Baggage charges – Which low cost airlines charge the most?

Published June 14, 2014

One of the common complaints about low-cost airlines is that they initially look inexpensive, but when you add the handling fees, the airport taxes and especially the luggage costs for that suitcase or backpack, they cease being cheap. We set out to determine if that was true or more like an urban myth developed by the premium carriers to keep customers loyal to their own services. The subject is not made any easier to understand because every low-cost airline has their own unique policies when handling luggage. This includes different weight limits, luggage size limits, carry-on allowances and hold luggage allowances.

Luggage Price Mismatch

The prices for hold luggage fees on low-cost airline’ web sites can certainly be confusing, and some might say a little misleading unless you love reading fine print.

• Often advertised as ‘starting from…’ rather than setting a fixed cost and can differ significantly from those observed when actually going to make a booking. Many airlines vary the cost depending on duration of the flight.
• Luggage costs are commonly stated for single journeys when most passengers book round-trips and need to double the prices shown on the web page to get semi-realistic numbers.
• Often changes in fuels costs affect luggage pricing, as does the season.

Our tip: The only truly reliable way to confirm up to the minute luggage costs it to run through the whole booking process on an airline website, add the require piece of hold luggage with the kilo limit required, and wait to see the luggage costs that are proposed by the airline. 

Comparison of Baggage Charges

The baggage charges league table is provided in this post to help readers see how the baggage charges and luggage weight limits stack up. For the reasons stated above it isn’t possible to make an exact comparison between airlines, but we have done the closest thing possible using the following guidelines:

• A 2-3 hr flight to a popular European holiday destination from one of the main bases used by the respective airlines
• Flying in peak summer time (June/July)
• 20kg baggage size (some offer 15kg to appear cheaper… We’ve used 20kg or as close as possible for the purposes of the comparison)
• Baggage booked online, at the time of flight booking
• All prices quoted are per return flights, carrying the bag each way

Best and Worst

The clear winner was Smartwings, who offer all travellers 15kg of free hold luggage. For passengers flying out of Oslo on Norwegian Air, on your flight to Majorca can carry a 20 kilo piece of hold luggage for only £13 each way. Hats off to them. On the other end of the spectrum, Ryanair comes in pretty expensive. They do offer a discounted 15 kilo hold luggage option which can shave a few quid off. Many airlines offer around 20 kilos for approximately £20 just one-way. Paying forty pounds to get your suitcase to and from a holiday destination does seem a bit rich. Paying more seems like a scandal.

Luggage Weight Limits

As a general rule, many airlines have a luggage limit of 20 kilos for stowed baggage and 10 kilos for a single carry-on. Airlines vary tremendously on the exact weight limits, so they need to be verified before making a booking and departing for the airport, but this gives a good starting point.

Book Luggage In Online

One of the best pieces of advice is to book your luggage requirements online rather than leaving it until checking in at the departure airport. Anyone doing the latter will be in for a nasty shock as the additional costs are quite considerable in many cases.