Passengers can save up to €60 by avoiding airline’s extra charges
Fees for priority boarding, checking in a bag, airport check-in, Ryanair insurance and certain credit card fees will add an extra €57.50 onto a bill for a return flight.
These extra charges are aside from the compulsory taxes and charges that every passenger must pay on top of their base fare.
The total cost of checking one piece of luggage for a return flight is €20.
If a person checks in a bag weighing no more than 15kg then they must also book airport check-in, which costs €10.
Ryanair also charges €10 for booking priority boarding.
Opting for Ryanair’s insurance adds a further €7.50 to the bill. Insurance is automatically added to each bill unless it is taken off by picking “no insurance required”.
Ryanair also places a surcharge on all credit and debit cards except visa electron, which is a debit product that draws funds directly from a bank account.
Visa Electron is not widely available in Ireland but according to Visa there are some Visa Electron cards here, issued by MBNA.
“These are prepaid cards. There are no other banks issuing Visa Electron because they have not decided to issue them. Visa does not issue cards, the banks do,” said a Visa spokeswoman.
All of the above savings can be made on an initial Ryanair booking done online. If a person decides to add these extras on or at the airport they can expect many of the charges to surge.
For example, if checked baggage fees are paid either at the airport or through a Ryanair call-centre, a person will pay €40 for the bag for a return journey.
To avoid all of the extra charges a person can book online check-in and opt to carry a bag on board.
Ryanair passengers are permitted to bring a bag weighting 10kg or less on board.
Ryanair spokesman, Stephen McNamara said people should build their flight to their needs.
“We would encourage people to pack sensibly and try and get everything into your hand luggage. Do online check-in and you don’t have to have priority board but if you want it then you can pay for it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ryanair said that due to the time it is taking to update its website it has been unable to display the tax inclusive fare box on the initial booking page on its website since the end of last month.
It said it is working with its suppliers to resolve the problems adding that it hopes to restore the tax, fees and charges inclusive display shortly.
Last year European legislators insisted that airlines must include all taxes and other charges in their advertising.
Under new rules, agreed by the European Parliament, the full cost of the flight must be advertised, and security charges identified clearly.
