Lois Avery, Confused.com reporter reveals the latest charges the not-so-budget airlines are trying to push on passengers at check-in.
Budget airlines have bagged themselves a reputation for cashing in on their customers over the years, charging for anything and everything.
From online check-in, to card payments and even suggestions by Ryanair that it was about to charge customers to use its aircraft’s toilets, certain low-cost carriers are reasonably cheap but not so cheerful.
So when you fly long-haul or you’ve paid a hefty sum for a flight overseas you expect to be treated differently.
You expect to be fed, have free films, free drinks, including alcohol. And you certainly expect to have a seat allocated to avoid the mad scramble and long queues often seen at the Easyjet and Ryanair desks.
But it seems that even the longer-established airlines are now adopting the no-frills approach.
I recently flew with Air Canada across the Atlantic and this is what happened:
On the return flight I was told that my boyfriend and I could not sit together because the flight was all booked up. Fair enough you might say if we’d arrived half an hour before departure. We all know the best seats go early, if you want extra leg room, you used to make sure you’re at the front of the check-in queue. But this is no longer the case.
We were first in the check-in queue thanks to an early transfer and expected to have our pick of the seats but were told that the flight (a connecting flight not due for take-off for nearly seven hours) was full, so we’d have to sit apart. Full? How was it possible that a Boeing 777 with a passenger capacity of more than 350 was full seven hours before take off?
The Air Canada staff member couldn’t fathom the answers, so I’m not sure how we were supposed to.
The only thing I can assume is that a huge proportion of the passengers due to take our flight had pre-booked their seats online, something you can now do on long-haul, up to 24 hours beforehand to skip the first come, first served check-in queue system.
Had I known this, I’d have done the same and avoided hanging about in a queue only to end up sitting alone for eight hours. But what I really resent is paying £600 for a flight and then having to pay for the privilege of sitting next to my travel companion on top. We weren’t even offered this at the time of booking but i've since discovered that, in order to book what Air Canada call ‘preferred seats’ so legroom etc, it would have cost an additional $75 Canadian dollars each. But we could have pre-booked our seats online for free up to 24 hours before take-off, but we didn’t know this was an option on long-haul.
It looks like even the better respected airlines might be heading for the Ryanair-style scramble when it comes to checking-in, which is a shame for the air travel industry.
So, to avoid sitting alone I recommend checking the website of the airline you’re travelling with a day or two before to try and check in online. That way you can pre-select your seat, but be warned, extras may cost you.
Recent Comments