwhile, this Ryanair flight attendant revealed the hilarious truth about Tiktok hand luggage hacks

And this is the perfect bag to use for hand luggage.

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