The lowest advertised prices for cabin baggage on budget airlines are available less than one per cent of the time, says Which? research.
EasyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air advertise various carry-on prices from £5.99, which “in the vast majority of cases” are not available, said the consumer watchdog.
Which? tested almost 1,500 bag prices on eight popular easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air routes on four separate dates in August, November, December and February.
It claims none of the 520 easyJet cabin bag prices were offered for the lowest advertised price of £5.99, with an average cheapest price of £30 each way.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet’s bag options and pricing is transparent and well understood by our customers, allowing them to pay for only what they want and no more and enables us to keep fares low for everyone.”
As for Ryanair flights, Which? alleges the advertised £12 baggage price was seen on only two out of 634 flights (0.3 per cent), with the average actual fee around £20.50.
In response, Ryanair called the research “total rubbish”, and that a “survey of just 600 flights statistically too small to be representative or accurate.”
Similarly, Wizz Air’s prices from €10 (£8.77) appeared just twice on the 338 flights Which? checked, and the average fee for cabin baggage was £28.93.
The Hungarian low-cost airline said, “Wizz Air flies over 75 million passengers each year, so a sample of 350 flights isn’t representative of cabin bag pricing across our full network. Given the small sample and the fact we’ve had no visibility of the data, we believe it is potentially misleading.”
“Bag prices vary by route, season and demand. These variables mean that showing a price range is the only feasible option. These rules are standard practice across the industry and have been put in place to manage both safety regulations and the varying operational costs.
“Due to limited cabin space, it’s simply not possible for every passenger to bring a large carry-on and one oversized bag reduces the space available for everyone.”
Which? said the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is now investigating its findings.
The consumer organisation “believes that airlines should be upfront about these costs, so that travellers know exactly what they are paying for”.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Our research shows that the tens of millions of passengers who need to take a cabin bag will pay much more than the cheapest price advertised - rather than a few pounds, prices for bags can often be more than the flight itself.
“The tactics used by these airlines deserve to be called out, that’s why we have shared our findings with the regulator.”
This summer, it was revealed that Ryanair staff are paid a €2.50 (£2.25) bonus for every oversized bag they catch.
According to Which?, if you face an incorrect fine at the gate, insist that the bag size is checked, take pictures of every angle and send your evidence to the airline in an online complaint form.
Read more: The cabin baggage rules you need to know
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