BUDGET AIRLINE booking can be a false economy according to a report by the Air Transport Users Council (AUC). Passengers are often deceived by the cheap deals advertised by the no-frills companies and fail to spot hidden costs. They also tend to assume that typically Ryanair and easyJet will be cheaper and so miss better available fares. Britain”s air passenger watchdog conducted the study after receiving dozens of complaints from passengers confused by the various deals and routes on offer. After checking 1,500 fares advertised by eight airlines, it concluded: ”The difference in fares was often minimal and, on occasion, full-service airlines were actually cheaper than their no-frills rivals. James Fremantle, the council”s industry affairs adviser, also criticised Ryanair”s habit of stripping out taxes and charges to make the headline price appear as cheap as possible. He said that Ryanair claimed to give away millions of free flights but passengers ended up paying ”25 or more in various fees.
http://www.auc.org.uk