Travelling abroad can be expensive enough as it is; plane tickets,
accommodation, food and insurance; not to mention all of your essential
new clothes, and books, food and magazines for the
flight.
So when you’re faced with an unexpected charge at the
airport, or
once you’re on the plane, it’s natural that you may feel a little
deflated. There are certainly some irrational charges out there so to
prevent you from being caught out, check out these ten most ridiculous
airport and in-
flight costs.
Smoking zone
Since the smoking ban was introduced to Northern Ireland in 2007
smokers flying
from Belfast International Airport cannot light up just
anywhere they like. Rather than using the designated outside smoking
areas or inside terminals, smokers are charged £1 to access the ‘airside
smoking facility’.
This is a designated external smoking area for smokers to get
their nicotine fix before a
flight. A hefty price to pay if you’re a
chain smoker with a delayed flight, as each time you enter your wallet
is £1 worse-off.
Car park
If you were thinking that leaving your car at the airport would be a
cheaper option than a
taxi ride to the terminal then think again. The
car park at
Heathrow Airport charges holiday makers a whopping £120.40
for seven days’ worth of parking, while you are on holiday accumulating
even further costs no doubt. You would expect a car wash and valet
included in this price but the truth is that this fee only covers the
basics.
Spending a penny
Picture this: You’re on a
flight, keeping hydrated as advised, when
nature calls. You get up to use the toilet when you realise there is in
fact a charge for this facility – but you haven’t got any change! What
happens next? Ryanair obviously didn’t think of this scenario when they
imposed the charges to use the toilets on their flights. ‘Spending a
penny’ doesn’t come close, as the charge is £1 or €1 per toilet trip.
Surely this is taking it a wee bit too far?
Freshen up
After a long haul
flight or in between two journeys you may want to
freshen up to greet your family or before your next journey. But you
might be better off stocking up on some wet-wipes in the airport as a
shower at
Manchester International Airport costs a greedy £6.50 per
person. At this price for some hot water, you may choose to hold on for a
wash until later, or invest in some extra-strong deodorant!
‘Fat tax’
Weighty
passengers who struggle to fit into just one seat on a plane
will have to pay nearly double to fly with Air France in a new rule
introduced by the French airline. Obese passengers will be charged 75
per cent of the cost of a second seat if they are considered too large
by the check-in staff to fit into just one seat. The airline’s 43-44
centimeter wide seats are not a comfortable fit for some people, but the
airline will charge for the extra room they require.
Extra leg room
When
travelling on a long haul
flight you may want that extra bit of
room to stretch your legs and keep your hand luggage. This luxury,
however, comes with a price tag. Virgin Atlantic, for example, charges
at most £50 for an additional three inches of space with their extra
legroom seats for a journey between Sydney and the UK. Just as
extortionate, for a seat next to the emergency exit you’ll be looking at
paying £115 for the same journey.
Choose your seat
The early bird catches the worm, right? Clearly British Airways does
not comply with this saying as they charge £10 to
passengers who wish to
select their seats before the flight; a large price tag for thinking
ahead you might say. With this extra fee on top of your flight you may
wish to take a chance and spend the tenner on plane snacks instead.
Change of name
Hopefully you haven’t had a Carrie Bradshaw moment and decided to
take your friends on your honeymoon instead of your new husband or wife,
but the need to change the name on a
flight ticket can and does occur.
Let’s hope it isn’t with Monarch, though, as they charge £100 per name,
per booking. Our advice? Get it right first time and stick with your
original
passengers.
Trollies
Travelling as a family or in a group of friends means lots of
luggage, which is where trollies come in handy. But if you’re
travelling from Manchester International Airport from 10th April 2012 you will be
expected to insert a non-refundable charge of £1 or €2 to use the
luggage trollies. In supermarkets, the refundable cost is to prevent
theft of trollies, but how do they expect someone to smuggle a trolley
onto an aircraft?
Excess baggage
We can’t all fit our holiday essentials into one tiny bag.
Likewise, not all destinations offer weather hot enough to justify only
packing your swimsuit and sunglasses alone. What happens if you’re going
skiing, for example? Or you want to take your guitar with you on your
travels?
Travelling with easy Jet could cost you up to £50 in charges to
take sporting equipment with you, or up to £60 to take a musical
instrument with you if flying with Thomas Cook. That’s totally out of
tune, we’d say!
The Goring’s head concierge John Andrews is running workshops with Gatwick’s concierge staff, porters, team leaders and information and passenger assistants, aimed at ensuring passengers benefit from the same “subtle but flawless assistance” provided by the luxury hotel.
