The baggage conundrum:It's a chilly January and you're booking flights for the family hols in July.
How many bags to bring? Register too few and you'll be hit for double charges at the airport, but register too many and you're wasting your money. Baggage charges for a family of two adults and two children, each with two bags registered online, cost €80 return with Aer Lingus (€128 if checked in at the airport) and 96 with Ryanair (192).
More baggage
Travelling economy on British Airways? Well, make sure you pack well. Economy travellers in Europe are allowed to check in just one bag.
Yet more baggage
So, you're travelling light on Ryanair and you've only hand baggage. You click "0 bags" and move on. Later, you print your receipt and find you've been charged 6 for "priority boarding". You go back to the website and only now do you discover the small sign on the left of the screen explaining how you can avoid this unwanted charge.
Insurance
Another default issue on the Ryanair website here: you'll be charged at least 14 for travel insurance you may already have unless you scroll right to the end of the list of companies to select "no insurance required".
Hidden charges
Ryanair charges a typical passenger travelling from Dublin to London 22.74 in "taxes, fees & charges". Passengers have to click on an internet "details" box to find that 5.79 is made up of insurance and a wheelchair charge. The remaining 16.95 is a "PSC", with no explanation of what a PSC is.
The company says the PSC is a passenger service charge, made up of payments which must be made to Dublin Airport Authority for the use of the airport and the Irish Aviation Authority for the use of air traffic control. While most companies include costs in their product prices, Ryanair isn't like most companies. And the charges are strictly "non-refundable" so even if you don't fly you can't have the third-party costs back.
But at least Ryanair provides some information; Aer Lingus aggregates "tax and charges" on a return flight and provides no breakdown.
Seating charges
Aer Lingus is now charging for seat selection - from €3 for an ordinary seat to €15 for an exit-row seat - while Ryanair charges 3 for priority boarding. The airlines say the charges are optional - but are they really, if you're a family hoping to sit together on the aircraft?