Suitcases and backpacks taken into the aircraft cabin are no longer automatically included in the ticket price. After the generalization of paid checked baggage a few years ago, some low-cost carriers now charge for baggage that is too large to be slid under the front seat, reaping a juicy income.
To travel cheap, you need to travel light. Really very light. No more young students arriving in Barcelona with small suitcases on wheels. For several months we have seen them with a backpack of a modest size and several layers of clothing on top of each other. Otherwise you have to pay, sometimes even more than the price of the plane ticket.
Let’s take a Geneva-Barcelona flight with EasyJet from January 15 to 18, out of season. The round trip costs 51.40 francs per person at best (prices consulted on January 11 at 5 p.m.), provided you only bring a small handbag that slips under the front seat.
Price doubled with hand luggage
With a “large” hand luggage placed in the cabin lockers, 102.40 francs must be paid, ie double. The price is barely higher (110.88 francs) with checked luggage instead. And for a total service, namely luggage in the hold, “large” hand luggage, seat selection and more comfort, among other benefits, you have to pay the tidy sum of 354.50 francs.
In its general terms and conditions of sale, EasyJet nevertheless announces a surcharge of 8.95 francs for hand luggage. But this relatively modest surcharge only applies in certain cases, usually on single flights, with no return.
A system that clouds the equation
The other cheap European companies are not skipped. When departing from Geneva, Eurowings, Vueling, Jet2 or Wizz Air apply the same rates. Since Basel in 2018, Ryanair became the first company to charge for hand luggage.
For the customer, dividing the ticket price sows controversy on the comparison sites. Let’s take a one-way ticket to Barcelona on February 1 as an example. Without luggage, low-cost airlines are the most accessible, but if you add a carry-on-sized suitcase, Swiss comes out on top.
According to aviation consultant Philippe Meyer, this system is a trap for the passenger. “Nowadays, if he searches on comparison sites, he can no longer know the price of the flight that will really cost him”.
Faster on board
If purchased online at the time of booking, the price of hand luggage is cheaper. On the day of departure you must pay 60 francs and place it in the hold. At least that is the case with EasyJet.
Cabin baggage therefore promises to be very lucrative for airlines, mainly because it costs them nothing, unlike hold baggage which requires the service of baggage handlers.
When introduced in 2021, EasyJet justified this reform by a lack of available space in aircraft baggage compartments. This was at the expense of punctuality and customer satisfaction, as suitcases had to be put in the hold at the last minute.
One of the reasons for this congestion is explained by the gradual addition, over the years, of more seats – thinner and with less space between them – in the aircraft, while the space available for luggage does not increase.
Be at the top of comparison sites
According to a report from the research firm IdeaWork, luggage (all types combined) brought businesses more than 20 billion francs in 2019, a windfall that is sure to increase with carry-on luggage.
But for Philippe Meyer, the interest of companies is not only to generate extra income. It is mainly a matter of “appearing first on the comparison sites. The idea is to have the most paid options, and therefore the lowest possible base price. So the traveler will have better luck browsing his site and, ultimately, booking” .
TV subject: Charlotte Onfroy-Barrier
Web article: Feriel Mestiri/vic
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