Suitcases and backpacks brought into the aircraft cabin are no longer automatically included in the ticket price. After the generalization of paid checked baggage several years ago, some budget airlines now charge bags too big to slide under the front seat, reaping juicy revenue in the process.
To travel cheap, you have to travel light. Very light indeed. No more young students arriving in Barcelona with small suitcases on wheels. For several months we have seen them with a modest sized backpack and several layers of overlapping clothes. Otherwise you have to pay, sometimes even more than the price of the plane ticket.
We take a flight Geneva-Barcelona with EasyJet from 15th to 18th January, out of season. The round trip will cost a maximum of 51.40 francs per person (prices consulted on 11 January at 5 pm), provided you only bring a small handbag that fits under the front seat.
Price doubled with hand luggage
With “large” hand luggage stowed in the cabin lockers, you will have to pay 102.40 francs, which is double. The price is just higher (110.88 francs) with checked baggage instead. And for a total service, i.e. checked baggage, “large” hand baggage, choice of seat and more comfortable, among other advantages, you will have to pay the hefty sum of 354.50 francs.
In its general conditions of sale, however, EasyJet announces an additional cost of 8.95 francs for hand luggage. But this relatively low additional cost only applies in some cases, usually on single flights, without return.
A system that blurs the comparison
There is no shortage of other European low cost airlines. Departing from Geneva, Eurowings, Vueling, Jet2 or Wizz Air apply the same rates. From Basel, Ryanair was the first company to charge hand baggage, in 2018.
For the customer, the shredding of the ticket price sows discord on comparison sites. Take for example a one-way ticket to Barcelona on February 1st. Without luggage, low-cost airlines are the most affordable, but if you add a cabin bag, Swiss is the best.
According to aviation consultant Philippe Meyer, this system is a passenger trap. “Today, if he searches on comparison sites, he can no longer know how much the flight that is about to cost will really cost”.
Faster on board
If purchased online at the time of booking, the price of hand luggage will be cheaper. On the day of departure you will have to pay 60 francs and put it in the hold. This is the case, at least, of EasyJet.
Hand luggage therefore promises to be very profitable for airlines, especially since it costs them nothing, unlike hold luggage which requires the service of baggage handlers.
When it was introduced in 2021, EasyJet justified this reform with the lack of space available in aircraft baggage compartments. This affected punctuality and customer satisfaction as suitcases had to be placed in the hold at the last minute.
One of the reasons for this congestion is explained by the progressive addition, over the years, of more seats – thinner and less spaced – in airplanes, while the space available for luggage does not increase. .
Be on top of comparison sites
According to a report by research firm IdeaWork, luggage (all types combined) brought companies more than 20 billion francs in 2019, a windfall that is sure to increase with cabin suitcases.
But for Philippe Meyer, the interest of companies is not only in collecting additional income. Above all, it is a question of “appearing first on the comparative sites. The idea is to have the most paid options, and therefore the lowest possible base price. The traveler will therefore have more luck surfing on your site and finally, booking”.
TV Subject: Charlotte Onfroy-Barrier
Web article: Feriel Mestiri/vic