Which?: Cabin bag and seat selection fees that can quadruple cost of flights must be included in crackdown on sneaky ‘drip pricing’

Which? is calling for the government to ensure that airline fees - including for seat selection and luggage - are included in laws cracking down on sneaky ‘drip pricing' tactics that can increase the cost of a flight by hundreds of pounds.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) is due to come into effect in April 2025, and should put an end to drip pricing (charges that are added or 'dripped' onto the advertised price). But it is unclear whether add-on charges beyond unavoidable booking or transaction fees will be regarded as covered.

For many passengers, paying for cabin bags or seat selection is essential, but these extra charges are often not included in the headline price, making it difficult to compare the true cost of flying with different airlines. Which? research found these add-ons could increase the price of a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Lyon from £29 to £124 per person, while prices on some routes with Ryanair and easyJet more than doubled.

Which? is calling for the government and regulators to make it clear that the price of any extra fees or add ons are shown to consumers upfront at the start of the booking process so they can easily compare the real price of their flights.

The consumer champion is also calling for a ban on charging parents to sit next to their children on flights. Ryanair currently forces parents travelling with under 12s to pay for a seat next to their children, costing £8 when Which? checked - though Ryanair says prices start from €4. Other airlines do not always guarantee that parents can sit with children, which may prompt travellers to pay to ensure their family can be together.

The Competition and Markets Authority, which is tasked with drawing up the government guidance relating to the new legislation, can help make sure this practice is eradicated. Other countries have taken steps towards explicitly prohibiting airlines from imposing additional costs for booking seats next to children under 12.

When Which? carried out a snapshot analysis of 15 ‘ultra-low cost' flights with budget carriers easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air, it found that in some cases a flight would cost four times more than the headline fare once fees for seat selection and a cabin bag were added - potentially adding hundreds of pounds to a booking for a family. Prices for hold luggage would likely be even more substantial. 

Of the three airlines Which? looked at, it found Wizz Air charged the most for extras on average. 

For example, a return flight from London Luton to Lyon in France with Wizz Air was listed with a headline fare of just £29 per person. But choosing the airline's ‘Wizz Smart' fare, which includes a 10kg cabin bag, standard seat section and priority boarding, sent the price soaring to £124 per person - over four times as much (an increase of 328%). Looking at the final price, 77 per cent is made up by additional fees. 

Similarly, a Wizz Air flight from London Gatwick to Milan was quoted as £40, but the added extras meant the price soared by 217.5 per cent, to £127, meaning additional fees accounted for 69 per cent of the final price. Likewise a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Grenoble that also had a headline fare of £40 more than doubled (an increase of 142%) to £97 once extras were added, with extra fees accounting for 59 per cent of the final fare.

With Ryanair, around half of the final fare was usually made up of additional fees in the examples checked by Which?. 

For example, a Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Nantes was listed with a headline fare of £33, but selecting its ‘Regular' fare, which adds seat selection and a cabin bag, along with priority boarding, more than doubled the price to £84 (a rise of 155%). 62 per cent of the final fare was made up of additional fees.

Similarly, a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Belfast was a bargain £30, until adding seat selection and a cabin bag via its Standard fare more than doubled the price to £71 (a rise of 137%). In this case, 66 per cent of the final price was made up of extras.

It was a similar picture with easyJet. A flight from London Luton to Malaga was priced at just £41, but adding seat selection, a cabin bag and priority boarding saw the price more than double (a rise of 171%) to £111 - meaning 63 per cent of the final fare was dripped fees. In another example, a flight from Birmingham to Belfast went from £46 to £114 once these extras were added, an increase of 213 per cent. Overall, extras made up 60 per cent of the final price.

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy said:

“Sneaky dripped fees can hugely change the final price people pay for goods and services and this is particularly true with flights, where the difference between the advertised price and the final fare can easily reach hundreds of pounds for a family. 

“Which? is calling on the government to ensure that additional fees for add-ons like seat selection and luggage are made clear at the very start of the booking process, to ensure travellers can easily compare the final price they'll pay with different airlines. Unfair charges for parents to sit with children on flights should also be banned.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

• The protections against unfair trading in the DMCC Act mean that not including the total price in an invitation to purchase a product is prohibited by law. Section 230(4) of the DMCC Act states that the total price includes ‘any fees, taxes, charges, or other payments that the consumer will necessarily incur if the consumer purchases the product'.
  
  

• For flights leaving a UK airport, specific air services regulations (Regulation (EC) 1008/2008) require that air fares offered to consumers should include all charges and fees that are unavoidable and foreseeable.
  
  

• In July 2024 Which? searched for budget flights departing the UK for European destinations with easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air, comparing the headline price against the final price once seat selection, a cabin bag and priority boarding were added.
  
  For Wizz Air it used the airline's ‘WIZZ Smart' option, as this was the cheapest way to add a bag and seat selection when checked, and for Ryanair it selected the ‘Regular' fare - both of which provide standard seat selection and priority boarding, and allow you to take a trolley bag to put in the overhead locker. For easyJet, Which? checked the basic price and then added standard seat selection, cabin luggage and priority boarding. (easyJet's Standard Plus tickets have slightly different offerings than the other two airlines, making them less directly comparable).

• In the past, price analysis by Which? has found that airlines like British Airways and Which? Recommended Provider Jet2, which includes the price of a cabin bag in the headline fare, may be better value than airlines that charge an additional fee.

• Previous Which? research has also shown that almost 90% of people in its airlines survey who booked together were seated together automatically on easyJet. With Ryanair the figure was 62% and Wizz Air it was 54% - meaning people may be more likely to want to pay to guarantee sitting together.

• Rules around paying to sit with children on airlines can often be unclear. While some airlines, like Ryanair, charge a fee, others say they will do their best to seat families together. Even then, airlines rarely guarantee the adjacent seat, instead suggesting children can be up to an arm's length away or in an adjacent row.

• In August this year, Ryanair lost an appeal against Italy's ban on airlines charging extra fees for seat reservations when travellers need to sit with children aged 12 and under, or people with disabilities. The Italian Council of State reiterated that proximity between minors or disabled people and their companions falls within safety obligations, and cannot be considered an extra paid service. The US has proposed similar rules.

Right of Replies:

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “As an ultra-low-cost carrier, we allow passengers to choose which services they wish to purchase so we can offer the most affordable travel opportunities in the entire industry. Optional add-ons are not required to fly, and we believe that customers should be offered the choice and flexibility to choose the right products.

“The cost of our fares and optional add-ons are dynamic and are based on multiple factors including seasonality, demand and supply of certain routes and destinations, which this research fails to consider. It also fails to compare like-for-like routes between the airlines to help travellers make an informed decision. 

“Our fares start from £12.99, seat selection can also be added from as little as £4.00, and 10kg of checked baggage starts from £8.00. Many of our regular customers choose to fly without optional add-ons, saving money every time they travel.

“To get the very best prices, passengers should always book directly with Wizz Air as Online Travel Agents will charge additional fees.”

An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet customers only pay for the ancillary products they want so we aim to provide customers with choice and this enables us to keep fares low.  Around a third of easyJet's customers choose to only pay for the fare and free under seat bag without adding any extras at all and our algorithm will always aim to sit families together. 

“Nearly 90 million passengers will choose to fly with easyJet this year and 50% of our passengers pay fares on average less than £50 so there is no doubt customers receive very good value for money.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This is more fake news from Which. The price of Ryanair's seat selection starts from €4, not the £8 price wrongly quoted by Which. We don't charge “parents” to sit with children. Rather the child seats are provided free of charge when they sit beside one parent, who must reserve a seat for a fee of €4.”