Altroconsumo monitored the increases relating to the flights of five ‘low cost’ airlines, noting that when the extra costs for trolleys, hold baggage and seat selection are added to the initial prices, they can increase the price by up to 363%. Altroconsumo has in fact selected six return flights for each company considered (easyJet, Ryanair, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air) when possible (for a total of 58 flights), with departures from Milan and Rome for national and international tourist and holiday destinations Europeans.
The costs of the most common additional services can be equal to almost four times the initial price of the ticket, as in the worst case of Wizz Air, where the initial price of the flight was 24.99 euros, the final price of 115.69 euros, with a 363% increase in spending. Even for easyJet and Vueling, the extra costs represent over 300% of the initially proposed cost. As far as Ryanair is concerned, the maximum costs of additional services are very substantial: they are worth more than three times the initial price, going from 14.99 euros to a final price, including the three added items, equal to 54.33 euros, the expense it therefore increased by 262%. The maximum impact of extra costs for Volotea is more limited, however equal to almost three times the cost of the ticket initially proposed (from 51.39 euros to a final price of 145.39 euros, 183% more).
Compared to the Altroconsumo survey last year (even on different flights), the maximum increase detected is lower: in 2023 it was 465%, this year 363%. This reduction can be explained by the fact that, this year, the initial flight prices were higher than those found last year and therefore, for this reason, the weight of the extra costs has been reduced. The survey also shows that the costs for hold baggage are those which have undergone the most significant increase and that for fixed costs, however, among the notable increases are those for oversized hand baggage: for example for example, for Vueling the maximum penalty went from 35 euros to 75 euros and Wizz Air from 25 to 55 euros, more than double in both cases. Altroconsumo announces its intention to intervene in this situation to protect the right of consumers to travel with hand luggage, without additional costs.
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