[Article] Aer Lingus baggage fees go up

Ruu_Old

From here.

Aer Lingus has announced that it is increasing its checked baggage fee for all short haul services from 8 May.

A new fee of €12/£8 will apply to baggage booked online via the airline's website aerlingus.com while a fee of €18/£12 will apply to baggage checked in at the airport. Passengers can continue to pay for their baggage online up to two hours before departure.

Baggage fees are not applied to long haul services.

Aer Lingus says that the new fees will encourage passengers to travel with less checked baggage and will assist in streamlining passenger movement through the airport.

The Aer Lingus announcement follows Ryanair's decision to increase its baggage charges.

New baggage kiosks, which will allow customers to check in their bags automatically, will be piloted in the coming months in Area 14 at Dublin Airport. Aer Lingus will be the first Irish airline to offer such a facility.

But the Consumers' Association has criticised the move by Aer Lingus.

Chief Executive of the Consumers' Association Dermot Jewell said the move was anti-family and made a mockery of low fare claims by the airline.

He said that the vast majority of charges for people booking flights online were imposed in an anti-consumer fashion and that every attempt to clarify the situation for consumers was failing.

Mr Jewell said the new charges highlight the lack of competition in the marketplace.

The Director of Corporate Affairs at Aer Lingus, Enda Corneille, said the charges were part of the short haul model, where customers are offered services which they can choose to pay for if they wish. He pointed out that passengers with no checked baggage would not pay the charges and encouraged those who need to bring extra luggage to check it in online.

Mr Corneille said he could not guarantee that further increases would not happen in the short to medium term but said any decisions to raise charges are only taken after careful consideration.

P. Breathnach

I have treated Aer Lingus as my first choice airline because they were not Ryanair, nor like Ryanair (particularly on the matter of being nasty to staff, to passengers, and to all around them, and on the practice of trying to screw the customer in as many ways as possible).

They have finally blown away my customer loyalty. My new approach: not Ryanair; preferably not Aer Lingus -- now, who can get me there?

random_banter

More announcements today: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0507/aerlingus.html

Aer Lingus is to again increase its long-haul fuel surcharge on routes to the US from next Wednesday 14 May.

This is the seventh increase since the airline first introduced fuel surcharges in May 2006.

The airline says the increase is a direct result of the record rise in oil prices in recent weeks and its rising fuel bill.
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Aer Lingus says the surcharge will increase from €50 ($75) to €65 ($100) on its flights to and from New York, Washington and Boston each way.

The surcharge on flights to and from Chicago will rise from €50 to ($82) to €65 ($110).

Charges on flights to and from Orlando will increase from €60 ($90) to €75 ($110) and flights to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco will increase by €75 ($99) to €90 ($120).

Mint Sauce

these luggage charges are getting rediculas, dont use ryanair, purly out of principle, would use aerlingus on two to three return flights a year to the UK, used XL last month, no charges, but they informed me that they were reducing the maximum weight from 20 to 15 kgs from next month when i put my 20kg bag on the scales

seriously considering getting the ferry next time, or even getting my licence once and for all and driving my self

:mad:

jjbrien

why am i not suprised it seems everthing ryanair does aer lingus has to copy:mad:

kazzer

Was just trying to select my seat for an Aer Lingus flight there. €15 each way to select an exit row seat! Are they for real?! €10 each way for a seat at the top of the aircraft and €3 for a run-of-the-mill seat. That is just taking the p!ss out of people.

CodeMonkey

I just came back from Rome with Aer Lingus. Baggage charges for me and my girlfriend was 18 euro per bag each way. So with 2 bags that's 72 euro total.

We thought this is BS but we paid the 72 euro when checking in so we don't have to pay again when leaving Rome. However, no one ever checks this when checking-in in Rome and I think I overheard the check-in lady telling another passenger that Aer Lingus doesn't pay the airport or baggage handlers in Rome the baggage charges. Does anyone know if this is true?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

random_banter wrote: »

More announcements today:

(article)

Aer Lingus is to again increase its long-haul fuel surcharge on routes to the US from next Wednesday 14 May.

This is the seventh increase since the airline first introduced fuel surcharges in May 2006.

Aer Lingus says the surcharge will increase from €50 ($75) to €65 ($100) on its flights to and from New York, Washington and Boston each way.

The surcharge on flights to and from Chicago will rise from €50 to ($82) to €65 ($110).
Charges on flights to and from Orlando will increase from €60 ($90) to €75 ($110) and flights to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco will increase by €75 ($99) to €90 ($120).

Bloody hell, the dollar's unsettled....

Ponster

> why am i not suprised it seems everthing ryanair does aer lingus has to copy.

Because Ryanair are smarter business people it would seem. Often it's a case of Ryanair leading and most low-cost airlines following.

> Was just trying to select my seat for an Aer Lingus flight there. €15 each way to select an exit row seat! Are they for real?! €10 each way for a seat at the top of the aircraft and €3 for a run-of-the-mill seat. That is just taking the p!ss out of people.

I can't see anything wrong with charging people extra to choose the best seats. Just let the system choose your seat and it won't cost you any extra money.

youcrazyjesus!

if you can get baggage for 12 euro good luck to you. Booking today its 30 euro for 1 bag to alicante and 24 euro to Amsterdam. Highway robbery. They charge different fares for different routes. They only START at 12 euro.

Moving to ryanair whenever possible because of aer lingus taking the piss completely with baggage charges. Disgusted.

Gazza22

youcrazyjesus! wrote: »

if you can get baggage for 12 euro good luck to you. Booking today its 30 euro for 1 bag to alicante and 24 euro to Amsterdam. Highway robbery. They charge different fares for different routes. They only START at 12 euro.

Moving to ryanair whenever possible because of aer lingus taking the piss completely with baggage charges. Disgusted.

Yes it's scandalous. I'm travelling to Lanzarote with Aer Lingus in two weeks...also €30 per bag :mad: We have to bring two bags so it's €60 just for fcuking baggage!

critical alp

I'm starting to wonder if AL are going to start charging for standing room next. The sooner O'Leary gets a hold of them the better. Better airline my arse!!

opa01_2000

youcrazyjesus! wrote: »

if you can get baggage for 12 euro good luck to you. Booking today its 30 euro for 1 bag to alicante and 24 euro to Amsterdam. Highway robbery. They charge different fares for different routes. They only START at 12 euro.

Moving to ryanair whenever possible because of aer lingus taking the piss completely with baggage charges. Disgusted.

But surely you've looked at FR's baggage charges - their site tells me that baggage charges to Alicante is €35 per bag i.e. €70 for your 2 bags with a weight limit of 15kg per bag where EI allows 20kg per bag.

I have a choice of Derry with FR (£30 return per bag) or Belfast with EI (£16 return per bag) every week for work and the same weight limits apply. I booked my February flights on Tuesday - total for 4 return flights including one bag with FR £324.40, with EI £302.88.

I think there is a great deal of urban myth about the cheap fares with FR which because it gets repeated often enough people start to believe.

ncmc

Im thinking of using Easyjet from Belfast to London, precisely because both Ryanair and Air Lingus have just become extortionate. Easyjet charge £12 per bag (return) which doesn't seem too bad. As far as I can see they don't charge for airport check in or using credit card either. Pity they didn't fly from Dublin or Cork.