Consumer rights champion Martyn James runs through everything you need to take into consideration before you book your summer holiday
February is one of the peak months for booking holidays, as temperatures drop, days are short and the sun is a distant memory.
If you’re looking for your next trip abroad, you will see that things have got very pricey indeed. So much so you might be tempted to save a few quid on the cheapest airline you can book. But buyer beware! The cheapest flight on a comparison site can soon become much more expensive once you’ve added on the essentials.
There are loads of ways airlines can catch you out or cause you problems. And it’s not just booking either. I’ve just discovered to my cost that making a claim for a brand new suitcase that got pulverised on a flight with a “prestige” airline is a time consuming, swear-inducing experience.
After one hour and clicking through 20 screens, I finally filed my claim. But not after some blatant attempts to put me off and fob me off to my insurers. So here’s my guide on everything you need to watch out for when booking a flight and traveling with an airline.
Customer service
It might not be top of your agenda when finding a bargain, but it really is worthwhile thinking about what your flying experience will be like. You can check which airline is the worst for delays according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA also has data on complaint handling and refunds, though I tend to go with information from consumer websites like Which?
You can also refer to ratings websites to get a feel for how airlines behave, though speaking to friends and family is often the best way to establish who are the worst airlines to fly with – and the best. Finally, before booking, go on to the website of the airline and try to contact a human. Have a think about how long it takes you to find a number or an email address and ask yourself what you’d do if you experienced a problem or and emergency. See how easy or hard it is to make a claim for compensation for delays or cancellation too. That tells you how an airline views your custom.
Face down an algorithm
Airlines pioneered the use of “surge pricing” – the innocent sounding term for increasing prices with demand. Remember the Oasis tickets debacle? That’s demand driven pricing and it is a nightmare. While this is being clamped down on in other sectors, the airlines have somehow managed to negotiate themselves a pass on this practice for themselves.
Tell your MP if you think this is unfair! But for the meantime, learn how to work the system. Surge pricing occurs due to higher numbers of people browsing certain flights at specific times, which is why prices can go up in the space of a few hours. Because this isn’t being policed strongly enough, we have no idea how true to reality this is, but for now, you may find that browsing late at night or during ‘off peak’ hours gets you a better deal.
Every flight I’ve booked recently has changed after demand led to a bigger plane being used, so you may still get a bargain closer to the time. But watch out for bank and school holidays and the days around them to avoid huge prices.
The curse of the add-on costs
Low-cost airlines charge extra for virtually every aspect of a flight that was once free and many things that you don’t need like priority boarding. What’s worse is many airlines now have ‘tiered pricing’ which increases the closer you get to your take off time. This means airlines can claim that they have low prices by listing their lowest charges, but when you actually come to book these are almost unrecognisable.
The CAA has a list of the formal prices here, but take them with a pinch of salt. By my calculations, I’d average out what you’ll actually pay for a low-cost airline to the following charges:
- £40 to £50 if you want to take a 23kg hold bag one way.
- £30 to £50 for an overhead cabin bag (this has almost doubled since last year – it might be cheaper to share a hold bag for two people).
- £6 to £25 for the most basic seat reservation
That’s £76 to £125 each way or £52 to £250 for a return! Suddenly that cheap flight isn’t so cheap any more, is it? However, I can see that some of the slightly more expensive airlines don’t charge you for things like seat reservations or cabin bags. They’ve also started including ‘premium’ options with all these costs rolled in to one price, so it’s much easier to spot a more affordable flight.
Other factors to bear in mind
Watch out for late flights – or anything booked after 5pm. Some airlines use their planes for multiple flights with short turnaround times. This means more money for them, but a much greater chance that something will go wrong during the day. The later you fly, the greater this gets.
That means by the time you get through customs and collect your bag, you could be looking at £80 in a taxi and a long queue rather than a more affordable train or bus home. On comparison sites, not all airlines will be featured, so the cheapest deal may still be found on the airline’s website. You can run a few searches online or use a travel agent too.
Always check the box for direct flights. You may not notice that the duration of your flight to Benidorm is a whopping 14 hours when you book, because you’re flying via a totally different country. Check all the details thoroughly before confirming. I found that I was charged £100 recently because I clicked the wrong date box, despite only requesting flights on a certain day. I realised my error immediately, but only got my cash back after multiple complaints.
If you are booking a holiday in separate bits, like flights or hotels, buy direct from the provider of services and pay on a credit card. As I often say in this column, you could make a claim under the Consumer Credit Act from your card provider for the full amount of the flights – even if you only paid the deposit on the credit card. A good travel agent can also help you get your cash back.
Booking a packaged holiday gives you the protection of the Packaged Travel Regulations. This means if something goes wrong with some or all of the holiday you should get a refund. Keep an eye out for ATOL or ABTA membership too.
ATOL: The Air Travel Organisers’ Licencing scheme gives you financial protection when you book a flight as part of a package deal.
ABTA: The Association of British Travel Agents is a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry. ABTA has a dispute resolution scheme for customers of their members if things go wrong, as well as other consumer protections.
- Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist
