Airlines charging passengers to ‘guarantee’ their hand luggage won’t get put in the hold
Jet2 have brought in a fee for passengers to ensure they can keep their carry-on bags in the cabin with them during flights
A GROWING list of airlines are charging passengers to guarantee they are allowed to keep their hand luggage in the aircraft cabin with them.
Jet2 have brought in a fee – starting at £2.59 per bag each way – which passengers can opt to pay to ensure they are not asked to place their carry-on bags in the hold.
During the booking process, customers are told: “On busy flights, we may need to ask you to put your 10kg hand luggage in the hold if we’ve run out of space in the cabin.
“If you want to be certain of keeping your hand baggage with you, simply add guaranteed cabin luggage now.”
Several airlines including Jet2 and budget rivals Ryanair reserve the right to order customers to hand over their hand baggage for storage with larger items in cases where the cabin is too full.
Ryanair does not charge passengers for luggage.
But the airline does allow customers to pay extra to board the plane first, meaning they avoid the risk of having to stow their hand luggage below if the overhead baggage compartments are full.
Consumer groups have slammed the companies for trying to cash in by introducing charges to forgo the risk.
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Guy Anker, from finance website Moneysavingexpert.com, told the : “Gone are the days when passengers pay the headline price for a flight.
“I think people will be quite rightly annoyed by this.
“Especially because you are doing it yourself – you are carrying the bag on to the plane yourself.”
A spokesperson from Jet2 said: “With Jet2.com customers can take an industry-leading 10kg of hand luggage on board with them, free of charge.
“On busier flights, it can occasionally be necessary for some hand luggage to be placed in the aircraft hold.
“However, customers that wish to guarantee their baggage on board can pay a small fee to do so.”
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Unlike other airlines, Ryanair does not charge for cabin bags and our customers enjoy one of the most generous cabin bag rules in Europe and may bring one free 10kg cabin bag and one free smaller bag on board.
“Due to overhead locker cabin space limitations, only 90 normal cabin bags (55 x 40 x 20cms) can be carried in the cabin and any remaining normal cabin bags are carried FREE of charge in the aircraft hold, while all second smaller bags can be brought on board.”
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