While flying with budget airlines is supposed to save us money, they often tack on extra fees that are a real surprise—you might think you’ve snagged a bargain, only to find out you’re paying extra! And sometimes, it’s for things that you’d think would be included, like carry-on bags or even a sip of water. Here are 10 budget airlines with fees that just don’t make sense. Hopefully, knowing about these will help you avoid these nonsense charges on your next trip!
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Spirit Airlines – Charging for Carry-On Bags
Bringing a carry-on bag isn’t free with Spirit Airlines and anyone who wants to stash a bag in the overhead bin will have to pay a fee—it may be as high as $65 if you pay at the gate. That’s sometimes more than what you paid for the flight and Spirit will even charge you for the small wheeled bags that other airlines let you bring on for free. As such, you’ll need to factor in this cost if you ever decide to book with them.
Ryanair – Fee for Printing Boarding Passes at the Airport
Forgetting to print or even digitally getting your boarding pass before getting to the airport will cost you with Ryanair—they charge up to €20 just to print that piece of paper for you. It’s quite a high fee for something that seems rather basic and especially if you’re just getting a digital copy of it. You’ll need to check in online & have your boarding pass ready to avoid this pointless charge.
Wizz Air – Charging for Oversized Personal Items
Wizz Air allows you to bring a personal item for free but it has to fit their very specific size limits and if your bag is an inch bigger, they’ll charge you a fee. This ranges from €10 to €20—and you’ll have to pay up even for a backpack that fits under the seat but doesn’t meet their measurements. You should always double-check your bag’s size before you fly with them to save you some cash and extra hassle.
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Allegiant Air – Charging for Booking Online
Allegiant Air adds a “Carrier Usage Charge” of up to $22 per segment when you book your flight online or over the phone and the only way to dodge this fee is by buying your ticket in person at the airport ticket counter. Really, it’s quite a hassle and it kinda defeats the convenience of booking from home—surely it should be cheaper to do everything digitally? Unfortunately, the convenience of online booking comes with a surprising extra cost when flying with Allegiant.
Jetstar Airways – Charging for In-Flight Entertainment
On some Jetstar flights, you’ll have to pay for the pleasure of watching movies or TV shows because they charge around $10 to rent a tablet for in-flight entertainment. This fee applies even on long flights where most other airlines would offer entertainment for free so you may want to bring your own options when flying Jetstar. Their entertainment cost might be minimal but it’s really quite pointless.
Norwegian Air – Charging for Blankets and Headphones
Flying long-haul with Norwegian Air on a basic economy ticket sadly doesn’t involve free blankets or headphones—they sell a Comfort Kit that includes these items. It costs about $5 which isn’t too expensive, but charging for things like a blanket on an overnight flight feels a bit off. You might as well bring your own blanket to wrap up on a long trip with Norwegian Air.
Scoot Airlines – Charging for In-Flight Water
Singapore-based Scoot Airlines doesn’t have free drinking water on its flights and that means you’ll have to buy bottled water from the in-flight menu when you’re thirsty & it’s often at inflated prices. Even on longer flights, they won’t provide complimentary water and such a policy is rather frustrating, given how important it is to stay hydrated on flights Most airlines provide water at no cost so there’s really no sense in charging people for it.
Volaris – Charging for SMS Flight Updates
Volaris is a Mexican low-cost airline that charges a fee if you want to receive SMS notifications about your flight status, even though most airlines provide these updates for free. But Volaris sees it as an extra service and they’ll charge you a fee just to receive basic flight information. To avoid the fees, you’ll have to check your flight details yourself so you’ll be aware of any delays or important changes.
JetBlue – Fees for Correcting Typos in Names
JetBlue will charge you to fix a simple spelling mistake in your name—worse still, it’s a flat $25 per person and it’s non-refundable too! Typos happen (especially when you’re booking online) but this airline makes you pay dearly for it, even if you notice the error immediately after booking. It’s a steep fee for something that they’d be able to correct relatively easily and it adds some unnecessary stress to your travel plans.
Citilink – Fees for Infants Without a Seat
Citilink is an Indonesian budget airline that charges fees for infants under two years old—despite the fact that they don’t have their own seats! It’s a lower fee, usually around 10% of a regular cost, but they don’t always make such charges clear during booking. As such, you might be surprised at the check-in counter and so you should always check the fine print when flying with Citilink.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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