Budget airlines use add-ons to increase the cost of their passengers’ flight tickets, but there are ways to keep prices down, without missing out on the extras.
Travel experts at eShores have explained how paying for a luggage add-on at different times can massively change the price.
They also revealed when the best time to book your baggage is – to make sure you always get the cheapest deal.
They said: “It’s well-known that flights’ prices fluctuate a lot – but did you know that luggage prices do too?
“Ryanair, for example, offers the option to buy a priority ticket that includes a cabin bag and a 10kg luggage you can bring with you on the aircraft.
Read More on Hand Luggage
“The prices for this package, however, vary between £6 to £24 depending on timing and the amount of people that already purchased this option.
“It can often work out cheaper to buy the 10kg bag when you first book your flight.
“However, on less popular flights when there’s enough space on the plane, the offer you will get at check in to get the priority package will be significantly cheaper than the one you were initially offered.
“So, it’s worthwhile considering how busy your flight is likely to be.”
Sometimes, when flying with budget airlines, it’s cheaper to just pay for a checked-in bag, rather than booking priority tickets.
The priority fares often include an extra 10kg piece of hand luggage, but a recent study by Which? discovered that it’s not always the best option.
Instead, passengers should look into booking a normal, non-priority fare, and just paying extra to check a suitcase in, especially if you’re flying as a pair.
Which? stated: “If you don’t care about ‘priority boarding’ (which can just mean you queue in a corridor) it might work out cheaper to check in one 20kg suitcase, rather than choosing two 10kg bags of hand luggage and priority boarding.
“This was £5 cheaper on our Alicante route.”
Not only that, but checking it in means you don’t have to follow the liquid restrictions, which limit you to one small plastic bag.
Other passengers simply try and squeeze everything they can into their small carry-on allowance.
One bag that people claim helps them do that is the Cabin Max Anode Carry On Suitcase, which can be picked up from Amazon from £29.95.
Travel Tiktoker Evelyn (@evelynstravelzone) took the case on flights with three different budget airlines, including Ryanair, to put it through its paces.
She claimed she was able to pack almost a week’s worth of luggage in the case, without any problems.
In a video, she said: “Ryanair have one of the smallest hand luggage allowances.
“Whenever I travel with them, this is the case I take. It’s really light and compact, but you can get a lot of items into the case.
“So if you’re going on a trip that’s like five or six days long, this is perfect.”
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