{"id":1923,"date":"2025-12-11T14:30:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=1923"},"modified":"2025-12-11T14:30:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:30:05","slug":"budget-airlines-called-out-by-watchdog-over-cabin-bag-pricing-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=1923","title":{"rendered":"Budget airlines \u2018called out\u2019 by watchdog over cabin bag pricing tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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You think you\u2019re adding a cheap\u00a0cabin bag<\/a>\u00a0to your equally cheap flight, only to watch the final total shoot up. Suddenly, it\u2019s not quite the low-cost trip you had planned.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever been in this situation, you\u2019re officially not alone.<\/p>\n

Following an extensive study, Which? has now claimed budget airlines like\u00a0easyJet<\/a>,\u00a0Ryanair<\/a>, and\u00a0Wizz Air<\/a>, have all been a little creative with their luggage pricing \u2014\u00a0and that the carriers \u2018deserve to be called out\u2019 over it.<\/p>\n

In fact, the consumer watchdog has handed its findings to the Advertising Standards Authority for examination.<\/p>\n

After analysing the cabin\u00a0bag costs charged by the three\u00a0airlines<\/a>, it found their lowest advertised rates were\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0available in the vast majority of cases.<\/p>\n

The investigation checked the cost of traelling with a bag designed to fit in an overhead locker on a total of nearly 1,500 easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air flights, spread over eight popular routes for each airline, including peak and off-peak dates.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how each airline fared\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

easyJet cabin bags<\/h2>\n

easyJet\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0website states it charges \u2018from \u00a35.99\u2019 for a\u00a0cabin\u00a0bag, but Which? researchers were unable to find a price that low among the 520 flights it checked.<\/p>\n

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In fact, the cheapest option found was \u00a323.49, while the average was \u00a330, marking a whole \u00a317.50 difference between the lowest price and the one customers are typically charged.<\/p>\n

You could get nearly three cooked breakfasts at LEON in\u00a0Heathrow Airport<\/a>\u00a0with that.<\/p>\n

In response to the study, a spokesperson for easyJet said its bag options and pricing are \u2018transparent and well understood by our customers\u2019 and the airline allows passengers to \u2018pay for only what they want\u2019.<\/p>\n

Ryanair cabin bags<\/h2>\n

When it came to\u00a0Ryanair<\/a>, the consumer watchdog found its lowest advertised\u00a0cabin\u00a0bag rate of \u00a312 was only available for two out of 634 flights.<\/p>\n

The average cost of a cabin bag with the Irish airline was \u00a320.50, which \u00a37.50 more than its cheapest price.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the cost of your Costa hot drink to wake you up before your flight.<\/p>\n

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Ryanair said in a statement the number of flights analysed was \u2018too small to be representative or accurate\u2019, adding its\u00a0cabin\u00a0bag prices are \u2018transparent and optional\u2019.<\/p>\n

In August, the airline said it planned to raise bonuses for staff who spot passengers attempting to take oversized bags on flights, from \u20ac1.50 (\u00a31.31) to \u20ac2.50 (\u00a32.18) per bag.<\/p>\n

At the time, chief executive Michael O\u2019Leary said he made \u2018absolutely no apology\u2019 for catching people \u2018scamming the system\u2019.<\/p>\n

Wizz Air<\/h2>\n

Lastly,\u00a0Wizz Air\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0lowest stated\u00a0cabin\u00a0bag price at the time of the research was \u20ac15 (\u00a313.11), but again, that cost was only found twice across theflights in Which?\u2019s study.<\/p>\n

Across 338 fares, the average cost of adding a cabin bag was \u00a328.93 \u2013 that\u2019s \u00a315.82 more expensive than the lowest advertised price.<\/p>\n

A Wizz Air spokesperson said its prices \u2018vary by route, season and demand\u2019, and insisted it is \u2018fully compliant with consumer protection laws\u2019.<\/p>\n

What does Which? think of this \u2018failure\u2019?<\/h2>\n

The consumer watchdog said travelling with a bag that can fit in the overhead lockers is \u2018likely to be considered an essential by many passengers\u2019.<\/p>\n

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It claimed airlines\u2019 \u2018failure to provide transparent fees\u2019 means consumers \u2018don\u2019t know what they are paying\u2019 until they have gone through multiple stages of the booking process.<\/p>\n

Rory Boland, editor of Which?\u00a0Travel<\/a>, said: \u2018Our research shows that the tens of millions of passengers who need to take a\u00a0cabin\u00a0bag will pay much more than the cheapest price advertised.<\/p>\n

\u2018Rather than a few pounds, prices for bags can often be more than the flight itself. The tactics used by these airlines deserve to be called out.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s why we have shared our findings with the regulator.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  You think you\u2019re adding a cheap\u00a0cabin bag\u00a0to your equally cheap flight, only to watch the final total shoot up. Suddenly, it\u2019s not quite the low-cost trip you had planned. If you\u2019ve ever been in this situation, you\u2019re officially not alone. Following an extensive study, Which? has now claimed budget airlines like\u00a0easyJet,\u00a0Ryanair, and\u00a0Wizz Air, have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t