Ten most ridiculous airport and flight charges

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.

[Travel Heathrow - Gatwick Taxis transfer Services]

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!