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High charges for luggage and seat selection mean that Ryanair and other budget airlines may not have the cheapest tickets this summer.
When we compared the price of three April flights from London airports – to Malaga, Athens and Naples, Ryanair’s headline fare was cheaper than British Airways and Jet2 every time.
However, when we added a cabin bag and seat selection, British Airways was cheaper on two out of three routes. Jet2 was cheaper than Ryanair on the other route.
Ryanair has repeatedly introduced new extras and fees over the past few years. Its basic fare now only includes a backpack or handbag that fits under the seat in front of you, while parents must pay to sit next to children as young as three years old.
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On a return flight from London to Malaga Ryanair’s basic price was £36 cheaper than BA. But when we added a cabin bag to put in the overhead locker – and chose a seat with Ryanair – BA was £25 cheaper.
On a return flight from London to Athens Ryanair appeared to be £32 cheaper than Jet2 – but when we added a bag and a seat Jet2 was £29 cheaper than Ryanair.
Both British Airways and Jet2 allow you to take cabin luggage to put in the overhead locker for free. They also, usually seat travel companions together for free, so we didn’t add seat selection to those fares.
Wizz Air’s extras were even more expensive. Somebody browsing a flight comparison site for a trip to Athens or Naples at Easter might have thought Wizz was cheaper than its rivals.
However, just putting a bag in the overhead locker cost a startling £89 for each return trip. Seat selection was also the most expensive we found – £24 for a return booking. Wizz Air and Ryanair are much less likely to seat travel companions together, unless they pay.
It’s a reminder to travellers to always take so-called extras into account when you book a fight.
All flight dates were for the same weekends in April – booking in December – and coming back a week later. We picked destinations to which all five airlines flew to from London airports. For Ryanair and Wizz we paid for seat selection as they often separate passengers who don’t pay. For the other airlines over 90% of passengers are typically seated with travel companions without paying, so we didn’t add seat selection to those fares. The cheapest flight for each route is in yellow.
Budget airlines such as easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air may well be the cheapest if you’re just travelling with a bag that fits under your seat.
However, if you want to take enough luggage for a week’s holiday – and be confident that you’ll sit next to your children or travel companion without paying – other airlines can beat them for price.
British Airways’ early morning flights from Gatwick (all three we checked departed before 7am) can have low prices once you take into account its more generous luggage allowance.
When we asked thousands of travellers about their experience of flying, Jet2 – which also includes cabin baggage in the ticket – was the best short-haul carrier. Wizz Air was the worst.
The best airlines for short-haul and long-haul flights.
When we contacted Wizz Air for comment at the end of last year it accepted that its standards had fallen in summer 2022 but told us that it had invested significantly in customer service since then. It said: ‘Our customer satisfaction has improved significantly.’ It also said that the average price for cabin luggage is lower than on the three routes and dates we looked at.
Unfortunately British Airways flights had a very poor record for punctuality and cancellations when we checked last year.
BA cancelled 3.3% of its flights less than 24-hours before they were due to depart in the year up to September 2023.
Just as bad, 2.4% of its BA Euroflyer flights – which operate from Gatwick airport – were more than three hours late.
Which are the best and worst airlines for punctuality?
When we contacted BA at the end of last year it told us: ‘We always work hard to get our customers to where they need to be on time. . .Over the last year we experienced several factors outside of our control that had an adverse impact on our customers, such as adverse weather and Air Traffic Control industrial action.’
In our snapshot price comparisons, easyJet came out cheaper than Ryanair – despite the fact that it has copied its rival’s policy of making you pay for cabin luggage.
You can’t read too much into the results of just three price comparisons but our annual airlines survey results do show significant differences between the two carriers.
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